Thawab al-a'mal wa 'iqab al-a'mal (book)

Thawab al-a'mal wa 'iqab al-a'mal

Bibliographical Information
Author	Al-Shaykh al-Saduq
Original title	ثَواب الاَعمال و عِقاب الاَعمال
Language	Arabic
Series	1 volume
Subject	Reward and punishment of deeds
Genre	Narrative
Published	1368 SH/1989-90
Publisher	Radi

Thawāb al-aʿmāl wa ʿiqāb al-aʿmāl (Arabic: ثَواب الاَعمال و عِقاب الاَعمال) , is authored in Arabic by Al-Shaykh al-Saduq one of the most prominent Shi'a scholars in the 4th/10th century. The book includes Islamic hadiths describing right and wrong deeds and their spiritual consequences which lead to reward (thawab al-a'mal) or punishment (iqab al-a'mal). It has always benefited the Shi'a scholars and the common Shi'a, and is remarked as one of the greatest Shi'a hadith collections.

About the Author

Main article: al-Shaykh al-Saduq

Abu Ja'far Muhammad b. 'Ali b. Al-Husayn b. Musa b. babawayh al-Qummi, commonly known as al-Shaykh al-Saduq (Arabic:الشيخ الصَّدوق) or Ibn Babawayh (Arabic:ابن‌ بابَوَيه) was of the most prominent Shi'a scholars of hadith school of Qom in the 4th/10th century. During his life, he wrote more than 300 volumes, a plenty of them which has been lost. His famous masterpiece and one of the authentic references in Shi'a jurisprudence is Kitab man la yahduruh al-faqih, which is among the Four Hadith Books of Twelver Shi'a.

Author's Motivation

Considering his motives for writing this book, the author states: In order to write this book, I was inspired by this hadith of the Prophet (s); "The one who leads people to good deeds is as their doer", and I named it "Thawab al-a'mal", hoping to gain God's reward, and I did not seek anything other than God's reward and his satisfaction.

Book's Structure

The book is divided into two parts: The first part, named "Thawab al-a'mal", includes 788 hadiths which are categorized under 389 titles, and the second part, named "iqab al-a'mal" includes 331 hadiths which are categorized under 131 titles.

Some Titles of the Book

In first part, we face some titles as:

• The reward of whoever says "There is no god but Allah".
• The reward of whoever says "there is no god but Allah" a hundred times.
• The reward of whoever is wise.
• The reward of whoever brushes his teeth.
• The reward of renewing ritual ablution.
• The reward of commuting to the mosques.
• The reward of whoever makes mosque his home and Qur'an his quote.
• The reward of praying in mecca, Masjid al-Haram.
• The reward of whoever pilgrims the tomb of Imam al-Husayn (a) in Karbala.
• The reward of the reciter of the Qur'an.
• The reward of seeking knowledge.
• The reward of Jihad for the sake of God.
• The reward of helping poor people, (Sadaqa).
• The reward of brightening Islamic believers.
• The reward of the companionship of pious people.

In the second part we face some titles as:

• The punishment of whoever pays no attention to God's orders.
• The punishment of whoever angers the Ahl al-Bayt (a).
• The punishment of the "Qadariya" (fatalists).
• The punishment of whoever passes by a helpless person and does not help him.
• The punishment of whoever pays no attention to poor people.
• The punishment of whoever pays no attention to daily prayer.
• The punishment of whoever takes the property of the orphans.
• The punishment of whoever does not pay alms.
• The punishment of whoever humiliates the believers.
• The punishment of whoever swears a false oath.
• The punishment of cruel kings.
• The punishment of whoever is selfish.
• The punishment of whoever does not enjoin the good and forbid the evil.
• The punishment of whoever cuts family relationships.

The Authenticity of the Book

This book, as well as the other books of the author, has permanently had a remarkable position among Shi'a scholars and jurists, and being from the most authentic hadith collections, has long been used as a hadith resource and enriched some of the greatest Shi'a hadith collections, such as Bihar al-anwar, Wasa'il al-shi'a,etc.

Versions of Manuscripts

1. There is a manuscript in the library of "Sayed Jallal al-Din Ormavi" renowned as "Muhaddith Ormawi", scripted by "Muhammad Taqi Shirazi b. Nizam al-Din b. Mahmud Ansari" in 1056/1646-7.
2. There is another manuscript in same library, scripted by "Muhammad Mu'min Abhari" in 1069/1658-9.

Translation and Publication

The book is translated into Persian by various translators and printed by lithography and printing press many times, one of them which is the copy edited by "Sayyid Hasan Kharsan".