البر
al-Birr
A collective name for all conduct that God approves.
What it means
Al-birr is a broad word for righteousness and goodness. Faruqi defines it as the collective name for all conduct that God approves. It includes faith, worship, kindness to parents and relatives, generosity, keeping promises and patience in hardship, and it is often rendered as “piety” or “righteousness”, though neither English word fully covers its range or its stress on action.
The Quran explains it in a long verse: righteousness does not consist of turning toward east or west, but of belief in God, the last day, the angels, the Book and the prophets, giving of one’s wealth to relatives, orphans and the needy, establishing the prayer, keeping promises and being steadfast (2:177). Another verse says that people will not attain birr until they spend of what they love (3:92).
Often misunderstood as
That it is only outward religious show, when the Quran joins faith, worship and conduct under it.
Term and Arabic as listed in Ismail al Faruqi, Toward Islamic English (International Institute of Islamic Thought, 1995), p. 24, listed as AL BIRR. The definition is restated here.