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AlGhazalisIhya-Book_of_knowledge, page : 40
instrument wherewith to learn the law. Among these instruments, also, is the
science of writing. It is however, not a necessary instrument because the
Messenger of Allah was himself unlettered (ummi). And if it were conceivable
that retention of everything that is heard was at all possible, mankind might have
dispensed with writing. But, because of the impossibility of such a thing, it has
become, on the whole, necessary.
Fourth are the supplementary (mutammimat), which, in relation to the science of
the Koran, are divided into what pertains to pronunciation such as learning the
different readings and the enunciation of the different letters, and into what
pertains to exposition, which also rests on authoritative transmission. This is
because language alone cannot treat exposition or its technicalities such as the
knowledge of the abrogating (nasikh) and the abrogated (mansukh), the general
(amm) and the particular (khass), the express laws of the Koran as well as its
manifest meaning, and finally the manner of their application, i.e. the science,
which is called the principles of jurisprudence (usul al-fiqh), which also includes
the sunnah.
In connection with tradition and history, the supplementary sciences are
science of writing. It is however, not a necessary instrument because the
Messenger of Allah was himself unlettered (ummi). And if it were conceivable
that retention of everything that is heard was at all possible, mankind might have
dispensed with writing. But, because of the impossibility of such a thing, it has
become, on the whole, necessary.
Fourth are the supplementary (mutammimat), which, in relation to the science of
the Koran, are divided into what pertains to pronunciation such as learning the
different readings and the enunciation of the different letters, and into what
pertains to exposition, which also rests on authoritative transmission. This is
because language alone cannot treat exposition or its technicalities such as the
knowledge of the abrogating (nasikh) and the abrogated (mansukh), the general
(amm) and the particular (khass), the express laws of the Koran as well as its
manifest meaning, and finally the manner of their application, i.e. the science,
which is called the principles of jurisprudence (usul al-fiqh), which also includes
the sunnah.
In connection with tradition and history, the supplementary sciences are