Mudarat al-Nas li-Ibn Abi al-Dunya
- Author died
- 281 AH
- Editions
- Dar Ibn Hazm
Mudarat al-Nas li-Ibn Abi al-Dunya (Treating People with Tact) is a monograph by the Baghdadi traditionist and educator Ibn Abi al-Dunya (208–281 AH / 823–894 CE) dedicated to the ethics of social tact, affability, and enduring interpersonal harm .
Scope and Content
The work is organized as a specialized collection (juzʾ) compiled with chains of transmission (asānīd) under the opening rubric "Chapter on Treating People with Tact and Enduring Their Harm" (Bāb mudārāt al-nās wa-al-ṣabr ʿalā adhāhum) . It gathers Prophetic hadiths, reports from the Companions and Successors, wisdom sayings, and poetic verses illustrating the virtue of social diplomacy (mudārāh)—maintaining gentle speech and an accommodating demeanor without compromising religious principles .
Among its narrations is the prophetic tradition transmitted from Ibn 'Umar: الْمُسْلِمُ الَّذِي يُخَالِطُ النَّاسَ وَيَصْبِرُ عَلَى أَذَاهُمْ أَفْضَلُ مِنَ الَّذِي لَا يُخَالِطُهُمْ وَلَا يَصْبِرُ عَلَى أَذَاهُمْ ("The Muslim who mixes with people and shows patience with their harm is better than the one who does not mix with them and does not show patience with their harm") . It also records traditions declaring that tactful conduct toward people is an act of charity, alongside counsel from figures such as 'Umar ibn al-Khattab, Abu al-Dardaʾ, Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah, and Wahb ibn Munabbih on navigating social relations and managing personal grievance .
Transmission and Reception
The book was preserved and transmitted through a chain of Baghdadi and Damascene scholars originating from Ibn Abi al-Dunya's student Abu 'Ali al-Husayn ibn Safwan al-Bardha'i . Its transmission chain was recited in public readings, including an auditory session before Abu al-Hasan 'Ali ibn Abi 'Abdullah ibn al-Muqayyir at the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus in Dhu al-Hijjah 633 AH . Later scholars of ethics, hadith, and legal etiquette—including Isma'il al-Isfahani and Ibn Muflih—relied upon and quoted Ibn Abi al-Dunya's narrations from this compilation in their discussions of social conduct .
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