al-Targhib fi al-Dua wa al-Hath Alayhi li Abd al-Ghani al-Maqdisi
- Author died
- 600 AH
- Editions
- Dar Ibn Hazm
al-Targhib fi al-Dua wa al-Hath Alayhi (Encouragement and Exhortation Toward Supplication) is a hadith tract by the Hanbali scholar Abd al-Ghani al-Maqdisi (d. 600 AH / 1203 CE) devoted to prophetic traditions and early narrations on the merit, etiquette, and importance of supplication (dua).
Content and Method
The work compiles narrations encouraging believers to supplicate to God, illustrating its spiritual merit and addressing the efficacy of prayer. Abd al-Ghani al-Maqdisi documents each tradition with full chains of transmission (isnad) received from his direct teachers across scholarly centers, such as Ibn al-Batti (Abu al-Fath Muhammad ibn Abd al-Baqi) in Baghdad, Abu al-Makarim al-Mubarak ibn Muhammad al-Badharani, Abu Bakr Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn al-Naqqur, Abu al-Ma'ali Umar ibn Bunayman al-Mustamli, and Umm al-Hasan Fatimah bint Ali al-Wiqayati.
Among the traditions recorded in the collection are:
- لَيْسَ شَيْءٌ أَكْرَمَ عَلَى اللَّهِ مِنَ الدُّعَاءِ ("Nothing is more noble in the sight of God than supplication").
- الدُّعَاءُ هُوَ الْعِبَادَةُ ("Supplication is worship itself"), followed by the recitation of the verse وَقَالَ رَبُّكُمُ ادْعُونِي أَسْتَجِبْ لَكُمْ ("And your Lord says, 'Call upon Me; I will respond to you'").
- مَنْ لَمْ يَدْعُ اللَّهَ غَضِبَ عَلَيْهِ ("Whoever does not call upon God incurs His anger").
- الدُّعَاءُ سِلَاحُ الْمُؤْمِنِ وَعِمَادُ الدِّينِ وَنُورُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ ("Supplication is the weapon of the believer, the pillar of religion, and the light of the heavens and the earth").
- سَلُوا اللَّهَ مِنْ فَضْلِهِ فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ يُحِبُّ أَنْ يُسْأَلَ وَأَفْضَلُ الْعِبَادَةِ انْتِظَارُ الْفَرَجِ ("Ask God of His bounty, for God loves to be asked, and the best form of worship is waiting for relief").
Transmission and Manuscripts
The transmission chain of the book was preserved through subsequent generations of hadith transmitters; notably, Muhammad ibn Sulayman al-Rudani records his transmission of the text back through Fakhr al-Din Ibn al-Bukhari directly from the author, alongside other specialized treatises by Abd al-Ghani al-Maqdisi.
Manuscript copies of the treatise have survived in repositories such as the Zahiriyya Library in Damascus (registered under hadith no. 164/79), with microfilm and cataloged copies preserved at the Institute of Arabic Manuscripts in Cairo, the Central Library in Riyadh, the King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies, and the Islamic University of Madinah.
Printed Editions
The treatise has been published in several edited versions, including:
- An edition edited by Muhammad ibn Hasan (Mataabi' Ibn Taymiyyah, Cairo, 1411 AH / 1991 CE).
- An edition edited by Falih al-Saghir (Dar al-Asimah, Riyadh, 1417 AH / 1996 CE).
- An edition edited by Fawwaz Ahmad Zamarli (Dar Ibn Hazm, Beirut).
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