al-Tibyan fi Adab Hamalat al-Quran
- Author died
- 676 AH
- Editions
- Dār Ibn Ḥazm lil-Ṭibā‘ah wal-Nashr wal-Tawzī‘
al-Tibyan fi Adab Hamalat al-Quran (The Clarification on the Etiquettes of the Bearers of the Quran) is a handbook on the virtues, manners, and legal rulings governing the recitation, memorization, teaching, and handling of the Quran, authored by the Shafi'i jurist and traditionist Abu Zakariyya Yahya ibn Sharaf al-Nawawi (631–676 AH / 1233–1277 CE) .
Background and Composition
In his introduction, al-Nawawi noted that earlier scholars had authored extensive treatises on the virtues and manners of Quranic recitation, but interest in memorizing or even reading large works had waned . Observing that the inhabitants of Damascus were widely dedicated to reciting, studying, and teaching the Quran day and night—both individually and in groups—he resolved to compile a concise, accessible manual detailing the proper conduct of students, teachers, and memorizers of the Quran to fulfill the religious duty of offering sincere counsel (nasihah) toward the Book of God . According to manuscript colophons, al-Nawawi commenced drafting the treatise on Thursday, 12 Rabi' al-Awwal 666 AH, and completed it on the morning of Thursday, 3 Rabi' al-Akhar 666 AH .
Structure and Contents
The work is organized into ten chapters (abwab), with the fourth, fifth, and sixth chapters forming the primary core of the treatise :
- Virtues of Quran recitation and its bearers (fi fadilat tilawatihi wa-hamlatih) .
- Preference of recitation and the reciter (fi tarjih al-qira'ah wa-l-qari') .
- Honoring the people of the Quran (fi ikram ahl al-Quran) .
- Etiquette of the teacher and the learner (fi adab al-mu'allim wa-l-muta'allim), focusing on sincere intention (ikhlas), humility, and pedagogic duties .
- Etiquette of the bearer of the Quran (fi adab hamil al-Quran), detailing personal conduct, moral character, and detachment from worldly distractions .
- Etiquette of recitation (fi adab al-qira'ah), addressing ritual purity, tooth-stick (siwak) usage, facing the qiblah, recitational speed, weeping, and juristic details of reading in or out of ritual impurity .
- Etiquette of all people toward the Quran (fi adab al-nas kullihim ma'a al-Quran) .
- Recommended verses and surahs in specific times and circumstances (fi al-ayat wa-l-suwar al-mustahabbah fi awqat wa-ahwal makhsusah) .
- Writing the Quran and venerating the physical codex (fi kitabat al-Quran wa-ikram al-mushaf) .
- Lexical vocalization and definitions (fi dabt alfaz al-kitab), where the author defines obscure words and names found in the text .
Abridgments, Translations, and Influence
Al-Nawawi prepared an abridgment of the work titled Mukhtar al-Tibyan (also referenced as Mukhtasar al-Tibyan) . The book was translated into Persian by Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Abi Sa'id al-Iji under the title Hadiqat al-Bayan .
Later authorities drew heavily upon al-Tibyan. Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti incorporated and expanded upon its rulings in the thirty-fifth section of his Quranic compendium al-Itqan fi Ulum al-Quran . The 20th-century scholar Ali al-Dabba also abridged materials from al-Tibyan and al-Itqan in his Fath al-Karim al-Mannan fi Adab Hamalat al-Quran . Early printings of the text appeared alongside works on pause and initiation, such as the margins of Manar al-Huda fi Bayan al-Waqf wa-l-Ibtida .
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