ARAB GRAMMAR CURRENTS AND PROCESSES IN BAGHDAD

Abstract

The history of Baghdad dates back to the Babylonians, and during the Islamic State period, various fairs were held in the region, which was at the crossroads of caravan routes. Until the Omer period, this region continued to exist as a tribute region. The region gained a different position with Ömer turning it into a foundation land. This small town attracted the attention of Abbasid Caliph Abu Cafer al-Mansûr (d. 158/775) with its climatic beauty as well as its geopolitical and commercial importance. He rebuilt this town in 145/762 and made it the capital of the Abbasid State. The Abbasid Caliphs, who wanted Baghdad to be a center of science, tried to bring scholars from all branches of science to Baghdad. The caliphs, like other branches of science, gave importance to the Arabic language, especially they invited the scholars of Kufa, whom they saw close and compatible with them, to Baghdad. Kisai was also invited to Baghdad, and thus the Kufe nahiv school began to settle in Baghdad, which was the center of the Abbasids. By completing the formation of the Kufe school in the hands of Kisai, he is experiencing the process of taking his place in the history of syntax as a unique syntax method. The efforts of Sîbeveyh to bring the Basra school to Baghdad made a dispute inevitable with Kisai, the imam of the Kufa school, who had established his own syntax method in Baghdad and trained his students. With the acceptance of this by the parties, the debate, which went down in the history of syntax as al-Mes'eletü'z-Zünbûriyye, on which many discussions took place. The debate ended with the defeat of Sibewayh, with the testimonies of the Arabs of Kufa, who were consulted to arbitrate on the issue in which Sîbeveyh and Kisâî disagreed, in favor of Kisâî. Sîbeveyh, who could not accept this defeat, called his student Ahfeş out of the city before entering Basra, told him what had happened there, and returned to his native Iran and died there. Ahfeş, who is very upset about the situation of his teacher, sets out for Baghdad to take revenge. Although he asks him questions in the morning prayer in order to disgrace Kisâî in front of both people and his students, Kisâî succeeds in extinguishing his sense of revenge by complimenting Ahfeş. Kisâî provides him with financial means and allows him to stay in Baghdad. At the end of this process, Ahfeş approached the Kufa method from the Basra syntax method and forgot the revenge of his teacher Sîbeveyh. He personally took part in the process of laying the foundations of the Kufe syntax school and Kisâî had the opportunity to get to know Sîbeveyh's syntax method closely by reading Sîbeveyh's al-Kitab from him. Later, another imam of the Basra school, Muberred, came to Baghdad. The imam of the Kufa school of the time, Sâleb, was disturbed by Müberred's arrival and sent two of his best students, Zeccâc(ö. 311/923) and İbn Hayyât’ı(ö. 320/932 him, to ask questions and humiliate him in front of the public. But Mübberred fascinates Zeccâc with his persuasive personality and the ills he brings to the issues of grammar. Zeccâc becomes Müberred's student now and does not return to Sâleb. Many discussions took place between Müberred and Saleb in Baghdad, and these discussions enabled the students of nahiv to hear the nahw methods of both schools from their masters. In the final analysis, they adopted a new understanding of nahiv by adopting a way in the middle of the strict and uncompromising attitude of the nahivists of Basra and the overly permissive approach of the nahivists of Kufa. This new and middle way syntax understanding, like the other two syntax schools, was named after the city of Baghdad, the city where it was born. The nahivists, who are members of the Baghdad school, made selections from the ideas of the nahivists from Basra and the nahivists of Kufe, and they signed their own unique approaches to the issues of nahiv. The prominent representatives of this new school are Ebû Ali al-Fârisî and İbn Cinnî’dir.