The Study of Arabic Grammar in Ethiopia : The Case of two Contemporary Muslim Learned Men

The presence of Arabic in Ethiopia is ancient, and the language is deeply rooted in the written culture of the country. It is a well-known fact that Christian church books have been translated from Arabic into GéŸéz for centuries to enrich the bulk of Ethiopian literature. Arabic marginalia and notes can be found in GéŸéz manuscripts; and Arabic documents are kept in ecclesiastical libraries, in monasteries and churches. Quite naturally, it is primarily in Ethiopian Muslim communities that the Arabic language spread, producing an impressive body of literature which still waits to be discovered and fully appreciated in its cultural and historical importance. The highly revered position of Arabic across the Islamic world is well known. The last divine revelation to the humankind kept in the Koran is in that language. Every Muslim has to approach the sacred text in its original idiom and even the most ignorant faithful must learn at least some Arabic to be able to duly perform their five daily mandatory prayers. Its religious value made Arabic not only the language of Islamic theology and jurisprudence, but also of science and medicine. Arabic came to be the main expressive tool of a universal civilization, and learned men everywhere in the Islamic world use it and spread it through their written works. The use of this sacred language strengthened the feeling of belonging to a common umma (community) and the cohesion among Muslims coming from different continents. The study and the analysis of Arabic grammar by the Islamic intelligentsia was thus a pillar in the education of every learned man in the Muslim world. Ethiopian Muslims have been no exception to this common situation. Arabic grammar and syntax (nahw), with its branches of sarf (morphology), Ÿarud (prosody), maŸani (allegories), bayan (eloquence), badiŸ (science of metaphors) and balaëa (rhetoric), play a crucial role in the curricula of

traditional Islamic high schools in every Muslim community of the country 3 , including Wällo 4 , Harar's kabirgar 5 , and the Gurage areas 6 .
Famous textbooks of Arabic grammar are known and studied in all the educational institutions of Ethiopia 7 .
Local Ethiopian scholars became experts in teaching Arabic grammar to pupils.The mid-19 th century šayò Kammalaw of Wällo was a highly esteemed master of Arabic grammar and syntax, and such famous learned holy men as hagg Bušra sayyid al-baý of Gata in Qallu (d.1863)   KEBREAB (1981: 79-83). 4HUSSEIN AHMED (1988: 101-2) ; Hussein Ahmed (2001: 91-4). 5ABDURAHMAN GARAD -WAGNER (1998: 83). 6DREWES (1976 passim). 7It would be very interesting to compare the handbooks circulating in Ethiopia with those used in other Islamic countries, especially in Yemen, the Sudan, and Egypt.For some information on the Iranian Islamic syllabus and textbooks see Seyyed Hossein Nasr  (2006:161-76; especially about sarf and nahw 162-4); for Mauritania, see Fortier 2003. 8  HUSSEIN AHMED (1988: 101-2). 9GAL II: 237-8; GAL S II: 332-5.More recently, books on Arabic grammar originally published in Egypt were brought to Ethiopia and reprinted in Addis Ababa by local Islamic publishing houses.This fact illustrates the exceptional interest of Ethiopian Muslims in the study of this language.
In 1419/1998-99 the Nagaši printing press in Addis Ababa published an impressive collection of Arabic grammatical texts under the title MagmuŸat al-sarf, containing five different works on Arabic morphology and syntax (see appendix 5 for details) 22 .
Subsequently, the same editor issued four well-known Arabic works expounding on subjects contained in the Agurrumiyya and in some of its commentaries.They are highly elaborate hašiya (gloss) and šarh (commentary) texts (see appendix 5 for the complete list of these books).
In 2002 Nagaši also printed a contemporary commentary to the Agurrumiyya, conceived as a sort of schoolbook for beginners, the In this targama, ŸAbd al-Basit is honoured by many praising terms, some of which are directly referred to his exceptional knowledge of Arabic grammar.He is termed al-nahwi al-luëawi, sultan qawaŸid luëat al-Ÿarab, Òalil zamanih 29 , and Sibawayh awanih 30 .
According to his own words, šayò ŸAbd al-Basit was born in the village of Minas (Borana -Wallo), four years before the battle of Sägäle (1328H/1908).He first received the basic education in his village from his father: in particular, he was introduced into fiqh (Jurisprudence) according to the šafiŸi school of Law.As customary in traditional Islamic education, he then left his native Minas to look for famous teachers in the different branches of Muslim learning.
Šayò ŸAbd al-Basit thus went to Yasulá and studied Law under the guidance of ŸAli Dagar: in particular, he was taught the Safwat al-zubad, the alfiyya on šafiŸi fiqh by Ibn Raslan (d.1440) 31 .He continued his legal studies in Bulbul with šayò ŸAbd al-Salam al-Bulbuli al-Sarri, but he then turned to what was to become his main field of specialization: Arabic grammar.He travelled to Darrà (northern Shoa) where he started deepening his knowledge of Arabic with al-šayò al-hagg Ahmad b.ŸUmar al-Sankari (nazil Darrà), father of the famous šayò Muhammad Wale 32 .He stayed there for 15 years, learning all the branches of the grammatical science: nahw, sarf, balaëa, Ÿarud and qafiya.He was also taught mantiq (logic) and apparently some general elements of the fiqh according to the hanafi school, as šayò Ahmad was hanafi.Šayò ŸAbd al-Basit obtained the igaza (permission to teach) from šayò Ahmad in all the subjects he studied with him, and returned to Minas.
In his native town he started teaching Arabic, an activity he pursued until his death.The šayò died in 1413/1992-3.In his long life he produced many written works, especially poetry in ragaz verse, most of which are still unpublished (see appendix 1 for a list).
Among them, one may find a nazm (versification) of the famous Muqaddima al-hadramiyya on the šafiŸi fiqh, the most common Law handbook in Ethiopia šafiŸi school; an urguza on Ÿaqida called al-Durr al-farid fi Ÿaqidat al-tawhid; and another urguza criticizing qat and its use.He wrote also in Amharic: the source mentions a text on virtues of prayer.
In Madani al-habib thus covers all the main topics of Arabic grammar and deals with them in detail.As the text is conceived as a nazm (poetic version) of another matn book (in prose), every subject is treated directly, and in a simple and clear style.Of course, like many of these traditional grammatical handbooks in verse, Madani al-habib suffers from its very condensed structure and from its tendency to use a very concise way to present the grammatical rules: each rule is actually contained within a single verse written in a compendious style full of references to the Holy Book and of partial quotations of its passages, so that it is often very difficult to understand the grammatical content implied in the poetical text.
However, this is the common traditional way of exposition followed by grammarians to collect and explain grammar and syntax rules: the use of verse is also the standard, as it is believed to make it easier for the students to memorize the text.
Šayò ŸAbd al-Basit with his Madani al-habib exactly reproduces the structure and the content of his model, and in doing this he contributes to preservation of what one may term the ancient tradition of teaching Arabic grammar in Ethiopia.
The biography of the second šayò, Muhammad Amin b.ŸAbdallah al-Iôyubi al-Harari al-Muhammadi, can be elicited from the short targama contained in the preface to his al-Bakura al-giniyya min qitaf iŸrab alagurrumiyya 36 .
Šayò Muhammad Amin b.ŸAbdallah b.Yusuf was born in 1348/1929-30 in the village of Buwayta.He is given also the nisba al-harari (mintaqatan; his region) and Karri (nahiyatan; his area).As usual, he had his basic education in his native village and its surroundings until he was 14.He then started the traditional long tour of the main Muslim educational centres studying with several different teachers in the various subjects of traditional Islamic education.
He subsequently stayed with šayò Madid al-Adayyili, with whom he broadened and deepened his knowledge of nahw studying the Mugib alnidaý Ÿalà qatr al-nadà, the Fawakih al-ganiyya and other more detailed books on grammar (mutawwalat al-nahw).He also studied some tafsir (Koranic commentary) with this same teacher. 36Published in 2003 in Addis Ababa by Maktabat MusŸab b.ŸUmayr al-islamiyya.The targama is on pp.alif-gim. 37It is worth noting that this šayò was given the same eulogizing epihtet as šayò ŸAbd al-Basit. 38It is interesting to note that in this case the teacher of Arabic grammar is also the teacher of logic and philosophy: the formal and theoretical aspects common to both subjects are apparently the reason for their being taught together and by the same person.Also manuscripts sometimes contain grammatical alongside logical treatises: see Drewes (1983: 77)  At the end of his educational travels, he managed to collect a great number of igazat in all fields of Islamic learning.
Šayò Muhammad Amin left Ethiopia in 1398/1977-78 to Saudi Arabia where he still lives.He teaches in the Dar al-hadiô al-òayriyya in Agyad.He is also a "night teacher" in the Masgid al-Haram in Mecca.
His works are many and they cover every field of Islamic learning (see appendix 2 for their list).Most of them are still unpublished.Here I consider in some detail only his grammatical production.
In the field of nahw, he expounded various aspects of the Agurrumiyya in three commentaries: As the titles of his books show, šayò Muhammad Amin is essentially guided by a didactic spirit.At least two of his works are expressly addressed to youngsters.This pedagogical aim leads him to write very plain and clear prose commentaries to the most widely spread handbooks of Arabic grammar.In doing this, he apparently follows a modern approach to the subjects he is dealing with: the style he uses and the way he explains the sometimes 47 The great Islamic theologian MasŸud b. very confusing aspects of the traditional Arabic grammatical theories are very simple and far from rhetorical concerns.The use of prose is also very peculiar and somehow modern as it breaks with the traditional nazm composition: this is the path also followed by other contemporary authors, as the above mentioned Muhammad b.Hami al-Din b.ŸAbd al-Samad al-Burani.
One may argue whether šayò Muhammad Amin has been influenced by modern educational methods which started spreading in Ethiopia like elsewhere in the Islamic world.The fact that he rewrote his two published commentaries while he was in Mecca51 may suggest that a modernizing influence was exerted on his approach to the grammatical subjects, since in Saudi Arabia contemporary pedagogical methods are very often applied to and intermingled with traditional educational syllabi and curricula.
Generally speaking, it is difficult to foresee today the evolution of traditional Islamic education in Ethiopia (and in the Horn as a whole) in the next few years, especially in the field of Arabic grammar.It is evident that the model of modern organized and standardized school and high school educational systems will be more and more influential on traditional Muslim centres of learning.The growth of institutionalized colleges (like the Awelia [al-Awwaliyya] College in Addis Ababa) seems to be a consequence of this kind of influence.
One may only hope that this modernizing tendency will not completely rule out the rich and amazing variety of the traditional corpus of handbooks, commentaries and glosses with their sometimes complicated but always fascinating style and structure, but, on the contrary, will help to keep this heritage alive and productive, so that it may continue to nourish the minds and spirits of students and learned men.
Tuhfa al-saniyya bi-šarh al-muqaddima al-agurrumiyya by Muhammad Muhyi al-Din ŸAbd al-Hamid 23 .Commentaries to textbooks of Arabic grammar were also authored by Ethiopian Muslim learned men.Some of them remain unpublished, while others have been printed in Ethiopia or abroad: e.g., faqih Zubayr of Yaggu wrote a commentary to the Agurrumiyya; šayò Ibrahim ŸAbd al-Razzaq of Yaggu commented the Alfiyya of Ibn Malik, and Muhammad Aman of Dawway wrote a commentary to the Agurrumiyya titled al-Maqasid alwafiyya fi šarh al-agurrumiyya 24 .Ethiopian Muslim scholars have uninterruptedly attended to the study of Arabic grammar.Last year (1427h), in Adaamaa/Nazret, Maktabat Badr printing press published the Namir al-safi bi-šarh šawahid al-kafi fi Ÿilmay al-Ÿarud wa-al-qawafi, a booklet by Muhammad b.Hami al-Din b.ŸAbd al-Samad al-Burani, a young living Ethiopian learned man 25 .It is a commentary on the šawahid (loci probantes; probative verses) on which the rules of the famous handbook on prosody and rhyme al-Kafi fi Ÿilmay al-Ÿarud wa-al-qawafi 26 are based.The two contemporary learned men who I chose as a case study for this paper -šayò ŸAbd al-Basit b.Muhammad b.Hasan al-Minasi and šayò Muhammad Amin b.ŸAbdallah al-Iôyubi al-Harari al-Muhammadi -are the most convincing proof of this continuous traditional interest.An analysis of their biographies and works will hopefully contribute to shed light on some aspects of the traditional Islamic learning in contemporary Ethiopia.It will also give us a more precise idea of the corpus of doctrine Muslim teachers focus their attention in the field of Arabic grammar and other related subjects on.I believe it can also help enhance our prosopographical knowledge of Muslim learned men which is still very limited and vague.The main source for the biography of šayò ŸAbd al-Basit b.Muhammad b.Hasan al-Minasi 27 is the biographical note (targama) by Muhammad b.ŸAli b.Adam b.Musà al-Ityubi (sic!) al-Wallawi contained in his commentary on the šayò's principal work on Arabic grammar, Madani al-habib mimman yuwali muëni al-labib, recently published in Addis Ababa 28 .
After 45 years in Minas he moved to Addis Ababa where he taught for 15 more years.During his 60-years-long career, he had an enormous number of students: their list in the targama contains the names of almost all the most famous representatives of contemporary Ethiopian Muslim intelligentsia, including Muhammad Wale, šayò SaŸid b.Yusuf b.Mansur, šayò Ahmad b.Ibrahim imam of the gamiŸ of Aräb Ganda in Dessie, šayò SaŸid Hasan Šifaý al-Saluli, and many others.cooperation with Muýassasat al-kutub al-ôaqafiyya of Beirut.The targama of šayò ŸAbd al-Basit b.Muhammad b.Hasan al-Minasi is on pages 6-11. 29"Òalil of his times": the reference is to Òalil b.Ahmad (d.791 or 786 or 776) the most famous grammarian of Arabic: R. SELLHEIM, "Khalil b.Ahmad, al", in: EI², IV, 962-64. 30"Sibawayh of his times": Sibawayh (d.ca.796) disciple of Òalil, one of the great ancient theoreticians of Arabic grammar: M.G.CARTER, "Sibawayhi" in: EI², IX, 962-64. 31Šihab al-Din Ahmad b.Raslan al-Ramli is the author of the Safwat al-zubad handbook of Law according to the šafiŸi school in ca.1000 ragaz verses, based on the Kitab al-zubad by al-Barizi (GAL: II: 96; GAL S II: 113). 32Some biographical information about šayò al-hagg Ahmad b.ŸUmar can be found in Muhammad Wale 1425/2004: 85-93.At a certain point, šayò ŸAbd al-Basit also had the opportunity to go to Gaddo to study hadiô with hagg Kabir Ahmad b.ŸAbd al-Rahman al-Dawwawi: under his guidance he studied parts of the kutub al-sitta and the GamiŸ al-saëir by al-Suyuti (d.1505) 33 .
for a manuscript including Ibn Malik's Alfiyya followed by al-Aòdari's Sullam on logic.For a survey of the relationships between grammar and logic in Islam see MAHDI 2007.Muhammad Amin continued his education studying tafsir and more Ÿarud with šayò Ibrahim b.Yasin al-Magati (called al-šayò al-hawi mufassir zamanih).In the second subject, he learned from šayò Ibrahim the Hašiyat al-Damanhuri al-kubrà Ÿalà matn al-kafi 39 , the commentary by al-Ansari on the Manzumat al-òazragiyya 40 , and the commentary by al-Sabban on his Manzumat al-Ÿarud 41 .He also continued his education in logic and rhetoric.He subsequently passed to the faqih šayò Yusuf b.ŸUôman al-Warqi with whom he studied Law according to the šafiŸi school on the commentary of Galal al-Din al-Mahalli on the Minhag 42 , the Fath al-Wahhab by al-Ansari 43 , and Muëni al-muhtag by al-Òatib 44 .He continued his juridical education under the guidance of šayò Ibrahim al-Muggi with whom he studied the Fath al-Gawad Ÿalà al-Iršad by Ibn Hagar al-Haytami 45 .His next teacher was šayò al-hafiz Ahmad Ibrahim al-Karri, with whom he studied hadiô on the Sahihayn and istilahat 46 .He eventually completed his cursus studiorum with šayò ŸAbdallah Nur al-Qarsi with whom he learned 39 The gloss by Muhammad al-Damanhuri (d.1871) on the already mentioned text of al-Kafi fi Ÿilmay al-Ÿarud wa-al-qawafi by al-Qinaýi: GAL II: 27; GAL S II: 22. 40 Zakariyyaý b.Muhammad b. al-Ansari (d.1511 or 1520) is the author of a commentary on the Ramiza al-šafiya fi Ÿilm al-Ÿarud wa-al-qafiya, the famous work on prosody by Muhammad al-Òazragi, also called al-Qasida al-Òazragiyya: GAL I: 100, 312; GAL S I: 545. 41Abu al-ŸIrfan Muhammad b.ŸAli al-Sabban (d.1792) is the author of a much appreciated manzuma on prosody called al-Šafiya al-kafiya fi Ÿilm al-Ÿarud, on which he wrote also a commentary: GAL II: 288; GAL S II: 399-400. 42Galal al-Din Muhammad b.Ahmad al-Mahalli (d.1459) wrote one of the many commentaries on the Minhag al-talibin by al-Nawawi (d.1278), which is by far the most famous and most widely spread handbook of šafiŸi fiqh in the entire Horn of Africa: GAL I: 395; GAL II: 114; GAL S I: 681. 43Fath al-wahhab is the title of the commentary that Zakariyaý b.Muhammad b. al-Ansari (s.note 40) wrote on the Minhag al-talibin: GAL I: 395; GAL S I: 681. 44Muhammad b.Muhammad al-Širbini al-Òatib (d.1569) is the author of the Muëni al-muhtag, a commentary on the Minhag al-talibin: GAL I: 395; GAL II: 320; GAL S I: 681; GAL S II: 441. 45Ahmad b.Muhammad Ibn Hagar al-Haytami (or al-Hayôami: d. 1565) is the author of the Fath al-gawad fi šarh al-Iršad, which is a commentary on the famous Law handbook of the šafiŸi school called Iršad al-ëawi ilà masalik al-hawi by IsmaŸil b.Abi Bakr al-Muqriý al-Yamani (d.1433).The latter is, in turn, an abridged version of the Hawi al-saëir fi al-fatawa by al-Qazwini (d.1266; GAL I: 394; GAL II: 190; GAL II: 387-389; GAL S I: 679; GAL S II: 527-529). 46The text also hints to the fact that he studied with some anonymous šayò-s the four Sunan and the Muwattaý by Malik b.Anas: this is particularly interesting as the maliki school of Law is scarcely present in Ethiopia.balaëa on Šuruh al-talòis by al-Taftazani 47 and usul al-fiqh on the Šarh gamiŸ al-gawamiŸ by Galal al-Din al-Mahalli 48 .
It is very common to find in Addis Ababa copies of this book printed in Singapore by the famous Sulayman al-MaraŸi printing press in 1346/1927-8.Also other books of this Asian publishing house are usually available in the Ethiopian Islamic book market (e.g., an edition of the Tanbih al-anam).