أدب الدنيا والدين-ابن كثير

Adab al-Dunya wa-al-Din

Adab al-Dunyā wa’l-Dīn (أدب الدنيا والدين) by the celebrated Shāfiʿī jurist and thinker Abū al-Ḥasan al-Māwardī (d. 450 AH) is a major classical work on Islamic ethics, education, personal refinement and the proper ordering of religious and worldly life. Al-Māwardī explains that his purpose is to set out the ādāb of both religion and worldly life in a concise yet comprehensive manner, combining sound understanding with refined conduct.

The work is arranged into five major sections. The first, Adab al-ʿAql, examines the excellence and function of reason, and the relationship between reason, desire and passion. The second, Adab al-ʿIlm, discusses the virtue of knowledge, the causes of success and failure in seeking it, methods of understanding, the etiquette of the student, and the character required of scholars. The third, Adab al-Dīn, treats religious conduct, including the wisdom of religious obligation, ijtihād, the foundations of religion, worship and obedience, avoidance of sin, and maintaining a proper attitude towards the fleeting nature of worldly life.

The fourth section, Adab al-Dunyā, addresses the principles upon which a sound society and orderly worldly life depend, discussing such matters as religion, government, justice, security, prosperity and hope, as well as human character, social relations and the various means of earning a livelihood. The fifth, Adab al-Nafs, is devoted to personal moral cultivation, treating virtues and faults such as humility, pride, good character, modesty, forbearance, anger, truthfulness, lying, patience, secrecy, consultation, humour, generosity and proper manners in food, drink and dress.

A distinctive feature of the book is al-Māwardī’s method of first defining and analysing an ethical question, establishing its principles and divisions, and then supporting his discussion with textual evidence and wisdom literature. The work draws extensively upon the Qurʾān and Sunnah—containing more than six hundred hadith reports—alongside sayings of the early Muslims, maxims of sages and a substantial body of Arabic poetry. It thus combines the approaches of the jurist, traditionist and man of letters, producing a rich synthesis of Islamic religious teaching, practical ethics and classical adab.