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Fatwa CenterRuling on reading poems of Jahiliyyah (Pre-Islamic Era of Ignorance)
Question
I am learning Arabic. To learn arabic eloquence I am reading poems of jahiliyyah which contains swears by deities and other shirk and kufr. Can I read it to learn arabic eloquence and understand quran better.
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad 
is His slave and Messenger.
Studying Arab poetry to seek help in understanding the Speech of Allah (the Quran) is a legitimate matter, and the fact that these poems contain meanings that contradict the Sharee'ah, such as a disbelief or something else, does not necessitate the prohibition of studying them and citing them. The narration of disbelief is not an act of disbelief. Ibn Muflih 
said in Al-Furoo’: “He who narrates disbelief that he hears and does not believe in it, does not become a kafir (disbeliever). Based on unanimous scholarly agreement.”
Furthermore, studying Arabic poetry is one of the important means of understanding the Glorious Quran. It was mentioned on the authority of the interpreter of the Quran, Ibn 'Abbaas 
that he said: “If you ask me about the Ghareeb al-Quran, seek it in poetry, for poetry is the collection of the Arabs”. It was reported by Ibn Al-Anbari in Al-waqf wa Al-ibtidaa'.
Hence, some scholars are of the view that studying the poetry of the pre-Islamic people is a Communal Obligation (Fardh Kifaayah). Rad Al-Muhtar by Ibn Abideen reads: Al-Shihab Al-Khafaji said: “Knowing the poetry of the people of Jahiliyyah (Pre-Islamic Era of Ignorance) and the mavens (and they are the ones who lived in epochs of the Jahiliyyah and Islam) and the Islamists by narrating it and knowing it is considered as Communal Obligation according to the jurists of Islam, because it establishes the rules of Arabic language by which the Quran and Sunnah are taught, depending on their knowledge of the rulings that distinguish the permissible from the forbidden, even though their speech might contain mistakes in the meanings, it does not contain mistakes in the words and the structure of the sentences.”
Allah knows best.
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