It is believed that the
ʿarḍ was a customary "presentation” by young students of memorized texts before
shaykhs (scholars). However, notwithstanding its circulation at least throughout the Eastern Arab World in the Late Middle Ages, the
ʿarḍ has scarcely been discussed, with the exception of E. M. Sartain’s biographical study of Jalāl al-Dīn al-Suyūṭī (d. 1505), which claimed that the
ʿarḍ was a kind of entrance examination which qualified the young student for higher education at a
madrasa.
This article examines the
ʿarḍ in the Eastern Arab World during the 15
th and 16
th centuries, mainly relying on two biographical works attributed to Shams al-Dīn ibn Ṭūlūn (d. 1546),
i.e., his autobiography
al-Fulk al-Mashḥūn and his biographical dictionary
Mutʿat al-Adhhān. It uses two different approaches. Firstly, it gleans examples pertaining to the
ʿarḍ from these works and notes general characteristics of the
ʿarḍ, focusing on the three factors of the
ʿarḍ,
i.e., presenters, texts, and
shaykhs. Secondly, it analyzes several of the phrases in the “
ijāzas of the
ʿarḍ”, which the
shaykhs issued to presenters.
This article concludes that:
1. Most of the presenters were young students about 11 to 16 years old. Nevertheless, the
ʿarḍ as such had nothing to do with entrance to the
madrasas. Some of presenters had already started learning from scholars at the
madrasas before their
ʿarḍ.
2. Most of the texts were general works. Yet the selection of the texts was left up to the discretion of each presenter.
3. Presenters especially hoped to be recognized by “eminent”
shaykhs. Therefore, jurisprudential differences between the presenters and the
shaykhs did not affect the value of the
ʿarḍ.
4. The “
ijāzas of the
ʿarḍ” were not licenses to teach subjects or works but were just certificates of proficiency. Therefore, some historical sources do not even consider them to be
ijāzas.
抄録全体を表示