He meant by “religious sciences” (Ulum al-Shar`) the bulk of...

He meant by “religious sciences” (Ulum al-Shar`) the bulk of knowledge imparted through Prophetic teachings and the Revelation. The rest constitute the “non-religious” sciences. The non-religious sciences are further classi­fied into “praiseworthy” (Mahmud), “permissible” (mubah) and “un­desirable” ones (madhmum). He puts history in the category of permis­sible sciences (mubah) and magic and sorcery in the category of the un­desirable fields of “knowledge”.

The “praiseworthy” sciences (Mahmud), according to him, are those whose knowledge is necessary for the affairs of life and these are wajib kifai; the rest of them bring addi­tional merit to the learned who pursue them. He puts medicine, mathe­matics and crafts, whose sufficient knowledge is needed by the society, in the category of sciences which are wajib kifai.

Any further research into the detail and depth of problems of medical science or mathematics is put by Al-Ghazzali in the second category that involves merit for the scholar without entailing any manner of obligation. Al-Ghazzali classifies the religious sciences also into two groups: Praiseworthy (Mahmud) and undesirable (madhmum). By “undesirable religious sciences”, he means those which are apparently oriented towards the Shari’ah but actually deviate from its teachings.

He sub­divides the “praiseworthy” religious sciences into four groups: 1. Usul (principles; i.e. the Quran, the sunnah, ijma or consensus and the traditions of the Prophet’s companions) 2. Furu` (secondary matters; i.e. problems of jurisprudence, ethics, and mystical experience) 3. Introductory studies (Arabic grammar, syntax, etc.) 4.

Complementary studies (recitation and interpretation of the Quran, study of the principles of jurisprudence, `ilm al-rijal or biographical research about narrators of Islamic traditions etc.) Al-Ghazzali considers the knowledge of the disciplines contained in the above four groups to be wajib kifa’i.

But as to the extent to which one should learn the “praiseworthy” sciences, Al-Ghazzali’s view is that in matters of theology such as know­ledge of Almighty Allah, Divine qualities, acts and commands, one should try to learn as much as is possible. However, as to religious topics whose knowledge is wajib kifa’i, one should learn as much as is sufficient.