Al-Birr wa al-Sila li-Ibn al-Jawzi
- Author died
- 597 AH
- Editions
- Mu’assasat al-Kutub al-Thaqāfiyyah
Al-Birr wa al-Sila (Piety and Maintaining Kinship Ties) is an ethical and hadith work by the Hanbali scholar and preacher Ibn al-Jawzi (d. 597 AH / 1201 CE), dedicated to the virtues, obligations, and manners of filial piety and family relations.
Purpose and Composition
Ibn al-Jawzi explains in his introduction that he was prompted to compile the book after observing the youth of his era neglecting their duties toward their parents, raising their voices against them, failing to regard obedience as an obligation, severing ties of kinship, withholding charity from the impoverished, and disregarding virtuous conduct. Seeking to admonish the heedless and remind the resolute, he assembled rational arguments (al-ma‘qulat) alongside transmitted textual proofs (al-manqulat) detailing the rewards for fulfilling these duties and the punishments for abandoning them.
Structure and Content
The work is arranged systematically into chapters and sections (fusul wa abwab) and relies on prophetic traditions, historical narrations (athar), and moral reasoning, frequently cited with chains of transmission through Ibn al-Jawzi's own teachers, such as Muhammad ibn Nasir and Abd al-Wahhab al-Anmati.
The opening chapter addresses the rational obligation of gratitude toward one's benefactors, highlighting the unique sacrifices of mothers during pregnancy and upbringing, as well as fathers through provision and care. Subsequent chapters detail the spiritual and worldly rewards of filial devotion—such as the prolongation of life—and set forth practical etiquette: obeying parents in matters that do not involve sin, prioritizing their requests over voluntary worship, providing financial support, refraining from raising one's voice or addressing them by their first names, and walking behind or to the right of one's father. The author also provides historical accounts of early figures renowned for exceptional devotion to their mothers, including the Companions Uthman ibn Affan, Haritha ibn al-Numan, and Abu Hurayrah, as well as Successors such as Muhammad ibn Sirin.
Manuscripts and Editions
Manuscripts of the text are preserved in several libraries under titles including Al-Birr wa al-Sila and Risala fi Birr al-Walidayn:
- A copy in Dar al-Kutub al-Misriyya in Cairo (MS 118/1 [63 m majami']).
- A manuscript in the Zahiriyya Library in Damascus (MS 1145, comprising 53 folios).
- A copy in the Chester Beatty Library in Dublin (MS 3945), transcribed by Yusuf ibn Muhammad al-Sawmari in 735 AH.
The text has been published in multiple modern editions, notably edited by Adil Ahmad 'Abd al-Mawjud and 'Ali Muhammad Mu'awwad (Cairo: Maktabat al-Sunna, 1413 AH / 1993 CE; and Beirut: Mu'assasat al-Kutub al-Thaqafiyya, 1413 AH / 1993 CE), and an edition edited by Muhammad 'Abd al-Qadir 'Ata titled Birr al-Walidayn (Beirut: Mu'assasat al-Kutub al-Thaqafiyya, 1408 AH).
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