Encyclopedia of Islam

Further reading: Fauzi M. Najjar, “Islamic Fundamen-

talism and the Intellectuals: The Case of Nasr Hamid 

Abu Zayd.” British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies 27 

(2000): 177–200; Nasr Abu Zaid and Esther R. Nelson, 

Voice of an Exile: Reflections on Islam (Westport, Conn.: 

Praeger, 2004).

adab

Adab is an Arabic word for refined behavior and 

good manners that are to be practiced daily. It is 

also used for areas of knowledge that are today 

called the humanities, especially literature written 

in eloquent prose. Both as a code of moral instruc-

tions and as a body of knowledge expressed 

through literature, adab has been significantly 

shaped by the q

Uran

 and the 

sUnna

 of m

Uham

-

mad

, but it has also absorbed local codes of behav-

ior and non-Islamic traditions of learning based in 

urban social settings. The traditional masters of 

adab were Muslim religious scholars, mystics, and 

educated elites who served the rulers of Islamicate 

lands from Spain and North Africa to Southeast 

Asia, especially between the eighth century and 

the 20th.

Although mastery of the skills necessary for 

understanding and producing eloquently written 

literature was available only to a select minority, 

training in manners and morals was a life-long 

process that all members of society were expected 

to engage in, beginning with childhood education 

and continuing with individual self-discipline 

in adulthood. In premodern Islamicate societ-

ies, there were written codes of adab for specific 

groups, such as the 

Ulama

, rulers, nobles, bureau-

crats and secretaries, judges, Sufis, tradesmen and 

artisans, and even musicians. From the general 

religious perspective of Islam, there are also rules 

of good conduct that are applicable to all believ-

ers. The Quran and the sunna of Muhammad con-

tain these rules, which involve ordinary activities 

such as eating, dress, grooming, speaking, visita-

tion, and hospitality. Muslim theologians and phi-

losophers saw adab as an etiquette or discipline 

that could help purify the individual’s God-given, 

rational soul by strengthening inner virtues and 

controlling or even eliminating wrongful behav-

ior such as lying and cheating. Moreover, they 

thought  adab could curb worldly passions, for 

example, sexual desire, greed, anger, jealousy, 

gluttony, and stinginess. One of the leading medi-

eval theologians, al-Ghazali (d. 1111), linked adab

to the F

ive

  p

illars

 of Islam (which involve an 

etiquette for human behavior toward God), Sufi 

practices, and the attainment of eternal bliss in 

paradise

.

Adab is also used as a name for a large and 

diverse body of literary works that both conveys 

information  and demonstrates the creative elo-

quence of the written word in order to transmit 

cultural values and entertain readers. It includes 

books of history, geography, 

travel

, 

biography

, 

poetry, and interesting information about people 

and natural phenomena. In the early centuries of 

Islam, much of this literature was written in Ara-

bic and drew upon the styles of expression found 

in the Quran and hadith. But ancient Greek and 

Persian learning also inspired and was at home 

wherever Islamicate civilization flourished. One 

of the most important contributors to this body of 

writings was al-Jahiz (d. 869), who may have com-

posed as many as 200 books and essays on a wide 

range of topics, including animal lore, singing 

girls, misers, politics, philosophy, and religion.

See also  a

rabic

 

langUage

 

and

 

literatUre

; 

edUcation

; g

hazali

, a

bU

 h

amid

 

al

-; 

morality

 

and

ethics

; s

UFism

.