Khayr & Sharr

• Khayr• -it is a very comprehensive term/ its application

is extremely wide• -it means anything that may be considered in

any respect valuable, beneficial, useful and desirable

• -in the Quranic context, it covers both the field of worldly affairs and that of religious belief

• -Sad, 38:32• “…Truly do I love the love of good, w a view to

the glory of my Lord • --the legend of the Prophet Sulaiman’s

admiration of his beautiful horses

• -Al-Baqarah,2:180• “…when death approaches any of you, if he

leave any goods, that he make a bequest to parents n next of kin…”

• -the word khayr as synonym of wealth

• -it also related to religion and faith• --Al ‘Imran,3:26• “…You gives power to whom u pleases n you

strippest off power from who u pleases…in your hand is all good…”

• -suggests that it denotes the limitless bounty of God

• --al-Baqarah, 2:105, al-Nahl,16:30, al-Baqarah, 2:269

• -the term khayr in these Quranic verses refers to God’s revelation

• -al-Anfal,8:70• -it denotes belief and genuine faith

• -Al-An’am,6:158• -it denotes the positive effect of the faith• -al-Baqarah, 2:110• -it denotes the pious work• Al-Sad, 38:46-7• -it denotes the excellent believer

• -the term khayr in the religious matters is of 2 classes

• 1-one is the ‘good’, the source of which lies in God

• 2-the other is the ‘good’ produced by man

• Sharr• --the most usual antithesis of khayr, which

functions as its direct opposite in any of its various meanings

• -so if the former is used for happiness or prosperity in worldly life, the latter is used for misfortune

• -fussilat, 41:49-50 • “man tire not of praying for good, and if ill

touches him, he give up all hope n is lost in despair”

• -in the religious field, it denotes pious deed and kufr, respectively

• --al-zilzal, 99:6-8• ‘that day mankind will issue forth in scattered

groups to be shown their deeds’. • ‘and who do good an atom’s weight will see it

then’• ‘and who do ill an atom’s weight will see it then’

Birr & Taqwa

• Birr• -it means piety as well as righteousness or

kindness• -it occurs to in the Quran to formulate an

Islamic creed• -in 2:177, the purely ritual aspect of

righteousness, or piety, is repudiated and genuine faith & righteousness are asserted

• ‘it is not righteousness that u turn ur faces to the east n the west, but righteousness is he who believe in Allah n the last Day n the angels n the book n the prophets n give his wealth, for live of Him, to kinsfolk n to orphans n the needy n the wayfarer n to those who ask, n to set slaves free n observe proper

• worship n pay the poor due. And those who keep their treaty when they make one, n the patient in tribulatan, adversity n time of stress……’

• -in other word, the term connects with ‘fear of God’ (taqwa)

• -it stated that those who fulfill all the duties, social as well as religious, deserved under the name of birr

• -it is a comprehensive name for all actions motivated by love and righteousness and stimulated by the religious experience of fear

Prophetic Approach

• Khayr & Sharr-• -1-the identification of goodness with

conformity to the dictates of Islam or the Quran, as opposed to the pre-Islamic condition of ignorance

• --the goodness in this hadith is to consist simply in conformity to the will of the community and its imams, and in dissociation from any heretical group

• Hudyayfa Ibn al-Yaman is reported as saying: ‘People kept asking the Prophet about the good (khayr), whereas I kept asking him about evil, for fear it will attain me. Thus I said: O Prophet, we were in a period of ignorance and evil, but God brought us this good. Now, will there be any evil, following this good? He said: Yes. I said : But will there

• be, following that evil, any good? He said: Yes, and it will contain a flaw. I said: What is this flaw? He said: A people calling to a guidance other than mine; some u will recognize, others u will not. Thereupon I said; but will there be, following that evil, any good? He said: Yes, a group who call to the gates of hell……So what do u command me to do, …..He said: Cling to the community of Muslims & their imams.

• I said: But suppose they had no community or a head? He said: Then u shun all these sects, --……

• -other meanings of goodness are disquisition on faith and related question

• -al-Bukhari al-Muslim in Kitab al-Iman reported the love of the Prophet, the love of God an Prophet jointly or the love of one’s neighbour

• Birr & Taqwa-• -it indicates that birr & taqwa Or

righteousness & piety is not a matter of outward attitude or performance

• “God will not look at ur bodies/ forms, but at ur hearts”