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12th-century book by Al-Ghazali From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Revival of the Religious Sciences (Arabic: إِحْيَاء عُلُوم ٱلدِّين, romanized: Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn) is a 12th-century book written by the Muslim scholar al-Ghazali.[1][2][3] The book was composed in Arabic by al-Ghazali on his spiritual crises that stemmed from his appointment as the head of the Nizzamiyya University in Baghdad, which led to his eventual disappearance from the Muslim world for over 10 years.
 | |
| Author | Al-Ghazali |
|---|---|
| Original title | إِحْيَاء عُلُوم ٱلدِّين |
| Language | Arabic |
| Subject | Islamic ethics and philosophy |
Publication date | Early 12th century |
| Publication place | Persia |
It is regarded as one of his chief works and a classic introduction to the pious Muslim's path to God, and is widely considered to be the most impactful book in Islamic history after the Quran.[4][5][6] It originally spanned 40 volumes and dealt with Islamic concepts and practices, demonstrating how these might be formed the foundation of reflective religious life, thereby attaining the higher stages of Sufism. Some consider Kimiyā-ye Sa'ādat (Alchemy of Happiness) as a rewrite of this work, which is a common misconception. Kimyā-ye Sa'ādat is shorter than this book; however, Ghazali said that he wrote the former to reflect the nature of the latter and a few of his other theological writings.[7]
Ghazali was the student of Al-Juwayni, under whom he studied religious sciences, including Islamic law and jurisprudence.[8] Nizam al-Mulk, the Seljuk vizier, recognized the great potential in Ghazali as a scholar and appointed him as the head of Nizamiyya madarasa in Baghdad.[9] Ghazali, at the peak of his fame and scholarship went into a spiritual and intellectual crisis. He left his post at the institution on request of pilgrimage. He went into a long journey, travelling to Damascus, Jerusalem and finally to Mecca to perform the pilgrimage. Ghazali throughout the journey, was going through an inner spiritual struggle, and he became attracted towards the pathway of the Sufis. This journey influenced Ghazali to write his autobiography Deliverance from Error and then his famous book The Revival of the Religious Sciences, explaining in detail about mysticism, theology, Islamic rituals and practices.[10][11]
The book is divided into four parts,[12][13] each containing ten books. It explains the doctrines and practices of Islam and showed how these can be made the basis of a profound devotional life, leading to the higher stages of Sufism or mysticism.[14][15]
This part contains the following books:
This part contains the following books:
This part contains the following books:
Seyyed Hossein Nasr states that it is "perhaps the most influential work on ethics in Islamic history".[20] It became the most frequently read Islamic book after the Quran and the hadith. Its great accomplishment was to bring orthodox Sunni theology and Sufi mysticism together in a useful, comprehensible manner to guide every aspect of Muslim life and death.[21]
The Ihya Ulum al-Din is considered to be one of the most widely read books in Islam across the world, having gained reverence from scholars and the general acceptance of the Muslim people (ummah). Here are few statements regarding the book from the most revered and renowned scholars:[22]
Al-Nawawi stated that: "Were the books of Islam all to be lost, excepting only the Ihya, it would suffice to replace them all."[23]
Ibn al-Subki said regarding it: "It (Ihya) ranks among the books which Muslims look after (preserve) and spread far and wide so that many people may be guided reading it. Hardly has someone looked into this book, except he woke up on the spot (came to Guidance) thanks to it. May Allah grant us insight that shows us the way of the Truth (Haqq), and protect us from what (darkness) stands between us and the Truth as a veil."[22]
Al-Safadi said: "It is among the noble and greatest books, to the extent that it was said concerning it - that if all the books of Islam were lost, except the 'Ihya' (of Al-Ghazali), it would suffice (be enough) for what was lost."[22]
Fakhr al-Din al-Razi said: "It (Ihya) was as if Allah (God) gathered all the Sciences (subjects) under a dome and showed them to Al-Ghazali."[22]
Al-Ghazali, despite being a scholar, was not an expert in the field of hadith and thus the hadith narrations contained in his book were scrutinized. Hadith experts like Ibn al-Jawzi and Ibn al-Qudamah al-Maqdisi researched and sorted out the hadith narrations contained in the book on the basis of their authenticities. They then wrote the Minhaj-al-Qasidin and its overview called Mukhtasar.[24] The book was then carefully reworked by Ibn al Jawzi (597 AH) and the result of his work was named Minhaj al-Qāsidīn wa Mufīd al-Shādiqīn. Ibn al-Jawzi's efforts in rewriting the book is considered important and while he had similarities with Al-Ghazali in terms of mastery in mysticism, he also had the superiority of expertise in the knowledge of the hadiths. The reworking by Ibn al-Jawzi focused on the re-examination of the existing hadiths, elimination of weak and disputed hadiths and their replacement with the authentic and sound ones so that the integrity of the book was not compromised. Minhaj al-Qasidin was a fairly thick book and it was summarized in the form of Mukhtasar by Imam Ibn Qudamah. Whenever Ibn al Jawzi focused on the study of hadith, he found the Mukhtasar book in line with its name, aiming at summarizing and making the essence of the previous book to be more concise, organized, and easy to understand. It also added additional notes so that it may become an easy book for students to read. Ibn Qudamah remarked that whenever he read Ibn al Jawzi's Minhajul Qasidin, he felt that this book was very useful for society, so he would read it again in order to absorb the deeper meaning for the second time. He said that his admiration for the book grew such that he also added some important missing topics that were readily available in other prominent books of his time with additional notes such as hadith and commentary.[25]
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