Fadilat al-Shukr Lillah ala Nimatihi
- Author died
- 327 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-Fikr
Fadilat al-Shukr Lillah ala Nimatihi (The Virtue of Gratitude to God for His Blessing) is a collection of hadiths and ethical reports compiled by Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Ja'far al-Kharaiti (d. 327 AH / 939 CE), focusing on the virtues, manners, and obligations of gratitude toward God and people .
Title and Contents
The work is recorded under titles including Fadilat al-Shukr Lillah ala Nimatihi wa-Ma Yajib min al-Shukr lil-Mun'am Alayh and Fadilat al-Shukr Lillah (Azza wa-Jall) ala Niamihi wa-Ma Yajib ala al-Mar' min al-Shukr lil-Mun'am Alayhi fi al-Shukr Lillah (Azza wa-Jall) ala Niamihi wa-Ma fi Dhalika min al-Thawab .
The text is structured around transmitted prophetic traditions, companion reports (athar), and sayings of early Muslim figures detailing:
- The spiritual merit and reward of thanking God and continually praising Him (al-hamd) for outward and inward blessings .
- Specific invocations and supplications of praise, such as prayers recited upon witnessing someone afflicted with trial, formulas taught to earlier prophets like Moses and Noah, and expressions of gratitude at meals and daily activities .
- The relationship between gratitude and faith, including narrations characterizing faith as being divided between patience (sabr) and gratitude (shukr) .
- The duty of acknowledging favors received from people and returning thanks or prayers to those who bestow kindness .
Transmission and Method
Al-Kharaiti transmitted the contents of the book with full chains of narration (isnad), citing traditional teachers such as al-Abbas ibn Muhammad al-Duri, Ahmad ibn Abd al-Khaliq al-Duba'i in Karkh Surra Man Ra'a, and Nasr ibn Dawud .
Manuscript transmissions trace the reading of the book from al-Kharaiti through Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Uthman al-Sulami (in Muharram 405 AH), down to Abu al-Hasan Ahmad ibn Abd al-Wahid ibn Muhammad ibn Abi al-Hadid al-Sulami, Abu Muhammad Abd Allah ibn Ahmad al-Samarqandi (in Rabi' al-Akhar 512 AH), and Abu al-Qasim Dhakir ibn Kamil al-Khaffaf .
Reception and Editions
The book served as a reference on the subject of shukr in later Islamic scholarship; authors such as Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti cited its traditions in al-Durr al-Manthur .
A notable printed edition of the work, edited by Muhammad Muti' al-Hafiz and Abd al-Karim al-Yafi, was published by Dar al-Fikr in Damascus in 1402 AH / 1982 CE .
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