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Al-Ghazali on the Manners
Relating to Eating
Book XI of the Revival of the Religious
Sciences (Ihya’ ‘Ulum al-Din)
Translated by: DENYS
JOHNSON-DAVIES
Paperback 96 Pages ISBN:
0 946621 73 X
The eleventh chapter of The Revival of the Religious Sciences
begins the section dealing with man and society. In this volume concentrating on
the manners relating to eating, Ghazali first discusses what a person must
uphold when eating by himself: that the food is lawful, that both the person and
the surroundings should be clean, that one must be content with what is
available, and how the person should conduct himself while eating and after
eating. Ghazali then proceeds to discuss eating in company and says that to all
the above should be added the necessity of courtesy, conversation and the proper
presentation of food. Finally, Ghazali expounds the virtues of hospitality and
generosity and the conduct of the host as well as that of the guest. Other
topics that are discussed are: abstention from food, fasting and general health.
Denys Johnson-Davies is a well-known translator having
published more than twenty-five volumes of short stories. He is the joint
translator of Forty Hadith and Forty Hadith Qudsi.
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