Mujam al-Manahi al-Lafziyyah
- Author died
- 1429 AH
- Editions
- Dar al-'Asimah lil-Nashr wa-al-Tawzi'
Mujam al-Manahi al-Lafziyyah (Dictionary of Prohibited Verbal Expressions) is a specialized lexicon compiled by the Saudi scholar Bakr Abu Zayd (d. 1429 AH / 2008 CE) to document and examine Islamic legal rulings and ethical guidelines regarding prohibited, discouraged, or objectionable words, phrases, titles, and idioms.
Scope and Subject Matter
The stated purpose of the work is to safeguard monotheism (tawhid), protect religion and personal honour, and cultivate proper verbal etiquette in accordance with Islamic teachings. In the book's preface, Abu Zayd categorizes the covered expressions into fourteen broad thematic groups:
- Expressions prohibited regarding the oneness of God, His divine names, and His attributes
- Expressions prohibited regarding the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ
- Expressions concerning the two revelations: the Quran and the Sunnah
- Expressions regarding the Companions and those who followed them
- Terms across legal topics in jurisprudence (fiqh), including acts of worship, commercial transactions, marriage, penal codes, oaths, vows, and legal testimonies
- Supplications and formulas of remembrance (adhkār)
- Heart-softening topics (riqāq), manners, and miscellaneous phrases
- Greetings, congratulations, time expressions, and places
- Names, patronymics (kunyas), and titles altered or disapproved by the Prophet ﷺ
- Names, patronymics, and titles in general
- Technical terminology
- Foreign loanwords, regional dialects, and modern coinages
- Conduct and religious innovations (bidaʻ)
Sources and Methodology
Abu Zayd collected entries from across Islamic literature, including works of Quranic exegesis (tafsīr), hadith, jurisprudence, history, and biographical literature, drawing frequently on earlier authorities such as al-Nawawi, Ibn Taymiyyah, Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah, and Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani.
The entries are arranged alphabetically. For each entry, if a specific textual prohibition from the Quran or Sunnah exists, the author cites the evidence and provides references; if the ruling is established through reasoning or scholarly deduction, he cites individual scholarly verdicts or synthesizes their consensus while listing relevant sources for further examination.
Editions and Structure
In its initial two editions, the work contained around 800 expressions, with general linguistic and conceptual notes embedded within the main alphabetical dictionary and distinguished by an asterisk.
In the third edition, completed in Medina on 3 Ramadan 1416 AH and published by Dar al-Asimah (1417 AH / 1996 CE), Abu Zayd restructured the work by separating these general linguistic notes into an independent alphabetical appendix at the end of the book entitled Fawāʼid fī al-Alfāẓ (containing approximately 250 expressions). The main lexicon of prohibited terms was expanded to approximately 1,250 entries, bringing the combined total across both parts to roughly 1,500 expressions.
Reception and Influence
The book became a primary modern reference on verbal prohibitions and influenced numerous subsequent publications focused on common linguistic mistakes and religious phraseology. Sulayman al-Kharashi later authored a dedicated supplementary work titled Al-Mustadrak ʻalā Muʻjam al-Manāhī al-Lafẓiyyah, adding further phrases and elaborations derived from classical sources.
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