With the advent of Islam and the beginning of Revelation, a new class rose to prominence in the Islamic community that came to be known as the ghurra' (the Readers of the Qur'an). They were ranked among the prominent and the elite in the Muslim community. To know the ghurra' and examine their role in the cultural and political developments of the 1ST century A.H. is the main point of this discussion. From the cultural point of view, the ghurra' were the leaders of thought and pioneers of production and spread of different branches of knowledge such as the Qur'an and its interpretation, figh'h (law), hadith (the Prophet's tradition), history and Arab literature in the Islamic civilization. With their presence in newly - conquered regions, they played an important role in the conquerd people's conversion to Islam. In their relations with governments, sometiomes they lent them support giving them legitimacy and strengthening their positions. At other times, they criticized them and protested their actions even to the extent of confrontation; thus sustaining different kinds of sufferings, some being imprisoned and beaten, others being lynched or sent into exile.
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