Saturday 16 November 2013

The Revival of the Religious Sciences (Ihyāʾ ʿulūm al-dīn)

Without a doubt, Imam Abu Hamid Muhammad Al-Ghazali became one of the most prominent figures in the history of Islam- A man who left his home, his career, turned to a life of prayer and truly became a man of Allah. 
His greatest work, The Revival of the Religious Sciences (Ihyāʾ ʿulūm al-dīn) is some of the best work of Islamic spirituality that I have ever come across Every time I finish a book from it's collection I just want to read it all over again.

The main reason he wrote this book was in order to bring out some of the hidden depths of ordinary Islamic worship and take the reader, by the hand on a spiritual journey towards God. The book got so much positive attention and fulfilled the claim that if all Islamic sciences were made to disappear, they could be taken back from Ihya' Ulum al-Din. SubhanAllah 


So I have taken the liberty to get a list of all 40 books in the collection and really recommend that you read them Insha'Allah. Most have been, or are in the process of being translated into English. You can also find many commentaries on the book or buy it in a summarised volume.


May Allah give us the tawfeeq to benefit from such Incredible knowledge and allow us to implement it into our lives. Ameen



The Revival of the Religious Sciences is divided into four parts, each containing ten chapters. Part one deals with knowledge and the requirements of faith: ritual purity, prayer, charity, fasting, pilgrimage, recitation of the Qurʾān. 
Part two concentrates on people and society: the manners related to eating, marriage, earning a living, and friendship
and parts three and four are dedicated to the inner life of the soul and discuss the blemishes that people must overcome in themselves and the virtues that they must strive to achieve...

First Quarter: Acts of worship (Rubʿ al-ʿibadāt
Book 1: Book of Knowledge
Book 2: Foundations of Belief
Book 3: Mysteries of Purity
Book 4: Mysteries of Worship
Book 5: Mysteries of Zakat
Book 6: Mysteries of Fasting
Book 7: Mysteries of Pilgrimage 
Book 8: Etiquette of Qurʾānic Recitation
Book 9: On Invocations and Supplications
Book 10: On the Arrangements of Litanies and Divisions of the Night Vigil

Second Quarter: Norms of Daily Life (Rubʿ al-ʿadat)
Book 11: On the Manners Related to Eating
Book 12: On the Etiquette of Marriage:
Book 13: On the Etiquette of Acquisition and Earning a Livelihood
Book 14: The Lawful and Prohibited
Book 15:  On the Duties of Brotherhood
Book 16: On the Etiquette of Seclusion
Book 17: On the Etiquette of Travel
Book 18: On Music and Singing
Book 19: On Enjoining Good and Forbidding Evil
Book 20: Etiquette of Living and the Prophetic Mannerism



Third Quarter: The Ways to Perdition (Rubʾ al-muhlikat)
Book 21: The Marvels of the Heart
Book 22: On Disciplining the Soul
Book 23: On Breaking the Two Desires
Book 24: Defects of the Tongue
Book 25: Condemnation of Rancor and Envy
Book 26: Condemnation of the World
Book 27: Condemnation of Miserliness and Love of wealth
Book 28: Condemnation of Status and Ostentation
Book 29: Condemnation of Pride and Conceit
Book 30: Condemnation of Self-Delusion

Fourth Quarter: The Ways to Salvation (Rubʿ al-munjiyat)
Book 31: On Repentance
Book 32: On Patience and Thankfulness
Book 33: On Fear and Hope
Book 34: On Poverty and Abstinence
Book 35: Faith in Divine Unity and Trust in Divine Providence
Book 36: On Love, Longing, Intimacy and Contentment
Book 37: On Intention, Sincerity, and Truth
Book 38: On Holding Vigil and Self-Examination
Book 39: On Meditation
Book 40: On the Remembrance of Death and the Afterlife

اللّهُمّ صَلّ عَلَى مُحَمّدٍ

 :)








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