Bahishti Zewar

Book by Ashraf Ali Thanwi

Ashraf Ali Thanwi
Ahmed Ali Fatehpuri

LanguageUrduGenreFiqh

Bahishti Zewar (Urdu: بہشتی زیور transl. "jewels of paradise"; English: Heavenly Ornaments) is a volume of Deobandi beliefs and practices written by Ashraf Ali Thanwi and Ahmed Ali Fatehpuri.^[1] The book is comprehensive handbook of fiqh, Islamic rituals and morals, it is especially aimed at the education of girls and women. The volume describes the Five Pillars of Islam and also highlights more obscure principles. For years it has remained a favorite with the people of the Indian subcontinent as well as the Indian Muslim diaspora all over the world. It was originally written in the Urdu language but has been translated into a host of other languages including English.^[2]

Sections

The book is divided into ten sections:

"True Stories"
"Beliefs"
"Incorrect Beliefs and Actions"
"Salat and its Virtues"
"Fasting, Zakat, Qurbâni, Hajj, Vows, Apostasy, Halâl and Harâm, etc."
"Marriage, Divorce, 'Iddah, Maintenance, Custody, the Rights of Living and Reciting the Qurân"
"Principles of Business and Pursuit of Wealth"
"Etiquette, Manners Reformation of the Heart Deeds and their Retribution, and the Signs of Qiyâmah"
"The Lives of Pious Women"
"Health Matters and Etiquette

Legacy

Barbara Daly Metcalf's 1992 book Perfecting Women is a commentary and history of the Bahishti Zewar.^[3]^[4]^[5]

References

^ Saʻīd, Aḥmad (1975). Bazm-i Ashraf ke cirāg̲h (in Urdu). Lāhaur: Maktabah-yi Aḥyāʻ-ul-ʻulūm alsharqīyah. p. 116.
^ Usmani, Taqi (2005). Tabsre (in Urdu). Pakistan: Maktaba Ma'ariful Quran. pp. 126–128.
^ Ashraf ʻAlī Thānvī; Barbara Daly Metcalf (1992). Perfecting Women: Maulana Ashraf 'Ali Thanawi's Bihishti Zewar. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-08093-5.
^ Ansari, Usamah Yasin (2012). ""Tandrusti Deen ka Kaam Hai": Health as a Matter of Religion in Book 9 of Ashraf Ali Thanvi's Bahishti Zewar". History of Religions. 52 (1): 49–76. doi:10.1086/665963. ISSN 0018-2710. JSTOR 10.1086/665963. S2CID 162194778.
^ Ansari, Usamah Yasin (November 2010). "The Pious Self is a Jewel in Itself: Agency and Tradition in the Production of 'Shariatic Modernity'". South Asia Research. 30 (3): 275–298. doi:10.1177/026272801003000304. ISSN 0262-7280. S2CID 147134358.