Re: How do you qualify a scholar?
Peace USResident
It is true that the kunya of sheikh is given by the teacher under the methodology of ijaza. I understand your question however, which I guess is less who is or is not a scholar rather what level of scholar are they, etc?
If that is true then we should consider the following:
Sheikh is the closest Arabic word to the English word scholar. There are grades of scholars that we know about:
Mufti (The giver of fatwa)
Mujtahid (The undertaker of extrapolation)
Imam (The Spiritual Teacher/ Leader of Prayer)
Qadi (The Judge)
Generally the word sheikh refers to ‘learned’.
Now I know, you know all these things. Let’s continue:
The word scholar in English other than taking the meaning ‘learned’ also means ‘student’ … therefore one who considers his studies ended is no longer a scholar. This is true on the wisdom front. If wisdom has not set in to the workings of a ‘student of knowledge’ then he will quickly come to the conclusion that learning has a foreseeable end - a pass mark.
Perhaps the answer you are looking for is level of ones inherent intimacy with the knoweldge one has acquired. So really we are talking about learning levels.
If we look at Bloom’s taxonomy for the time being then we can draw parallels in Islam from it.
http://www.ops.org/reading/blooms_taxonomy.html
Bloom kindly peformed research to develop his education learning levels: which are:
Knowledge:
Understanding:
Application:
Analysis:
Synthesis:
Evaluation:
Knowledge: This is the basic level where a person acquires knowledge to be able to recite from it by heart. Examples in Islam include the memorisation of the Qur’an. This is truly a basic level because the history of major scholars in Islam shows that many of them memorised the Qur’an in the very early years. Also, memorisation of hadith, etc.
Understanding: This level demonstrates the ability of a person to organise their memory in such a way that it becomes inherent to the way one thinks. It provides the necessary impetus for one to accept or reject on the basis of.
Application: This is the manifestation of action driven by the faculty to understand the requirement. It is an embodiment of the knowledge at hand. This is seen as tangible actions from an objective viewpoint. In Islam we have the five pillars to demonstrate our ‘application of knowledge’ to Allah (SWT).
Analysis: This is the process of reflection and pondering, the scientific research for example categorisation of hadith in terms of their authenticity and clarity, doing something outside the taught processes to get a better hold of things within. Mufti workings.
Synthesis: Thoughts, ideas and content organisation this is the ability to draw conclusions i.e. ijtihad and fatawa on issues involving the bid’a hasana.
Evaluation: To Judge … to gain experience and insight, provide spiritual insight and clues to progress in the knowledge at hand. To produce a school of thought - a fiqh manufacturer.
These levels are built upon the gaining of the consecutive level. i.e. knowledge can be gained so far as memory is good, but the recall power is good when exercised with understanding, this understanding in turn increases when the knowledge is applied and the application becomes meticulous when the actions are analysed. The ability to analyse is enhanced when the synthesis is undertaken and synthesis is performed at greater ease when evaluation (or looking from an external perspective) is performed.
Many scholars of the past knew hadith in the thousands with their complete contexts. Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal if I remember correctly had a very high level to consider people scholars. Such scholars are lost today!