page_title: Ijazah
section_title: Description
hierarchical_section_title: Ijazah / Description
caption_attribution_description: Example of an ijazah, or diploma of competency in Arabic calligraphy. Thuluth and naskh script. Written by 'Ali Ra'if Efendi in 1206/1791. 28 (w) x 21 (h) cm. The top and middle panels contain a Saying (Hadith) attributed to the Prophet Muhammad which reads: Secret charity quenches the wrath of the Lord. / The best of you is the best for his family. / The best of the followers is Uways.
context_page_description: An ijazah is a license authorizing its holder to transmit a certain text or subject, which is issued by someone already possessing such authority. It is particularly associated with transmission of Islamic religious knowledge. The license usually implies that the student has acquired this knowledge from the issuer of the ijaza through first-hand oral instruction, although this requirement came to be relaxed over time. An ijaza providing a chain of authorized transmitters going back to the original author often accompanied texts of hadith, fiqh and tafsir, but also appeared in mystical, historical, and philological works, as well as literary collections. While the ijaza is primarily associated with Sunni Islam, the concept also appears in the hadith traditions of Twelver Shia.
  George Makdisi, professor of oriental studies, theorized that the ijazah was the origin of the university academic degree as well as the doctorate. Professor of Arabic, Alfred Guillaume; Professor of Sociology, Syed Farid al-Attas Professor of Middle Eastern Studies, Devin J. Stewart agree that there is a resemblance between the ijazah and the university degree.
context_section_description: In a paper titled Traditionalism in Islam: An Essay in Interpretation, Harvard professor William A. Graham explains the ijazah system as follows:
  The basic system of "the journey in search of knowledge" that developed early in Hadith scholarship, involved travelling to specific authorities (shaykhs), especially the oldest and most renowned of the day, to hear from their own mouths their hadiths and to obtain their authorization or "permission" (ijazah) to transmit those in their names. This ijazah system of personal rather than institutional certification has served not only for Hadith, but also for transmission of texts of any kind, from history, law, or philology to literature, mysticism, or theology. The isnad of a long manuscript as well as that of a short hadith ideally should reflect the oral, face-to-face, teacher-to-student transmission of the text by the teacher's ijazah, which validates the written text. In a formal, written ijazah, the teacher granting the certificate typically includes an isnad containing his or her scholarly lineage of teachers back to the Prophet through Companions, a later venerable shaykh, or the author of a specific book.
caption: An ijazah certifying competency in calligraphy, 1206 AH/1791 AD.
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