When someone says the word ‘alim/‘alima our mind conjures up the idea of someone who’s completed an ‘alimiyyah degree at a specialised institution of learning (college/madrasah/Darul ‘Ulum etc.), or someone who’s earned licence (ijazah) to teach to a requisite level by his/her teacher(s). Similarly, the word ‘ilm takes the meaning of ‘knowledge of Islam.’ But, a long line of discussions I’ve had on this, most recently with a Professor of Physics, led me to the think that we’ve constricted their definitions. To the extent that it’s become, I think, a sad reflection of the so-called ‘crisis of intellect’ current in Muslim discourses today.
