The concept of Ma’rifah in Arabic grammar in Al-Qushayri’s Naḥw Al-Qulūb Al-Kabīr

• Main Authors: Syed Hadzrullathfi, Syed Omar, Mohd Shaifulbahri, Abdullah, Mohd Shahril, Othman, Rahimah, Embong, Najihah, Abd Wahid, Fadzli, Adam, Syed Mohd Hafiz, Syed Omar
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Serials Publications 2017
• Subjects: BP Islam. Bahaism. Theosophy, etc; BV1460 Religious Education
• Online Access: http://eprints.unisza.edu.my/5468/1/FH02-FKI-17-11673.pdf; http://eprints.unisza.edu.my/5468/
• Institution: Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin

There are some Salafi scholars who argue that the beginning of religious duty upon a servant is Ma’rifatullah (gnosis) or knowing Allah. Ma’rifah is the ultimate goal of a salik’s spiritual journey through the efforts of mujahadah (struggle) and Riyāḍah (exercise). The debate on the concept of Ma’rifatullah is usually found in the works discussing about tawhid (monotheism), but it is rarely discussed in depth in other Islamic disciplines such as Fiqh, Tafseer, Arabic language and others. Nevertheless, there was a famous Sufi in 5th century of Hijra named Abd al-Karim bin Hawazin al-Qushayri who produced a work in Arabic grammar that is adapted with Sufism approach by infusing Islamic spiritual values and tawhid. The focus of this paper is the debate on the concept of Ma’rifah and its comparison with several topics of Arabic grammar derived from his work entitled “Naḥw Al-Qulūb Al-Kabīr “. The method of textual content analysis was used to obtain necessary data. It has found that a way of achieving Ma’rifahat the levels of’Ayn alYaqin (vision of certainty) and Haqq al-Yaqin (truth of certainty) is taken by the sālikīn (spiritual seekers or travellers),who underwent tazkiyah al-nafs (purification of soul) by pracising certain mujahadah (struggle) and Riyāḍah). Al-Qushayri is viewed to have successfully integrated the values of Sufism in the matter of Arabic Grammar which iscommonly discussed in the context of linguistics and consequently, this subject matter becomes more integrated and holistic.