On Tuesday, May 27, 2025, the College of Education for Human Sciences at Ibn Rushd, University of Baghdad, hosted a doctoral thesis defense titled “Fame as a Critical Criterion in Literary Encyclopedic Works until the End of the 4th Hijri Century.” The research was conducted by Ghufran Jabar Shamkhi from the Department of Arabic Language, specializing in literature.

Discussion Committee

The defense was chaired by Professor Dr. Ahood Abdulwahid, with Professor Dr. Suzan Saib serving as supervisor and member. The committee included a distinguished panel of faculty members from the department, with external members Professor Dr. Ikhlas Muhammad from the College of Arts/University of Baghdad and Professor Dr. Talib Awid from the College of Arts/Al-Mustansiriya University.

Research Objectives

The thesis aimed to:

  • Investigate the reasons behind the circulation of poets and their verses during the early Abbasid period.

  • Analyze the critical and literary criteria that contributed to the fame of these poets.

  • Differentiate between summarizing a hadith, summarizing works, and condensing commentaries.

  • Study the methods, types, and forms of summarization employed in modern hadith commentaries.

  • Highlight the distinctive hadith craftsmanship in both the chain (isnad) and text (matn) of these abridged commentaries.

Key Findings

The study concluded several significant points:

  • Summarization is a distinctive feature of the Arabic language, setting it apart from other languages.

  • It serves as a methodological tool employed by authors to streamline their works or commentaries, aiming to facilitate understanding and engage readers without causing fatigue or deviating from the original subject matter.

  • Scholars have utilized summarization as a method in authorship and classification across various Islamic sciences, particularly in hadith studies.

This study provides valuable insights into the development of critical criteria in classical Arabic literature and underscores the role of fame as a critical standard in evaluating poets and their works.

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