Tasliyat Nufus al-Nisa wa al-Rijal inda Faqd al-Atfal
- Author died
- 795 AH
- Editions
- al-Shaykh al-Walīd ibn ‘Abd al-Raḥmān al-Firyān
Tasliyat Nufus al-Nisa wa al-Rijal inda Faqd al-Atfal (Consoling the Souls of Women and Men upon the Loss of Children) is a short treatise by the Hanbali scholar Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali (736–795 AH / 1335–1393 CE) addressing the spiritual virtues and divine rewards promised to parents who lose young children .
Subject and Contents
The treatise is structured around the commentary on a prophetic tradition recorded in the two Sahih collections of al-Bukhari and Muslim on the authority of Abu Sa'id al-Khudri . In the report, women approached the Prophet ﷺ saying that men had monopolized access to him, requesting a dedicated day for instruction; he designated a day for them, and during his admonition stated: مَا مِنْكُنَّ امْرَأَةٌ تُقَدِّمُ ثَلاَثَةً مِنْ وَلَدِهَا، إِلَّا كَانَ لَهَا حِجَابًا مِنَ النَّارِ ("There is no woman among you who loses three of her children except that they will be a shield for her against the Fire"), to which a woman asked: "And two?", and he answered: وَاثْنَتَيْنِ ("And two") .
From the context of this tradition, Ibn Rajab draws legal and social deductions regarding the gathering of men and women, explaining that women in the prophetic era did not mix with men in general study and reminder circles, but attended nighttime congregational prayers at the back of the mosque and Eid gatherings behind the men . He cites the statement of al-Hasan al-Basri characterizing the mixing of men and women in gatherings as an innovation (bid'a) . The text then focuses on consoling grieving parents by elucidating the rewards of patience (sabr) and seeking God's reward (ihtisab) upon the death of offspring .
Manuscript Transmission and Publication
The work survived in a single manuscript copy contained within a composite codex (majmu') preserved at the Fatih Library in Istanbul under shelf mark MS 5318 . The manuscript comprises six folios written in a clear Naskh hand at nineteen lines per page, transcribed in 893 AH by the scribe 'Isa ibn 'Ali al-Hawrani, explicitly attributing the treatise to Zayn al-Din Abu al-Faraj 'Abd al-Rahman ibn Rajab al-Hanbali .
The text was critically edited by al-Walid ibn 'Abd al-Rahman al-Faryan and published in Majallat al-Buhuth al-Islamiyyah (Issue 23, 1408–1409 AH / 1988–1989 CE), and subsequently issued in modern book editions and included in collections of Ibn Rajab's treatises .
Answer updated