ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books A Shi'ite Encyclopedia (chapter 2-3) The Knowledge of the Unseen & the Knowledge of the Book This article aims at clarifying two concepts namely "Ilm al-Ghayb" (the Knowledge of the Unseen) and "Ilm al-Kitab" (the knowledge of the Book) which both seem to be confusing in many people's mind. The article provides references to Quran and both Shi'ite and Sunnite collections of traditions.

The Knowledge of the Unseen The original meaning of "Ghayb" in Arabic is "that which has been concealed", and it is with this meaning which has appeared in the Holy Quran (4:34, 12:52, etc.) It signifies a meaning opposite to "Hadhir" which means "present to the senses", and thus denotes with things to the external world (i.e., Ma'lumat; known things).

This opposition of Ghayb/Hadhir (unseen/present) should not be confused with the opposition of Ilm/Jahl (knowledge/ignorance) in which the latter pair is concerned with the internal act of knowing. So it may happen that something is "Ghayb" in the dimension of time which does not exist now but it will be or it was; or in the dimension of place that is the knowledge of something which is located elsewhere but not here.

Thus we can divide own our knowledge into two parts: A) The knowledge of something which is present to us right here and right now (Ilm bil Hadhir), B) The knowledge of something which we know but is not here now (Ilm bil Ghayb/Gha'ib; the knowledge of what is concealed from the senses). It should be noted however that the above division is according to general/original linguistic meaning of the term.

The knowledge of Ghayb itself can be divided in two kinds: The knowledge that comes to us through our senses, but indirectly. Examples are our knowledge of history which comes either through narration from one person to another, by speech or in writing or through examining the relics and remainings of the past, and then deducing certain historical facts from them. The type of the knowledge of Ghayb which does not come through our senses.

It should be observed that the first type can be by means of ordinary senses (the five normal senses) or may be by a special sense which has been given to a person like telepathic sense (if there is such a thing). It is, however, only to the second type (the non-sensory one), that the technical/special meaning of "The Knowledge of Ghayb/Gha'ib" is denoted.