Usul al-Nahw 2 - Jamiat al-Madina
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- Jāmiʻat al-Madīnah al-ʻĀlamīyah
Usul al-Nahw 2 (Uṣūl al-Naḥw 2) is an academic textbook and curriculum module on the principles and methodology of Arabic grammar, prepared and published by Jamiat al-Madina al-Alamiya (Al-Madinah International University) in a single volume for its postgraduate master's program .
Purpose and Structure
Designed under the course code GARB5363 for advanced students in Arabic language studies, the textbook delivers a systematic pedagogical course structured into numbered academic lessons . The work focuses on the theoretical underpinnings of Arabic grammar (uṣūl al-naḥw), analyzing grammatical causation, analogy, argumentative dialectic, and principles of resolution between competing linguistic evidences .
Subject Matter and Key Themes
The textbook addresses several core areas of grammatical theory:
- Grammatical Causation (al-'Illah al-Naḥwiyyah): The text examines the linguistic and conceptual definitions of ta'līl (causation) and traces its historical emergence from early grammatical foundations in the first and second centuries of the Hijra, detailing early contributions attributed to figures such as Abu al-Aswad al-Du'ali, al-Khalil ibn Ahmad, and Sibawayh .
- Grammatical Analogy (al-Qiyās): It explores the forms, structures, and subcategories of analogy, including causation-based analogy (qiyās al-'illah), resemblance analogy (qiyās al-shabah), and routine co-occurrence analogy (qiyās al-ṭard) .
- Conflict and Weighting of Evidence (al-Ta'āruḍ wa-al-Tarjīḥ): The course analyzes how conflicts arise among grammatical proofs—unlike legal proofs in uṣūl al-fiqh, where genuine contradiction is impossible—and details the methodologies used to weigh conflicting transmissions or reconcile transmission (al-samā') with analogy (al-qiyās) .
- Evaluation of Grammatical Schools: Later lessons address comparative grammatical dialectics, notably the principles used to evaluate and prefer between the doctrines of the Basran and Kufan grammatical schools (al-tarjīḥ bayna madhhab al-Baṣriyyīn wa-madhhab al-Kūfiyyīn) .
Method and Sources
The curriculum adopts al-Iqtirāḥ fī 'Ilm Uṣūl al-Naḥw by Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti (d. 911 AH) as its primary textual foundation (al-'umdah), particularly his extensive treatment of causation within the chapters on analogy . It also draws heavily upon classical foundational treatises on grammatical theory and dialectic, including al-Khaṣā'iṣ by Ibn Jinni and the treatises of Abu al-Barakat al-Anbari, such as al-Ighrāb fī Jadal al-I'rāb and Luma' al-Adillah .
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