Family

Books on the Muslim family in Arabic: how this section is organised

• What you will find here: works in Arabic devoted to the family, from marriage to raising children, in their original editions and all new.
• Two kinds of work: books of rules, which set out the provisions of the law, and books of advice, which deal with conduct and relationships. The listing states which.
• Four areas: marriage, the rights and duties of spouses, the upbringing of children, family ties in the broader sense.
• Three levels: beginner, intermediate, advanced, indicated on the listing according to the density of the text and its vocalisation.
• Classical and contemporary authors: this is the section where twentieth-century works are the most numerous, because many of these books were written for readers of today.
• What you will not find: translations or bilingual editions. The catalogue is entirely in Arabic.
• Information on every listing: publisher, year, number of volumes, format, binding, vocalisation, kind of work, level.

Book of rules or book of advice: the distinction that spares a disappointment

This is the commonest confusion in this section, and the title does not show it.

A book of rules sets out what the law provides: the conditions of the marriage contract, mutual obligations, questions of separation, questions of inheritance. It is arranged as a treatise, it cites its proofs, it notes the differences between the schools. One consults it to know what applies, and it assumes acceptance of a technical vocabulary.

A book of advice deals with something else: how to speak to one another, patience, the division of tasks, attention given to children. It rests on transmitted texts and on its author's experience, often a teacher or a preacher. It is read from end to end, with no prerequisite.

Both are useful, but they do not answer the same question. Buying one while looking for the other is what produces the most returns in this section, and every listing states which kind the work is.

What the section covers, from betrothal to upbringing

Marriage occupies the first part: conditions, contract, dower, celebration, and what the texts say about choosing a spouse. Then come the rights and duties of spouses, the area where books of rules and books of advice overlap most.

The upbringing of children forms a set of its own, often the largest. It holds general works covering every stage, and works centred on one age, early childhood or adolescence. The section finally includes books devoted to family ties in the broader sense, in particular duty towards parents, the subject of early treatises as well as contemporary works.

Separation and what follows it are treated in the legal works of this section, and in the general treatises of the fiqh section, where the matter is set out school by school.

Classical and contemporary: what each brings

This is the only section of the bookshop where contemporary works dominate. That is logical: a good part of these books were written in the twentieth century, for families living in new conditions, and they address situations the early treatises did not treat in this form.

Among the most widely circulated titles, Tarbiyat al-Awlad fi al-Islam by Abdullah Nasih Ulwan serves as a reference on upbringing, in several parts covering the stages of childhood. On marriage, Adab al-Zifaf by Sheikh al-Albani is a short work centred on the transmitted texts, and Tuhfat al-Arus by Mahmud Mahdi al-Istanbuli a broader one, accessible in its reading.

The older works keep their place, notably on duty towards parents and on the education of character. They call for more demanding reading, and sit well after a contemporary work on the same subject.

Choosing by the moment you are in

This is the simplest criterion, and the one that gives the best results.

Before marriage, a short work on the contract and its conditions, together with a book of advice on life in common, is quite enough. Both are read within a few weeks.

With young children, a general work on upbringing covering every stage serves better than a book centred on one precise age, because one returns to it over the years. It is the most durable purchase in the section.

With adolescents, or in a difficult situation, works centred on one precise question are preferable to a general treatise. Every listing states whether a title covers the whole or one stage, so that the choice turns on that point.

The sub-sections of the family shelf

The shelf has four entry points: Marriage for fiqh an-nikah, from the contract to divorce. Women in Islam for fiqh al-mar'a gathered in one place. Raising children for tarbiya, age by age, and the learning material. Prophetic medicine for the tibb nabawi texts of the written heritage.

Buy books on the Muslim family in Arabic from My Maktaba

Every work in this section is in Arabic, in its original edition, and every one is new. For each title, the listing states the publisher, year, number of volumes, format, type of binding, vocalisation, kind of work and level. On books of advice, which are read continuously, vocalisation and type size matter more than on a treatise used for consultation.

If you do not know where to start, write to us stating your level of Arabic, the moment you are in and what you are looking for, rules or advice. We will suggest two or three titles, no more. And if the work you are looking for does not appear in the catalogue, send us the title: our network of booksellers covers most of the editions in circulation.