The Birth of Islamic Sciences

​The Umayyad's were the first Muslim dynasty that replaced the rulership of Prophet's successors, namely the first 4 rightly guided Caliphs (Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman & Ali). As Islam spread throughout the region and new states became part of the Islamic dominion under the rightly guided Caliphs, Islamic sciences was the main focus rather than worldly sciences because preaching was the necessity of the time due to conversions among non-Arab populations. Hence in the Umayyad period Islamic sciences became the main focus for the learned among the Muslims, it flourished because the early Muslims were strongly attached to their faith and its studying as opposed to worldly subjects. Literary efforts were mainly focused on studying and memorizing the Quran, learning Arabic language and its grammar for studying the Quran, studying the prophetic traditions, the life of the Prophet and his actions, Islamic Laws & Rulings (Shariah & Fiqh). The teachers of this science were mainly the Prophet’s companions, their students (Taba’een) and subsequent generation of learned men, who became the major source of its dissemination among the new converts with the Islamic expansion in Greater Syria (Shaam), Iraq, Persia, North Africa & modern day Afghanistan (Khurasaan). When the companions accompanied the Prophet ﷺ, they experienced first hand knowledge of whatever was being revealed, they were eye witnesses to the Prophet's life, his sayings and background of several revelations of the Quran. However, the subsequent Muslim generations, especially the newly converted non-Arabs required access to the same knowledge and experience as the Prophet's companions. This necessity gave birth to sciencies within Islam such as Usul ul Fiqh (Isalmic Jurisprudence), ilm al-hadith (sciences of hadith - prophetic traditions), tasawwuf (science of spirituality), tasfir (Quran commentary), literature that studied technical rules of Arabic language and grammar, philology, etc.