1. The document discusses key Islamic concepts of khayr (good), sharr (evil), birr (righteousness) and taqwa (piety) as used in the Quran and hadith. 2. Khayr refers to anything beneficial in both worldly and religious matters, while sharr is its direct opposite referring to misfortune. 3. Birr encompasses piety and righteous actions motivated by love and fear of God. Taqwa connects birr to fulfilling religious duties out of fear of God. 4. The Prophetic approach identifies khayr with following Islamic teachings and dissociating from heresy, while focusing on faith, love of God and

1. Khayr & Sharr

2. • Khayr
• -it is a very comprehensive term/ its
application is extremely wide
• -it means anything that may be considered in
any respect valuable, beneficial, useful and
desirable
• -in the Quranic context, it covers both the
field of worldly affairs and that of religious
belief

3. • -Sad, 38:32
• “…Truly do I love the love of good, w a view to
the glory of my Lord
• --the legend of the Prophet Sulaiman’s
admiration of his beautiful horses

4. • -Al-Baqarah,2:180
• “…when death approaches any of you, if he
leave any goods, that he make a bequest to
parents n next of kin…”
• -the word khayr as synonym of wealth

5. • -it also related to religion and faith
• --Al ‘Imran,3:26
• “…You gives power to whom u pleases n you
strippest off power from who u pleases…in
your hand is all good…”
• -suggests that it denotes the limitless bounty
of God

6. • --al-Baqarah, 2:105, al-Nahl,16:30, al-Baqarah,
2:269
• -the term khayr in these Quranic verses refers
to God’s revelation
• -al-Anfal,8:70
• -it denotes belief and genuine faith

7. • -Al-An’am,6:158
• -it denotes the positive effect of the faith
• -al-Baqarah, 2:110
• -it denotes the pious work
• Al-Sad, 38:46-7
• -it denotes the excellent believer

8. • -the term khayr in the religious matters is of 2
classes
• 1-one is the ‘good’, the source of which lies in
God
• 2-the other is the ‘good’ produced by man

9. • Sharr
• --the most usual antithesis of khayr, which
functions as its direct opposite in any of its
various meanings
• -so if the former is used for happiness or
prosperity in worldly life, the latter is used for
misfortune

10. • -fussilat, 41:49-50
• “man tire not of praying for good, and if ill
touches him, he give up all hope n is lost in
despair”

11. • -in the religious field, it denotes pious deed
and kufr, respectively
• --al-zilzal, 99:6-8
• ‘that day mankind will issue forth in scattered
groups to be shown their deeds’.
• ‘and who do good an atom’s weight will see it
then’
• ‘and who do ill an atom’s weight will see it
then’

12. Birr & Taqwa
• Birr
• -it means piety as well as righteousness or
kindness
• -it occurs to in the Quran to formulate an
Islamic creed
• -in 2:177, the purely ritual aspect of
righteousness, or piety, is repudiated and
genuine faith & righteousness are asserted

13. • ‘it is not righteousness that u turn ur faces to
the east n the west, but righteousness is he
who believe in Allah n the last Day n the
angels n the book n the prophets n give his
wealth, for live of Him, to kinsfolk n to
orphans n the needy n the wayfarer n to those
who ask, n to set slaves free n observe proper

14. • worship n pay the poor due. And those who
keep their treaty when they make one, n the
patient in tribulatan, adversity n time of
stress……’

15. • -in other word, the term connects with ‘fear
of God’ (taqwa)
• -it stated that those who fulfill all the duties,
social as well as religious, deserved under the
name of birr
• -it is a comprehensive name for all actions
motivated by love and righteousness and
stimulated by the religious experience of fear

16. Prophetic Approach
• Khayr & Sharr-
• -1-the identification of goodness with
conformity to the dictates of Islam or the
Quran, as opposed to the pre-Islamic
condition of ignorance
• --the goodness in this hadith is to consist
simply in conformity to the will of the
community and its imams, and in dissociation
from any heretical group

17. • Hudyayfa Ibn al-Yaman is reported as saying:
‘People kept asking the Prophet about the
good (khayr), whereas I kept asking him about
evil, for fear it will attain me. Thus I said: O
Prophet, we were in a period of ignorance and
evil, but God brought us this good. Now, will
there be any evil, following this good? He said:
Yes. I said : But will there

18. • be, following that evil, any good? He said: Yes,
and it will contain a flaw. I said: What is this
flaw? He said: A people calling to a guidance
other than mine; some u will recognize, others
u will not. Thereupon I said; but will there be,
following that evil, any good? He said: Yes, a
group who call to the gates of hell……So what
do u command me to do, …..He said: Cling to
the community of Muslims & their imams.

19. • I said: But suppose they had no community or
a head? He said: Then u shun all these sects, --
……

20. • -other meanings of goodness are disquisition
on faith and related question
• -al-Bukhari al-Muslim in Kitab al-Iman
reported the love of the Prophet, the love of
God an Prophet jointly or the love of one’s
neighbour

21. • Birr & Taqwa-
• -it indicates that birr & taqwa Or
righteousness & piety is not a matter of
outward attitude or performance
• “God will not look at ur bodies/ forms, but at
ur hearts”