Muhammad ibn Sulayman al-Jazuli - Incipit Page with Illuminated Headpiece - Walters W5831B - Full Page

''Dalāil al-khayrāt wa-shawāriq al-anwār fī dhikr al-ṣalāt alá al-Nabī al-mukhtār'' (), usually shortened to ''Dala'il al-Khayrat'', is a famous collection of prayers for the Islamic prophet

Muhammad Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. Muhammad in Islam, According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the tawhid, monotheistic teachings of A ...

, which was written by the Moroccan

Shadhili The Shadhili Order () is a tariqah or Sufi order. The Shadhili order was founded by Abu al-Hasan al-Shadhili in the 13th century and is followed by millions of people around the world. Many followers (Arabic ''murids'', "seekers") of the Shadhil ...

scholar

Muhammad al-Jazuli Abū 'Abdullah Muḥammad ibn Sulaymān ibn Abū Bakr al-Jazūli al-Simlālī () (d. 1465AD = 870AH), often known as Imam al-Jazuli or Sheikh Jazuli, was a Moroccan Sufi Saint. He is best known for compiling the '' Dala'il al-Khayrat'', an extr ...

(died 1465 AD). It is popular in parts of the

Islamic world The terms Islamic world and Muslim world commonly refer to the Islamic community, which is also known as the Ummah. This consists of all those who adhere to the religious beliefs, politics, and laws of Islam or to societies in which Islam is ...

amongst traditional Muslims—specifically

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, the

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, the

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and

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—and is divided into sections for daily recitation.

Background

Moroccan ''

hadith Hadith is the Arabic word for a 'report' or an 'account f an event and refers to the Islamic oral tradition of anecdotes containing the purported words, actions, and the silent approvals of the Islamic prophet Muhammad or his immediate circle ...

'' scholar Abdullah al-Talidi wrote of the ''Dala'il al-Khayrat'': "Millions of Muslims from East to West tried it and found its good, its blessing, and its benefit for centuries and over generations, and witnessed its unbelievable spiritual blessings and light. Muslims avidly recited it, alone and in groups, in homes and mosques, utterly spending themselves in the Blessings on the Most Beloved and praising him". The ''Dala'il al-Khayrat'' is the first major book in Islamic history which compiled litanies of peace and blessings upon Muhammad. It is also the most popular and most universally acclaimed collection of litanies asking

God In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...

to bless him. Among some

Sunni Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr () rightfully succeeded him as the caliph of the Mu ...

religious orders, most notably the

order, its recitation is a daily practice. In others however, its recitation is a purely voluntary daily practice. The work begins with the ninety nine names of God, and then a collection of 201 names of Muhammad. The legend behind the origin of the ''Dala'il al-Khayrat'' claims that al-Jazuli once awoke late for his morning prayers and began to look in vain for pure water to perform ritual ablutions. In the midst of his search al-Jazuli encountered a young girl who was aware of al-Jazuli's famed religiosity and was bewildered on why al-Jazuli could not find pure water. The girl then spat into a well which miraculously overflowed with pure sweet water for al-Jazuli to perform ablutions. Consequent to performing prayer, al-Jazuli inquired to the means by which the girl achieved such a high spiritual station. The girl replied it was simply by "Making constant prayer for God to bless the best of creation by the number of breaths and heartbeats." Al-Jazuli then resolved to write a work collecting litanies of prayers asking God to bless and show mercy and kindness to Muhammad. Al-Jazuli then moved east to

Medina Medina, officially al-Madinah al-Munawwarah (, ), also known as Taybah () and known in pre-Islamic times as Yathrib (), is the capital of Medina Province (Saudi Arabia), Medina Province in the Hejaz region of western Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, ...

where he would recite the whole of the ''Dala'il al-Khayrat'' twice daily at Muhammad's grave in

al-Masjid an-Nabawi The Prophet's Mosque () is the second mosque built by the Islamic prophet Muhammad in Medina, after the Quba Mosque, as well as the second largest mosque and holiest site in Islam, after the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca, in the Saudi region of ...

. The ''Dala'il Khayrat'' has since been seen as a testament of love and passionate longing for Muhammad. Many of

exegesis Exegesis ( ; from the Ancient Greek, Greek , from , "to lead out") is a critical explanation or interpretation (philosophy), interpretation of a text. The term is traditionally applied to the interpretation of Bible, Biblical works. In modern us ...

were written on the ''Dala'il Khayrat'' - most notably by the scholar Yusuf an-Nabhani in his work ''Afdal al-Salawat'', Mohammed al-Mahdi al-Fasi's ''Matali‘ Al Masarrat Bi Jalaa’ Dala’il Al Khayrat'' (مطالع المسرات بجلاء دلائل الخيرات) and Abd al-Majid al-Sharnubi al-Azhari's ''Sharh Dala'il Khayrat''. A classic Ottoman era work by Kara Davud is popular in Turkish, titled ''Tevfîk-i Muvaffık il-Hayrât li-Neyl'il-berekât fî Hidmet-i Menbâ'üs-sa'adât'' (), in short known as "Kara Davud". In 2023, Shaykh Muhammad al-Yaqoubi undertook the task of publishing the most authentic edition and English translation of the Dala'il al-Khayrat, following extensive research into its chains of transmission and the consultation of numerous manuscripts, through his London-based publishing house, Signatora.

Manuscripts

Gallery

File:Khalili Collection Hajj and Arts of Pilgrimage mss 0276 fol 5b-6a.jpg, Khalili Collections MSS 0276 File:Khalili Collection Hajj and Arts of Pilgrimage mss 1138 fol 71b-72a.jpg, Khalili Collections MSS 1138 showing the names "Allah" and "Mohammed" File:Kaba and Mosque (cropped).jpg, The

National Library of Israel The National Library of Israel (NLI; ; ), formerly Jewish National and University Library (JNUL; ), is the library dedicated to collecting the cultural treasures of Israel and of Judaism, Jewish Cultural heritage, heritage. The library holds more ...

Jerusalem Israel Ms. Yah. Ar. 47 showing illustrations of the

Great Mosque of Mecca Masjid al-Haram (), also known as the Sacred Mosque or the Great Mosque of Mecca, is considered to be the most significant mosque in Islam. It encloses the vicinity of the Kaaba in Mecca, in the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia. It is among the ...

and the

Prophet's Mosque The Prophet's Mosque () is the List of the oldest mosques, second mosque built by the Prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad in Islam, Muhammad in Medina, after the Quba Mosque, as well as the second List of large mosques, la ...

. File:Al-Hajj Hafiz Muhammad Nuri, Turkey, 1801 - The Dala'il al-Khayrat of al-Juzuli - Google Art Project.jpg, The Museum of Islamic Art, Qatar, MS.427.2007 showing illustrations of the Great Mosque of Mecca and the Prophet's Mosque. File:Manuscript of the Dala'il al-khayrat of al-Jazuli LACMA M.85.237.51 (2 of 3).jpg, Los Angeles County Museum of Art M.85.237.51

References

External links

Read/Download ''Dalail ul Khairat Shareef''
(Urdu)
''Dala'il al-Khayrat (Audio)''

(by Sheikh

Nuh Ha Mim Keller Nuh Ha Mim Keller (born 1954) is an American Islamic scholar, teacher and author who lives in Amman. He is a translator of a number of Islamic books. Life and scholarship Keller studied philosophy and Arabic language, Arabic at the University ...

)
An Appreciation by Siddiq Osman NoormuhammadRead online

Read online in Arabic with English translation and transliteration
{{Authority control Sunni literature Sufi literature Islamic prayer 15th century in Morocco Marinid Sultanate 15th-century Arabic-language books