Makarim al-akhlaq (book): Difference between revisions

Makarim al-akhlaq is a book in Arabic in Islamic ethics written by Hasan b. Fadl Tabrisi. It is among the most famous works in ethics and one of the Shi’a sources in this field. The author has arranged the book in 12 chapters and has spoken about moral issues in different fields. After its publication, Makarim al-akhlaq drew the attention of scholars and was printed in different countries. But, in its print in Egypt, some distortions were made to the book, the copies of which were taken out from the market after the reaction of the scholars of Najaf.

Radi al-Din Hasan b. Fadl Tabrisi was among Shi’a scholars of 6th century AH and the son of Amin al-Islam Tabrisi, the author of Tafsir Majma’ al-Bayan.

At the beginning of the book, the author speaks about the way he wrote the book and says that he intended to recount a bit of the praised morality of the Prophet (a) and Imams (a), their states, actions, manners in sitting and standing, journey and home and other issues in this regard for education and the life of people.

This book has 12 chapters including the following:

Morality and attributes of the Prophet (a)

Manners of bathing

Hygiene of fingernails and trimming the hairs

Manners and methods of Muslim men and women’s beautification

Manners of travelling

 

Treating sick people and related issues

 

Attribution of Makarim al-akhlaq to Hasan b. Fadl Tabrisi is definite and the attention of scholars and existence of many copies approve that. Makarim al-akhlaq was printed in Iran, Lebanon and Iraq several times, but some distortions were made in its print in Egypt, without any mention of them. Muhammad Baqir Bahari Hamedani (d. 1333 AH) was among the people who mentioned these distortions and wrote a treatise titled Tasdid al-makarim wa tafdih al-zalim fi bayan tahrif Makarim al-akhlaq. In three chapters, he mentioned the changes, additions and omissions made to Makarim al-akhlaq. After the information about this print was spread, manuscripts and old copies of the book were taken out of the market and access. After the publication of Tasdid al-makarim, some Shi’a scholars including Mirza Habib Rashti, Muhammad Hasan Mamaqani, Mirza Husayn Nuri, Mulla Husayn Quli Hamedani, Sayyid Muhammad Kazim Tabataba’i, Shaykh Muhammad Taha Najaf, Muhammad Kazim Khurasani and Sayyid Muhammad Hasan Shirazi wrote their opinions in objection to the print in Egypt and published them in an appendix to the treatise of Tasdid.

In A’yan al-Shi’a, Sayyid Muhin Amin has mentioned all the cases of distortion of the book and explained them:

They omitted all the hadiths about the merits of Imam Ali (a) and Lady Fatima al-Zahra (a).

In many cases, they omitted the name of Ali (a) and replaced it with the name of one of the two caliphs (Abu Bakr or ‘Umar).

The phrase “‘Alayh al-Salam” [“Peace be upon him”] was omitted after the names of Imams (a) and replaced with “Radiallah-u ‘anh” [“May God be satisfied with him”].

Names of Imams (a) were omitted and in many cases were replaced with “ba’d ‘ulama” [“some scholar”], “ba’d al-hukama” [“some wise man”] and “ba’d al-salihin” [“some righteous person”].

The name of Lady Fatima al-Zahra (a) was omitted in many cases and replaced with ‘Ayisha and Hafsa.

A copy transcribed in 1305 AH was lithographed in 1311 AH by the correction of Mir Muhammad Sadiq Husayni Khwansari, but they did not pay attention to its distortion and that it was a print in Egypt during its transcription and printing.

But later, after it was printed in Egypt three times, it was compared with those copies by the order of Mirza Abu al-Fadl Tehrani, the author of Shifa’ al-sudur, and by the efforts of Shaykh Mahmud b. Mulla Salih Burujirdi and was printed by financial support of Sayyid Kazim Sarraf and all the corrected cases were mentioned at the end of the book.