Did Fiqh Hinder the Development of Literature? New Discussion Among Scholars

Tajik scholars are actively discussing the influence of Islamic jurisprudence, or fiqh, on the development of Tajik-Persian literature.

Photo: Internet

Famous Tajik poet and literary scholar Safar Abdullo stated that the emergence of Islamic jurisprudence has slowed the development of Tajik-Persian literature, including poetry.

Tajik researcher and scholar Hafiz Boboyev also published a post on his Facebook page titled “Is the Hanafi madhhab tolerant?”. He accused fiqh, including the Hanafi madhhab, of intolerance towards other faiths.

According to him, the large number of murders in the history of Central Asia indicates the intolerance of the Hanafi madhhab, as the majority of the region’s inhabitants are followers of this legal school of Sunni Islam.

Boboyev stated that before Islam, there were 16 sects of Zoroastrianism in Sogd, Bukhara, and Samarkand, as well as Christians, Buddhists, and Jews, but with the arrival of Muslims, all of them were coerced into converting to Islam.

However, Tajik theologian and scholar Ibrokhimi Saidnuriddin refuted these claims and accused them of ignorance and lack of knowledge about the Hanafi madhhab and Islamic jurisprudence.

According to him, scholars like Safar Abdullo and Hafiz Boboyev “have gone beyond their professional competence” and their statements “cause regret and also show their indifference to the study of this issue and to scientific ethics”.

“If a person respects themselves, they should refrain from discussing topics they have not properly researched. This is both a requirement of scientific ethics and a necessary quality for a reader and a scholar. If you claim to be a scholar and a representative of the intelligentsia, you should respect sciences and research and the requirements of each specialty! To accuse fiqh of hindering poetry and literature (in the presence of those who know about these two sciences) is indeed very funny,” he writes.

Ibrokhimi Saidnuriddin believes that Islamic jurisprudence and jurists have never hindered the development of literature and poetry, and it is also erroneous to consider the Hanafi madhhab intolerant.

As evidence of his words, he cited two books — “The Poetry of Islamic Jurists” by Khusni and “The Literature of Islamic Jurists” by Abdulla Kannun.

Recently, some well-known users of the Tajik segment of social media have been frequently and passionately debating religious tolerance and criticizing believers.