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Alauddin as-Samarqandi’s role in the development of science and education in Central Asia
Though the historical sources inform us that the period in which Alauddin as-Samarqandi lived was full of political instability and cultural dissatisfaction, the science and education in the area had its own way of development. This consideration may be supported by the level of development of the secular and religious sciences.
It should be kept in mind that during the llth-12th centuries Maveraunnahr was the area in the East where science and education, especially the religious sciences were highly developed. Such development in the fields of religious sciences may be explained by the fact that at that time different separations, various parties and groups in the religion like Shiites, Khavarijs, Mu’tazilis, Maturidis, Shafi’is and Hanafians began to show themselves and pretended to be the most correct approach to the teachings of Islam. Because of such separations in the religion, there appeared a necessity of correct and believable description, i.e. explanation of the essence of these newly born approaches. These contradictions might have been settled only by the legal documents and proofs, so the necessity of developing the law was evident. As an instance of the authors who made a noticeable contribution to the development of religious law, we may mention the names of such estimated lawyers as ad-Dabusi Abu Zayd (died in 430/1063), al-Khalvai (died in 456/1063), Abu Bakr Muhammad as-Sarakhsi (400-481/1009-1090), al-Pazdavi (died in 482/1089), as-Sadr ash-Shahid Umar (died in 536/1141), an-Nasafi Umar (died in 537/1142), Ibn Moza Mahmud (died in 570/1174), al-Attabi Ahmad (died in 586/1190), al-Kasani Abu Bakr ibn Mas’ud (died in 587/1191), Qazikhan (died in 592/1196) and al-Marghinani (died in 593/1197). The above-mentioned lawyers worked in the field of furu and style effectively. They did all their bests to settle the controversial problems of law and legal matters. Among those lawyers, the creative activity of Shamsu-1-Islam Alauddin as-Samarqandi (died in 539/1144), a great representative of the law schools of Maveraunnahr, has of its own place. As is seen from his scientific legacy, he had a good command in different branches of the Islamic sciences.
If to take Alauddin as-Samarqandi’s activity in the field of tafsir into consideration, it should be kept in mind that in order to reach a higher status in life, one must have a good command of the Arabic language and be able to understand and express his own vision on the problems covered in such branches of science as “Balaghat” (maturity), “Logic”, “History of Islam”, “Hadith”, “Qur’an”, as well as the reasons and conditions under which the ayahs of the Noble Qur’an were born.
The fact that the tafsir written by of Alauddin as-Samarqandi was created under the principles of the science of kalam and was a commentary on the tafsir created by Imam Abu Mansur al-Maturidi shows that Alauddin as-Samarqandi was a great expert in the Islamic rules of creation. This work was created just in time when different parties and groups in the religion were fighting in the battle for the excellence among Muslims. This fact shows that Alauddin as-Samarqandi could clearly understand the urgency of the problems and burning questions of the time and was ever ready to meet the requirements of the situation.
It also needs to be paid attention to his search in the field of Hadiths because in the process of writing his works he tried to use the Hadiths and reveal their meaning for the ordinary people to understand. This fact shows his wide range of abilities in understanding the essence of the problem under discussion.
His heritage in the field of law is great. His ability in understanding the essence of furu and style can easily be seen in his works devoted to law. His legacy in the field of law was also created in time when the ideological fight between separated parties and groups was growing and the settlement of legal matters between them became urgent. He was one of the founders of the style of settlement of controversial problems under the requirements of Shariah. He supported his views with the reliable proofs emerging from the main principles of Islam. It can easily be seen from his legacy that the field of his activities was wide and covered different branches of science and education.
One of the peculiarities of Alauddin as-Samarqandi’s scientific activity was that he could found his own school of science and education. The students and followers who were educated by him became the leading figures in the fields of their activity, especially in the field of Islamic law and each of them made worthy contributions into the development of science, education and law in Maveraunnahr. The intention and eagerness of his daughter Fatima, her scientific activity, her reach the honourable title “great lawyer” brought her enormous fame and appreciation. This makes it possible to understand the attitude of Islam to women in Maveraunnahr and the attitude of women in the Middle Ages to science and education. The scientific legacy of his student and son-in-law Alauddin al-Kasani, especially his precious book “Badai” is widely used in the scientific circles and educational centres as a valuable source. The scientific legacy of his other students as as-Sam’ani, al-Bandaniji and Burhan ad-din al-Marghinani, especially his precious book “Al-Hidaya”, are still in the centre of attention of the scholars of our time and most of them are under investigation of specialists.
As has been mentioned above, Alauddin as-Samarqandi could demonstrate his knowledge and ability in different branches of science and knowledge. He created precious scientific works in these fields and could create his own style of writing thanks to which he could find his own place and appreciation among the experts of law schools.
