Review: Faza'il-e-A'maal

The Faza'il-e-A'maal was written by the world famous Shaikhul Hadith Maulana Muhammad Zakariya Kandhalvi (r.a.). An English translation of the title is Virtuous Deeds. The text consists of selected verses of the Qur'an, Ahadith, commentary thereon, and other material. It was originally written in Urdu but has been translated into English, Arabic, Persian, Bengali, and many other languages. It is particularly popular in Pakistan and India.

Faza'il-e-A'maal is a compilation of seven books and each book has been divided into several Chapters. The first part is 'Stories of Sahabah' which presents an account of the Companions of the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.). In the foreword Shaikhul Hadith Sahab (r.a.) writes:

"The main idea underlying this behest was that Muslim mothers, while going to bed at night, instead of telling myths and fables to their children, may narrate to them such real and true tales of the golden age of Islam that would create in them an Islamic spirit of love and esteem for Sahabah, and thereby improve their 'Imaan'; and the proposed book may, thus, be a useful substitute for the current story books."

He concludes the book with a epilogue about the 'Sahabah's Virtues and Privileges'.

Other parts are about the 'Virtues of The Holy Qur'an', 'Virtues of Salaat' (prayers), 'Virtues of Zikr' (rememberance), 'Virtues of Tableegh' (calling to Islam) & 'Virtues of Ramadhan' (fasting). Qur'anic verses, selected Ahadith and intelligent still simple to understand commentary point out the great rewards of worships, which seek the pleasure of Allah, and are supposed to seed the love for good and righteous deeds in the heart of the reader.

The last book is a reasonable analysis of Maulana Ehtesham-ul-Hassan Kandhalvi (r.a.) titled as "Muslim degeneration and Its only Remedy". He writes not only a detailed diagnosis of the Ummah's disease but as well supplies the solution. Maulana Ehtesham-ul-Hassan Sahab (r.a.) concludes the summary with the following words:

"In these few pages, an analysis of the present situation and a practical solution for improving it has been given; in fact the solution is nothing else than the actual Islamic way of life, which belonged to our forefathers and early Muslims."

Different people often critisize this book for containing weak Ahadith, but most of today's Ulemas (scholars) agree upon that weak hadith naaration is allowed for teaching virtues of already establised practices in Islam. Overall this book is not only the perfect compilation for Taleem at your local mosque but as well at home. It's a reminder of the Islamic obligations and encourages every single Muslim to seek the pleasure of Allah Ta'ala through righteous deeds.