al-Najat al-Najat ya Ibad Allah

al-Najat al-Najat ya Ibad Allah (Salvation, Salvation, O Servants of God) is a concise Arabic theological and ethical treatise by the scholar Abu Bakr al-Jazairi (d. 1439 AH / 2018 CE) outlining the foundational tenets of faith, the deeds beloved to God, and the prohibited sins that lead to spiritual ruin al-Najat al-Najat ya Ibad…+1.

Purpose and Theme

The author composed the work as a direct exhortation to seekers of salvation, emphasizing that the hour of entering the grave is near and the reckoning before God is impending al-Najat al-Najat ya Ibad…. He states that human happiness and misery depend on specific causes and actions: happiness arises from sound faith and righteous deeds, whereas wretchedness stems from polytheism (shirk) and evil actions al-Najat al-Najat ya Ibad…. In the conclusion, al-Jazairi notes that he frequently reiterated in his teaching circles that God has things He loves (mahabb) and things He detests (makarih), and that piety and soul-purification (tazkiyat al-nafs) are achieved only by practicing the former and abstaining from the latter al-Najat al-Najat ya Ibad…. Observing widespread ignorance among lay Muslims, he compiled these essentials into a short, accessible manual al-Najat al-Najat ya Ibad…+1.

Structure and Contents

The treatise is organized into an introduction, two main parts comprising two sections each, and a conclusion al-Najat al-Najat ya Ibad…+1:

• Part One: On Faith (al-Iman)

  • Section One: Defines faith as affirmation of God and everything conveyed by Him and His Messenger ﷺ, established upon its six essential pillars: belief in God as the sole Lord and deity, His angels, His revealed scriptures, His messengers, the Last Day, and divine decree (al-qadar), both its good and bad al-Najat al-Najat ya Ibad…. Sound faith is described as the life-giving spirit of the human being, without which one is spiritually dead al-Najat al-Najat ya Ibad….
  • Section Two: Distinguishes the sincere believer from the false believer, explaining that true faith manifests in loving what God and His Messenger love and performing it according to one's ability, while hating and shunning what they dislike, unless compelled under duress (ikrah) al-Najat al-Najat ya Ibad….

• Part Two: On What God Loves and What He Dislikes

  • Section One: Details twenty-six deeds, virtues, and spiritual states beloved to God and His Messenger, providing textual evidence for each al-Najat al-Najat ya Ibad…+1. These include patience (sabr), excellence in worship (ihsan), God-fearing piety (taqwa), reliance upon God (tawakkul), fasting, repentance, supplication (du'a), remembrance of God (dhikr), seeking refuge (isti'adha), righteous deeds, justice, fulfilling covenants, truthfulness, charity, commanding right and forbidding wrong, chastity, love for God's sake, sincerity (ikhlas), devotion (qunut), humility (khushu'), pardon and forgiveness, noble character, spending in God's path, acquiring religious knowledge, filial piety toward parents, and performing prayer, Hajj, and 'Umrah al-Najat al-Najat ya Ibad…+2.
  • Section Two: Outlines twenty-six prohibited traits and sins detested by God, warning against their worldly and otherworldly consequences al-Najat al-Najat ya Ibad…+1. These encompass polytheism (shirk), fornication (zina), usury (riba), oppression and injustice (zulm), theft, fraud and deception (ghishsh), lying, ostentation (riya'), deceit (khuda'), backbiting (ghayba), tale-bearing (namima), arrogance (kibr), envy (hasad), treachery (khiyana), spying (tajassus), harboring hatred against believers, reviling others, murder, bad character, bribery, abandoning the Muslim community, ruling by other than what God revealed, denying or lying against God and His Messenger, declaring forbidden things permissible, drinking intoxicants, gambling and sorcery, and extravagance (israf) al-Najat al-Najat ya Ibad…+2.

In the conclusion, the author provides summary lists of the beloved virtues and detested vices for readers to memorize, reiterating that true prosperity lies in purifying the soul through compliance with divine commands al-Najat al-Najat ya Ibad…+2.