Al-Balad al-amin (book)

Al-Balad al-amin wa l-dar' al-hasin

Bibliographical Information
Author	Ibrahim b. Ali al-Kaf'ami
Original title	اَلْبَلَدُ الأمین وَ الدَّرْعُ الحَصین
Language	Arabic
Subject	Supplication
Published	Beirut, 1403/1982-3
Publisher	al-A'lami Institute

Al-Balad al-amīn wa l-dirʿ al-ḥaṣīn min al-adʿīya wa l-aʿmāl wa l-awrād wa l-adhkār (Arabic: البَلَدُ الأمین وَ الدّرعُ الحَصین منَ الأدعیة وَ الأعمال وَ الأوراد وَ الأذکار) is a book written by al-Shaykh Ibrahim b. Ali al-Kaf'ami (d. 905/1499-1500) and because of the author, the book known as Misbah al-Kaf'ami. The book is a well-known, reliable source of supplications, recommended religious practices, and worships. It was popular since the time it was written. It is a source of Bihar al-anwar by al-'Allama al-Majlisi, and all books concerning supplications, including Mafatih al-jinan by al-Shaykh 'Abbas al-Qummi. Al-Kaf'ami wrote the book, al-Balad al-amin, a long time before writing his Misbah. The book contains all materials of Misbah as well as additional ones.

Author

Main article: Ibrahim b. Ali al-Kaf'ami

Al-Shaykh Taqi al-Din Ibrahim, the son of Zayn al-Din Ali al-Harithi al-Luwayzi al-Jaba'i, known as al-Kaf'ami, was a Shi'a scholar in the tenth/sixteenth century. He was born in 840/1436-7 in Kfar 'Ayma, a village near Jabal Amel in Lebanon. His father was a prominent scholar of jurisprudence and a pious person. Al-Kaf'ami was a scholar of hadiths, Arabic literature, and a poet, as well as a prominent Shi'a figure who was skillful in many disciplines and sciences of his time and wrote many works.

Contents of the Book

The author wrote an introduction to the book in which practices such as saying prayers, shrouding (takfin) and burial of a corpse, and the like, are mentioned. He then pointed to the recommended practices associated with daily obligatory prayers as well as their ta'qibat (follow-ups).

This is followed by supplications specific to certain times and the days of the week. In this part, al-Kaf'ami has cited supplications and ahraz for every day of the week.

After the days of the week, the book cites recommended practices and supplications throughout the year, beginning with the month of Rajab.

Al-Kaf'ami has cited many ziyaras for the Prophet Muhammad (s) as well as ziyaras specific to certain days with their recommended practices such as ghusl.

The book ends with supplications of the Imams (a) and those on various occasions, such as al-Kumayl Supplication, al-Jawshan al-Kabir, al-Jawshan al-Saghir, al-Faraj Supplication, al-Tawassul Supplication, and so on.

The last supplication cited in al-Balad al-amin is the al-Asma' al-Husna Supplication transmitted from the Prophet (s) and the Tahlil supplication of the Quran.

Order of the Materials

• Recommended practices of tathir or purification (that is, wudu', ghusl, and tayammum)

• A brief account of the jurisprudential rulings of wasiyya (will) and the Funeral Prayer

• Ta'qibat or follow-ups of the prayer

• Supplications that are recommended to be cited before going to sleep

• Supplications and recommended practices specific to the days of the week

• Supplications and recommended practices specific to each month of the year (from Rajab to Jumada II)

• Rituals of Istikhara

• Ziyaras and recommended prayers

• All supplications of al-Sahifa al-Sajjadiyya

• All supplications transmitted from Imam al-Baqir (a)

• Some supplications of Imam al-Jawad (a).

Advantages and the Reliability of the Book

One advantage of the book is that it cites different words and phrases of various supplications and ziyaras, and then elaborates their points. Al-Balad al-amin was a source of Bihar al-anwar by 'Allama Majlisi and all books concerning supplications, including Mafatih al-jinan by al-Shaykh 'Abbas al-Qummi.

Publication

The best published version of the book was the one edited by Ali Akbar Ghaffari and published by Maktabat al-Saduq in 1383/1963-4.