Islamic Fadā'il ("Excellences") and associated literatures.

IN PROGRESS AND CORRECTION 2009-10

Stephen N. Lambden (Ohio Unversity; UC Merced).

"There is a voluminous literature in Islam called faḍā'il or manaqib ("virtues" or "excellences") that praises the merits of reciting the Qur'an, of the Companions of the Prophet, the performance of religious duties such as hajj and jihad, and of sacred cities such as Makka, Madina, and Jerusalem.1 Initially, faḍā'il  traditions were part of hadlth compilations. Several of the sub-categories, such as faḍā'il  al-sahāba and faḍā'il  al-buldān, have been studied in some depth;  but the faḍā'il al-Qur'an literature has not received similar attention" (Afsaruddin, 2002:1).

A considerable body of  Faḍā’il (“Excellences”) literatures, often annotated Ḥadīth compendia,  grew up in the early and subsequent Islamic centuries. It grew up in celebration, for example, of the glory and excellence of Qur’an and related divine revelations and of the merits of the pious companions of the Prophet. Tracts and compilations came into being in celebration, of particular holy days, exalted persons and geographical locations, including Mecca, Medina, Syria-Palestine and Jerusalem. The presence in these literatures of biblical texts and influences is much in evidence. Lists of major faḍā’il works can be found in several Arabic and English works including, for example, Hasson, 1979:9 10 (fourteen Arabic Faḍā’il and associated works listed). See further the anthology of prophetic aḥādīth , Faḍā’il bayt al maqdīs wa’l khalīl faḍā’il al Sham compiled in the 430s/1130s by Abū al Ma`ālī al Maqdīsī (ed. Livne Kafri, 1995) and Eliad’s, Medieval Jerusalem .. (1995).

          Biblical references and Isrā’īliyyāt traditions can be found within certain works that fall within the wide‑ranging laudatory literary genre Fāḍil  (pl. Faḍā’il  `Excellences ’) (Sellheim EI2 II:728‑9).  In particular those texts relating to the historical, natural and spiritual merits of sacred places, cities or  provines and such prophets, worthies and saints as have been  associated with them (Sivan, IOS1:263). As Goitein observed in describing one aspect of this literature, "there exists a vast mass of literature on the faḍā’il al‑Quds, the religious importance of Jerusalem and Palestine" (1968:141). These works are especially associated with the `Holy Land’ (al‑arḍ al‑muqaddas  cf. Q. 5:21 Zech 2:12[16]) or with al‑Sha`m  (Syria, incorporating, Palestine, Lebanon and Syria). Traditions contained within works entitled Faḍā'il bayt al‑madqis [al‑quds]  ("The Excellences of the Sacred House [Jerusalem]") occasionally include traditions which have an apocalyptic Sitz im Leben  in a pre‑`Abbasid religio‑political situation when Syria‑Palestine was an important centre of the `Umayyad Caliphate. Regional stability was partly dependent upon the compilation and circulation of traditions upholding and delighting in the sacredness of Jerusalem and other cities such as Askelon and Acre (`Akkā’). Exhortations to dwell in these wondrous sacred places, blessed by the presence or resting places of prophets are evident in these literatures.1

            Containing ancient tradition sometimes partly reworked or engendered by the crusades, Faḍā’il   works flowered in the early 5th/11th‑12th  centuries. They continued to be rich in Jewish and  Christian texts and legends (Sellheim, `Faḍīlā’  EI2:II:728f; cf. Goldziher,1971:123f). The Faḍā'il  bayt al‑madqis   texts abound in Isrā’īliyyāt often especially those messianic and apocalyptic traditions (often transmitted by Ka`b al‑Aḥbār and Wahb b. Munabbih) that associate Jerusalem, eschatological events and the Day of Judgment. Hasson has stated that "so pronounced is this [Faḍā’il] phenomenon that it could only have resulted from a steady incorporation of the traditions of the Peoples of the Book (Jews and Christians) over a long period of time until they formed an integral part of the ḥadīth   literature, stories of the prophets and even history books" (Hasson, 1981:170‑1; see further Sellheim EI2 II:728f; Hasson ed. Al‑Wāsiṭī, Faḍā’il, 9‑10). 

 

GENERAL

Ernst August Gruber,

  • Verdienst und Rang: Die Fadail als literarisches und gesellschaftliches Problem in Islam, Islamkundliche Untersuchungen, vol. 35 , Freiburg: Klaus Schwarz, 1975.

 

ISLAMIC EXCELLENCES (Fadā'il)

(1) THE QUR'AN

Fadā'il al-Qur'ān ("The Excellences of the Qur'an")

Among the Fadā'il al-Qur'ān ("The Excellences of the Qur'an") [1]

Sunni Hadith -- Muslim = http://www.tanzeem.org/quran/Muslim/content30.html

 

al-Qāsim ibn Sallām ibn `Abd-Allah Abī `Ubayd al-Harawī (d. 157/224). Sunni Hadith  scholar and philologist.

  • Kitāb Faḍā'il al-Qur'ān and many other works.

  • Gharīb al-Ḥadīth,

al-Qāsim ibn Sallām ibn `Abd-Allah Abī `Ubayd al-Harawī (d. 157/224) was an early  Sunni Hadith  scholar and philologist who authored the Gharīb al-Ḥadīth,

  • Kitāb Faḍā'il al-Qur'ān  (3rd printing) Damascus-Beirut: Dār Ibn Kathīr, 1420/1999. 478pp. incl. indexes.

Abu ‘Ubayd al-Qasim ibn Sallam (ca. 773-ca. 837 ???

  • Kitab Fadā'il al-Qur'an.  ed. Marwān al-‘Atīyah, Muhsin Kharābah, Wafā' Taqī al-Dīn,  Damascus: Dar Ibn Kathir, 1995
     

Ibn Kathīr = 'Imād al-Dīn Abu'l-Fiḍā' Ismā'il ibn 'Urnar ibn Kathīr (d. 774/1373).

  • Kitab Fadā'il al-Qur'an. ed. Abu Ishāq al-Huwaynī al-Atharī.  Cairo:  Maktabat Ibn Taymīyah ; Jiddah : tawzī‘ Maktabat al-‘Ilm, 1416 /1995-6.

Nasā'ī, Ahmad ibn Shu‘ayb (d. c. 830 / 915).

  •  Fadā'i,l al-Qur'ān ed.  Fārūq Hammādah  Beirut:  al-Dār al-Baydā' : Dār al-Thaqāfah, 1980
     

  • Kitāb Faḍā'il al-Qur'ān. (3rd printing) Damascus-Beirut: Dār Ibn Kathīr, 1420/1999. 478pp. incl. indexes. SL-USA*

 

General articles

Afsaruddin, Asma :

  • The Excellences of the Qur'an: Textual Sacrality and the Organization of Early Islamic Society' in JAOS 122/1 (2002), 1-24.

___________________

Geographical Fadā'il Literatures

 

 

فضائل الشام

Fadā'il al-Sham ("The Excellences of Syria")..

"While Ibn ʿAsākir’s Syria and the Syria of the medieval Muslim geographers and travelers included the modern state of Syria, it also included the modern states of Lebanon, Jordan, and Israel and the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip—that is, everything north of the western Arabian Peninsula. In addition, medieval Muslim scholars rarely used the word “Syria” to describe the region; rather, they generally referred to it as al-Shām or bilād al-Shām (the countries or provinces of al-Shām). Ibn ʿAsākir, following in the tradition of Qurʾān exegesis, defines al-Shām as “God’s blessed or holy land lying between the town of al-ʿArīsh on the border with Egypt in the southwest and the Euphrates River in the northwest.” (James E. Lindsay, `Sarah and Hagar in Ibn ʿAsākir’s History of Damascus', p.4 [ in Medieval Encounters 14 (2008) 1-14 2008]).

  •  Fadā'il al-Sham ("The Excellences of Syria")..

Abu al-Hasan Ali al-Raba`i

  •  Fada'il al-Sham wa-Dimashq, ed. Salah al-Din al-Munajjid. Damascus: al-Majma al-Ilmi al-`Arabi, 1950.

  • On this literature see Paul M. Cobb, “Virtual Sacrality: Making Muslim Syria Sacred before the Crusades,” in

  • Medieval Encounters, 8 (2002): 35-55.

Anonymous.

  •  Fadā'il al-Shãm wa-fadā'il mudunihā wa-Bayt al-Maqdis Bibliothèque de Tübingen. mss.
     

  • Tuhfat al-Anam fi Fadā'il al-Sham by Shaykh Jalal al-Din al-Basri al-Dimashqi who composed it in 1002... Check this...

al-Azdī,  Abu Ismā‘īl Muhammad ibn `Abd-Allah al Azdī, al-Baṣrī (d. c. 190/805).

"The Futūh al-shām by Abū Ismā`īl al-Azdī is one of the earliest extant Arabic sources dealing with the Islamic conquest of Syria and is one of the few extant historical documents from the second/eighth century.... The two surviving manuscripts of Azdī's Futūh al-shām are now in the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, nos. Arabe 1664 and 1665. They comprise 82 and 149 folios, respectively. The first manuscript was copied in Jerusalem on 22 Dhū al-Hijja 613 (21 April 1217) by a Muhammad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghassānī. The second, which is clearer than the first, was copied on 1 Dhū al-Qacda 764 (12 August 1363) Arabe 1664 refers to Azdī's text under the title Kitāb mukhtaşar futūh al-shām li-l-Wāqidl (Synopsis of the Conquests of Syria by Waqidï) by Abū Ismā`īl Muhammad ibn  `Abd Allah al-Azdï al-Başrî. But this title does not appear in the other manuscript, and it seems that it was added later by one of the owners of that manuscript." (Mourad 2000: 577,   )

Lees, William Nassau (ed.,) 1853-4

  •  The Fotooh Al-Sham [= Futūḥ al-Shām, "The Conquest of Syria"]. Being An Account of the Muslim Conquests in Syria by Aboo Isma'ail Mohammad Bin `Abd Allah, Al-Azdi Al-Bacri [sic.] who flourished about the middle of the second century of the mohammadan era.  Calcutta: Bibliotheca Indica; Collection of Oriental Works (Fasciculus I-IV), 1853-4.  247pp + 58pp (index) and 43pp of English text.

  • The Fotooh al-Shám," being an account of the Moslim conquests in Syria, by ازدي، محمد بن عبد الله. al-Azdī-al-Baṡrī Muḣammad ibn 'Abd Allāh; W Nassau Lees,  Calcutta, [J. Thomas], Baptist Mission Press, 1854.  [This is apparently a second 1854 printing?).

  • Bibliotheca Indica: A Collection of Oriental Works: Volume 16: The Fotooh Al-Sham: Being an Account of the Moslim Conquests in Syria By Aboo Isma'ai'L Mohammad Bin 'Abd Allah, Al Azdi Al-Bacri Who Flourished about the Ensign W.L. Lees (ed.)  Reprint. Biblio Verlag, Osnabruck, Germany, 1980. HBk 15.5 cms x 21.5 cms.

 

  • " Azdī's Futūh al-shām also exists today in two editions. The first was published in Calcutta in 1854 by William N. Lees, who edited the work, with the title Kitāb futūh al-shām, on the basis of one slightly damaged manuscript found in India. A few pages at the beginning of that manuscript are missing or badly worm-eaten, as are another three pages in the body of the text, and few pages at the end of it..." (so Mourad -- there are now actually 3 or 4 printings of the 2 editions )...

`Abd al-Muncim `Āmir, ed. 1970.

  • Tarikh Futūḥ al-Shām   Cairo, 1970

  • "The second edition was published in Cairo in 1970 by `Abd al-Muncim `Āmir. `Āmir, not aware of the presence of the two manuscripts at the Bibliothèque Nationale, claimed to have found another manuscript in Damascus in a private library and to have based his new edition, entitled Tarīkh futūh al-shām, on it.`Āmir described the manuscript he found as complete, compared to the incomplete one Lees had published. However, by comparing both editions, it is clear that `Āmir copied Lees' text, concocting a few additions to make it appear different and more complete. Apparently, neither of the two manuscripts at the Bibliothèque Nationale seems to have been the one used by Lees, because they both contain the folios that are missing from his edition..." (Mourad 2000). 

  • New edition prepared by Lawrence Conrad (see below).

  •  

De Goej, Michael J.

  • Mémoire sur le Fotouho's-Sham attribué à Abou Ismall al-Baçri, in Mémoires d'histoire et de géographie orientales, no. 2 Leiden, 1864.

  • Mourad has shown that de Goej's "negatve criticism" of the Azdi Futuh al-Sham is misleading and inaccurate (see below).

Haneberg, D. B. 

  • Erorterungen uber Psuedo-Wakidi's Gesch. d. Eroberung Syriens, in Adademie der Wissenschaften, Munich. Philosophisch-Historische Abteilung. Abhandlungen, v. 9 (1863) p. [127] ff

Mourad, Suleiman

  • “On Early Islamic Historiography: Abu Isma‘il al-Azdi and his Futuh al-Shām (Conquests of Syria),” Journal of the American Oriental Society, 120. 4 (2000), 577–593. "

  • The aim of the following study... is to examine this book in the light of newly found evidence, mainly sources that have not been checked by modern researchers or were not available to them. An investigation of the transmission of the Azdī text, as well as the evidence it provides, establishes its authenticity, date, and provenance. Azdī's Futūh al-shām is, in fact, a late second/ eighth century compilation based on a work having the same title by Abu Mikhnaf al-Azdī (d. 157/774) of Kūfa, and hence it depended originally on material that was in circulation in Kūfa." (2000: 577).

Conrad, Lawrence.

  • "Al-Azdi’s History of the Arab Conquests in Bilad al-Shām: Some Historiographical Observations,' in M.A. Bakhit (ed)Proceedings of the Second Symposium on the History of Bilad al-Shām During the Early Islamic Period up to 40 AH/640 AD, [ed. Muhammad ‘Adnan Bakhit],  vol. 1 pp. 28-62. Amman, 1987. 

  • A new edition and translation of the Azdī text (apparently in prepartaion, see Mopurad 2000:577).

 

[Pseudo-] al-Wāqidī, Abi `Abd-Allah Muhammad ibn `Umar ibn Wāqidī (d.207/822).

"As early as the beginning of the 18th century Simon Ockley, Professor of Arabic in Cambridge, presented the conquest of Syria based on a manuscript of Waqidi's Futuh al-Sham in the first volume of his history of the Saracens (1708). Incidentally, Ockley's historical work was translated into Dutch in 1741, into German in 1746 and into French in 1748, a sign of it's popular appeal." (Rudi Paret, 1970 (ed. Donner, 2008), p.164-5)

  • The Conquest of Syria, commonly ascribed to Abou 'Abd Allah Mohammad b. `Omar al-Wāqidī, Edited with notes by W. Nassau Lees (three volumes, Calcutta 1854-62). This edition only contains the history of the conquest of Syria. The text ends with volume II p. 22 of the Cairo edition (1343/1925). So Rudi Paret 1970 (2008), 165 fn.7.

  •  

  • Mémoires sur le Fotouho's-Scham attribué a Abou Ismail al-Bārri (Leiden 1864 = Mémoires d'Histoire et de Geographie Orientales par M. J. de Goeje, n. 2).

  • Futūḥ al-Shām ("The Conquest of Syria").. 2 vols. in 1 . Cairo: XXX., 1373/1954.

  • Futūḥ al-Shām ("The Conquest of Syria").  2 vols. in 1 . Beirut : al-Maktabah al-Ahliyah, 138X/1966

  • Futūḥ al-Shām ("The Conquest of Syria").. 2 vols. in 1 . Beirut: Dar al-Jīl. n.d.. 312+310+2pp.

  • Futūḥ al-Shām ("The Conquest of Syria").. 2 vols. in 1 . Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-`Ilmiyya. 2005. 696pp.

  • The Islamic Conquest of Syria, A translation of the FutuhuShām: The inspiring history of Sahabah's conquest of Syria. Translated by Mawlana Sulayman al-Kindi, 1426 AH/2005 CE. ISBN 1-84200 06-7 5.  584pp.

  • The Islâmic conquest of Syria : a translation of Futûhushâm : the inspiring history of the Sahabâh's conquest of Syria / as narrated by the great historian of Islâm al-Imâm al-Wâqidî ; translated by Mawlânâ Sulaymân al-Kindî. London : Ta-Ha, 2005. xiv, 584 pp + maps.

 

Ibn `Abd al‑Ḥakam (ADD= 803-871 CE).

  • ed. The Expansion of the Early Islamic State (The Formation of the Classical Islamic World Vol. 5). Aldershot, Hants. : Ashgate Pulishing Ltd., 2008. 343pp.  *

 

al-Maqdisi, Muhammad ibn Ahmad (1306-1344).

  • Fadā'il al-Sham. Tanta: Dar al-Sahaba, 1988.

  •  

Malake Abiad,

  • Culture et education Arabo-Islamiques au Sam pendent les trois premier siecles de l'Islam. Damascus: Institut Francais de Damas, 1981.

`Abbas, Ihsan.

  • Ta'rikh bilad al-sham fi'l-`asr al-`abbasi, 132-255 /750-870 . Amman: Lajnat Ta'rikh bilad al-sham, 1992.
  • Ta'rikh bilad al-sham fi'l-'asr al- Umawi, 41-132 /661-750. 'Amman : Lajnat Ta'rikh bilad al-sham, 1995.
  • Ta'rikh bilad al-sham, 255-490 H/870-1097 M. Amman: Lajnat Ta'rikh bilad al-sham, 1995.
  • Ta'rikh bilad al-sham min ma qabla al-Islam hatta bidayat al-'asr al-Umawi, 600-661. Amman: Lajnat Ta'rikh bilad al-sham, 1990

Baydun, Ibrahim.

  • Ta'rikh bilad al-Sham: ishkaliyat al-mawqi' wa l-dawr fi al-'usur al- Islamiyah. Beirut: Dar al-Muntakhab al-'Arabi, 1997.

Donner, Fred M.

  • The Early Islamic Conquests. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1981.
  • The Problem of Early Arabic Historiography in Syria," in Muhammad `Andan al-Bakhit, ed. Proceedings of the Second Symposium on the History of Bilad al-Sham during the Early Islamic Period up to 40 A.H./640 A.D. The Fourth International Conference on the History of Bilad al-Sham (English and French Papers) (Amman: University of Jordan, 1987), 1-27.

 دمشق - Damascus

Ali ibn al-Ḥasan ibn Hibat Allah ibn `Abd Allah, Thiqat al-Din, Abū al-Qasim =

Ibn `Asākir al-Dimashqi al-Shafi`i al-Ash`ari (499-571/ d. 1175)

Ta'rīkh Madīnat Dimashq (=TMD).

Important papers and details of the publications history of this extensive and extremely important Arabic work can be read in  James E. Lindsay (ed), Ibn `Asakir And Early Islamic History, Princeton, New Jerdey: The Darwin Press, 2001. See especially, Suleiman A. Mourad, `Appendix A. Publication History of the TMD' pp.127-133.

  • Ta'rīkh Madīnat Dimashq. ed. `Umar ibn Gharama al-`Amrawi and `Ali Shiri. 80 vols. Beirut: Dar al-Fikr, 1995-2001. 

  • CDRom version  of the above was published in Amman (Jordan), Dar al-Turath, 200?.

  • Ta'rīkh Madīnat Dimashq. ed. `Alī Āshūr (76 vols. in) 40 vols. . Beirut: Dar al-Ihya al-Turath al-`Arabi, 2001. 

Fadā'il ashab al-hadith i (11 vols);  Fadl al-Jumu`a;  Fadl Quraysh; Fadā'il al-Siddiq, Fadā'il Makka; Fadā'il al-Madina; Fadā'il Bayt al-Muqaddas, Fadā'il `Ashura';  Fadā'il al-Muharram; Fadā'il Sha`ban.

Little, Donald P.

  • Fadā'il Bayt al-Maqdis wa al-Khalil wa-fadal'il al-Sham. Reviews the book `Fadā'il Bayt al-Maqdis wa al-Khalil wa Fadā'il al-Sham,' by Abu al-Ma ali al-Musharraf Ibn al-Murajja Ibn Ibrahim al-Maqdis, edited by Ofer Livne-Kafri. in Journal of the American Oriental Society; Jul-Sep 1999, Vol. 119 Issue 3, pp. 549.
     

Morray, David

  •  Review of  `Fadā'il Bayt al-Magdis wa-al-Khalil wa-fadal'il al-Sham,' edited by Ofer Livne-Kafri  in  Journal of Semitic Studies; Autumn 96, Vol. 41 Issue 2, pp. 360,-3. 
    ISSN: 0022-4480

Kennedy, Hugh (Review)

Abu 'l-Ma'ali al-Musharraf b. al-Murajja b. Ibrahim al-Maqdisi

  • Fadā'il bayt al-maqdis wa al-khalil wa-Fadā'il al-sham by Ofer Livne-Kafri,  Review in Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies (University of London), Vol. 62, No. 1 (1999), p. 206.

Donner, Fred M. 

  • “ʿUthmān and the Rāshidūn Caliphs in Ibn ʿAsākir’s Taʾrīkh madīnat Dimashq: A Study in Strategies of Compilation,”  in Ibn ʿAsākir and Early Islamic History, 44-61.

 Judd, Steven

  • “Ibn ʿAsākir’s Sources for the Late Umayyad Period,” in Ibn ʿAsākir and Early Islamic History, 78-99,

Lindsay, James E. 

  • 'Ali Ibn 'Asakir as a Preserver of "Qisas al-Anbiya'": The Case of David b. Jesse' in Studia Islamica, No. 82 (1995), pp. 45-82.

Mourad, Soleiman A.

  • "Publication History of Ta'rkkh madinat Dimashq (The History of Damascus)." In  Ibn Asākir and Early Islamic History. ed. James E. Lindsay. Princeton: The Darwin Press, 2001. pp. 127-33.

 

Fadā'il al-Quds ("The Excellences of the [Jerusalem] House") and the Fadā'il al-masjid al-aqsar.

http://www.desipad.com/islamic-gallery/20483-whichone-al-aqsa-masjid.html

An important category of Islamic works are the Faḍā'il al-Quds ("The Excellences of the [Jerusalem] House") which are particularly rich in Isrā’īliyyāt and Islamo-biblica. Biblical texts celebratory of Jerusalem and its tumultuous history are registered as are biblical prophets who visited this sanctified place located in the “Holy Land” (Q.      ).

 

Kitāb / Faḍā'il al-Quds / Bayt al-maqdis [Jerusalem]

 

Kāmil Jamīl `Asalī (1925 - 1995)

  • Makhtūtāt faḍā'il Bayt al-Maqdis.  Study + bibliography Kāmil Jamīl `Asalī.   Amman [Jordan] : Majma‘ al-Lughah al-‘Arabiyyah al-Urduni, 1981. *

  • http://home.t-online.de/home/jerusalem/asali.htm#Books

  • On Fadā'il Beit al-Maqdis Manuscripts (A study and a bibliography). Amman: Dar al-Bashir, 1981, 142 p. (second edition, Amman 1984), Arabic.

An annotated and detailed bibliography of 49 books on Faḍā'il al-Quds and its place in Islam, citing in each case the location of their existing manuscripts all over the world. The bibliograhy is introduced by a general study of the Fadā'il literature with special reference to Jerusalem.
 

Ibrahim Mahmud (ed.)

  • Fadā'il Bayt al-Maqdis fī makhtūtāt ‘Arabīyah qadīmah : dirāsah tahlīlīyah wa-nusūs mukhtārah muhaqqaqah . ed. Mahmūd Ibrāhīm
    al-Safāh, al-Kuwayt : Ma‘had al-Makhtūtāt al-‘Arabīyah, al-Munazzamah al-‘Arabīyah lil-tarbīyah wa-al-Thaqāfah wa-al-‘Ulūm, 1985 (631pp.).    *

_________________________

Abū al‑Ma`ālī al‑Musharraf  b. Ibrahīm al‑Maqdisī (5th/11th cent.)

The Faḍā’il bayt al‑maqdīs wa’l‑Khalīl wa faḍā’il al‑Shām  (The Excellences of the sanctified House [Jerusalem], Hebron and Syria)  of Abū al‑Ma`ālī al‑Musharraf  b. Ibrahīm al‑Maqdisī (5th/11th cent.) is laden with Isrā'ī līyāt and citations from the Bible. Here Deut. 33:2 which allegedly predicts the advent of Muhammad is cited as transmitted by Ibn Qutayba (d.276/889). According to Hasson "whole sections of the Bible appear here in Arabic translation"  including "quotations from Isaiah and Jeremiah, as well as traditions about Joshua, King David, King Solomon and others" (1981:171; GALS1:567; Livne‑Kafri [ed.] 1995). It is a collection of 594 traditions which, among other things praise Jerusalem, Syria, and Hebron.

 

Abu al-Ma`ali

  •  al-Musharraf ibn al-Murajja al-Maqdisi, Fadail Bayt al-Maqdis, ed. Ofer Livne-Kafri. Shfaram: Al Mashreq, 1995..
     

al-Maqdisi, Abu l-Ma'ali al-Musharraf b. al-Murajja b. Ibrahim,

  • Fadā'il Bayt al-Maqdis wa l-Khaalil wa Fadā'il al-Sham [The Merits of the Holy House, Hebron, and Syria], Edited with an introduction by Ofer Livne-Kafri, Shafa 'Amr: Dar al-Mashriq, 1955, 419 pp. + 9 page English introduction.

  • Reviewed by Robert Schick in al-'Usur al-Wusta: the Bulletin of Middle East Medievalists, vol. 7, no. 2, October 1995, 45-46.

G. F Haddad (trans.)

  • Merits of al-Sham al-Sharif. Forty Narrations on The Immense Merits of al-Shâm Compiled and Translated by G. F Haddad...“

Mourad, Suleiman.

  • A Note on the Origin of Faḍā’il Bayt al-Maqdis (Merits of Jerusalem) Compilations.” Al-Abhath 44 (1996), 31–48.

 

Fadā'il al-Quds ("The Excellences of the Sanctified Place [Jerusalem]")

  • Fadā'il al-Quds ("The Excellences of the [Jerusalem] House") including

  • Fadā'il al-masjid al-aqsar  (The Furthermost Mosque)

 

Faḍl Bayt al-Maqdis

al-Wāsiṭī = Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Wāsiṭī (fl. 12th cent CE).

A preacher (khāṭib)  at the Aqṣā mosue in  Jerusalem, Abū  Bakr Muhammad b. Aḥmad  al‑Wāsiṭī (d. 12th cent. CE) was the author in the 430s/1130s of the  Faḍā’il bayt al‑maqdīs (The Excellences of the sanctified House [Jerusalem], Hebron and Syria), a compilation of over 500 items of prophetic ḥadīth (ed. Hasson,1979; cf. GALS1:565). It contains such traditions as that from Ṣafwān b. Amr asserting that it says in the Torah that "Jerusalem is a golden goblet, full of scorpians" and another from Ka`b al‑Aḥbar to the effect that "Those buried in Jerusalem are held to have crossed the "bridge of Hell" (ṣirāt ) (tr. Hasson 1981:179, 181).

  • Fadā'il al-Bayt al-Muqaddas. ed and annotated by Isaac Hasson. Jerusalem: The Magnes Press Hebrew University, 1979 (28+123 [Arabic] pp.).*

  • Fadail al-Bayt al-Muqaddas, ed. Isaac Hasson. Jerusalem: Magnes Press, 1979

  • From Hasson 1979:9-10 on citation sources:

III. Auteurs citant le recueil
La plus ancienne des citations, du moins à notre sens, prise aux Fadā'il, est celle d'al-Rumaylî, tué 80 ans après la lecture du traité. Voici une liste des Docteurs qui disent avoir cité notre recueil dans leurs oeuvres: 15


1. Abu al-Qasirn b. 'Alî b. al-Ḥasan b. Hibat Allah b. 'Abd Allah al-Shāfi'ī, plus connu sous le nom d'Ibn 'Asākir (mort en 571/1175) dans son oeuvre monumentale Ta'rîkh madinat Dimashq. Il est probable aussi que son oeuvre perdue Faḍl Bayt al-Maqdis16 contienne des citations d'al-Wãsiṭî.


2. Abu al-Faradj 'Abd al-Rahmān b. 'Alî b. al-Djawzî (mort en 597/1201) dans son traité Fadā'il al-Quds al-sharïf.


3. al-Qasim b. 'Aiï b. al-Hasan b. Hibat Allah (mort en 600/1203), fils du grand Ibn 'Asakir, dans son traité al-Djami' al-mustaqsâ fî fada'it al-Masdjid al-֊Aqsa.


4. Muhammad b. Muhammad b. Husayn al-Kandjī al-Sūfī (mort en 682/1283) dans son traité Fadā'il Bayt al-Maqdis wa-fadl al-Sha'm fîha.


5. Ahmad b. 'Abd al-Wahhãb al-Nuwayrî (mort en 732/1332) dans son oeuvre encyclopédique Nihayat al-arab fī funūn al-adab.


6. al-Sahib Ahmad b. Amîn (mort en?) dans son traité Silsilat al-'asdjad f î şif at al-Sakhra Wa-l-Masdjid (d'après les citations d'Ibn Fadl Allah al-'Umari.)


7. Ibn Fadl Allah al-'Umari (mort en 755/1354) dans son livre Masalık al-absār fī mamālik al-amsār.


8. Mughulţay b. Qalîdj (mort en 762/1361), le hanafite le plus illustre de son époque, dans son livre encore manuscrit: al-Zahr al-bāsim fī sirat Abī al-Qasim."


9. Shihāb al-Dīn Ahmad b. Muhammad b. Ibrahim al-Maqdisĩ (mort en 765/1364) dans son livre Muthīr al-gharām bi-fadā'il al-Quds wa-l-Sham.


10. Muhammad b. 'Abd Allāh al-Zarkashī (mort en 794/1391) dans son livre I'lãm al-sadjid bi'ahkām al-masādjid.


11. Muhammad b. Shams al-Dīn al-Suyuţî al-Minhādjī (mort en 880/1475) dans son livre Ithāf al-akhissā bi-fadā'il al-Masdjid al-Aqsã.


12. Djalāl al-Dīn al-Suyuţî (mort en 911/1505) dans son exégèse du Coran intitulé al-Durr al-manthūr fi-l-tafsīr bi-l-ma'thūr.


13. Mudjïr al-Dïn al-'Ulaymï al-Hanbalī (mort en 927/1520) dans son livre al-'Uns al-djalīl bi-tārīkh al-Quds wa-l-Khalîl.


14. L'auteur du traité anonyme Fadā'il al-Shãm wa-fadã'il mudunihã wa-Bayt al-Maqdis dont le manuscrit est à la Bibliothèque de Tübingen.
 

Cette liste, bien évidemment, est loin d'être exhaustive. Elle constitue tout au plus une simple indication.

____________


 

Makkî ibn 'Abd al-Salām al-Rumaylī (tué en 492/1099).

  • Fadā'il Ziyãrat qabr Ibrahim al-Khalîl

  • Ta'rîkh Bayt al-Maqdis.
     

Abu al-Qasirn b. 'Alî ibn al-Ḥasan b. Hibat Allah b. 'Abd Allah al-Shāfi'ī (d. 600/1203).

  • Ta'rîkh madinat Dimashq.

al-Qasim  ibn `Abd  al-Hasan ibn  Hibat Allah (d. 600/1203),

  • al-Jami  al-mustaysa fi Fadā'il al-Masjid al-Aqsa'.

Abu al-Faraj 'Abd al-Rahmān ibn  'Alî  ibn al-Jawzî (d. 597/1201)

Abū’l‑Farrāj  Ibn al‑Jawzī ( 597/1201) in his Faḍā`il al-quds al-sharīf  (Excellences of Noble Jerusalem) also cites Deut 33:2 as a proof text and registers traditions about Jerusalem and the "holy land* (al‑arḍ al‑muqaddas), its foundational Sakhrā ("rock") and, among other things, its  association with Muhammad during his Mi`rāj (al‑Jawzī, Faḍā’il, 67ff). 

  • Fadā'il al-Quds al-sharïf.

Abu al-Faraj 'Abd al-Rahman Ibn `Ali Ibn al-Jawzi (d. c. 597/1201)

  • Faḍā'il al-Quds.  ed. and introd. Dr. Jibra'il Sulayman Jabbūr. Beirut: Dar al-Afaq al-Jadidah, XXXX/1979 (167pp.).*

  • Faḍā'il al-Quds.  ed. and introd. Dr. Jibra'il Sulayman Jabbūr. Beirut: Dar al-Afaq al-Jadidah, 1400/1980 (167pp.).*


  •  

Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Husayn al-Kanj' al-Sufi (d.  682/1283)

  • Faḍā'il Bayt al-Maqdis wa-fadl al-Sha'm

  • Faḍā'il Bayt al-Maqdis wa-fadl al-Sha'm fîha.

     

al-Sahih Ahmad b. Amm (d.?)

  • Silsilai al- asjad fi sifat al-sakhra wa'l-masjid (cited lbn Fadl Allah al-'Umar)
     

    • Ibn Fadl Allah al-'Umctn (d. 755/1354)

    • Masalik al-ahsar fī mamalik al-amsa'.
       

    Mughulţay b. Qalîdj (d. 762/1361) 

    •  al-Zahr al-bāsim fī sirat Abī al-Qasim.  Cited.
       

    Shihāb al-Dīn Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Ibrahim al-Maqdisĩ  (765/1364)

    • Muthīr al-gharām bi-fadā'il al-Quds wa-l-Sham.

    Muhammad b. Abd Allah al-Zarkashi Muhammad b. 'Abd Allāh al-Zarkashī (794/1391)

    • I'lãm al-sadjid bi'ahkām al-masādjid. Cited.

     

    Muhammad b. Shams al-Din al-Suyuti  al-Minhadj' (d. XXX/1475)

    • ? IthÆf al-akhissa bi-Fadā'il al-Masjid al-Aqsa'
       

    Djalal al-Din al-Suyuti (d. 911/1505)

    • al-Durr al-Hadith fi-l-tafsir bi-mu`atthir.
       

    Ibn 'Asakir,

    • al-Jami' al-mustaqsâ fî Fadā'il al-Masjid al-֊Aqsa.

     

    Mujlr al-Din al-'Ulaymi al-Hanbali (d. 927/1520)

    • al-Uns al-Jalīl bi-tārīkh al-Quds wa'l-Khalîl (... Jerusalem and Hebron)
       

    Fadā'il al-masjid al-aqsar  (

    The isrā’ (Q. 17:1f) (night             ) and or mi`rāj  ( lit. “ladder”, “night ascent”) traditions are  found in this work...

    •  Fadā'il al-masjid al-aqsar  (The Furthermost Mosque)

    _________________________________

    Kister, M.J.

    • The early Sī'a and Jerusalem in  Arabica ISSN 0570-5398 Vol, 48, No.1, January, 2001

    Mourad, Soleiman, A.

    • "A Note on the Origin of Fadā'il Bayt al-Maqdis (Merits of Jerusalem) Compilations." A--Abhah 44 (1996), 31-48.

    •  

     

    Jerusalem & Hebron : al-Khalīl al-Rahman ("The Friendof the All-Merciful [God]") / al-Khalīl ("The Friend").

    Fadā'il al-Quds ("The Excellences of the [Jerusalem] House") and the Fadā'il al-masjid al-aqsar.

    This city surrendered to the Sunni Muslim Caliph `Umar ibn al-Khattab in 638 CE.

    al-`Ulaymi al-Hanbalī , Mujir al-Din `Abd al-Rahman ibn Muhammad (d. 927/1520)

    • al-Uns al-Jalīl bi-tārīkh al-Quds wa'l-Khalîl (... Jerusalem and Hebron)

    Little, Donald, 1995

    • Mujir al-Din al-`Ulaymi's Vision of Jerusalem in the Ninth/Fifteenth Century' JAOS 115 (1995), 237-47. 

    Bargeron, Carol, L.  2006.

    • `Hebron (al-Khalīl al-Rahman; al-Khalil) in Josef W. Meri ed. Medieval Islamic Civilization, An Encyclopedia. vol.1 (2006), pp. 318-9.

    •  

    `Asqalan

    Holy Land Studies: A Multidisciplinary Journal,=  Volume 5, Number 2, November 2006 = E-ISSN: 1750-0125 Print ISSN: 1474-9475 2007.

    Anabseh, Ghaleb.

    • The Sanctity of the City of 'Asqalan in the 'Merits Literature' of Palestine: An Examination of Mamluk and Ottoman Sources Holy Land Studies: A Multidisciplinary Journal - Volume 5, Number 2, November 2006, pp. 187-197

     Anabseh, Ghaleb,

    • `The Sanctity of the City of 'Asqalan in the 'Merits Literature' of Palestine: An Examination of Mamluk and Ottoman Sources Holy Land Studies: A Multidisciplinary Journal - Volume 5, Number 2, November 2006, pp. 187-197 Edinburgh University Press : "Abstract The purpose of this study is to analyse the sanctity of the Palestine city of 'Asqalan through manuscript sources from Mamluk and Ottoman times, mainly from a religious and political perspective, in light of the struggle between Muslims and Crusaders. Relevant traditions are often of a local nature, expressing concepts completely at odds with normative Islamic practice and belief. No separate compositions have been compiled about 'Asqalan, in contrast to Jerusalem and Damascus, for example. Pilgrimage to the city was frowned upon by the Hanbali school of jurisprudence within Sunni Islam, represented by Ibn Taymiyya in the Mamluk period. Relevant traditions deal with war against the infidels, the city's cemetery, the city as gateway to Paradise, and more. For this study I have used the relevant traditions in the genre known as 'Merits of the Holy Land', in Arabic from Mamluk and Ottoman times. These traditions reflect the...".