Aspects of Ethics In Kitāb Al-Wā‘Iz: A Textual Study

Abstract

This paper is a textual study of Kitāb Al-wā‘iz which covers a translation (tarjamah) of the entire book and an exegetical study (sharh) of some parts of it that touch ethics and morality. The problem of immorality is rampant among Nigerian Muslims while the book which is, according to the compiler, a source of moral instruction for the people of this land, exists in Arabic language, whereas the lingua-franca of the target audience is English language. The aim of the study was therefore to translate the book, analyze some aspects of it that bother on morality and ethics and exegetically apply them to some contemporary behavioural problems. The objective is to make its lessons reach a larger audience. Using the Qur’an and Sunnah as the major tools to analyze this material, the researcher used both the historical and analytical method in this research which is qualitative and exegetic in nature. After a brief biography of Al-Ilory, a translation of Kitāb Al-wā‘iz and an exegetical analysis of the aimed areas of the book was done in the paper. On the whole, it was found that Kitāb Al-wā‘iz can be regarded as a potential builder of an ideal personality and a model for an ideal society.