Islamic advice literature may include collections of stories or anecdotes such as legal opinion, interpretation of religious text, legal theory, guidance, consultation, or Islamic stories.
Overview
Islamic advice literature is usually printed on small leaflets and often involves advice from individuals or authorities. In contrast to Fatwa, Tafsir, and Fiqh, Nasîhat and advice literature can come from secular sources, and are not required to be written by Ulama (Islamic scholars). Unlike Fiqh, Tafsir, Fatwa, or Nasîhat based on them, advice can go beyond the realm of religious scripture and may take support of otherwise not easily admissible Hadith or religious rulings in order to make normative pleas. Its reliance has been on traditional and self-renewing information about social, authoritative, or religious themes.
According to Gudrun Krämer, individuals in Muslim societies may urge religious and moral advice, and individuals may be passionate in providing their advice on far-reaching topics. These topics may be mundane — for example, whether or not it is okay to wear a wig according to the norms of their community. Hence, according to Marzieh Bashirpour, social behavior of Muslims is deeply influenced by advice literature.
Means of providing advice
Means of providing Islamic advice includes traditional as well as modern technologies. In Egypt, Al-Azhar University set up 'advice/fatwa kiosks' in subway stations, and introduced a phone-in advice service called "Dial-a-Sheikh". According to Jakob Guhl and Milo Comerford research, online Gen-Z Muslims take interests in taking life advice for things like, whether or not certain behaviours would be permissible within Islam, and how the relationship between everyday issues and Islamic teachings can be formed.
In the caliphates
The governments of the caliphates heavily depended on non-Arab and non-Muslim civil officials, especially by the late Umayyad and early Abbasid states. The situation started to change in the 8th century as Muslims began to compete for social and economic benefits by using religious leverage. By the 9th century, Islamic jurists began to oppose employment of non-Muslims with little influence, but major formal shift started coming by the 12th century, when independent advice literature campaigned for dismissal of non-Muslim civil officials.
Jennifer A. London looks at then scholarly import and presentations of medieval fables as part of advice literature which spoke about political thoughts through characters employed in those literature as mirror for princes.
According to Sami Helewa, prophetic anecdotes about Joseph, David and Soloman called "'Qisas' al-anbiya" by 9th century Persian Islamic scholar Al-Tabari and 11th century scholar Al-Tha'labi served as advice literature to medieval Islamic rulers.
A 10th-century anonymous Arabic manuscript is seen giving advice to rulers using rhymes with a religious undertone. At times, advice goes beyond religious and suggests administrative policies.
Karakhanid writer Yūsuf Balasaghuni wrote Islamic advice literature in Kutadgu Bilig (The Wisdom of Felicity), the only known work written in Turkic from the Karakhanid period.