Ibn Abi al-Dunya (d. 894 CE) was a hadith scholar of Baghdad and tutor to Abbasid princes. He wrote over a hundred short books on ethics, piety and everyday virtues, collecting narrations from the Prophet and the early Muslims on topics from patience and gratitude to family life.
Islam Central has 29 summaries of works by Ibn Abi al-Dunya, each in short audio and text chapters with a free preview on its page.
Ibn Abi al-Dunya’s collection on patience and its reward, gathering hadith and stories of the patient who were paid without measure.
16 chapters · 41 min
Ibn Abi al-Dunya’s collection on relief after hardship, with verses, hadith and true stories of people saved from distress, reminding the believer that ease is always near.
16 chapters · 37 min
Ibn Abi al-Dunya’s collection on contentment with Allah’s decree (rida), with stories of the Prophet, the Companions and the pious who found peace in what Allah chose for them.
16 chapters · 37 min
Ibn Abi al-Dunya’s collection on sadness and grief, showing how sorrow for the right reasons cleans sins, softens the heart and leads the believer home to Allah.
16 chapters · 34 min
Ibn Abi al-Dunya’s collection of narrations on illness and its rewards, teaching that sickness wipes away sins, keeps good deeds counting, and draws the patient believer closer to Allah.
15 chapters · 40 min
True stories of people whose prayers were answered immediately, from the three men in the cave to the man in rags who brought rain, and the secret behind answered prayers.
12 chapters · 37 min
Narrations describing Paradise: its gates, levels, rivers, food, the market of Friday, eternal youth and the greatest gift of all, seeing Allah.
13 chapters · 37 min
Narrations on the benefits and balance of solitude: protecting your faith and time, choosing good company, and finding company in the Qur’an.
12 chapters · 33 min
Hadith and stories on forbearance (hilm): self-control in anger, answering ignorance with peace, and why the calm person is the truly strong one.
12 chapters · 37 min
The first book devoted to getting along with people: tact, gentleness, a welcoming face and peacemaking, without compromising your principles.
12 chapters · 38 min
Narrations on the virtue of meeting people’s needs: why helping others brings Allah’s help, outweighs extra worship, and turns you into the answer to someone’s prayer.
12 chapters · 31 min
Hadith and stories on caring for family: why every coin spent on dependants is charity, the virtue of raising daughters, fairness between children and mercy at home.
12 chapters · 34 min
Ibn Abi al-Dunya's collection on sincerity: how the early Muslims guarded their intentions, hid their worship and tears, and cared more about acceptance than the size of their deeds.
12 chapters · 28 min
Ibn Abi al-Dunya's collection on friendship for the sake of Allah: its reward, how to choose a companion, telling friends you love them, visiting, and sharing generously before they ask.
13 chapters · 36 min
Ibn Abi al-Dunya's collection on gratitude: how the prophets and early Muslims saw Allah's blessings everywhere, thanked Him with every limb, and guarded against blessings that lead away from Him.
13 chapters · 32 min
Ibn Abi al-Dunya's collection on certainty: what it is, how it differs from faith, how it makes hardship light and the heart rich, and why the righteous never stopped asking Allah for it.
12 chapters · 32 min
Ibn Abi al-Dunya's great collection on the true worth of this world: why the Prophet lived like a rider under a tree, what he feared for his community, and how to use the world without being owned by it.
13 chapters · 31 min
Ibn Abi al-Dunya's collection on the tongue: giving up arguments, what backbiting really is, why tale-bearing and two faces are so grave, and how to defend those who are absent.
13 chapters · 29 min
Ibn Abi al-Dunya's collection on long hope: why the heart assumes there is always more time, how the early Muslims kept their hopes short, and why 'later' is so dangerous.
13 chapters · 30 min
Ibn Abi al-Dunya's collection on repentance: how small sins gather, what true repentance is, Allah's joy when a servant returns, and why the door stays open until the very end.
13 chapters · 31 min
Ibn Abi al-Dunya's collection of last words: the Prophet's final hours, caliphs and kings facing death, the righteous between hope and fear, and the lesson to live now as we will wish we had.
13 chapters · 32 min
Ibn Abi al-Dunya's collection on self-accounting: Umar's warning to himself, the self-reproaching soul, humility before Allah, the real battle within, and how a daily reckoning lightens the final one.
13 chapters · 30 min
Ibn Abi al-Dunya's guide to the ten noble traits named by A'ishah: modesty, truthfulness, courage, kinship, trust, loyalty to companions and neighbours, repaying kindness and open-handed generosity.
13 chapters · 34 min
Ibn Abi al-Dunya's collection of stories about people who seemed to die and came back, voices heard from graves, visions at the edge of death and the revivals told in the Quran, each carrying a lesson for how we live now.
13 chapters · 35 min
Ibn Abi al-Dunya on the length of life and the meaning of grey hair: why a long life is only a blessing when it is filled with good deeds, how the righteous welcomed old age, and why every remaining hour is worth guarding.
13 chapters · 29 min
Ibn Abi al-Dunya on the beauty of being humble and the safety of being unknown: avoiding fame, carrying your own things, simple dress, good character, and the danger of even a mustard seed of pride.
13 chapters · 29 min
Ibn Abi al-Dunya on thinking well of Allah: the vastness of His mercy, the balance of hope and fear, never despairing or closing His door on others, and how the early Muslims met death full of hope.
13 chapters · 30 min
Ibn Abi al-Dunya on contentment: keeping one's dignity by not asking people, turning every need to Allah, trusting that provision is written, and the true richness of a contented soul.
13 chapters · 29 min
Ibn Abi al-Dunya's classic collection on money: earning it lawfully, its blessings and dangers, looking after it, honest work and trade, moderation in food and clothing, and the wealth of a contented heart.
13 chapters · 28 minIslamic Practice & Guidance book summariesSpirituality book summariesAll authorsAll book summaries
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