al-Nasiha al-Kafiya liman Khassahu Allah bil-Afiya
- Author died
- 899 AH
- Editions
- al-Nasiha al-Kafiya liman Khassahu Allah bil-Afiya
al-Nasiha al-Kafiya liman Khassahu Allah bil-Afiya (The Sufficient Counsel for Whomever God Has Singled Out with Well-Being) is a treatise on Islamic ethics, spiritual counsel, and Sufism by the Moroccan Maliki jurist and Sufi master Ahmad Zarruq (846–899 AH / 1442–1493 CE) .
Subject and Structure
The work is framed around the prophetic tradition: الدين النصيحة ("Religion is sincere counsel") . In its opening, Ahmad Zarruq articulates the nature of sincere counsel as an integral component of faith and certainty, structuring its duties across the categories outlined in the hadith :
- Counsel to God: By obeying His commandments, supporting His religion, and submitting to His decrees .
- Counsel to His Messenger ﷺ: By following his Sunnah, honoring his family, and showing compassion toward his community .
- Counsel to His Book: By contemplating its verses, abiding by its directives, and reciting it properly .
- Counsel to the common Muslims: By defending their honor, respecting their inviolability, and assisting them in all circumstances .
- Counsel to their elite: By obeying rulers except in matters of clear prohibition, following scholars except where valid knowledge does not support their stance, and deferring to spiritual aspirants (al-fuqara') where censure is not obligatory .
The book embodies Zarruq's characteristic approach of reconciling the outward precepts of Islamic jurisprudence (shari'a) with spiritual practice (haqiqa), offering guidelines on ethical conduct, spiritual wayfaring, and vigilance against religious excess .
Related Works and Transmission
Zarruq prepared a concise abridgment of the text titled Mukhtasar al-Nasiha al-Kafiya . The book received continued scholarly engagement in later centuries:
- A commentary was written on it by Wali al-Din al-Fanari, as recorded by Hajji Khalifa .
- The Moroccan scholar Ali ibn Ahmad al-Hurayshi al-Fasi (d. c. 1143 AH) authored a dedicated verification and indexing of its traditions titled Takhrij ahadith al-Nasiha al-Kafiya liman Khassahu Allah bil-Afiya .
Manuscript copies of the treatise are preserved in several collections, including the General Library and the Qarawiyyin Library in Morocco, the National Library of Tunisia, Dar al-Kutub in Cairo, and libraries in Europe . It was published in an early lithograph edition in Cairo in 1281 AH (1864 CE) .
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