A Treasury of Ghazali

by Abu Hamid al-Ghazali, Mustafa Abu Sway (Translator)

This collection of short wisdoms from the works of Imam al-Ghazali reflects the broad range of his brilliant intellectual thought. With an emphasis upon literary quality, concision, and concentration of meaning, each aphorism is full of value and significance and typifies the tradition of qawa'id (legal maxims) in the Islamic intellectual sciences. A commentary accompanies each maxim unraveling its wisdom.

Tastefully presented and luxurious in feel, this book is a chamber of spirituality readers will look forward to delving into.

The second title in the Treasury in Islamic Thought and Civilization series, which seeks to present clear introductions to the thought and wisdom of major Islamic intellectual figures, prepared by learned translators.

Professor Mustafa Abu Sway was appointed as the first holder of the Integral Chair for the Study of Imam Ghazali's Work at Al-Masjid Al-Aqsa and at Al-Quds University in 2012. He has been professor of philosophy and Islamic studies at Al-Quds University in Jerusalem, Palestine, since 1996. For a number of years professor Sway has also been listed as one of the most influential Muslims in the scholarly world (The Muslim 500, The Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre).

Genres: Islam, Religion

168 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 10, 2017

About the author

أبو حامد الغزالي

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.

Reviews

[Edoardo Albert · Rating 5 out of 5]

The problem with the thought of Abu Hamid Muhammad ibn Muhammad al-Ghazali (to give him his full name) is that it is too deep and too broad for our shallow times. In the age of Twitter, the work of the greatest thinker in Islamic history is almost unknown outside the small band of scholars devoted to him: many Muslims have never even heard of him. But Al-Ghazali lived at a time when the Muslim world faced challenges which bear comparison with the problems the Muslim world face today: it was a fractured world, the early Muslim unity having shattered into a small number of competing power centres, and Islamic culture was struggling to respond to and assimilate the products of Greek learning that its military expansion had brought into its orbit. It was Ghazali, through his life and thought, who formulated the Muslim response to Greek learning, and helped to establish the social solidarity in the face of rulers of varying degrees of worthiness that went on to characterise Muslim populations throughout the world. And yet, ask an ordinary Muslim about him, and most will respond with blank faces.

So Kube's new book is a welcome attempt to redress this situation. Accepting that Ghazali's vast corpus of work is too much for most people to engage with, they have published a lovingly presented, slim volume of Ghazali's thought, taking short extracts from his work ranging from raising children in a faith to the encounter with God, with explanatory commentary by Professor Abu Sway of Al-Quds University. The real meat, though, are in these limpid extracts from Ghazali: there is more in a sentence by him than in most books published today about Islam. So, it is to be hoped that this little book will help provoke a revival in the knowledge and study of Al-Ghazali among today's Muslims, for his wisdom is required today more than ever.

[Asim Qureshi · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really nice introductory guide to the various aspects of Imam al-Ghazali’s thinking. There isn’t anything revolutionary in the book, but some of the reflections of Abu Sway are very meaningful and easy to read.

[Ruqayyah · Rating 5 out of 5]

"One cannot have his body travelling in one direction while the heart is somewhere else."

This book awakened my heart; reminded my soul and enriched my body. I loved the forty points covered and this book was eloquently written too. The Arabic accompanying the English was a great addition and you don't have to be religious to read this because everyone can take something from this.

Remember your sincere actions are what heightens you. x

[Hassane Sow · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm trying to come back to religion and this has certainly helped me

[Hanna Seljuki · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant introductory piece.

[Grumpy Bear · Rating 5 out of 5]

I admire Al-Ghazali's work and this companion had great reminders as well as spiritual AND practical advice - ! Easy to read with no issues with the translation.

[Iryna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Being non-muslim I was quite interested in learning more about Islam. This wasn't an easy read as it made me get back in thoughts to deep questions of human existence and religion and how it applies to our modern world. Considering re-reading this after a while as this book has a lot of important thoughts in a very concise form.

[Life of Sadia · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good reminder

Interesting read, very good reminder of the tenants of Islam. Really loved the 4 levels of purification and the three degrees of fasting.

[Neelam · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was sent a copy of A Treasury of Ghazali from kube publishing in exchange for an honest review.

Rating: 4.5/5

This book is a short introduction to the work of one of the greatest scholars in Islam; Imam Al-Ghazali.
His work is so vast and detailed that most people would not have read it so i think it’s so great that this short introduction has been written.
The book has lots of short chapters each with a short extract of something that Al-Ghazali spoke or wrote about. Then it’s discussed and explained by the author.
I really loved reading them and I purposely chose to read it over a longer period of time so that i could better digest each topic/chapter.
They are easy to understand and so insightful!
I love that the very first topic is about education as it’s such an important thing in Islam and for Muslims to gain knowledge.
Each topic in the book is so relevant for Muslims today so it was really relatable and I really enjoyed reading this book.
It’s a book that you can come back to time and time again and you will always learn something.
I highly recommend reading it!

[Nasria · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was beneficial but it was hard to read because it was written in too formal language and the structure wasn't very clear.

The translation of classical Islamic texts into language that's too formal is a common thing unfortunately but I had better expectations for a book this recently published, thinking the language would be clear. Unfortunately it wasn't.

Thankfully, in general, there are more and more accessible books coming out in English these days.

[Iqra · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautifully written book that contextualizes islamic settings within a scope that is easy to read and make sense of. Al-Ghazali was a man who really understood Islam, Islamic philosophy and its value and outlines great ways of how we can center deen and Allah in our lives.

[Nora Alshareef · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book full of peaceful lessons. Slightly hard to read though.

[Kavish · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good book but it is very short.

[Osama Waheed · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you for making this happen. I learned a lot from this book, especially because it was my first book of Ghazali. JazakAllah e khairan to those who made this happen. ❤️