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Jahiliyya: Difference between revisions
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The Hungarian Orientalist, Ignác Goldziher, who studied the poetry and culture of Jahiliyya, took "jahl" here not to mean ignorance as opposed to knowledge, but rather to be opposed to "hilm" (Arabic: حلم) which means reasoning or intellect. Therefore, the period of Jahiliyya is not a period of lacking knowledge, rather it was the period of barbarism and rebellion, that is, violence, arrogance, selfishness, absurd talks, and the like. | The Hungarian Orientalist, Ignác Goldziher, who studied the poetry and culture of Jahiliyya, took "jahl" here not to mean ignorance as opposed to knowledge, but rather to be opposed to "hilm" (Arabic: حلم) which means reasoning or intellect. Therefore, the period of Jahiliyya is not a period of lacking knowledge, rather it was the period of barbarism and rebellion, that is, violence, arrogance, selfishness, absurd talks, and the like. | ||
Although Golziher's view was later put into doubt, and later translators of the | Although Golziher's view was later put into doubt, and later translators of the Quran did not take his view into account when they translated the word "jahl" and its cognates, his research as well as newer researches about the Arabic culture before Islam provided material for later researchers. | ||
===Izutsu's view=== | ===Izutsu's view=== | ||
In his book, ''Ethico-religious concepts in the Quran'', the Japanese scholar of Islamic studies, | In his book, ''Ethico-religious concepts in the Quran'', the Japanese scholar of Islamic studies, Toshihiku Izutsu, drew upon a research based on [[Quranic verses]] and evidence from hadiths and history to develop Godziher's view, and he arrived at the conclusion that in the Quranic usage, the word "jahl" and its cognates refer to the hostility of the Prophet (s)'s opponents to [[monotheism]]; they thought that monotheism was a strict and onerous belief. During the period of Jahiliyya, people of Arab did not take [[Allah]] to be the only god; rather they believed that there was a hierarchy of gods none of whom was to be obeyed in an absolute manner. Thus the belief that Allah was the only god would make a drastic change in their conception of the relation between God and humans, because it requires that one be unconditionally obedient of one and the same God. In fact, such obedience requires that one give up one's arrogance and selfishness, whereas Jahiliyya requires the idea of human autonomy. Drawing on Quranic verses, Izutsu took arrogance to be the origin of all characters of Jahiliyya. | ||
===Blachère's view=== | ===Blachère's view=== | ||
Régis Blachère, the French Orientalist, concerned himself with the psychology of primitive Arabs by an appeal to data from the history of Arabic literature. In his view, individual and social characters of Arabs in the period of Jahiliyya included violence, arrogance, irritability, pugnacity, seeking fame, ambition, vengeance, the need to exhibitionism, bragging about one's wealth, and prodigality. | Régis Blachère, the French Orientalist, concerned himself with the psychology of primitive Arabs by an appeal to data from the history of Arabic literature. In his view, individual and social characters of Arabs in the period of Jahiliyya included violence, arrogance, irritability, pugnacity, seeking fame, ambition, vengeance, the need to exhibitionism, bragging about one's wealth, and prodigality. | ||
Endorsing Goldziher's view, Blachère says that all these psychological manifestations were as a whole called "Jahiliyya". | Endorsing Goldziher's view, Blachère says that all these psychological manifestations were as a whole called "Jahiliyya". William Watt has talked about all these characters as "tribal humanism". | ||
William Watt has talked about all these characters as "tribal humanism". | |||
Moreover, Rosenthal has—in addition to a lexicological investigation of the word "jahiliyya"—compared Jewish sources and Quranic verses in this regard. | Moreover, Rosenthal has—in addition to a lexicological investigation of the word "jahiliyya"—compared Jewish sources and Quranic verses in this regard. | ||