Imam Ghazali S Ihya Ulum Id Din

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.

AL-GHAZALI’s adapted summary of Ihya Ulum al-Din – The Forty Principles of the Religion THE FORTY PRINCIPLES OF THE RELIGION is a comprehensive distillation of Imam al-Ghazali’s magnum opus, Ihya Ulum ad-Din (The Revival of the Religious Sciences), in which he explores the spiritual depth of virtually every aspect of Islam. This condensed work presents Imam al-Ghazali’s profound insights regarding man’s lifelong struggle to draw closer to Allah in a simple framework, providing the reader with a step-by-step tried and proven method for spiritual development. The result is an essential guide to improving one’s relationship with both the Creator and the creation and a perfect introduction to Imam al-Ghazali’s other great works. English translation by Nasir Abdussalam. Editing and footnotes by Mariam Madge Conlan. A careful and idiomatic English translation of one of Imam al-Ghazali’s most powerful books, which shows the comprehensive depth of the Qurans teachings. Shaykh Abdal Hakim Murad (T.J. Winter) Cambridge Muslim College About the author The Proof of Islam Imam Abu Hamid Muhammad ibn Muhammad al-Ghazali (d. 1111) jurist, legal theorist, logician, theologian, and mystic was a master of both the outer and inner sciences of the Shariah who is regarded by many as the greatest Muslim thinker to have lived after the Pious Predecessors. Credited with dealing the deathblow to Aristotelian philosophy in the Muslim world and bringing authentic Islamic spirituality into the mainstream, his life and thought were extremely influential in shaping the spiritual values and practices of medieval society and are no less relevant today.

In The Mysteries of Purification (Kitab asrar al tahara), the third of the forty books of the Revival of the Religious Sciences (Ihya' 'ulum al-din), Abu Hamid al-Ghazali explains the fundamentals of the purification that is necessary in order to perform the five daily prayers.

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.