The Virtues of Blacks & Abyssinians

*[A5] Large Hardback - 320 pages, [English-Arabic]

by Imam Abu I-Faraj ibn al-Jawzi [d.597h],
Translated by Adnan Karim,

Edited by Ayman Karim,

Published by Dar al-Arqam.

Description :

It is reported that the Messenger of Allah, ﷺ, delivered a sermon wherein he stated, “O people, indeed your Lord is one and your forefather is one. Indeed, there is no superiority for the Arab over the non-Arab nor the non-Arab over the Arab, and there is no superiority for the white over the black nor the black over the white. Have I conveyed the message?” The people replied, “The Messenger of Allah has conveyed the message.” [Musnad Aḥmad (23489, ṣaḥīḥ)].

The author said, “I bore witness to a group of eminent Ḥabash who were disheartened due to the darkness of their skin colour. I thus clarified to them that the matter upon which consideration is placed is good deeds rather than one’s appearance, and I wrote this book for them to mention the virtue of many from amongst the Ḥabash and black people.”

About the Author :


He is Imam `Abd al-Rahman ibn Abu al-Faraj ibn al-Jawzi al-Baghdadi al-Hanbali al-Ash`ari (509/510-597). He was, with Sayyadina Shaykh `Abd al-Qadir al-Gilani, may Allah Almighty sanctify his secret, the Imam of the Hanbalis' and foremost orator of kings and princes in his time whose gatherings reportedly reached one hundred thousand, a hadith master, philologist, commentator of Qur'an, expert jurist, physician, and historian of superb character and exquisite manners.


Orphaned of his father at age three, Ibn al-Jawzi was raised by his aunt who later brought him to the hadith scholar Ibn Nasir, his first shaykh. He took hadith from him as well as over eighty shaykhs and was teacher to his grandson Shams al-Din Yusuf ibn Qazghali al-Hanafi - Sibt al-Jawzi - as well as some of the greatest Hanbali hadith masters and jurists such as Muwaffaq al-Din Ibn Qudama, Ibn al-Najjar, and Diya' al-Din al-Maqdisi, may Allah have mercy upon them all.


Ibn al-Jawzi took a staunch Ash`ari stance in doctrine and courageously denounced the anthropomorphism of his school in the interpretation of the divine Attributes in his landmark work Daf` Shubah al-Tashbih bi Akuff al-Tanzih ("Rebuttal of the Insinuations of Anthropomorphism at the Hands of Divine Transcendence"), also known as al-Baz al-Ashhab al-Munqadd `ala Mukhalifi al-Madhhab ("The Flaming Falcon Swooping Down on the Dissenters of the [Hanbali] School").

Al-Dhahabī said about Ibn al-Jawzī, “He is the shaykh, the imām, the ʿallāmah, the ḥāfiẓ, the mufassir, Shaykh al-Islām, the pride of Baghdād. […] Abu ʿAbdullāh ibn al-Dubaythī said about him in his Tārīkh, ‘Our shaykh Jamāl al-Dīn authored many works within the branches of the Islamic sciences, such as tafsīr, fiqh, ḥadīth, history and other than them. He had prowess in the knowledge of ḥadīth and its sciences, differentiating the authentic from the weak. He was the best of people in speech and eloquence. He was blessed in his life and knowledge.’ […].


Al-Muwaffaq ʿAbd al-Laṭīf said, ‘Ibn al-Jawzī would not waste anything from his time, writing four booklets a day. He had a share in every branch of knowledge, however in tafsīr he was from the most remarkable, in ḥadīth he was a ḥāfiẓ, and his grasp of history was vast. He was competent in fiqh, and he had an amazing gift for preaching.’” [Extracts from his biography in Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalā (21/365-384)].

Table of Contents :

---Translators Note,

---Author's Introduction.

---[1]. In mention of the origin of black people,

---[2]. The cause of their darkness in colour,

---[3]. In mention of 'Isa ibn Maryam bringing Haam ibn Nuh back to life,
---[4]. In mention of the kingdoms of black people and their vastness,

---[5]. In mention of the virtues ingrained in black people,
---[6]. Virtues specific to things of black colour amongst animals, plants and stones,

---[7]. In proclamation that the white person has no superiority over the black, and that superiority lies in piety,

---[8]. In mention of those from amongst the Companions who emigrated to Abyssinia and their number,

---[9]. The request of the Quraysh to al-Najashi to hand over the Companions of the Prophet, ﷺ, to them,

---[10]. In mention of that which the Prophet, ﷺ, wrote to al-Najashi inviting him to Islam, and of his conversion,

---[11]. In mention of the coming of the Abyssinians to the Messenger of Allah, ﷺ, and their war game in the masjid whilst the Prophet, ﷺ, watched,

---[12]. In mention of words in the Qur'an which conform with the Abyssinian language,

---[13]. In mention of what the Messenger of Allah, ﷺ, heard of the Abyssinian language and how he was impressed,

---[14]. In mention of the Abyssinians being singled out for the call to the Prayer,

---[15]. Those of whom it has been said that they were Prophets from amongst black people,

---[16]. In mention of the major kings of the Habash,
---[17]. In mention of the esteemed blacks amongst the Companions,
---[18]. In mention of the noble black women from the female Companions,

---[19]. In mention of the illustrious scholars from amongst the black people,
---[20]. In mention of their poets and those amongst them who recited some poetry to express a meaning,

---[21]. In mention of a group of discerning, intelligent and generous black men and women,

---[22]. In mention of the worshippers and ascetics amongst the black people,
---[23]. In mention of those who preferred black bondmaidens to white ones, those who loved them, and those who died due to their love,

---[24]. In mention of the sons of Habashi women from Quraysh,

---[25]. In exhortation and counsel,

---[26]. Words of remembrance and glorification of Allah,

---Supplications.

Also see Literature.

*Dimensions : 24.8 x 17cm.