Those firmly rooted in knowledge

Those firmly rooted in knowledge (Arabic: الراسخون في العلم) is a recurring theme in the Qur'an and Sunnah. This term is of special interest for the Shi'a.

Those firmly rooted in knowledge
Arabicالراسخون في العلم
Romanizational-rasikhuna fi 'l-'ilm
Literal meaningThose firmly rooted in knowledge

The term and its like is used in Al-Imran [Quran 3:7] and [Quran 4:162].

A crux in 3:7

This verse is a crux interpretum, in that it can be read in two ways, with a pause and without.[1][2] The phrase is either the end of the sentence that precedes it, or the beginning of a new sentence.[1][2] Sunni and Shi'a differ in their readings.[1][2]

Sunni view

All those who speak truth, their hearts are firm in belief, do not commit any unlawful acts, those who are well grounded in their knowledge of Deen, their knowledge translates into their actions, does not swear or take false oaths, does not consume wealth unlawfully.

Sunni view that those firmly rooted in knowledge are the body of Muslim Jurists (Arabic: Ulema) who interpret the Divine Law (Arabic: sharia), deriving the Islamic Jurisprudence (Arabic: Fiqh).

Ulema is the plural of Alim, Arabic for knowledgeable. This connects to the Arabic for knowledge, ilm, the last word of this term: "al-rasikhuna fi 'l-'ilm"

Shi'a view

Shi'a view those firmly rooted in knowledge to be Muhammad's household and (Arabic: Ahl al-Bayt) himself.[3] See Al-Imran [Quran 3:7] for some hadith in this regard.

See also

References
  1. Neuwirth 2010, p. 515.
  2. Bar-Asher 2014.
  3. "Lesson Twenty-One: The Sources of the Imam's Knowledge". Archived from the original on 2007-10-01. Retrieved 2006-10-22.
  • Neuwirth, Angelika (2010). "The House of Abraham and the House of Amram". In Neuwirth, Angelika; Sinai, Nicolai; Marx, Michael (eds.). The Quran in Context: Historical and Literary Investigations Into the Quranic Milieu. BRILL. ISBN 9789004176881.
  • Bar-Asher, Meir M. (2014). "The Authority to Interpret The Qur'an". In Daftary, Farhad (ed.). The Study of Shi'i Islam: History, Theology and Law. I.B.Tauris. ISBN 9780857735294.

Further reading
  • Bar-Asher, Meir M. (1999). "The Authority to Interpret". Scripture and Exegesis in Early Imāmī-Shiism. BRILL. p. 100. ISBN 9789004114951.
  • Wild, Stefan (2010). "The Self-Referentiality of the Qur'an: Sura 3:7 as an Exegetical Challenge". In McAuliffe, Jane Dammen; Walfish, Barry D.; Goering, Joseph W. (eds.). With Reverence for the Word: Medieval Scriptural Exegesis in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Oxford University Press, USA. pp. 425–433. ISBN 9780199755752.


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