Description
Book SynopsisAbu Ḥamid al-Ghazali (d. 505/1111) has been described by some scholars as the greatest Muslim in Islamic history. His prolific works, written over the duration of his relatively short lifetime, have deeply influenced Islamic thought for nearly a thousand years. Al-Ghazali was a polymath who had mastered every discipline known to the scholars of his time. In many ways, his corpus of writings on law, theology, philosophy, and Islamic spirituality, represent the most influential understanding of the Islamic religion ever articulated. This short volume, written by one of the world’s leading experts on al-Ghazali, comprises forty gems from al-Ghazali’s inexhaustible treasury of writings, that give the modern reader insights into both the richness of al-Ghazali’s thought, and how they can better help us understand Islam today.
Trade Review“This wonderful volume is a most welcome edition ... Each of these nuggets of wisdom is ably explained and aesthetically produced.”—Muhammad Hozien, Ghazali.org
Table of ContentsINTRODUCTION | 1 Education with the Right Intention; 2 Are You in the Wrong Business?; 3 Seek Felicity; 4 Introspection; 5 Do Your Good Deeds Outnumber Your Bad Ones?; 6 The Greatest Pleasure of All; 7 Deconstructing Greek Metaphysics; 8 Do not Eat Your Path to Heaven; 9 The Merits of Marriage; 10 Striving Beyond Justice; 11 Degrees of Piety; 12 The Fruit of Divine Love; 13 Travelling; 14 Listening to Songs; 15 Enjoining Good and Forbidding Evil; 16 Behaviour is the Mirror of the Heart; 17 Flames of Repentance; 18 Patience Against Sin; 19 True Grace; 20 A Plantation for the Hereafter; 21 Shamefully Busy; 22 Sins as True Veils; 23 Occasionalism (Allah is the Cause of all Events); 24 Love is the Renewed Imperative; 25 On Knowledge, 26 Action and Sincerity; 27 There Are Absolutely No Secrets; 28 Thinking and Having a Preference for the Eternal; 29 Remembering Death; Knowledge vs. Gold and Silver; 30 Presenting Faith to Children; 31 External Cleansing and Internal Purification; 32 Deconstructing Distractions; 33 Fasting Has Three Degrees; 34 Liberation from Attachments; 35 Involvement of the Tongue, Intellect and Heart in Reciting the Holy Qur’an; 36 Knowing Allah Is a Matter of the Heart; 37 Inculcating Beautiful Personal Traits; 38 Excessive Appetite for Food Unleashes Destructive Forces; 39 Healing the Love for Status; 40 Revolting Against Powerful Unjust Rulers | REFERENCES | INDEX
