Rick McCallister wrote:
My understanding is that Jahiyliya means "ignorance" and
refers to pre-Qur'anic times.
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Ishinan's response: Indeed
al-gaahiyliyah means "ignorance". But it is in this period that the Qur'aan
was revealed. Hence, the language of the Qur'aan is de facto the language of the
gaahiyliyah.
From a linguistic point of view, it is the period where
the pure Arabic tongue al-Lughah al-faSiyHah reigned supreme. Linguistically speaking, Classical Arabic spans the gaahiyliyah
period, the Mukhadram phase which technically
extended through the dawn of Islam and continued into the early and middle
Umayyad period (7th century to early 8th century).
This was followed briefly
by the Islamiyy phase (or Late Umayyad and early `Abbasid
periods) lasting up to the building of Baghdad and daar al-Hikmah (house
of Wisdom). Finally, the Muwwallad period (the `Abbasid period
or post classical Arabic). This latter period was marked by the
influx of many non Arabic speakers into the fold of Islam, a
process that led to rapid decline of the Classical Language.
In all my posts, whenever Arabic is mentioned,
it is always in reference to the Classical Arabic period.
Hope this helps
Ishinan
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