Islamic heritage

Islamic heritage, a comprehensive term that includes everything related to Islam from the texts of the Qur’an and the Sunnah of the Prophet, and the interpretations of previous scholars in understanding these texts and applying them to reality. It is treated as a history that conveys to us a human experience that is subject to criticism, rebuttal, modification and development in proportion to the time, place and circumstances specific to each era.

And it is not necessarily limited to knowledge production in the legal sciences alone, such as interpretation, hadith, jurisprudence, and so on, but it extends to include all the books left by Muslim scholars through the ages in various branches of knowledge, and in various languages, and in every part of the world in which the call of Islam has reached. The Islamic heritage can be defined as all that was left by the Muslim ancestors of religious belief (the Qur’an and Sunnah) and civilizational gifts (material and moral).

Introduction

Heritage is the cultural identity of nations, without which it decays and disintegrates internally, and may be culturally integrated into one of the strong global civilizational and cultural currents. As for the Muslims, they are exposed to this disintegration and are rushing with a steady force towards the various global currents, and we can see the reasons for this or some in the nature of heritage on the one hand, and the way to benefit from it secondly, and in the general values that govern to some extent - even at the level of intellectual leaders - the process of interaction third with him.

As for the nature of heritage, most of the Islamic heritage is represented in the Arabic library, which dates back to the dawn of Islamic history, when the codification movement took place in the first century, then ended in classification in the second century, and flourished a lot in the third and fourth century, and this does not mean that the aspects of heritage It is clear that the Arabic library is the most important aspect of the Islamic heritage, and most of the preserved material waste shows the civilization level of the nation and the duration of its activity in the past. The works are in a high literary language, which raises the literary taste and linguistic wealth of the reader, who must have an appropriate linguistic and cultural level; To be able to benefit from the Arabic (classical) library.And if this phenomenon is one of the advantages of heritage - and it is, it leads to isolation between it and the masses who need to facilitate and facilitate it; It is not reasonable to ask the general public to rise to the technical level necessary to deal with heritage when we know that most academics encounter various difficulties in this field; In fact, most of the lectures in the specialized literary departments are not delivered in Standard Arabic!!

The process of transferring heritage to contemporary generations is not easy. The possibility of deliberate distortion of heritage values is one of the most prominent dangers that have been associated with what has been done in this field. Because of the cultural invasion that the land of Islamic civilization was subjected to, which led to the establishment of new cultural values related to Western civilization and not based at all on our cultural roots.

The required facilitation and intended prelude; It needs pens that believe in the faith of the Islamic nation, and recognize the feasibility of renewing the nation's spirit and values based on its civilizational and cultural roots. Without this, facilitation will only be an organized distortion and intentional sabotage, and will not result in deepening the cultural unity of the nation, but will increase schizophrenia, and strengthen dispersal and a sense of loss and loss of identity.

Yes, there is an awakening that must be recognized and evaluated.. an awakening towards a heritage revival that differs from the European Renaissance movement in that it adheres to close roots, and does not suffer from the problem of deleting a specific historical stage as happened to the European Revival Movement; This positive view of the modern Islamic revival movement has a profound impact on dealing with heritage.

Perhaps one of the strong manifestations of this awakening is the great demand for the realization and dissemination of heritage texts, in cooperation with university, scientific and commercial institutions. Although this is done somewhat randomly; In terms of the lack of strategic clarity, the failure to present priorities, and even the lack of agreement on specific publishing rules, this will inevitably lead to the integration of the ancient Arab library; This prepares the field for researchers to play their role in the analysis and synthesis; In order to connect the present with the past, and at the same time push the present forward to catch up with the rest of the contestants by relying on strengthening the roots and identifying them for fear of getting lost in the race track. .

It is imperative that the landmarks of the road be clear, that the steps of the nation be firm and confident, and that the spirit of challenge prevails for backwardness and rebellion against reality.

Mutations are the only way to catch up with others, let alone precede them, and as long as that is the case, it is necessary to study global civilizational history, especially the periods of difficult crises that nations have gone through.

Concepts

Heritage in its simplest definition is the complete record of human activity in a society over a long period of time, in other words preserving the totality of human activities in the collective memory of a people so that it reflects itself in the nation’s present in thinking and behavior, and this heritage record may be a poem, or a document Historical, literary creation, scientific invention, cultural author, plastic painting, artistic sculpture, architectural form, mythical story, popular example, popular celebration, family tradition, or social custom... In short, heritage It is a long historical accumulation with multiple backgrounds (cultural, literary, economic, social, political, architectural, etc.), and this record with its full load forms the identity of each society and its specificity that distinguishes it from other societies.

Heritage concept

The origin of the word heritage in the language of inherit, which revolves around "what he leaves by him after him," as he came in the verse: and I fear the pro from behind me and I was a woman who was thrown. Gel in O'A: And eat the heritage, do not, and say the Almighty: Worth Suleiman Dawood said, O people learned the logic of bird and theotina of everything that this is credited out.

The word heritage is mentioned in the Qur’an once, with the meaning of inheritance, in the noble verse: And you devour the heritage for what you eat, meaning you eat the inheritance, not asking whether it is permissible or who is forbidden? Thus, the word heritage in Arabic means inheritance and it includes money as in the previous verse, it also includes religion, knowledge and guidance - as in the previous saying of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, and it is also clear in the words of God Almighty in the prayer of Zakaria: He will inherit me and inherit from the family of Jacob and make him The matter here "and the inheritance of science and religion" as well as in the verse: Then our authors of the book, who lined up from our servants, they are unjust for themselves, and they are fraudulent, and they are former.

The Companion Abu Huraira used the word inheritance to refer to the belief and cultural heritage when he addressed the Companions, “You are here, and Muhammad’s inheritance is distributed in the mosque....” When they went to the mosque, they were astonished when they found nothing but the remembrance of the Qur’an and the recitation of the Qur’an. Abu Huraira revealed to them: This is the inheritance of Muhammad prayed God be upon him. Thus we conclude that heritage in the language of the Arabs means inheritance and it is called the inheritance of money, belief, religion, glory and arithmetic.

“Heritage” idiomatically: There are many definitions of heritage, for example:

• Heritage is the sum of material and spiritual things that accompany the nation throughout its history.
• Heritage is “that sum of knowledge, sciences, customs, arts, literature and material achievements that have accumulated throughout history. It is the product of a continuous human effort carried out by the masses of the nation throughout history, and through the temporal succession, this outcome called heritage has become material and psychological manifestations and a pattern in behavior and relationships and a way of dealing and looking to things."
• Heritage is everything that the predecessor - that is, the predecessor - left behind - that is, the successor - in the field of beliefs, philosophy, science, literature, behavior, language, art, and construction. The heritage is written and in effect, and includes manuscripts, and scientific and literary relics that need to be published, investigated and studied, and it includes the historical event that needs historical jurisprudence.”

If we look at the previous definitions, it becomes clear to us that heritage - in short - is what the predecessors left behind in terms of faith and a material and moral civilization. Heritage is characterized by:

1. Heritage is an essential pillar of the nation's cultural identity.
2. The heritage represents the nation's treasury of experiences and lessons that it must foresee in its dealings with its present and future. A- Heritage includes two aspects: B- Moral (beliefs, sciences, literature, values...etc).
3. Physical (things, buildings, monuments, facts and events ... etc.).
4. Heritage (except for the heavenly belief) is a product of humankind, and it is carried by human beings (the predecessor) to human beings (the successor).
5. If the heritage (with the exception of the heavenly belief) is a human product, then it includes within it right and wrong thoughts and actions, negatives and positives.
6. Heritage is present in the Islamic nation in the sense that it is considered a component of thought, conscience and behavior, and it has its action and influence in the present. This is what prompted some to describe heritage as a living "continuum" that descends with past generations into the present and heads towards the future in a continuous flow.

Heritage is called the inheritance of kinship, money and religion, and it may be expanded to include kingship and prophethood.

The concept of Islamic heritage

The term Islamic heritage: It is a comprehensive term that includes all the heritage produced by the Islamic civilization and the societies belonging to it, whether it is Arabic, Turkish, Persian, or other languages that Muslims have invented in formulating their knowledge production.

The matter here is not necessarily limited to knowledge production in the legal sciences alone, such as interpretation, hadith, jurisprudence, and so on, but it extends to include all the writings left by Muslim scholars throughout the ages in various branches of knowledge, in various languages, and in every part of the world in which the call of Islam has reached.

Although the term “legacy” in contemporary Western civilization is also used to refer to civilizational, cultural and religious remnants ; The secular (non-religious) spirit that dominates modern Western thought made it not distinguish between religion and the rest of the cultural heritage; Rather, it deals with heritage equally between what comes from the created human being and what comes from the Creator God. Everyone is subjected to the process of criticism, selection, acceptance and rejection, and religion is subject to this approach without any sanctity.

Hence the danger of considering religion a heritage within the Western secular shadows that surrounded the term (heritage). The problem, then, is not in defining heritage as a scientific and civilized term, but in the dominance of Western thought and its leadership of science and culture, and its definition of their terms and dyeing them in a non-religious color.

Religion and Islamic heritage

The Islamic heritage is a manifestation of the individual creativity and collective creativity of the nation during its long history, and the heritage is considered the best expression of the cultural identity of the nation and its cultural identity.

The Islamic heritage includes various cultural, artistic and intellectual forms inherited from the nation's near and far past. It is a man-made gift, which varies according to times and places, and in its general concept it concerns the material heritage and what it includes of archaeological buildings, or what excavations reveal, and what museums contain of antiquities representing different ages, but also includes the intellectual heritage stemming from the works and products of scholars, writers and thinkers. and creators, each in his own time.

There is also a social heritage represented in the customs, norms and traditions prevailing in society and the extent of their impact on its members. Therefore, it had a close relationship with cultural practices and its outlook on the future, and the link between the nation's present and its past.

And if we believe that the main source of the Islamic heritage is the Holy Qur’an and the correct Sunnah of the Prophet, which sparked scientific, intellectual and cultural gifts, then we honor our heritage from limiting its meaning to mere organized maintenance of antiquities, categorizing them in lists, displaying them, or simply continuing traditional celebrations, or in connection Emotional traces of the past. The heritage is one of the most effective means of consolidating cultural identity.

We also refuse to give an aura of sanctification to the Islamic heritage on the grounds that it was the revelation that triggered it, because this heritage is not revelation, but rather a human act, even if it is linked to revelation.

That is why we believe that studying it is a critical and purposeful study that is a useful matter that falls within the ways of taking care of it. Cultures that have the courage to self-criticize their history and benefit from the lessons learned from their heritage can formulate their future heritage in a creative spirit to keep pace with change without abandoning its originality. Those who absorb their heritage through discovery, know-how and criticism are more willing to maintain communication through change.

The Islamic heritage is of two types: the written and read heritage, which is abundant in thousands of libraries in different countries and continents, and the visual heritage of monuments, tools, urban and civilizational achievements and artistic skills, some of which are still present and widespread, arousing admiration and appreciation.

1. There are those who confuse it with religion, and then deprive heritage of the attribute of holiness that belongs to religion. As “some of us still insist until today on transferring the sanctity from the infallible Qur’an and Sunnah to the jurisprudential and intellectual sayings and interpretations of human beings and their historical action.” And these “defend the whole heritage as a religion.”
2. On the other hand, there are those who call for a complete separation between religion and Islamic heritage, claiming that “religion is divine, and heritage is human, and we should not confuse the human and the divine.” However, some warn against this view and see it as “true saying it is meant to be false.” It seeks to place the Qur’an and the Sunnah. The position of the sacred texts that are far from human beings, which means their inertia.” In addition, “excluding Islam from heritage turns heritage into nothing.”
3. There is a third opinion, according to its companions, that heritage "is not limited to civilizational achievements, but also includes the divine revelation (the Qur'an and Sunnah) that was inherited from the ancestors."

Accordingly, there are two aspects to the heritage:

The first: a sacred divine embodied in the Noble Qur’an and the Sunnah of the Prophet.

The second: Good tidings without holiness, which is represented in the civilized human creations in the moral and material fields, and it is permissible for them - by virtue of their humanity - to be right and wrong.

Looking at the heritage and dealing with it according to this last position, “it will not be the same, as the divine revelation does not accept selection and selection from it, or trying to adapt it to reality, or thinking about employing it to achieve private or public interests. Rather, it is a framework that governs life, but it lets it develop within it. It slipped outside of it, a deviation has occurred that must be rectified, and as for human civilizational achievements, they are subject to selection and employment according to the contemporary vision.

Thus, the Qur’an and the Prophet’s Sunnah, if they are included in the heritage, they “transcend it, for the heritage proceeds from them and is controlled by them. The Holy Qur’an is based on the heritage and preserves the values it contains, just as it - that is, the Qur’an - is based on the correct Sunnah that is its application, and they are the framework that must be That we go back to it and rule on all issues of heritage.”

Hence, the Islamic heritage for those who hold this last position becomes “what we inherited from our verses of belief, culture, values, manners, arts, crafts and all other cultural achievements, moral and material.”

Based on the foregoing, and based on this last position, which the case study adopts, we can define the Islamic heritage - briefly - as all that the Muslim ancestors left behind from religious belief (the Qur'an and Sunnah) and civilizational gifts (material and moral).

Quranic event

The term “Quran” carries a dense verbal load that does not make it sufficient to be a procedural concept used for a critical project and a redefinition of the Islamic heritage as a whole. When I talk about the Qur’anic event in the same way as talking about a biological event or a historical event, I aim from that to exclude all doctrinal structures, and all theological, jurisprudential, literary, rhetorical and exegetical challenges… which are usually taken as non-arguable since their transition from an open text of the Qur’an to an official text closed. It is a transition whose exact date is difficult to determine, and we can only refer to some chronological references such as the history of al-Tabari and its interpretation, the message of al-Shafi’i, Sahih al-Bukhari, Muslim, al-Kulayni, Ibn Babawayh, and Abu Jaafar al-Tusi. All of these authors have left for us books that are milestones in the slow historical development of building Islamic foundations that were marked by verbal debate and political strife. Soon, Al-Sihah, in turn, became an official and closed-down text that occupies the second place among the principles identified by Al-Shafi’i to build a Sharia that he is certain of its interpretations. Since these Sunni and Imami works are collective creations, they reflect the linguistic, cultural and psycho-social developments of an Islamic Etos status in the anthropological sense of the word ethos as defined by C. Geertz. It also testifies to the exchange of interaction between the teachings of the Qur'an and the ethno-cultural data of the various circles that the Qur'anic event entered.The Islamic Aetos, on its way to its formation, did not have the same effect on the various groups belonging to a vast group extending from ancient Iran to the Berber-inhabited regions to the Arabian Peninsula, the vast Turkish domain, etc. Even after the official texts were determined, their openness ceased, and they began to be broadcast in writing and orally, the spread of the Islamic Etos did not generalize to all groups in terms of extension and depth, nor was it always determined according to the typical fundamentalist definition that the written heritage preserved.

The historical formation of what we call Islamic law, especially in its jurisprudential aspect, should be linked to the Islamic event. As for the role played by the Qur’anic event, it is limited to conferring on the texts of the rules that have become Sharia a sacred character. We know today that the formation of legal schools of thought continued until the fourth century AH, and from the third century onwards, the imposition of sanctification itself as a religious necessity to limit the absorption of local customs and traditions. And all the attempts through which the prophetic discourse sought to approach ways of legal liberation of the person found only partial applications across times and places as long as kinship alliances are still today burdened by attempts to build modern social ties and the emergence of civil society, the state of law and the person - the individual - the citizen as effective factors in Historical walk towards intellectual, spiritual and political modernity. She gave an example of how the jurists themselves employ the Qur’anic discourse to besiege what they see as shaking the foundations of the customary system that used to guarantee the mechanisms of family solidarity and clan synergy in the customary and cultural spaces in which the rule of the emerging Islamic state extends. After imposing what I called the closed official text, the Islamic heritage devoted itself to the fait accompli imposed by the interpretations and sources that were considered originals. That is why today we cannot go back or liberate the person from the conditions that were specified in the so-called Personal Status Law. Indeed, this fact is an irreversible matter, and the Sharia for the members of the ummah is still viewed as rulings that branched off from the Qur’anic verses.

The opinion of the majority of Muslim scholars

Between the negligence of the apparent and the negligence of the modernists, the student of Islamic thought finds that the majority of Muslim scholars differentiated in their dealings with the Islamic heritage between two parts:

The first section: What are heavenly texts or divine revelations in the general sense of revelation that includes the correct Sunnah of the Prophet and what falls within the limits of the Almighty’s saying, and it is nothing but a revelation that is revealed, and this is undoubtedly a religion with which it is not valid and must be adhered to. There is no increase, decrease, or change, as well as subjecting it to the process of human criticism.

The second section: What are human judgments in understanding these texts and applying them to reality, and this is undoubtedly a historical inheritance of great value, which can be benefited from, starting from, and building on it, and it is not correct to ignore it or ignore it, but with that it does not bear the character of religion and holiness, so It is subject to criticism or even veto and take and response and development.

In this sense, the Islamic heritage can combine what is a sacred religion, and what is history at the same time. As for religion, it is the definitive texts - I mean the Qur’an and the established Sunnah - and these represent the principles, universals, goals and general rules. Nothing but the Qur’an and the established Prophetic hadiths, or possible texts for more than one meaning, all including the Qur’an and the Sunnah, and these represent the branches, details, means and methods of application.

In this way, the Islamic heritage, and in a more accurate term Islamic Sharia, combines stability and flexibility, and this makes it able to absorb all developments in all ages, while preserving general principles and universal rules, and these - I mean principles - are revelations from God and it is not right for humans to interfere in them at all. A controversy that anyone who humans is able to intervene and criticize and amend them. He lays down these universal principles that direct the affairs of creation. He is the Creator, not the creation. The Creator is the possessor of perfection and absolute knowledge, the most knowledgeable of the nature of creation and what is suitable for them. The Almighty says: So judge you in the Jahiliyyah that they desire, and who is better than God in judgment and peace be upon him. As long as you hold fast to it, you will never go astray, the Book of God and the Sunnah of His Prophet.

The chemical works of Jabir ibn Hayyan, the mathematical works of al-Khwarizmi, the medical works of al-Razi and Ibn Sina, and the geographical works of al-Idrisi and al-Maqdisi fall under the heading of the Islamic heritage. In terms of language, the works of Ferdowsi, Omar Khayyam and Jalal al-Din al-Rumi are considered an Islamic heritage, even if they were written in Persian. In terms of location, the works of scholars in Andalusia, Persia, Africa and the republics of the former Soviet Union represent brilliant blocks in the edifice of Islamic heritage.

Traditionalist look

Some traditionalists look at the Islamic heritage, as all of it - legal texts and human interpretations alike - a sacred religion that is valid for every time and place and must be adhered to, and to stand at each of its details, citing his saying, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him: Not from him, it is a response). (Al-Bukhari) These people stopped the wheel of history and stood at the doctrines of the ancients in their entirety and in their particulars, trying to drop these texts and jurisprudence on the issues of the time, even the new issues are either adapted to suit that inherited or considered one of the innovations of this time, and they judged every addition in this Heritage in response. And to be divided by the tectabe, if you will be dismissed today, who disguised from your religion. These people are unable to solve the problems of the age and absorb its developments, and they have narrowed Islam to addressing these problems and absorbing those developments, and from being valid for every time and place.

Modernist look

Some of the modernists view the Islamic heritage as human judgments governed by human minds and understandings - on the one hand - and a special reality on the other hand, and therefore they are subject to acceptance and response. Because it is human jurisprudence, and because it is linked to a particular time and place and may not be commensurate with others. In fact, most of these people turned their backs on all this heritage and stripped it of any sacred religious character, and the utmost respect for this heritage - according to these - is just a call to reformulate it in its entirety and its parts in a form that is compatible with The era, for example, Taha Hussein calls for the Holy Qur’an to be subject to criticism like any literary text, and Arkoun calls for criticism of the Islamic mind, meaning everything that had a role in shaping the Islamic mind from the texts of the Qur’an and Sunnah and the jurisprudence of previous scholars, Nasr Abu Zaid considers the Qur’an to be special texts that were revealed To deal with specific facts for specific people and times, and it is not correct - in his view - to generalize on other than these facts, and like them Muhammad Shahrour and others who are called modernists, and what they have in common is that they subject the entire Islamic heritage, including the Qur’an and Sunnah to criticism, veto, take and reply, meaning that the Islamic heritage - For them - it is all history and there is nothing sacred in it.

Theoretical framework

Talking about Islamic heritage in the form of the definition instead of talking about Islam only? And how to examine this heritage so that the examination includes all historical and social manifestations away from the rhetorical definitions that confront between a fundamentalist heritage recognized by every group (Ahl al-Sunnah wa al-Jama`ah with regard to Ahl al-Sunnah, and the people of infallibility and justice with regard to the Imamate Shi’a) and between the various heresies. Islam is the general name given to the various theological, jurisprudential and interpretive schools and to all peoples who adopted this or that sect. In this way, Islam is multiplied by the multiplicity of social, cultural and linguistic circles that have shared a long historical memory, and in this way it talks about Indonesian Islam, Indian Islam and Turkish Islam And Uzbek, Senegalese, Iranian etc. The existence, development, protection or suppression of the person within each local heritage should be studied separately, taking into account the hegemony of the Islamic heritage. The Islamic heritage, which all Muslims share, regardless of their linguistic, cultural and historical reference, includes three major foundations: the Qur’an and the hadiths of the Prophet (to which the Shiites add the teachings of the twelve or seven imams according to the Twelver or Ismaili Shiites), and then the Sharia ?] Which is the legal manifestation of God’s commands and which crystallized thanks to the jurisprudence of the jurists.

These three principles have been theoretically determined according to the order in which we presented them during the period of formation of Islamic thought (661 AH), in other words, the texts, teachings and doctrines that fall under this written heritage all belong to a period of the general history of thought called an intermediate period. In it, we will return to the issues raised by the general history of civilizations as well as those imposed by the European historical tradition starting from the sixteenth century. Let us now suffice by saying that we can talk about the Islamic heritage in the form of definition because it has always sought to impose its sovereignty ignoring, and in some cases even nullifying, the local heritages that preceded it, because it belongs to what the Holy Qur’an calls ignorance, i.e. the period of ignorance of the true religion that God sent to his Prophet, the Seal of the Messengers. . This verbal definition of heritage, which destroys and erases others, is of course ignorant of the concepts of traditions and customs as crystallized by ethnography and cultural anthropology since the nineteenth century. The traditional tension between the biblical heritage as it exists among scholars and jurists, and the local traditions is enriched today by the revisions crystallized by critical history and the entirety of social sciences and introduced into the study of all forms of religious heritage, starting with Judaism and Christianity, which have always faced the challenges of modernity. The formulation of the definition that we gave to heritage also refers to the resistances that modern Islamic thought shows to the dictates of modernity in the name of a “true religion” that rejects the questions it asks of it, even the educational tensions of its past when that past allowed sectarian pluralism.

Heritage in Arab Civilization

Heritage is the transmission of the civilizational or cultural characteristics of a particular society from one generation to the next through learning and education, and it is called the civilizational, cultural or social heritage. Heritage - as a social term - is defined by the civilizational, cultural and social features of a nation. It is the legacy of past generations of material and moral civilization received by individuals from society, of which they are members.

These civilized features are everything for people, and without them, society would not be able to grow, develop and progress. The cultural heritage is an important element of development, and the contemporary man is indebted to his previous generations, who bequeathed him all these models, which have great merit in crystallizing and integrating his civilizational personality.

Heritage constitutes a civilizational and cultural accumulation over generations and centuries of the content of the material and moral elements of civilization, such as knowledge, beliefs, art, morals, industries, crafts, human capabilities and all that he acquires from society in terms of educated behavior based on experience, experiences and ideas accumulated through the ages and transmitted from one generation to another through language, imitation and simulation.

Cultural heritage is a general human phenomenon for all societies and nations. Every nation and society has its civilizational and cultural heritage on the one hand, and on the other hand there is a general human heritage in which all nations and societies share, and it pertains to the entire human race, because man is distinguished from animals by the ability to language, think and act.

Human societies differ in their cultural heritage in terms of the depth of their heritage in history, its magnitude, its simplicity, and its lack of complexity. The heritage of any nation can be an important and essential factor in its development and progress, because man in every time and place is an inheritor of the knowledge and experiences presented by his ancestors from which he benefits in his present and adds to it from his experience and experiences and develops them with his knowledge and knowledge in order to build his present and future.

Therefore, heritage is a permanent and continuous process of accumulation through the past, passing through the present and transcending the future. There can be no time lapse in this process, as the human experience in the past becomes a new experience in the present and continues into the future. That is why we have to take advantage of the inheritance to develop and renew the present and work for the future, without the legacy of the past dominating the present and the present does not cancel out the past, and the past does not stand in the way of the future.

The heritage of any nation is not only an accumulation of knowledge and experiences, but it is a representation of the nation’s personality in its past, present and future, and that means a representation of the nation’s civilized, material and moral characteristics. And through experiences, expertise and ideas, and therefore the cultural heritage is the main factor in the unity, survival and continuity of the nation, and it is the medium in which the personality grows and thrives. The subject of this great heritage was the Arabic language, which is rich in vocabulary that collected, united and preserved that heritage. The Arabic language is the language of science and communication in the Arab cultural heritage, which played a basic and human role in the development of the Arab Renaissance, the era of transmission, translation, authorship and creativity, and what it revived and developed in the ancient Greek heritage and added to it thought and application. The Arab heritage included many elements of material and moral civilization. And in various areas of life.

The Arab heritage is a link in a long chain of successive human civilizations, and it is part of the general human heritage, because it has played and continues to play a fundamental and important role in the enrichment and development of human civilization. Philosophy, geography, literature, social sciences and the arts. The interest in cultural heritage is a necessary task that requires objectivity and rationality on the one hand, and the universality and communication of human thought on the other, and that the process of reviving it is a selective process that first needs to be objectively assimilated by understanding it, digesting it, developing it for the better, and linking it to contemporary Which means absorbing the present with its national peculiarities and linking it to the global human heritage and the peculiarities of the contemporary world.

The concept of ideological heritage denotes a specific cultural identity in the sense of nationalism, or a specific cultural type in the sense of specialization, as we say in the first case, the Arab heritage, or in the second case, the philosophical heritage or the scientific heritage. The specific cultural significance of a people, especially Arab culture, was a source of contention among thinkers Because the concept of heritage is subject to confiscations of predetermined ideological concepts that define it. In this way, the views and their currents in contemporary Arab ideology, we mention, for example, but not limited to: Salafi heritage (religious), secular heritage, national heritage and so on.

The gradations of qualitative breaks between these currents are reflected in the identification of a second concept related to heritage, which is the concept of Arabism. Hence, the concept of the nation, due to its interconnectedness that cannot be separated from its nakedness. Shall we say: Arab heritage in the comprehensive sense of the concept of Arabism as a holistic characteristic of Semitic civilization considering Arabism as its last remaining manifestation, continuing at all levels of historical and linguistic presence? Or do we say: The Arab-Islamic heritage is where we match Arabism and Islam, then thought is confronted with stormy signs and fragments, such as: Is Islam a national religion specific to the Arabs, or is it a religion of nations that transcends the Arabs? In logical terms, does Islam absorb the Arabs, or does the Arabs absorb Islam completely? Then, where can we put the joints of the non-Muslim Arabs, including Christians, Jews, and other ethnic, racial, cultural, and linguistic minorities? How can the pre-Islamic Arab era be deleted with its great depth and heritage? Each question has its problems, cases, conditions and calls.

The necessity of communication, not interruption, is linked to the authenticity and vitality of that heritage, and communication means linking the past to the present by absorbing its content, digesting and developing it. The discontinuity of heritage means the loss of national and civilized identity. Western civilization, and the decline of traditional forms of thought in our societies, which gave the illusion of a break between the birth of the nation and its side.

There were those who saw the abolition of the past in favor of the present, and those who looked at the past with various present-day methods of consideration and analysis, and those who insisted that the last of this nation is only suitable by what the first of it was fixed with. Thus, the attempts that were made to read the heritage within the scope of one of the three points of view remained imprisoned in ideology and deficient in an integrated understanding.

Dealing with the Islamic heritage

Dealing with heritage as the product of the Muslim mind from the various social classes and intellectual and cultural currents from all Islamic countries, and as an incubator of the nation’s identity, requires working to re-study this heritage and rid it of its impurities, and open the door to ijtihad in its multiple fields, and employ it to serve the present of the Islamic nation and its future, and to ensure the revival, preservation and dissemination of the Islamic intellectual and artistic heritage by various means, the translation of its masterpieces into living languages, and the introduction of contemporary Islamic culture and issues through the international media. Heritage is a manifestation of individual creativity, just as it is a manifestation of the collective creativity of the nation and its historical transformations.

The function of heritage is to open up new horizons for the nation, not to close horizons and imprison them in the past, which is the best expression of cultural subjectivity.

It is known that this Islamic heritage is based mainly on the spirit of Islam and its purposes, and therefore we find it imprinted with the Islamic character that makes it most of the time does not differ with the belief and the elements of religion that are characterized by special characteristics, methods and criteria. There is no doubt that many of these characteristics and standards differ with many of the characteristics and standards of civilizations prevailing today, due to the difference in the historical and doctrinal premises and backgrounds. There is no room in Islamic culture for materialistic doctrines, for example, nor secularism, nor positivism, nor for many doctrines and theories that do not recognize the divine laws, nor their source and reference.

Among the living manifestations present in the Islamic heritage, in addition to the artistic industries and historical monuments referred to above, are a group of social institutions such as the endowment for the houses of God, the bookcases, the houses of science and charity, and even the animals. Among the cultural institutions are schools, Koranic schools, universities and bookcases. As well as a group of religious manifestations and social traditions, such as the celebration of religious holidays and seasons.

In moments of civilizational transformation, when the nation rises to establish a civilization following a previous civilized cycle - such as the Islamic nation - "it finds itself in front of an intellectual heritage that has been left behind from the days of rise, steadfastness and civil decline, in addition to this thought leaking from the surrounding civilizations. And here begins the nation's battles. And conflicts between the different colors of thought... The thought leaked from contemporary civilizations, and it was represented in advanced, modern, living systems, while the thought of heritage was represented in systems from the past that became history and antiquities, and both for the nation do not represent subjectivity, the first represents a difference in place, and the second represents change over time.”It is natural that “the intellectual confusion that is generated in the mind of the nation and is deposited in its conscience as a result of this heterogeneity and that difference will have the most impact on it in the moments of civilized preparation, especially when this confusion does not have a scientific depth or an essential cause, but the whole matter is a confusion between different slogans that seem contradictory ".

Within the framework of this confusion, whenever the issue of heritage is raised, we find people - in general - about it in two groups: a group with heritage, and a group against it, and within each group people are divided on fronts that sometimes converge and diverge often, and perhaps the partisanship on the side of one of these two groups is a partisanship against the other. If there is an emerging third group that does not enjoy the breadth and spread of the previous two groups, its owners distance themselves from fanaticism with or against heritage, and stress the need to subject our heritage to screening and scrutiny in order to invest its positives in achieving our desired renaissance. Accordingly, we can identify the most prominent positions that reflect our current dealings with the Islamic heritage, either by returning to the heritage and being satisfied with it; Those who hold this position see that the way to overcome our weakness and achieve our civilized revival is to return to our heritage, and “adherence to the literalism of the words, actions, behaviors and customs that the predecessors used to adhere to and practice without adding to them, nor decreasing them, nor changing them” because any violation of what the predecessors left us will inevitably be achieved. of the nation's character and distort its identity.

Those who hold this position proceed from a vision based on the sanctification of heritage based on an idealistic view that does not see the possibility of creating something better than it was. Hence, what is required is to take the heritage as it is, weave according to its patterns, and to restore its models in their entirety to the reality of today, because the predecessors did not leave room for their methods, and there is no room for innovation or progress after that.

The factors behind this call for a return to heritage are numerous. Some see that this call reflects the state of underdevelopment experienced by its owners. “The backward, by nature, always relies on imitation of a ready-made model, as it is immersed in imitation and can only practice the process of transmission, so it relies on a model. My predecessor sought refuge in him and fled to him from his reality.”

There are those who attribute this call to the current revolution in the field of transportation and communication, after which the barriers and geographical borders collapsed, so other cultures came to our home through multiple media, and if millions of Muslims were about to lose their features amid the flood of ideas and systems coming to us. This entailed that the fear of loss overtook many, and they were haunted by the ghosts of a new invasion that eliminated what remained for the Muslims of opportunities for awakening and rebirth, robbed them of their landmarks, and made them loyal to another civilization. As a result of all of this, a call emerged to return to the heritage and adhere to it, as it is the outlet from loss and the safe means for our civilizational revival. There are those who look at the unilateral view of heritage, or take pride in heritage, or look at a non-comprehensive view of heritage, but we find those who reject heritage, and there are also those who invest the beneficial from heritage in the revival of the nation.

types of heritage

Heritage is the legacy of past generations, and it varies in its material, moral and civilized elements to the extent that it is difficult to enumerate its types and forms. It is passed on from generation to generation through language, imitation, simulation, teaching and learning.

Religious heritage, in its diversity and multiplicity of forms, is one of the most important types of heritage, and if it is difficult to enumerate the types of religious heritage, the most important of them can be referred to as follows:

1. Documents and manuscripts preserved in international museums and libraries.
2. The values, customs and traditions that distinguish Muslim peoples from other peoples.

Heritage Revival

What is the benefit of the revival movement, and strengthening the link between the life of the contemporary Islamic nation and its heritage roots? Western civilization has boomed during recent centuries, surpassing all our heritage achievements in the field of medicine, astronomy, mathematics and the arts of industries. Do we want to build on the past achievements of the Islamic nation? Then, we will need long centuries of slow development to reach - first of all - what the Westerners have reached in this regard.If the goal of reviving the secular heritage is to be proud of the achievements of the past and to clarify the role of the Islamic nation in global civilization, and our impact on Western civilization when it was in its infancy, then it is a reasonable matter and it generates pride in oneself, and the recognition of others may lead to an increase in respect for the nation of Islam, which has an impact In relations with today's world.

As for the personal renaissance , it can be based on the spirit of heritage and its spiritual and intellectual incentives rather than its scientific and industrial achievements. This spirit, which creates suitable incubators for technology transferred from the West, makes it implanted in our environment, appropriate to our civilization, and consistent with our goals, and this spirit may push us to transcend Western civilization at a later historical stage.

In order for the vision to be clear, it is necessary to define the goals accurately and choose the appropriate means. Extensive studies are necessary to know the values of heritage and the impact of its revival on our doctrinal, cultural, political, social and economic life.

It should be noted the difference between the circumstances that surrounded the Renaissance movement in the West in the European Renaissance, and the modern Islamic revival movement.

Scholars in the European Renaissance sought to document their intellectual and psychological relationship with the heritage of the Romans and Greece, bypassing the history of Christianity and the Church because of the state of hostility between them and it; Their goal was to revive and highlight the pagan heritage to sever the connection with the Christian present and past, so the revival movement was accompanied by a violent campaign against the Church, Christianity and its values.

We can see this campaign in the literature of the four successive centuries from the European Renaissance to the twentieth century. This phenomenon is evident in classical literature (the literature of the seventeenth century), which was “inspired by Latin and Greek literature and derived from it.” Rather, the anti-classical school, which was known as Romanticism, and derived from medieval literature represented in Diderot, Voltaire, Rousseau, Dalambere and Condorcet, was dominated by the dissolution of religion and tradition, although some of them like Rousseau He expressed his belief in God and his revolution against the Church and its educational philosophy.

In the middle of the nineteenth century, the aesthetic school appeared, which declared a lack of commitment to the moral and religious values of society until Oscar Wilde said: There is no book that can be described as (immoral): there are only well-written books and poorly-authored books.

Basic missions

The main task of reviving the Islamic heritage is to reformulate the social sciences curricula, from history, sociology, economics, politics, education and psychology, as well as literature and its critical theories in accordance with the principles of Islam. . There is no doubt that European civilization has come a long way in this path, and it is not possible to start a foundation stage from scratch. Not all the products of Western civilization in this path are wrong and false, especially what is based on natural findings and laboratory experiments. Belief in God Almighty and His Messages, and therefore I expressed the mission (by paraphrasing) instead of (establishing).There is no doubt that developing detailed plans and programs for approving what can be approved, and removing what needs to be removed requires specialized committees in every science. And that the specialized departments in Islamic universities should rise to bear these burdens, as the Department of Education seeks to develop an Islamic educational theory that derives from understanding the Qur’an and Sunnah, and drawing inspiration from the heritage of Islamic educational thought while benefiting from the sound data of contemporary educational theories after they were colored by Islam. Western educational theories emerged from Materialist philosophies, secular perceptions, and most of their philosophers are materialists and secularists.

A look at the reality of Western societies ensures judgment on the data of Western education: moral decay and a sense of (lost), the desire for (nothing), the escalation of (crime), defiance of (law), (violence), and (the law of the jungle) in dealing with others.

And after: Do we need an evaluation of educational theories after their poisonous fruits have appeared in today's world?!!!

(Freud) considered man to be a slave to the sex who controls his thoughts, feelings and behavior, and forms the center of his private and public activity.

(Marx) considered economics as the focus of this activity, and both are affected by Darwin’s theory of the origin of man, which brings him down to (animalism). ?]) or (economics).

As for the view of Islam, it honors the human being as an intelligent, responsible creature:

We have been honored by Adam and their homes in the land and the sea and their livelihoods and feet on many of those who have created a preferred, and have been created from this picture. : Belief in God, monotheism, and worship. Any probing of the Qur’anic verses and hadiths of the Prophet, with the benefit of modern scientific studies, will make it possible to rid these scientific facts in psychology, sociology and education from their Western secular spirit and their Greek pagan roots. And early university teaching, and long-standing teaching traditions that appeared in Islamic universities in the golden ages of Islam, and were included in the books written by our ancestors, such as: Sahnoun in: (Ethics of Teachers) and Al-Qabesi in: (The Detailed Message of the Conditions of Teachers and the Provisions of Teachers and Learners) and Al-Khatib Al-Baghdadi in: (The Mosque For the ethics of the narrator and the etiquette of the listener) and Ibn Jama`ah in: (The Ticket of the Listener and the Speaker), and many other things that enable us to visualize Islamic educational concepts to work on developing them, benefiting from the experiences of contemporary educational thought after presenting them to Islamic standards.Likewise, the departments of sociology, economics and history are responsible for formulating Islamic theories in these areas. Modern terms, although new, but many of their implications are present in Islam, and to highlight this requires an extrapolation of heritage to reach principles and theories, if the theory of independence of authorities is attributed to (Montesquieu) Islam recognized the independence of the judiciary more than ten centuries before Montesquieu, and the appointment of judges and the acceptance of their resignations was done by the caliph himself, and he was not subject to the governors of the cities, but the caliph himself was not able after their appointment to interfere in the affairs of the judiciary and the judges’ rulings, and this matter Many modern theories and principles are validated.Numerous studies have appeared on reformulating Islamic and world history from an Islamic perspective, and benefiting from the methods of criticism authored by the modernists under the title (the term hadith). .

As for the presentation of contemporary Arabic literature and its critical theories in an Islamic framework that combines authenticity and modernity, we are a nation with a fertile heritage that can draw it to its past, and give it a distinct personality in its present, but we did not give the heritage its right to study, and we did not seek enough to criticize, scrutinize and evaluate it. And we did not build on its strong roots our contemporary literary and intellectual movement, and perhaps because of the stagnation that afflicted our Arab and Islamic civilization for centuries in which it no longer possesses the initiative, so it abandoned the leadership and leadership position, and our contemporary generations opened their eyes to an intellectual movement that fervently quotes Western literary and intellectual currents. Intense, the new food brought in its toxicity and fatness to the millions hungry for the new idea, innovative opinion, and new presentation. Western civilization had reached the peak of scientific and literary production, and resulted in thousands of stories, plays, and other data of thought, benefiting from the material growth and maturity of Western civilization, which relied on reviving the sciences and philosophies of the Greeks in the late European Middle Ages, that is: in the period known as the Renaissance, which It begins in the fifteenth century AD, and (Homer) believes that the era of revival preceded the Renaissance, and began from the twelfth century, and after the revival of science, study and criticism, huge additions took place and Europeans benefited from the experimental research method of Muslims, combining the philosophical vision and the Islamic scientific method. The new civilization was born with an Islamic scientific research method, and an ordinary philosophical spirit covered with a transparent veil of Christianity, which was quickly dislodged and dyed science and literature, especially in the nineteenth century and the first decades of the twentieth century, with a materialistic and anti-religious color.

The English philosopher (Bertrand Russell) explained this mixture between Greek philosophical visions and the Islamic scientific method, and the result of this mixture from the revival of the present European civilization.

Undoubtedly, the huge scientific and technological progress, which was accompanied by less progress in the fields of educational and psychological humanities, had a profound impact on the various data of thought, such as social, economic, political and literary doctrines, critical trends, evaluation standards, and aesthetic, artistic and moral values. The nineteenth century when the first shouts of reform appeared. But the long intellectual and social stagnation, political fragmentation, and various conflicts hindered “Dar al-Islam” from catching up with others, and the Islamic personality was torn apart, which became suffering from an inferiority complex in the face of the huge Western progress.

A movement of transfer and quotation appeared in culture and literature without discrimination or selection, and the hungry came to a rich but poisoned table, and most of them did not realize the poisons in front of the sweetness of taste. It followed, and nausea appeared, and many knew that food was poisoned and that an alternative was necessary, and the alternative is Islamic culture, Islamic thought and Islamic morals. But the root, which has only been irrigated centuries ago with a small amount, needs to be nourished in order to be able to carry the good tree, so how is the way to do that?

How is it possible to find an intellectual supplement that fills the void, satiates the hungry, and is a substitute for the evil tree? Returning to the root is a necessity, but letting it grow quietly without mutations requires centuries. Can we benefit from the data of human progress, and benefit from the experiences of others in enriching and strengthening it so that it bears the good tree and throws ripe fruits soon? Does this affect our originality and distinction?

If we want to access the models so that the interpretation of the absolute general visions does not differ, then within the scope of literature, deep analyzes of the human psyche have emerged due to the growth of psychology in its various schools, and sociology has served the story and poetry in deepening the content, and there is no doubt that the data of these sciences are not always negative, even if they are associated with a destructive philosophy. However, many facts and analyzes are correct and impartial, as are the mathematical and natural sciences, and they can be used to deepen the contents of Islamic literature; Yes, what is the objection to the artistic forms and deep contents in the conception of the soul and the universe, and the methods of new topics that are compatible with our distinguished intellectual construction and our authentic Islamic culture? What prevents the selected quote from being valid, regardless of its source? What prevents us from being open to global human production while preserving the Islamic vision and Islamic standards?

Research and Authoring

Research and writing in Islamic sciences during the twentieth century require a comprehensive evaluation and critical study that answers these questions:

1. To what extent are these research and studies concerned with the practical problems facing Islamic societies?
2. What aspects did you focus on, and what aspects did you overlook?
3. What aspects have I satisfied, and what aspects still need research?
4. What is its scientific position among the types of similar or comparable studies globally?
5. Is it keeping pace with the level of the global intellectual movement?
6. What is the extent of its commitment to the scientific method, in style and documentation?
7. What is the repetition rate?

As for the dissemination of heritage, the following must be answered:

1. What is the amount of publication, and what is the ratio of the publication to the manuscript?
2. Is what is published subject to a studied plan, in terms of nominating the most important literature for publication first, as well as in terms of the author’s self-importance, and then in terms of his importance in the integration of the Islamic library?
3. Does the publication take into account the scientific investigation method, or is it dominated by the commercial objective?
4. What is the impact of publishing Islamic heritage books on people? And what are the positive effects? And what are the negative effects?
5. What are the lines drawn to convey the intellectual and value heritage to the new generations? Can readers - if they have the desire - assimilate the books of history and literature that were composed in the first centuries in terms of style, method, and language?

Can heritage be facilitated and presented at different levels? For the educated, for the educated and for the general public? What are the limits, conditions and means?

Literary and material rights

If we want fairness, we must emphasize and protect the rights of professors, protect their scientific production, and not be satisfied with demanding duties from them. It should also not be held solely responsible for scientific stagnation. What happens of scientific thefts in university theses, as well as other literary thefts that fill bookstores dedicated to selling books, relying on the weak legal protection of the author, which wastes the rights of authors and endangers intellectual life.Otherwise, what is the feeling of a scientist who spent many years investigating a book of heritage, when he finds his book and another plagiarized it with a slight change in the introduction and footnotes?! Will the scientist continue to follow production while he knows the fate of his scientific achievements and works?

Copyright in the developed countries of the world is preserved and respected to a large extent, and the world devote itself to research, authorship and investigation and is assured of guaranteeing its literary and material rights, and this is an important factor in creating an atmosphere suitable for scientific research. It is not enough to rely on (intention) alone in authoring and investigating, so why does that not apply to teachers’ wages and professors’ lectures, and applies to copyrights alone? Although the teachers' wages have been paid by the state since the beginning of Islam, and even made education in exchange for money to spare the prisoners of Badr.

It is if we want the Spirit to circulate in the intellectual life; We must preserve the material and moral rights of the author and the investigator; Setting regulations, supporting specialized official institutions, and enacting appropriate penalties for stealing ideas and literature. The stagnant intellectual atmosphere made intellectual thieves safe even from criticism and exposure, in addition to their safety from punishment. Individual spirit and indifference led to the pen not rising except to defend its owner's rights, and not the rights of authors in general.

Where are the literary fights? Where does literary criticism evaluate, define, and protect the production? How many studies and investigations are published that do not receive attention due to the lack of critics? How does cultural life thrive in such a stagnant atmosphere?

The Islamic nation suffers from anarchy in publishing, which we do not find in other nations. Several decades ago, when the heritage revival movement began and a number of scholars initially contributed to it, the problem of repetition of works arose because there was no center unifying information on printed books and manuscripts; It enables the scholar to register his right to work in a specific book, and declares it and adheres to it morally, so that no one competes with him and does not worry about a parasite, and in return he is obliged to take it out, and no one scholar is allowed to monopolize a group of books that only publishes their introductions and then moves to the mercy of God!

This problem has been magnified by the expansion of postgraduate studies, and the demand by its students to register their scientific theses in the investigation of heritage.

blogging and translation movement

It is known that the oral narrative was the first method that the Arabs used to spread knowledge. From the first moment, the Arabic novel was associated with great care, complete accuracy, and unparalleled honesty. Because religion calls for it; And because many of the texts of the Qur’an and Sunnah urge it, the people adhered to honesty and care when they confronted the narration of the words of God Almighty and the words of His Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace.

Writing did not spread in the Arabs except with the advent of Islam, so the writers of revelation appeared, who were counted by some scholars, reaching more than forty companions. The matter of writing remained limited to writing verses of the Qur’an and writing the hadiths of the Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace, until the area of the Islamic state expanded during the time of the Umayyads, and a major breakthrough began in writing and codification, especially during the era of Caliph Omar bin Abdul Aziz; Omar has been using God for forty days to write down the hadith of the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace.

Other codification efforts appeared in the Umayyad era, represented in what was translated by Khalid bin Yazid bin Muawiyah from the Greek sciences, and what he wrote on medicine, and what Ubaid bin Shareya composed for Muawiyah from the news, poetry and genealogy of Yemen, and what Wahb bin Munabbih wrote from the book crowns on the kings of donkeys, and others. From the literature that appeared at this early time.Then the authorship movement rises in the era of the Abbasid state, and books appear in various legal sciences, preserving the character that prevailed over the modernists, which is the attribution of the novel to the author of the book. Scholars began to set rules and establish principles, and as a result of this active scientific movement, new sciences emerged, which initially revolved around the service of the Noble Qur’an and the Noble Prophetic hadith. .

The new codification movement in the Abbasid era was accompanied by the movement of translating sciences into Arabic. Where the caliphs and their ministers and statesmen took the matter of translation very carefully; The sciences of Greece, the Persians and the Indians were translated, and the translation absorbed various kinds of knowledge and science, so scientific, philosophical and even literary books were translated. A large audience of translators of different races and creeds participated in the translation. Among them were Persians, Indians, Syriacs and others. Every hand is the greatest endeavour.

References

[[Category:Cultural heritage]]

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