This is the first English translation of a key section of al-Ghazali’s Revival of the Religious Sciences, (Ihya’ Ulum al-Din), widely regarded as the greatest work of Muslim spirituality. Its theme is of universal interest: death, and the life to come. After expounding his Sufi philosophy of death, and showing the importance of the contemplation of human morality to the mystical way of self-purification, al-Ghazali's takes his readers through the stages of the future life: the vision of the Angels of the Grave, the Resurrection, the Intercession of the Prophets, and finally, the torments of Hell, the delights of Paradise, and—for the elect—the beatific vision of God’s Countenance. 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 which gives the reasons that caused him to write the work, the structure of the whole of the Revival and places each of the chapters in the context of the others.
Muslim theologian and philosopher Abu Hamid al-Ghazali of Persia worked to systematize Sufism, Islamic mysticism, and in The Incoherence of the Philosophers (1095) argued the incompatibility of thought of Plato and Aristotle with Islam.
Born in 1058, Abū Ḥāmid Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad al-Ghazālī ranked of the most prominent and influential Sunni jurists of his origin.
Islamic tradition considers him to be a Mujaddid, a renewer of the faith who, according to the prophetic hadith, appears once every century to restore the faith of the ummah ("the Islamic Community"). His works were so highly acclaimed by his contemporaries that al-Ghazali was awarded the honorific title "Proof of Islam" (Hujjat al-Islam).
Al-Ghazali believed that the Islamic spiritual tradition had become moribund and that the spiritual sciences taught by the first generation of Muslims had been forgotten.[24] That resulted in his writing his magnum opus entitled Ihya 'ulum al-din ("The Revival of the Religious Sciences"). Among his other works, the Tahāfut al-Falāsifa ("Incoherence of the Philosophers") is a significant landmark in the history of philosophy, as it advances the critique of Aristotelian science developed later in 14th-century Europe.
أبو حامد محمد الغزّالي الطوسي النيسابوري الصوفي الشافعي الأشعري، أحد أعلام عصره وأحد أشهر علماء المسلمين في القرن الخامس الهجري،(450 هـ - 505 هـ / 1058م - 1111م). كان فقيهاً وأصولياً وفيلسوفاً، وكان صوفيّ الطريقةِ، شافعيّ الفقهِ إذ لم يكن للشافعية في آخر عصره مثلَه.، وكان على مذهب الأشاعرة في العقيدة، وقد عُرف كأحد مؤسسي المدرسة الأشعرية في علم الكلام، وأحد أصولها الثلاثة بعد أبي الحسن الأشعري، (وكانوا الباقلاني والجويني والغزّالي) لُقّب الغزالي بألقاب كثيرة في حياته، أشهرها لقب "حجّة الإسلام"، وله أيضاً ألقاب مثل: زين الدين، ومحجّة الدين، والعالم الأوحد، ومفتي الأمّة، وبركة الأنام، وإمام أئمة الدين، وشرف الأئمة. كان له أثرٌ كبيرٌ وبصمةٌ واضحةٌ في عدّة علوم مثل الفلسفة، والفقه الشافعي، وعلم الكلام، والتصوف، والمنطق، وترك عدداَ من الكتب في تلك المجالات.ولد وعاش في طوس، ثم انتقل إلى نيسابور ليلازم أبا المعالي الجويني (الملقّب بإمام الحرمين)، فأخذ عنه معظم العلوم، ولمّا بلغ عمره 34 سنة، رحل إلى بغداد مدرّساً في المدرسة النظامية في عهد الدولة العباسية بطلب من الوزير السلجوقي نظام الملك. في تلك الفترة اشتُهر شهرةً واسعةً، وصار مقصداً لطلاب العلم الشرعي من جميع البلدان، حتى بلغ أنه كان يجلس في مجلسه أكثر من 400 من أفاضل الناس وعلمائهم يستمعون له ويكتبون عنه العلم. وبعد 4 سنوات من التدريس قرر اعتزال الناس والتفرغ للعبادة وتربية نفسه، متأثراً بذلك بالصّوفية وكتبهم، فخرج من بغداد خفيةً في رحلة طويلة بلغت 11 سنة، تنقل خلالها بين دمشق والقدس والخليل ومكة والمدينة المنورة، كتب خلالها كتابه المشهور إحياء علوم الدين كخلاصة لتجربته الروحية، عاد بعدها إلى بلده طوس متخذاً بجوار بيته مدرسةً للفقهاء، وخانقاه (مكان للتعبّد والعزلة) للصوفية.
My verdict on this book and by extension this particular translation? Simply this: If you were only to read a few books (i.e. less than five) in your entire life make sure this is one of them!! Take that as an imperative with the utmost urgency. This book has within its pages an intensive alchemic power to transmute base low-lifes into exalted saintly beings. Approach this text with hallowed sincerity and ye shall come to realise. A text which should be made a constant recourse and reminder to what lies ahead in these troubling times and upon this toilsome place (i.e. planet earth).
Sadly perhaps my only regret is that it took me 10 years to come round to reading this text despite being in my personal possession all this time; but all in good time, most importantly better late than never - all praise and thanks be to Allah.
Oh, I have so much to say about this book. So. Much. The thoughts I have running through my head are chaotic and jumbled, so I’ll just list them out:
1. I am by no means declaring myself to be more knowledgeable than Imam Ghazali (RA)—I don’t even have a nugget of the wisdom this man possesses. However… the amount of weak Hadiths and Israelite stories used were so, so overwhelming and consequently discouraged me from continuing this book. It was really spiritually tiring to read what is made to be an authentic Hadith and have my heart connect to it only to find out that it has a weak chain or is rejected all together! At the chapter of the death of our Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), I gave up entirely on reading his original text and instead opted for Dar Al Sunnah’s version of this book, which filtered out about two-thirds of his original work due to inaccuracy. (In case you would like to read it: https://www.kalamullah.com/Books/The%...)
2. This does not mean that Imam Ghazali wasn’t blessed with Hikmah and a beautifully striking way with words. On the occasion that he spoke about death, it was written with such eloquence, such emotion, that it was bound to enter and settle in your heart, to spread fear in it. This is the main reason I opted to read the original text instead of the filtered version by Dar Al Sunnah. However, I believe I overestimated my ability to be able to differentiate between Bid’ah and weak Ahadith through Google…
Now that I’ve put that aside, the book itself (Dar Al Sunnah’s version) was beautiful, stunning, terrifying. We take death to be something that only occurs when we’re wrinkled and grey and satisfied with life. We think that just because we are young, we are immune to death. This is a huge mistake that the Shaytaan plants in our hearts. I am not ready for death, to stand before my Lord Exalted is He and attest for what my hands have put forth. Thus, we shouldn’t be holding back on our haste to perform good deeds, on the regret and repentance after sinning.
We always forget the weight of Yawm Al-Qiyamah. We forget the Glory, the Greatness, of Who we will be standing in front of, the One who knows every single deed we have ever done, the One who knows what our minds whisper to our souls. We think simply being Muslim is enough to save us, but look at the piety of our Nabi (peace and blessings be upon him), of the Sahaba, of the Tabi’een?
It’s brings shame to me to see how the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) strived for Him Exalted is He, how they avoided sin so completely, how they followed the Sunnah of our Nabi (peace and blessings be upon him), and here we are, with our mountains of sins on our backs, ignorant as ever. This book really woke me up to our reality, to the severity, the fear, the pain of the Day of Judgement. Most importantly, it woke me up to the finite time we have on this Dunya, the fact that I could die, that He (Exalted is He) can take my soul whenever He wants, regardless of my age, my health. May He (Exalted is He) shower His mercy on us, forgiving us for our sins and allowing us entry into Jannatul Firdaus. May He (Exalted is He) grant us His Protection on the Day where there will be no Protection from Him except with Him. Aameen
(Also, I hate how I can’t type in Arabic and English at the same time without the interface completely butchering the order of my text? I had to change everything to English :/ )
Just finished reading this one this morning. Lots of great stuff I have to take notes on.
Very powerful. I mean, what can I say? There is one explanation of the Qur'anic verse: "[He] Who has created death and life, that He may test you which of you is BEST in deeds. And He is the All-Mighty, the Oft-Forgiving." (Quran, 67 v. 2) That the best of deeds is who can remember death the most and most often.
Remembering death really keeps you in check and it suffices any single person's religious lesson.
All I can think about is how we have little to no idea how merciful our lord is. We can’t even imagine it. Re-recording on Surah Rum, verse 21 where Allah says these truly are signs for those who reflect.
This is my favorite Ghazali book. While I was reading it, and for months afterward, I would think about death every second. It gives a detailed account of how to remember death, to teach us how to use our time wisely.
On balance, I whole-heartedly recommend reading this translation: it was illuminating, useful and instructive. For myself, the highlights were mostly restricted to the first two and the final chapter which highlighted (a) why meditating on death is a spiritual necessity for every individual, (b) why many people forgo the meditation of death - based on what Ghazali terms "lengthy hopes/desires" as opposed to the merit of "short hopes" [this is the Chapter Two and it's a critical read] and what might help remedy this situation, and (c) Mercy as God's primary quality and the reason for continued optimism in the face of the brutal uknown of death. A lot of the intermediate chapters contain sayings and Hadiths/Sunnahs of the Holy Prophet related to Death (what happens during, after, what happens in the Afterlife etc.) and based on my readings of Jonathan Brown's Misquoting Muhammad (another book, I highly recommend), I'm not personally sure of the reliability of most of the Hadiths/Sunnahs given about Death and Afterlife. Brown's own scholarship posits that these are easily some of the most unreliable sets of Hadiths/Sunnahs recorded among the canons. Bear that in mind, but otherwise the intermediate chapters are still worth a read.
This is one of my favorite books and it will have an impact on your life.
I would go as far as that every Muslim should at least read this book of Imam Gazali RA once. It talks about the death and its stages and after life and its stages. Its talks about hell and haven in detail as well.
Its also talks about the conditions of a dying person in detail, what he's going through. What happens in the grave and its atrocities or wonders. And then how we are we going to raise up on the day of Arising. And then goes on to discuss this in detail.
Sometimes you come across books that change your outlook and perception of life, this has been one of those books for me. Came across it coincidentally but really thankful I did. Amazing read, and a brilliant take on everything related to death.
A model translation. This book is heavy reading, since it makes one truly reflect upon one's state before God. Proceed with caution. Nonetheless, it is very fruitful. The translation is excellent and the annotations are impeccable.
Part of one of the great masterpieces of Islamic civilisation, if not THE greatest. A must-read for any serious student of Islam or human civilisation.
Reading this in arabic is whole different experience.
الحمد لله الذى قصم بالموت رقاب الجبابرة وكسر به ظهور الأكاسرة وقصر به آمال القياصرة الذين لم تزل قلوبهم عن ذكر الموت نافرة حتى جاءهم الوعد الحق فأرداهم فى الحافرة فنقلوا من القصور إلى القبور ومن ضياء المهود إلى ظلمة اللحود ومن ملاعبة الجوارى والغلمان إلى مقاساة الهوام والديدان ومن التنعم بالطعام والشراب إلى التمرغ فى التراب ومن أنس العشرة إلى وحشة الوحدة ومن المضجع الوثير إلى المصرع الوبيل فانظر هل وجدوا من الموت حصنا وعزا واتخذوا من دونه حجابا وحرزا وانظر هل تحس منهم من أحد أو تسمع لهم ركزا فسبحان من انفرد بالقهر والاستيلاء واستأثر باستحقاق البقاء وأذل أصناف الخلق بما كتب عليهم من الفناء ثم جعل الموت مخلصا للأتقياء وموعدا فى حقهم للقاء وجعل القبر سجنا للأشقياء وحبسا ضيقا عليهم إلى يوم الفصل والقضاء فله الإنعام بالنعم المتظاهرة وله الانتقام بالنقم القاهرة وله الشكر فى السموات والأرض وله الحمد فى الأولى والآخرة والصلاة على محمد ذى المعجزات الظاهرة والآيات الباهرة وعلى آله وأصحابه وسلم تسليما كثيرا.
I rarely read religious texts in English, so I struggled a bit at first with some of the terms and topics. But once I got the hang of it, I was amazed at how deeply Al-Ghazali explored themes we were already taught back in primary school.
What we used to learn in simple terms, like remembering death, avoiding heedlessness, or detaching from the dunya, is explored here with incredible depth. The book is filled with supporting stories, hadith, and reflections that really hit harder as an adult. It gave me a deeper appreciation of those early lessons and how they still apply today.
Fascinating read overall. Takes effort, but it's worth it.
From the reviews of this book I did not expect to be as good as it did. The book mainly consists of hadiths & accounts from pious individuals. However, from the actual analysis that Al Ghazali رحمه الله himself has written, words can beyond compare to the levels of his intellect. By just understanding his vision of death alone through many accounts changed my mindset alone. Definitely recommend reading.
Beautiful set of books (Ihya) for those who are on the spiritual path in Islam and wants to read more than the Quran and books of hadiths. Style of writing may be complex initially.
Dari bab terakhir mahakarya Sang Hujatul Islam, Ihya Ulum'addien, Al Ghazali memberikan pendekatan yang begitu menusuk sumsum tulang belakang atas hakikat sebuah kematian. Begitu hebatnya pengaruh buku ini sehingga setelah membacanya kini saya mesti berpikir : mungkin saja hari ini adalah hari terakhir saya di dunia.
What to say? It's very affective book! You don't have to be religious to read it, just prepare your mind to play with your imagination, make yourself some tea and easily start to read... In the end, you'll find there very interesting things as for sure! But believing it or not, it' s a question of your will...
Like all the other books in al-Ghazali's Ihya', this book provides a number of useful points to contemplate and work off of. The translation also feels good in this edition.