Tuhfat al-Mawdud bi Ahkam al-Mawlud
- Author died
- 751 AH
- Editions
- T Atayat al-Ilm · tahqiq al-Arnaut
Tuhfat al-Mawdud bi Ahkam al-Mawlud (The Gift to the Beloved Regarding the Rulings on the Newborn) is a legal and ethical treatise by the Hanbali scholar Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya (691–751 AH / 1292–1350 CE) on the jurisprudence, prophetic etiquette, and rearing of children .
Occasion and Purpose of Composition
A note recorded on the title page of the manuscript copy held at the Zahiriyya Library in Damascus relates that when a newborn was born to the author's son, Burhan al-Din, Ibn al-Qayyim possessed no worldly goods to present as a gift; he therefore composed the book and presented it to his son, stating: "I have gifted you this book, since I have no worldly possessions to give you" .
In his introduction, Ibn al-Qayyim defined the scope of the treatise as an exposition of the legal rulings concerning the child from infancy onward, including the birth-sacrifice (ʿaqīqah), head-shaving, naming, circumcision, bodily purity, moral upbringing, and the developmental stages of human creation from the initial drop of fluid (nuṭfah) until the final destination in Paradise or Hellfire .
Structure and Contents
The book is structured into seventeen chapters (abwāb) :
- The recommendation of seeking children (istihbāb ṭalab al-awlād), addressing scriptural proofs and responding to arguments favoring the reduction of offspring .
- The blameworthiness of discontent with daughters, identifying it as a pre-Islamic custom, and the virtues of raising girls .
- The recommendation of delivering glad tidings and congratulations upon birth .
- The call to prayer (adhān) in the infant's right ear and the iqāmah in the left ear .
- The practice of taḥnīk (softening a date and rubbing the newborn's palate) .
- The ʿaqīqah, its legal status, scholarly differences regarding its obligation, and associated proofs .
- Shaving the infant's head and distributing the silver equivalent of its hair in charity .
- Naming the child, including timing, paternal rights, commendable and prohibited names, and honorific surnames (kunyah) .
- Circumcision (khitān), spanning fourteen sections covering its origins, legal status for males and females, timing, physical extent, and medical aspects .
- The legal ruling on piercing the ear of male and female children .
- Rulings concerning the urine of male and female infants before weaning .
- The ritual purity status of an infant's saliva and regurgitation .
- Carrying young children during prayer .
- The recommendation of kissing and displaying affection toward children .
- Disciplining and educating children, parental duties, and treating children equitably .
- Practical principles in child rearing, habituation, physical care, and early education tailored to individual aptitudes .
- The developmental stages of the human being from embryology in the womb to entry into the afterlife .
Method and Approach
Ibn al-Qayyim employs an inductive and comparative methodology, deriving juristic and theological conclusions directly from the Quran and hadith literature while reconciling conflicting narrations . The text integrates legal hermeneutics, Arabic linguistics, and principles of jurisprudence with physiological, medical, and developmental observations concerning pregnancy, infancy, teething, and child psychology .
Abridgments and Editions
The work has received several scholarly treatments and editions:
- An abridgment entitled al-Maqṣūd min Tuḥfat al-Mawdūd li-Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah by the Shafi'i scholar Taqi al-Din Yahya ibn Muhammad ibn Yusuf al-Karmani (d. 833 AH) .
- Marginal notes and commentary by Abu Turab ʿAbd al-Tawwab ibn Qamar al-Din al-Multani (d. 1366 AH) .
- An abridgment and hadith verification by Muhammad Nasir al-Din al-Albani entitled Mukhtaṣar Tuḥfat al-Mawdūd .
The book has been printed in several critical editions, including those edited by ʿAbd al-Qadir al-Arnaʾut (Damascus, 1391 AH) and by ʿUthman ibn Jumʿah Dumayriyyah .
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