Dhamm al-Liwat lil-Ajri
- Author died
- 360 AH
- Editions
- Maktabat al-Qur'ān lil-Ṭab‘ wa-al-Nashr wa-al-Tawzī‘
Dhamm al-Liwat (Censure of Sodomy), also referred to as Tahrim al-Liwat (The Prohibition of Sodomy), is a treatise of hadith and legal reports by the traditionist and jurist Abu Bakr al-Ajurri (d. 360 AH / 970 CE) . It compiles scriptural evidences from the Quran and Sunnah, alongside reports from early Muslim authorities (al-salaf al-salih), regarding the severe prohibition, moral censure, and legal rulings pertaining to sodomy .
Subject and Content
The work addresses the transgression identified in Islamic sources as the act of the people of Lot ('amal qawm Lut), opening with reflections and warnings based on Quranic passages concerning the punishment inflicted on that community . Al-Ajurri organizes the treatise around chains of transmission (asānīd) to document prophetic traditions, statements of the Companions, and verdicts from Successors regarding the prohibition of the act and the legal penalties prescribed for it . Among the reports cited are judicial incidents from the early period, such as legal judgments delivered by Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr in Mecca in the presence of Abd Allah ibn Umar and Abd Allah ibn Abbas, as well as narrations warning against gaze and associated vices .
Reception and Transmission
The treatise was transmitted among hadith scholars and served as a specialized reference on moral and legal prohibitions in hadith literature . Later traditionists and commentators—including al-Bayhaqi in Shu'ab al-Iman, Ibn al-Jawzi in Dhamm al-Hawa, and Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani in al-Matalib al-'Aliyah—frequently cited and cross-referenced its specific narrations and chains .
Editions
The text has been published in modern editions, including:
- An edition edited by Majdi al-Sayyid Ibrahim, published by Maktabat al-Qur'an in Cairo (and issued as well by Dar al-Sanabil) .
- A combined volume titled Kitaban fi al-Liwat, edited by Khalid ibn Muhammad ibn 'Ali ibn 'Anbar, which brings together al-Ajurri's text with an earlier monograph of the same title by al-Haytham ibn Khalaf al-Duri (d. 307 AH), published in Riyadh (1409 AH / 1989 CE) .
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