Al Ghazali On Invocations And Supplications

Although prayerfulness and the remembrance of God suffuse all the formal practices of Islam, there are times when the Muslim simply 'sits alone with his Lord' to repeat formulas drawn from the Qur'an and the sayings of the Prophet, seeking remission of his sins and the purification of his heart. The present volume is probably the most widely read compendium of such material, popular not only for its comprehensiveness and beauty, but also for the analytical approach of its author, who explores the psychological and spiritual effects of prayer and the celebration of God's name. The original translation by Kojiro Nakamura, now Head of the Islamic Studies Department at the University of Tokyo, has been substantially revised and augmented with 'hadith' identification.

Al-Ghazali on Invocations and Supplications is a translation of the ninth chapter of the Revival of the Religious Sciences (Ihya' 'Ulum al-Din). This chapter falls in the sections dealing with the requirement of religion. This new fourth edition includes the invocations and supplications in Arabic for those readers who would like to use them in their prayers and a translation of Imam Ghazali's own Introduction to the Revival of the Religious Sciences, which gives the reasons that caused him to write the work, the structure of the whole of the Revival, and places each of the chapters in the context of the others.

The spiritual life in Islam begins with riyadat al-nafs, the inner warfare against the ego. Distracted and polluted by worldliness, the lower self has a tendency to drag the human creature down into arrogance and vice. Only by a powerful effort of will can the sincere worshipper achieve the purity of soul which enables him to attain God's proximity. This translation of two chapters from The Revival of the Religious Sciences (Ihya' 'Ulum al-Din) details the sophisticated spiritual techniques adopted by classical Islam. In the first step, On Disciplining the Soul, which cites copious anecdotes from the Islamic scriptures and biographies of the saints, Ghazali explains how to acquire good character traits, and goes on to describe how the sickness of the heart may be cured. In the second part, Breaking the Two Desires, he focusses on the question of gluttony and sexual desire, concluding, in the words of the Prophet, that 'the best of all matters is the middle way'. The translator has added an introduction and notes which explore Ghazali's ability to make use of Greek as well as Islamic ethics. The work will prove of special interest to those interested in Sufi mysticism, comparative ethics, and the question of sexuality in Islam.

In this work, here presented in a complete English edition for the first time, the problem of knowing God is confronted in an original and stimulating way. Taking up the Prophet's teaching that 'Ninety-nine Beautiful Names' are truly predicated of God, Ghazali explores the meaning and resonance of each of these divine names, and reveals the functions they perform both in the cosmos and in the soul of the spiritual adept. Although some of the book is rigorously analytical, the author never fails to attract the reader with his profound mystical and ethical insights, which, conveyed in his sincere and straightforward idiom, have made of this book one of the perennial classics of Muslim thought, popular among Muslims to this day. This volume won a British Book Design and Production Award in 1993.

In the Principles of the Creed (Kitab Qawa'id al-'aqa'id), the second of the forty books of the Revival of the Religious Sciences (Ihya' 'ulum al-din), Abu Hamid al-Ghazali explains the fundamental beliefs of Islam, those that concern faith in God, His revelation, His messengers, and the hereafter. The scope of these beliefs includes the nature of God, Muhammad s status as a prophet, the virtues of the Companions, the events related to the resurrection and judgment, and the nature of faith itself. This presentation of beliefs goes beyond a list of creedal statements; al-Ghazali cites the scriptural foundations in the Qur'an and hadith, refers to transmitted reports from the Companions and others from the righteous predecessors, and supports these beliefs with rational arguments."

This is a translation of chapter 9 of Al-Ghazzālī's Islamic studies.

Covers those dimensions of Islamic rituals of worship – prayer, almsgiving, fasting, Pilgrimage, etc. which are essential to the fulfilment of inner quality. Consists of selections from al-Ghazali's Ihya, a pivotal work in the history of Islamic thought.

A revised edition of Kojiro Nakamura's acclaimed translation into English of Book IX of The Revival of the Religious Sciences (Ihya' 'Ulum al-Din). Although prayerfulness and the remembrance of God suffuse all the formal practices of Islam, there are times when the Muslim simply 'sits alone with his Lord' to repeat formulas drawn from the Qur'an and the sayings of the Prophet, seeking remission of his sins and the purification of his heart. The present volume is probably the most widely read compendium of such material, popular not only for its comprehensiveness and beauty, but also for the analytical approach of its author, who explores the psychological and spiritual effects of prayer and the celebration of God's name. The original translation by Kojiro Nakamura, now Head of the Islamic Studies Department at the University of Tokyo, has been substantially revised and augmented with hadith identification. This volume won a British Book Design and Production Award in 1991.