The Muslim Scholarly Tradition

• For every Muslim who wants to tread the path of Sacred Knowledge.
• Discover the meaning and value of a 'scholarly tradition.'
• Explore how our scholarly tradition evolved from its early Prophetic origins to its latter stages of organization and maturity.
• Understand how our religion was preserved and transmitted.
• Discuss the subjects that are part of a program to become a religious scholar, and the reference works and authoritative experts of each discipline.
• Examine how religious knowledge was classically taught and how this differs from modern university educations.
• Investigate how this change in religious teaching methods is affecting modern Muslim societies.
• Learn how to determine the reliability of the knowledge that you receive from various people and also how to judge the quality of an individual's scholarship, thereby distinguishing the "gold" from the "glitter."

• There are no required prerequisites.
• Finding the Straight Path, the Historical Development of Islamic Law, and the Sources of Islamic Law are recommended complementary courses.
• Complements every course at SunniPath because it shows how the course fits into the "bigger picture."
• Estimated Commitment Per Week: 2 hours for core requirements
• Learn how to make sure your computer is ready.

LESSON 1: The Muslim Scholarly Tradition

• The Generational Refinement of Religious Knowledge
• The Development of Scholarly Disciplines
• Classical Muslim Textbooks

LESSON 2: Sources

• The Quran and its Disciplines
• The Sunna and its Disciplines

LESSON 3: Core Disciplines

• Theology
• Islamic Law

LESSON 4: Core Disciplines (cont’d) & Methodology

• Islamic Spirituality
• Hadith Methodology
• Legal Methodology

LESSON 5: Prerequisites

• Logic and Reasoning
• Arabic Language

LESSON 6: Living Islam

• Direct Acquisition of Knowledge Through Personal Contact
• Exposition of Inherited Knowledge
• The Teaching License

When you study a topic, do you ever think about the process by which that knowledge has been defined, refined, and developed? Have you ever wondered how something was determined to be an established truth of a particular science?

In Western universities, most knowledge taught has developed out of a "scholarly tradition," meaning a collective output of generations of scholars of a particular discipline. There are medical scholarly traditions, legal scholarly traditions, even scientific scholarly traditions. In fact, every mature knowledge—whether religious or secular—has a scholarly tradition.

A scholarly tradition is considered to be authoritative, and while critical evaluation is encouraged, it must be done only by someone who has mastered the scholarly tradition first. Any claim to knowledge, criticism, or correction that doesn't first demonstrate this mastery is considered to be worthless and usually dismissed without further consideration.

Until modern times, this has been the case for Islamic religious knowledge as well, with Muslim scholarly tradition providing the mainstay around which discussion and dissent occurred. Unfortunately, widespread ignorance today has allowed anyone to say anything, with most people left without any authoritative criterion with which to judge the validity of what is being said. Many of the claims today are completely ludicrous to anyone who has studied the Muslim scholarly tradition. But because we have lost touch with it, we are no longer able to distinguish between authentic religious knowledge and motivational speeches masquerading as knowledge. This is the chief cause of the religious confusion that engulfs Muslim communities all over the world, and the consequences of this ignorance are potentially disastrous.

The Muslim Scholarly Tradition: Distinguishing the Gold from the Glitter seeks to provide clarity on the meaning and value of a "scholarly tradition" so that we can understand how to tread the path of seeking Sacred Knowledge. The course will explore how our scholarly tradition evolved from its early Prophetic origins to its latter stages of organization and maturity. It will discuss the subjects that are part of a program to become a religious scholar, and the reference works and authoritative experts of each discipline. The course will also examine how religious knowledge was classically taught and how this differs from modern university educations, thereby investigating how this change in religious teaching methods is affecting modern Muslim societies.

By the end of this course, you will appreciate the nature of authority in Islamic scholarship, including specialization within fields of knowledge. You will be able to name some of the major scholars and texts in the nine broad categories covered in the course. Finally, you will also be able to identify the subject matter, goal, and some specific examples within each major discipline, as well as identify some reliable sources of knowledge.

On a practical level, this understanding will help you determine the reliability of the knowledge that you receive from various people and also judge the quality of an individual's scholarship, so that you are not left to the mercy of every eloquent speaker who has a religious appearance. It will also help you learn how to avoid sectarian tendencies through sticking to the larger body of Muslim scholarship. Ultimately, through equipping you with the tools necessary to distinguish the "gold" from the "glitter," The Muslim Scholarly Tradition will ensure you spend your time seeking knowledge wisely.

• New Downloadable Format: All recorded lessons are downloadable to your mobile device (such as iPod, mp3 player, or cell phone) in mp4 and mp3 formats.
• New Easy-to-Use Media Page: New interface makes it easy to download all media and material for the course using one simple interface.
• Weekly live sessions will be conducted by Shaykh Sohail.
• Pre-recorded lessons will be conducted by Shaykh Hamza.
• All live lessons will be recorded, so that you can hear lessons you miss or review key concepts.
• Printable course slides will add structure to lessons.
• A package containing selected translations from Ibn Khaldun's Muqaddima and from key classical books in various scholarly disciplines will be provided.
• You can post questions and engage in discussion in the course forum.
• Shaykh Sohail will hold weekly office hours.

• "I would recommend it because it is something which needs to be discussed and known to other Muslims looking for answers concerning scholarship in Islam."
  Harun Verstaen
  Administrative Employee, Sittard, The Netherlands
• "Now I know what our the "Muslim Scholarly Tradition" means. I know what it means to have authority in Islam. Also, the great work of our righteous predecessors, and I learned why it is important to continue within the Muslim Scholarly Tradition."
  Sultan Ghuman
  Student, Upper Darby, USA
• "This is an excellent excellent course that every one should take. The word "Muslim traditional scholar" is a vast body of knowledge. This clears us a major missing concept that is lacking in Ummah in today's time, which is the lack of understanding of how Islam came to us. It clearly explains that Islam didn't reach us only by books. In fact, it brings forward the essence/ importance of human element, and makes us understand that it was through breast to breast, all along linked to the Golden era of Prophet (PBUH). It shows us the importance of the understanding for early Muslims, and the need why we need to follow them. Also it concludes at the end, with good suggestions of how to proceed in acquiring the traditional knowledge."
  Obaidullah Mohammed
  GIS Urban Planner, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
• "I think this course should be mandatory for all seekers of sared knowledge as it puts the entire Islamic scholarly tradition in context and clears the confusion a new student may have as to what exactly is Islamic scholarship, and who is a valid imparter of Islamic traditional knowledge."
  Radia Rasheed-Ben Fayed
  Quran Teacher, Tarim, Yemen
• "I would recommend this particular course to others because understanding our scholarly tradition is a key to learning. And this course gives you exactly that: a well-rounded understanding of our scholarly tradition of Islam."
  Talut Dawood
  Systems Engineer, Raleigh, USA
• “It provides a great insight into the complexities of the religious sciences, doing away with the simplistic approach of just picking up a book and becoming a scholar.”
  Zartash Hussain
  Luton, UK
• “I learned a lot and now I understand the deep need for scholars and the history of it all. It is important for someone to understand these things, then they can understand what comes next and the authority these scholars have.”
  Aminah Alzahir Soliman
  Veterinary Technician, Jacksonville, USA
• “I would recommend this course to others because the knowledge is essential in understanding the Islamic scholarly tradition as a discipline rather than something that can be approached randomly. The instructor had a way of using metaphors to make the material easy to understand.”
  Andrea Cluuck
  English Teacher, Madrid, Spain
• “I would recommend this particular course because it's a great way of understanding the depth of learning that scholars possess.”
  Tahseen Nasir
  IT Consultant, Brampton, Canada
• “I would highly recommend this course to others because: 1) Its very essential for every Muslim to know how much the past generations had worked to preserve the integrity of his religion. 2) In the modern world where Tradition is attacked from every possible side, these kind of courses are very essential. 3) It gives clear direction to those who want to learn Islam systematically.”
  Ali Ishtiaq
  Government Officer, Lahore, Pakistan
• “These three particular short courses (Finding the Straight Path, Hadith or Fiqh?, and the Muslim Scholarly Tradition) ought to be the very first courses to be mandatorily undertaken by a seeker of Sacred Knowledge in SunniPath irrespective of whether one is a born Muslim or a new Muslim. These three short courses will serve to immunise and innoculate one from the myriad of confusing ideological strains which invariably skew off tangent from Traditional Islam and which are all too often unfortunately promulgated both in cyberspace and the world at large. These three short courses ought to set one's compass aright upon the straight path of our pious predecessors and act as a solid framework upon which to plan one's journey to Allah and to truly embark on seeking and imbibing Sacred Knowledge within our mundane lives. For the one who sincerely seeks out and practices Sacred Knowledge, Allah truly makes easy for him or her the path to Paradise.”
  Syed Mohamed Al-Bukhary
  Property Manager, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
• “I would recommend this particular course to others because it provides an overview of some of the essentials in the Islamic sciences and it's learning and acquisition as a faculty for application and study. There is basic and in-depth information for what can be seen as the important Islamic sciences as well as allowing one to, quite literally, "distinguish the gold from the glitter". Alhumdulillah, a very beautiful and beneficial course for those striking out on the path to seeking knowledge.”
  Saad Baig
  Student, Kingston, Canada
• “It is highly relevant to our time, the instruction is fantastic, questions are answered in a timely manner and well, respect is shown for all students...Fantastic instructor, good analogies, interesting presentations.”
  Bonnie Rutherford
  Teacher, Calgary, Canada
• “I would recommend this particular course to others because it is easy to follow and understand with the slides and lecture. It also stays on track of the point without going off on any tangents. The best part of the class was in which the instructor gave the lectures. He gave the lecture in a manner in which anyone, a Muslim or non-Muslim, could understand the information and use in their daily life.”
  Huma Din
  Student, Kirkland, USA
• “I would recommend this course as it was very useful in providing an overview of Muslim Scholarship. The sections explaining hadith and methodology of fiqh really helped me to understand the genius and hard work of the scholars in the different Madhabs. It was good as it provided a very brief overview of each of the disciplines of Scholarship.”
  Hassan Ismail
  Student, Bradford, UK
• “I would recommend this course to others because it helps to realize the great complexity and depth of the Islamic scholarly tradition.”
  Zainab Ahmed
  Homemaker, Seattle, USA
• “I would recommend it... it was very interesting to learn about the scholarly traditions. I wanted to learn how information was verified and handed down through the generations.”
  Yvonne Jamil
  Health Information Management, New York, USA
• “It helps to clarify the importance of a scholarly tradition and not using personal opinion in one's religion.”
  Fatima Larson
  Nurse, Seattle, USA
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