Silence and Speech Etiquette

« previous article | next article »

DC Field	Value
dc.identifier	ECF_article_273
dc.title	Silence and Speech Etiquette. A Contribution to the Study of Islamic Ethics
dc.contributor.author	Zilio Grandi Ida
dc.publisher	Edizioni Ca’ Foscari - Digital Publishing
dc.type	Research Article
dc.language.iso	en
dc.identifier.uri	http://edizionicafoscari.it/en/edizioni4/riviste/annali-di-ca-foscari-serie-orientale/2016/1/silence-and-speech-etiquette/
dc.description.abstract	When speaking of silence, the Koran employs three different verbal roots (ṣ-m-t, s-k-t, n-ṣ-t); on the basis of this linguistic profusion, Arabic Islamic culture has elaborated a complex conception of silence, which embraces an element of abstention, linking it to passivity and stillness, and a cognitive element, linking it to listening and learning. The exegetical corpus and above all the moral literature, represented here chiefly by the learned Sunnite Ibn Abī al-Dunyā of Baghdad (d. 281/894)’s Kitāb al-ṣamt wa ādāb al-lisān, equate silence with verbal discipline and award it the status of an Islamic value, to the extent that it is posited as an optimal attitude in the believer’s relation with God and with other members of the Islamic community.
dc.relation.ispartof	Annali di Ca’ Foscari. Serie orientale
dc.relation.ispartof	Vol. 52 \| June 2016
dc.issued	2016-06-30
dc.dateAccepted	2016-03-17
dc.dateSubmitted	2015-11-20
dc.identifier.issn
dc.identifier.eissn	2385-3042
dc.rights	Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License
dc.rights.uri	http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.identifier.doi	10.14277/2385-3042/AnnOr-52-16-1
dc.peer-review	yes
dc.subject	Ibn Abī al-Dunyā
dc.subject	Ibn Abī al-Dunyā
dc.subject	Koran
dc.subject	Koran
dc.subject	Silence
dc.subject	Silence

Research Article
open access peer reviewed

A Contribution to the Study of Islamic Ethics

Ida Zilio Grandi Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia, Italia

VIEW PDF DOWNLOAD PDF

abstract

When speaking of silence, the Koran employs three different verbal roots (ṣ-m-t, s-k-t, n-ṣ-t); on the basis of this linguistic profusion, Arabic Islamic culture has elaborated a complex conception of silence, which embraces an element of abstention, linking it to passivity and stillness, and a cognitive element, linking it to listening and learning. The exegetical corpus and above all the moral literature, represented here chiefly by the learned Sunnite Ibn Abī al-Dunyā of Baghdad (d. 281/894)’s Kitāb al-ṣamt wa ādāb al-lisān, equate silence with verbal discipline and award it the status of an Islamic value, to the extent that it is posited as an optimal attitude in the believer’s relation with God and with other members of the Islamic community.

Published

June 30, 2016

Accepted

March 17, 2016

Submitted

Nov. 20, 2015

Language

Keywords: Koran • Silence • Ibn Abī al-Dunyā

permalink http://doi.org/10.14277/2385-3042/AnnOr-52-16-1

Copyright: © 2016 Ida Zilio Grandi. This is an open-access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction is permitted, provided that the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. The license allows for commercial use. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

References to this chapter

How to cite