The place and importance of the application in the critical edition process: three memories from shaykh shuaib al arna'ut

Abstract

The critical edition process is seen as one of the most important tools to work on Islamic culture and antiquities. In essence, it is a skill based on scientific knowledge, requires healthy methods and involves more than one branch. Therefore, neither the concept of takhrij and the ability to make perfect takhrij examples, nor the familiarity with manuscripts can meet the framework of the notion of critical edition alone; on the contrary more than one factor such as skill, criticism capacity and applied work must be added to these two issues in order for the critical edition to make sense and achieve its purpose. Shaykh Shuaib al Arna'ut (d. 2016) was one of the most prominent figures in this field of expertise in the Islamic world and one of the most publications on the subject. He had verified basic works of which quality and usefulness were known to its competent in many branches such as Tafsir, Hadith, History and Arabic Language. At the same time, he had worked day and night for forty years in the critical edition center he established in Amman and trained students who performed the investigation process at a high level. During our time in Amman in 1999, we had the opportunity to attend the critical edition lessons he gave us privately and recorded these lessons every week with his permission. This research is based on the aforementioned sound recordings and the preliminaries written by Shaykh Shuaib al Arna'ut books and aims to examine his views on the subject in comparison with the contents of other experts' theoretical critical edition books. The research is divided into two parts; The first part deals with the place and importance of the application in text analysis and approaches the issue from five angles: The scope and requirements of the art of critical edition, not being content with theoretical knowledge, introducing the student to the sources of the critical edition, basing the concept of the author on a solid mental basis, not hesitating to use criticism when needed. The second part of the research covers three pages selected from the diaries that we wrote in Amman and which include the scientific determinations and unique recommendations of the late Shaykh Shuaib al Arna'ut.