The Meaning of Ijāzah

The Meaning of Ijāzah
The True Role of Ijāzah within Islamic Scholarship

By Dr Mohammed Akram Nadwi
Oxford, UK

They asked: We see you greatly welcoming the quest for Ijāzah from various teachers, both verbally and in writing, and we see you placing them in a position of tremendous esteem and respect, even coveting them without end. Our question is: what is the value of these Ijāzahs that you have acquired and are proud of, being charmed by them in the same way people are normally allured by gold, silver, precious stones, and all other human passions?
I replied:
The full extent of their value only rests upon comprehending the significance and meanings of the sanad.
They asked:
What is the sanad?
I replied:
Knowledge Comes Through Two Ways
Knowledge basically comes through either observation (naẓr) or transmission (khabr). If it happens to come from your own observation, i.e. from what you have developed or deduced yourself through the use of your own sense perception or intellect, then you only need to establish it and prove it through its evidences. If, however, you have received the knowledge from someone else who has in turn developed or deduced it himself, then in that case, you need to do two things: first, reference it back to its source, and then establish its evidences.
When the source of the knowledge happens to be a Prophet, however, then it is sufficient to reference one’s intermediaries to the source. This referencing takes the place of both tasks and does not stand in need of further establishing its evidences.
I also said:
Since it is apparent that the veracity of a report relies upon the intermediaries between yourself and the source—which is the origin of the report—then know that this religion is based only upon the Qurʾān and Sunnah.
The Mass Transmission of the Qurʾān
Ever since God undertook the responsibility to preserve His Book in wording and meaning, it has continued to fill welcome ears in enjoyment and continued to be repeated by fragrant tongues echoing its aroma. It has continued to fill the consciousness of submissive hearts seeking solace, and to fill human eyes with flowing tears. All of that occurred from the era of the Prophet to our day, generation after generation, century after century. And all of that in full uniformity without dispute. For these reasons, in the matter of Allah’s Book, there is no need to mention one’s intermediaries.
They asked:
What is your view on the muṣḥaf of the Companions and the variant Qurʾānic Readings?
I replied:
I will present that topic in a detailed form in another article, God-willing.
The Transmission of Sunnah and Ḥadīth
I also said:
The Companions received the practices of the Prophet and all of what was connected to him, including his noble speech, actions or approvals. They preserved it in memory or through writing and conveyed that to those who came after them in a trustworthy and earnest way. Then, generations of scholars came after them, transmitting from them reports of ḥadīth and other matters, all of that in writing as well as transmission. Then reports began to be narrated from these scholars, either through hearing from them directly or the reading of these reports to them along with mention of the intermediaries from the beginning to the end of the chains of transmission.
Importance of Sanad/Isnād
And audition (samāʿ) and recital (qirāʾah) is simply the most noble and eminent means of taking and receiving knowledge. It is the most robust and firm path of verifying reports and protecting them from distortion and errors. These intermediaries were called the sanad (literally “support” or “back”), because to them the reports are ascribed, upon them they stand, and with them they are fortified and verified. So the statement, “Mālik from Nāfiʿ from Ibn ʿUmar” is a sanad that expresses that Mālik took this report from Nāfiʿ and that Nāfiʿ took it from Ibn ʿUmar. The process of mentioning the sanad became known as isnād.
They said: