Majlis fi al-Tawadu lil-Jawhari
- Author died
- 454 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-Bashā’ir al-Islāmiyyah
Majlis fi al-Tawadu (Session on Humility) is a short hadith dictation booklet by the Baghdad hadith scholar Abu Muhammad al-Jawhari (d. 454 AH / 1062 CE) containing prophetic traditions, scholarly reports, and verses on the virtue of humility (التواضع) .
Context and Transmission
The work represents a single dictation session (مجلس إملاء) and is recorded as the eighth session among al-Jawhari's dictations (Amali) . It is also referred to in transmission records as Majlis Fadl al-Tawadu .
Its primary line of transmission passes from al-Jawhari through Abu Talib Abd al-Qadir ibn Muhammad ibn Yusuf, from whom it was related by Abu al-Qasim Yahya ibn As'ad ibn Bawsh al-Azaji . It was transmitted through direct hearing by scholars such as Abu Ja'far Muhammad ibn Abd al-Karim Ibn al-Sayyidi and Abu Muhammad Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi al-Fahm al-Yaldani, and by authorization (إجازة) to Abu al-Abbas Ahmad ibn Abi al-Khayr Salamah ibn Ibrahim al-Haddad, from whom it was heard by Yusuf ibn al-Zaki al-Mizzi . Another transmission route runs through Ahmad ibn al-Hasan ibn al-Banna to Umar ibn Muhammad ibn Tabarzad .
Content and Structure
The session comprises narrations with isnads to early authorities and the Prophet ﷺ regarding humility:
- It includes traditions defining the essence of humility, such as a report from al-Hasan al-Basri stating that humility is for a person to leave his house and not meet any Muslim without regarding himself beneath him .
- It records a statement transmitted from Yahya ibn Abi Kathir identifying the pinnacle of humility as three practices: accepting a modest seat in gatherings, initiating greetings with peace (السلام) to whomever one meets, and disliking praise, fame, and ostentation through piety .
- It features prophetic hadiths on the reward of humility, including the narration transmitted through Ahmad ibn Ja'far al-Qati'i on the authority of Abu Hurayra that the Prophet ﷺ said: ما أحد تواضع إلا رفعه الله ("No one humbles himself except that Allah elevates him") .
- The session concludes with poetic verses on humility, death, and detachment from worldly ambition attributed to Ali ibn Abi Talib .
Publication
The text was edited by Husayn Ayat Sa'id and published by Dar al-Basha'ir al-Islamiyyah in Beirut (first edition, 1428 AH / 2007 CE) as part of the Liqa' al-Ashr al-Awakhir bi-al-Masjid al-Haram series (no. 106) .
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