Background
Al-Ghazali was born in the town of Tus in eastern Persia, not far from the modern city of Meshed, in 1058. His father appears to have been a pious merchant of modest means. Al-Ghazali was orphaned at an early age.
The portrait of al-Ghazali.
The portrait of al-Ghazali.
The portrait of al-Ghazali.
The portrait of al-Ghazali.
The portrait of al-Ghazali.
The portrait of al-Ghazali.
(This is the first English translation of the last chapter...)
This is the first English translation of the last chapter of Al-Ghazali's Revival of the Religious Sciences, widely regarded as the greatest work of Muslim spirituality. After expounding his Sufi philosophy of death and showing the importance of the contemplation of human mortality to the mystical way of self-purification, Ghazali takes his readers through the stages of the future life: the vision of the Angels of the Grave, the Resurrection, the Intercession of the Prophet, and finally, the torments of Hell, the delights of Paradise and for the elect the beatific vision of God's Countenance.
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(Although Abu Hamid Muhammad al-Ghazali lived a relatively...)
Although Abu Hamid Muhammad al-Ghazali lived a relatively short life (1058-1111), he established himself as one of the most important thinkers in the history of Islam. "The Incoherence of the Philosophers," written after more than a decade of travel and ascetic contemplation, contends that while such Muslim philosophers as Avicenna boasted of unassailable arguments on matters of theology and metaphysics, they could not deliver on their claims; moreover, many of their assertions represented disguised heresy and unbelief. Despite its attempted refutation by the twelfth-century philosopher Ibn Rushd, al-Ghazali's work remains widely read and influential.
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(In this work, here presented in a complete English editio...)
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, the author 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 books are 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.
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("Work for your terrestrial life in proportion to your loc...)
"Work for your terrestrial life in proportion to your location in it, and work for your afterlife in proportion to your eternity in it." This is part of the advice that the great theologian and mystic Abu Hamid al-Ghazali (1058-1111 AD) put down in his "Letter to a Disciple." An old disciple of al-Ghazali had studied the Islamic sciences, including the many works of his master, for most of his life. Faced with the proximity of death, he turns again to his master this time asking for a summary of all his teachings. "Letter to a Disciple" is al-Ghazali's response. The emphasis in this short treatise is on religious and spiritual action and on putting into practice the knowledge that one has acquired. "Letter to a Disciple" can be considered as the last testament of he who is regarded as Hujjat al-Islam, the "Proof of Islam."
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(This is a translation of Imam Ghazzali s Jawahir al-Quran...)
This is a translation of Imam Ghazzali s Jawahir al-Quran. In the first part, Imam Ghazzali describes the way to understand the Quran, its principal aims and how all branches of Islamic knowledge are based on it. The second part contains more than 1500 verses from the Quran which Imam Ghazzali divides into rubies and pearls. The verses he describes as rubies relate to our cognitive function and refer to the essence of God, his Names and Qualities and Acts. The verses he describes as pearls refer us to the straight path and the Divine urging us to follow it. The pearls engage our practical function. Due September 2008.
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(The spiritual life in Islam begins with riyadat al-nafs, ...)
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 the soul which enables him to attain God's proximity.
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(Originally written as a manual of spiritual instruction, ...)
Originally written as a manual of spiritual instruction, this crucial work of medieval Islamic thought examines Sufi and mystical influences within the Muslim tradition to provide insight into the intellectual and religious history of the Muslim world. Written by one of the most famous theologian-mystics of all time, it is an in-depth discussion of two essential virtues of religious and spiritual life: patience and thankfulness. In this new edition, the Islamic Texts Society has included a translation of Imam Ghazali's own Introduction to the Revival of the Religious Sciences.
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(Al-Ghazzali places great emphasis on the virtue and spiri...)
Al-Ghazzali places great emphasis on the virtue and spiritual reward of having a good disposition. He also discusses how to recognize the sicknesses of the spiritual heart, the signs of a good character, the raising and training of children, and the prerequisites of becoming a disciple.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1567446930/?tag=2022091-20
(This text has long been recognized as not only an Islamic...)
This text has long been recognized as not only an Islamic classic but also as a great spiritual autobiography of one of the world's greatest religious thinkers. It is the narrative of how one dedicated seeker of true knowledge and salvation, having probed various systems of thought and differing paths of learning and enlightenment, discovered the peace of the inner life and discipline of mystical spirituality.
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(For al-Ghazzali, the duties of friendship and brotherhood...)
For al-Ghazzali, the duties of friendship and brotherhood in association with people include that friendship be for the sake of true love of God Most High. He describes enmity for the sake of God Most High and the degrees of anger against the opponents of God Most High. He also discusses the rights and conditions of association and friendship and the rights of Muslims, neighbors, relatives, mothers and fathers, children, and captives in war. This selection is Book XV of Part Two of the Alchemy of Happiness.
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(Al-Ghazzali begins his masterful Alchemy of Happiness wit...)
Al-Ghazzali begins his masterful Alchemy of Happiness with the topic based on the famous Tradition of the Prophet, "One who knows one's self, knows one's Lord." In al-Ghazzali's view, everything begins by knowing who you are. He says that you should know that you are born with an outer form and an inner essence and it is that inner essence or the spiritual heart that you have to come to know in order to know who you are.
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(This is the third and fourth topic of the Introduction of...)
This is the third and fourth topic of the Introduction of al-Ghazzali to his masterful work Alchemy of Happiness. In addition to knowing yourself and God, you need to have some idea about this world and the Hereafter. According to al-Ghazzali, without an understanding of the passing nature of this world and the permanence of the Hereafter, you may operate out of a different set of values than the ones with which the Creator blessed you.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1567446825/?tag=2022091-20
(Al-Ghazzali discusses the roots of anger that will never ...)
Al-Ghazzali discusses the roots of anger that will never be uprooted but how the triumph of God's Unity conceals anger, how the treatment of anger is obligatory along with the causes of anger. In addition, he describes hatred and envy, the harms of envy, its true nature, the treatment for envy, and how envy must be uprooted from our hearts. This is Book XXIV of Part Three of the Alchemy of Happiness entitled The Destroyers.
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jurist mystic philosopher theologian
Al-Ghazali was born in the town of Tus in eastern Persia, not far from the modern city of Meshed, in 1058. His father appears to have been a pious merchant of modest means. Al-Ghazali was orphaned at an early age.
Al-Ghazali began to receive instruction in fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) from Ahmad al-Radhakani, a local teacher.
He later studied under al-Juwayni, the distinguished jurist and theologian, and "the most outstanding Muslim scholar of his time," in Nishapur, perhaps after a period of study in Gurgan.
At the age of 27 al-Ghazali moved from eastern Persia to Baghdad and attached himself to Nizam al-Mulk, the powerful minister of the Seljuk rulers and a generous patron of scholarship and letters. Nizam al-Mulk appointed al-Ghazali professor in the chief college which he had founded in Baghdad, the Nizamiya Madrasa, and for the next 4 years, he was at the summit of the legal and scholarly profession. But discontent with the general corruption of his professional colleagues and perhaps also political fears of the Assassins (who had killed his patron, Nizam al-Mulk, in 1092) led al-Ghazali to give up his brilliant career very suddenly in 1095.
The next 11 years in al-Ghazali's life are obscure; it is known that he went on a pilgrimage to Mecca, stayed a while in Syria, and then retired to Tus. During this period he lived the life of an ascetic Sufi, or mystic, preoccupied with spiritual matters and almost oblivious to the world. He also wrote his most important book during this period, The Revivification of the Religious Sciences.
As a highly educated alim, or scholar (Arabic plural, ulama, popularly spelled ulema in the West), al-Ghazali wrote several works on jurisprudence and on dogmatic theology, as well as polemics against various heresies. These more or less conventional books are overshadowed by his works on philosophy and mysticism. After embarking on his brilliant career in Baghdad at the Nizamiya, al-Ghazali became dissatisfied with the conventional scholarship of the traditionists and jurists and embarked on a deep study of philosophy. This was a subject not widely known, and rather suspect in the view of the orthodox. His conclusions were that the Moslem philosophers al-Farabi and Ibn Sina were too preoccupied with philosophy as such and had virtually placed themselves outside the community of Moslems.
At the same time, al-Ghazali felt strongly drawn to Greek philosophical logic, to which his study of philosophy had exposed him. His major philosophical contributions are twofold: The Aims of the Philosophers, in which al-Farabi's and Avicenna's Neoplatonist ideas were described without criticism, and The Incoherence of the Philosophers, in which the works of these Moslem thinkers were shown to be either impossible to square with orthodox Islam or poorly reasoned from a philosophical point of view. The reason why al-Ghazali presented The Aims of the Philosophers without comment and then demolished their ideas in a second book may be that he felt that philosophy, the logic of which strongly attracted him and which he felt was valuable, had never been explained by a nonphilosopher, that is, by a truly orthodox scholar.
But al-Ghazali's greatest contribution to medieval Moslem thought was his The Revivification of the Religious Sciences, a four-volume work composed in his period of withdrawal from the academic milieu of Baghdad. Its importance - long recognized in the Moslem world - lies not so much in its advocacy of mysticism as in its harmonious fusion of the whole body of Moslem ritual and culture, including mysticism, into a pattern preparing the believer for the world to come. Al-Ghazali's insistence upon the intelligent observance of Moslem cultic practices relieved the tension between the stricter orthodox and the majority of those drawn to Islamic mysticism. The antinomians could be rejected without alienating the many who felt the need of both traditional Moslem ritual and of a more personal religious experience.
The last years of his life saw a brief return to teaching, the composition of his autobiography, and the foundation of a retreat for the training of mystics in his native town of Tus.
He died on 19 December 1111.
(Originally written as a manual of spiritual instruction, ...)
(Al-Ghazzali discusses the roots of anger that will never ...)
(This is the first English translation of the last chapter...)
(Although Abu Hamid Muhammad al-Ghazali lived a relatively...)
(This text has long been recognized as not only an Islamic...)
(Al-Ghazzali begins his masterful Alchemy of Happiness wit...)
(In this work, here presented in a complete English editio...)
(For al-Ghazzali, the duties of friendship and brotherhood...)
("Work for your terrestrial life in proportion to your loc...)
(This is the third and fourth topic of the Introduction of...)
(Al-Ghazzali places great emphasis on the virtue and spiri...)
(The spiritual life in Islam begins with riyadat al-nafs, ...)
(This is a translation of Imam Ghazzali s Jawahir al-Quran...)
Personal discontent with scholastic orthodoxy led Abu Al-Ghazali to mysticism and the writing of a monumental work that harmonized the tendencies of both orthodoxy and mysticism within Islam.
Al-Ghazali contributed significantly to the development of a systematic view of Sufism and to its integration and acceptance in mainstream Islam. As a scholar of orthodox Islam, he belonged to the Shafi'i school of Islamic jurisprudence and to the Asharite school of theology.
He is viewed as the key member of the influential Asharite school of early Muslim philosophy and as the most important refuter of the Mutazilites. However, he chose a slightly different position in comparison with the Asharites; his beliefs and thoughts differ, in some aspects, from the orthodox Asharite school.
As a highly educated alim, or scholar (Arabic plural, ulama, popularly spelled ulema in the West), al-Ghazali wrote several works on jurisprudence and on dogmatic theology, as well as polemics against various heresies. These more or less conventional books are overshadowed by his works on philosophy and mysticism. After embarking on his brilliant career in Baghdad at the Nizamiya, al-Ghazali became dissatisfied with the conventional scholarship of the traditionists and jurists and embarked on a deep study of philosophy. This was a subject not widely known, and rather suspect in the view of the orthodox. His conclusions were that the Moslem philosophers al-Farabi and Ibn Sina were too preoccupied with philosophy as such and had virtually placed themselves outside the community of Moslems.
At the same time, al-Ghazali felt strongly drawn to Greek philosophical logic, to which his study of philosophy had exposed him. His major philosophical contributions are twofold: The Aims of the Philosophers, in which al-Farabi's and Avicenna's Neoplatonist ideas were described without criticism, and The Incoherence of the Philosophers, in which the works of these Moslem thinkers were shown to be either impossible to square with orthodox Islam or poorly reasoned from a philosophical point of view. The reason why al-Ghazali presented The Aims of the Philosophers without comment and then demolished their ideas in a second book may be that he felt that philosophy, the logic of which strongly attracted him and which he felt was valuable, had never been explained by a nonphilosopher, that is, by a truly orthodox scholar.
But al-Ghazali's greatest contribution to medieval Moslem thought was his The Revivification of the Religious Sciences, a four-volume work composed in his period of withdrawal from the academic milieu of Baghdad. Its importance - long recognized in the Moslem world - lies not so much in its advocacy of mysticism as in its harmonious fusion of the whole body of Moslem ritual and culture, including mysticism, into a pattern preparing the believer for the world to come. Al-Ghazali's insistence upon the intelligent observance of Moslem cultic practices relieved the tension between the stricter orthodox and the majority of those drawn to Islamic mysticism. The antinomians could be rejected without alienating the many who felt the need of both traditional Moslem ritual and of a more personal religious experience.
Quotations:
"Desires make slaves out of kings and patience makes kings out of slaves."
"Whoever says that all music is prohibited, let him also claim that the songs of birds are prohibited."
"Are you ready to cut off your head and place your foot on it? If so, come; Love awaits you! Love is not grown in a garden, nor sold in the marketplace; whether you are a king or a servant, the price is your head, and nothing less. Yes, the cost of the elixir of love is your head! Do you hesitate? 0 miser, It is cheap at that price!"
"If you see Allah, Mighty and Magnificent, holding back this world from you, frequently trying you with adversity and tribulation, know that you hold a great status with Him. Know that He is dealing with you as He does with His Awliya’ and chosen elite, and is watching over you."
"Do not allow your heart to take pleasure with the praises of people, nor be saddened by their condemnation."
Quotes from others about the person
The Islamic scholar al-Safadi states: "Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Ahmad, the Proof of Islam, Ornament of the Faith, Abu Hamid al-Tusi (al-Ghazali) the Shafi'ite jurist, was in his later years without rival"
Al-Yafi'i stated that: "He was called The Proof of Islam and undoubtedly was worthy of the name, absolutely trustworthy (in respect of the Faith) How many an epitome (has he given) us setting forth the basic principles of religion: how much that was repetitive has he summarised, and epitomised what was lengthy. How many a simple explanation has he given us of what was hard to fathom, with brief elucidation and clear solution of knotty problems. He used moderation, being quiet but decisive in silencing an adversary, though his words were like a sharp sword-thrust in refuting a slanderer and protecting the high-road of guidance. "
The Shafi'i jurist al-Subki stated that: "If there had been a prophet after Muhammad, al-Ghazali would have been the man."