Baber Johansen

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he draws closer through it (wa l-qurba fiÝlu mÁ yuthÁbu Ýalaihi
baÝda maÝrifati man yataqarrabu ilayhi bih) even if it does not
depend on [the declaration of] an intent (niyya). 70
Through this formula Ibn ÝÀbidÐn distinguishes pious acts from those
ritual acts that require a declaration of intent as a condition for their
validity. These are: "the five obligatory prayers, the fasting, the alms-tax,
the pilgrimage and everything that depends [for its validity] on [the
declaration of] an intent." All these, he says, combine the character of
qurba, obedience (ÔÁÝa) and acts of worship (ÝibÁdÁt). In addition to this
group of acts of worship, Ibn ÝÀbidÐn adds as pious acts (qurba) "the
recitation of the QurÞān, the [establishment of an] endowment, the
emancipation of a slave, alms and similar things for which no declaration
of an intent is required. These are acts that bring closer to God and acts
of obedience, but not acts of worship." He also distinguishes acts of
worship and acts that bring closer to God from "the intellectual
investigation (naÛar) that leads to the knowledge (maÝrifa) of God. This
one is an act of obedience (ÔÁÝa), but neither a qurba nor a cultic act." He
explains this distinction in the following words: "Intellectual
investigation is not a qurba for the sole fact that [the person who uses
rational examination] does not know whose nearness he is searching, as
the knowledge [of this] is acquired [only] after the contemplation and it
is no cultic act because it does not require a declaration of intent." 71
The range of acts to which the notion of qurba applies, evidently grows
larger over the centuries, in the ShÁfiÝÐ (see above for NawawÐ) and
HanafÐ debates. It is in no way restricted to ritual, nor even to obligations
and duties. It is any act that brings the person who performs it closer to
God. As far as I can see, Ibn ÝĀbidÐn does not draw the conclusion that,
centuries before, NawawÐ had drawn: that acts which qualify as qurba
may serve as a form of social morality common to Muslims and non-
Muslims. It seems obvious, though, that the list of examples through
which NawawÐ and Ibn ÝÀbidÐn illustrate acts of qurba cannot be
explained in terms of sheer deontology: they are not duties or obligations,