Istina al-Maruf li-Ibn Abi al-Dunya
- Author died
- 281 AH
- Editions
- Dar Ibn Hazm
Istina al-Maruf (Performing Acts of Beneficence) is an ethical and hadith treatise by the Baghdadi scholar and traditionist Ibn Abi al-Dunya (208–281 AH / 823–894 CE), compiled to encourage charity, kindness, and assisting others .
Subject and Contents
The work gathers prophetic hadiths, narrations of the Companions, statements of early ascetic figures, and poetic verses centered on doing good and aiding people in need . Ibn Abi al-Dunya arranges the material under topical chapter headings, including:
- Bab Fadl Istina al-Maruf (Chapter on the Virtue of Performing Acts of Beneficence)
- Bab Istina al-Maruf ila Man Huwa Ahluh (Chapter on Performing Acts of Beneficence to Those Deserving of It)
- Bab fi al-Hawaij (Chapter on Fulfilling Needs)
- Bab fi Shukr al-Sani'ah (Chapter on Showing Gratitude for Favors)
Among the recurring traditions cited in the book are the sayings of the Prophet ﷺ: كُلُّ مَعْرُوفٍ صَدَقَةٌ ("Every act of kindness is charity"), فِعْلُ الْمَعْرُوفِ يَقِي مَصَارِعَ السُّوءِ ("Doing good protects against evil ends"), and أَهْلُ الْمَعْرُوفِ فِي الدُّنْيَا أَهْلُ الْمَعْرُوفِ فِي الْآخِرَةِ ("The people of good deeds in this world are the people of good deeds in the Hereafter") . It also includes narrations transmitted on the authority of companions such as Abd Allah ibn Abbas, Abd Allah ibn Umar, Abu Sa'id al-Khudri, and Hudhayfah ibn al-Yaman .
Transmission and Reception
The treatise was preserved and transmitted through classical chains of hadith transmission. A primary chain recorded in its manuscripts runs from Ibn Abi al-Dunya through his direct student Abu Ali al-Husayn ibn Safwan al-Bardha'i, then Abu al-Husayn Ali ibn Muhammad ibn Abd Allah ibn Bishran al-Mu'addal, Abu al-Hasan Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Khabbaz, Abu Mansur Mas'ud ibn Abd al-Wahid ibn Muhammad ibn al-Husayn, down to the Baghdadi traditionist Abu al-Hasan Ali ibn Abi Abd Allah ibn al-Muqayyir (audited in late Dhu al-Hijjah 632 AH) .
Another transmission recorded by Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani runs through Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn Salman al-Najjar from Ibn Abi al-Dunya, then through Abu al-Hasan Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Rizqawayh, Muhammad ibn Abd al-Malik al-Razzaz, Abu al-Qasim Ismail ibn Ahmad al-Samarqandi, Musa ibn Sa'id al-Hashimi, al-Miqdad ibn Abi al-Qasim al-Qaysi, down to Izz al-Din Muhammad ibn al-Izz Ibrahim ibn Abd Allah ibn Abi Umar .
The book was frequently cited by later hadith scholars and ethical compilers, including Isma'il al-Isbahani in al-Targhib wa-l-Tarhib and Abd al-Azim al-Mundhiri in his compilation of the same name .
Publication
The work was edited by Muhammad Khayr Ramadan Yusuf and published in a single volume by Dar Ibn Hazm in Beirut in 1422 AH / 2002 CE .
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