Al-Khayr wa al-Barakah fi al-Kitab wa al-Sunnah
(Good and Blessing in the Book and Sunnah)
Muhammad Muhammadi Rayshahri
With the collaboration of Mohammad Taqdiri,
1st ed., 2002, 360 pages, Arabic
Dar al-Hadith, Qom, Iran
The present work contains a collection of Quranic verses and hadiths in which occur the two terms "khayr" (good) and "barakah" (blessing) as well as their cognates and which deal with various creedal, ethical, practical, political and social subjects.
Khayr and barakah are among the most important issues in human culture. They are the objects of endeavors of all humans regardless of their religious affiliation, who try to remove the impediments in the way of achieving them. In the author's view, Islam is nothing but a calling to the good and the laying of the groundwork for its realization and the removal of its barriers. It is owing to this fact that the Holy Quran and hadiths are replete with the cognates and synonyms of the terms khayr and barakah, relating to various creedal, ethical, practical, political and social issues. The author's aim is to bring these religious texts together in a single volume and thus make them accessible to researchers and those interested in the subject. He attempts to collect all of the hadiths relating to the subject from both Shi`ite and Sunni sources, and presents the references in the footnotes. On acessions, he tries to establish a kind of authenticity of a hadith by approving it via the help of rational and traditional indications.
The book is arranged into two parts devoted to khayr and barakah, respectively. Each part is further divided into several chapters. It starts with a preface which discusses such topics as the ability of man to recognize good and evil based on his innate nature, calling to the absolute good and knowledge, enjoining good deeds, calling to the absolute birr (good deed), the judgment of pure human conscience, the value of the judgments of the people as compared with the judgment of the conscience, the evaluation of hadiths by the conscience, and the need of intellect and conscience for revelation.
In part one, the author examines the notion of khayr (good), the recognition of khayr, enjoining khayr, and the means and consequences of good deeds and obstacles in the way of their performance, based on the Holy Quran and Hadith.
Part two discusses the Quranic verses and hadiths that relate to the factors contributing to the realization of khayr and barakah and impediments in their way. Each chapter opens with the Quranic verses, the hadiths of the Holy Prophet (PBUH), and those of the Infallible Imams (PBUT), as reported in Shi`ite and Sunni sources.
The Persian translation of the work, along with its Arabic text, is published with the following bibliographical data: Khayr and Barakah in the Holy Quran and Hadith, trans. Javad Mohaddesi, Qom: Dar al-Hadith, 2003, 664 pages.
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