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Ihya Ulum
id Din
The Revival of the
Religions Sciences
By Imam Al Ghazali
Translated by Al Hajj Maulana Fazlul-Karim
Hard Back 4 Volume set,
Published in India/Pakistan By Various Publishers ,
The Revival of the
Religions Sciences (Ihya Ulum al-Din)
is widely regarded as one of the great work of Muslim spirituality,
and has, for centuries, been the widely read work in the Muslim world.
The masterpiece of Imam al-Ghazali, unquestionably one of the greatest
thinkers and theologians of Islam.
It is divided into four parts each containing
ten chapters.
First part deals
with knowledge and the requirements of faith—ritual purity, prayer,
charity, fasting, pilgrimage, recitation of the Qur’an, etc.; Part
two concentrates mostly on people and society—the manners
relating to eating, marriage, earning a living, friendship, etc.; Parts
three and four are dedicated to the
inner life of the soul and discuss first the vices that people must
overcome in themselves and then the virtues that they must strive to
achieve.
Volume 1 - Book of
Worship,
Volume 2 - Book of Worldly Usages,
Volume 3 - Book of Destructive Evils,
Volume 4 - Book of Constructive Virtues.
As far as we know this is the only English
Translation of the complete set of this well known Work of Imam Al-Ghazali (Although Parts of it may be Abridged translation)
The Quality of the Print and the translation does not do justice to
this Monumental Work, (For a better Quality Print and
Level of translation see the translations
of Individual Sections (Click)
Some have criticised the book for quoting Weak Hadith and other traditions. This is
true, however Imam Ghazali was well aware of the Rulings of the fuqaha
(Jurists) of his time and he himself followed the Shaf'ee
fiqh and he does
not use these weak traditions as a basis for deriving Hukm (Rule) Shar'ee.
Rather he uses it in the process of tackling some
real Issues that we face during the course of everyday Life.
About
Imam Ghazali
Abu Hamid Muhammad, famous in the world of
learning as al-Ghazzal was born in 450 AH (1058 A.D). in Persia . He
graduated from the Nizamia Madressa at Nishapur, with distinction.a very famous
educational institution in Nishapur. Later he was appointed as a teacher
at the Nizamia College in Baghdad, where he proved very successful in imparting
knowledge to the scholars under his care. This valuable gift of sustaining
interest of his pupils and passing on his knowledge to them made him so famous
that students from all parts of the country flocked to study under him.
Imam al-Ghazzali was fondly referred to as the "Hujjat-ul-lslam",
Proof of Islam, He is honoured as a scholar and a saint by learned men all over
the world.
Al-Ghazali is generally
acclaimed as the most influential thinker of the Classical period of
Islam, in
his autobiography The Deliverance from Error, the Imam
describes his education and his intellectual crisis, which left him so
paralysed by doubt that he he gave up his academic pursuits and
worldly interests and became a wandering ascetic. This was a process (period)
of mystical transformation. Later, he resumed his teaching duties, but again
left these. An era of solitary life, devoted to contemplation and writing then
ensued, which led to the authorship of a number of everlasting books (Many
of which have been translated in English)
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Table of Contents
BOOK-I
PREFACE
PREFACE OF IMAM GAZZALI
CHAPTER I
Acquisition of Knowledge
CHAPTER II
Foundation of Belief
CHAPTER III
Mysteries of Cleanliness
CHAPTER IV
Secrets of Prayer
CHAPTER V
Secrets of Zakat and Chraities
CHAPTER VI
Secrets of Fasting
CHAPTER VII
Secrets of Pilgrimage Ten Secret Things of Haj
CHAPTER VIII
Excellence of the Quran
CHAPTER IX
Zikr and Invocations
CHAPTER X
Actions after division of Times
BOOK –II
CHAPTER I
Rules of Eating and Drinking
CHAPTER II
Secrets of Marriage
CHAPTER III
Earnings, Trade and Commerce
CHAPTER IV
Halal & Haram
CHAPTER V
Love and Brotherhood
CHAPTER VI
Duties to relative, Neighbours, Muslims
CHAPTER VII
Benefits and harms of Seclusion and society
CHAPTER VIII
Rules of Journey
CHAPTER IX
Music and Exctacy
CHAPTER X
Enjoining good & Forbidding Evil
CHAPTER XI
Conduct and Character of Holy Prophet
BOOK-III
CHAPTER I
Soul and its attributes
CHAPTER II
Riazat or efforts for good conduct in the ways of God
CHAPTER III
Harms of greed and sexual passion
CHAPTER IV
Harms of Tongue
CHAPTER V
Harms of Anger, hatred and Envy
CHAPTER VI
Evils of the world
CHAPTER VII
Evils of wealth and miserliness
CHAPTER VIII
Evils of Power and show
CHAPTER IX
Evils of Pride and Self-praise
CHAPTER X
Evils of erroneous beliefs
BOOK-IV
CHAPTER I
Tauba (Repentance)
CHAPTER II
Patience and gratefulness
CHAPTER III
Fear and hope
CHAPTER IV
Poverty and renunciation
CHAPTER V
Tauhid and Tawakkal
CHAPTER VI
Love and Attachment
CHAPTER VII
Will, intention and Truthfulness
CHAPTER VIII
Meditation and Introspection
CHAPTER IX
Pondering over good
CHAPTER X
Death and subsequent events
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