Ihya’ ‘Ulum al-Din: [Volume 3] The Revival of the Religious Sciences

Author: Al-Ghazali

Publisher: Islamic Book Trust (IBT)

ISBN: 9789670526171

Page: 440pp

Price: RM69

The book is a comprehensive encyclopaedia for all of a Muslim’s religious affairs, including beliefs, acts of worship, dealings and character, as well as for individual and societal welfare. Al-Ghazali’s style is that of one who practices what he knows, one who is determined to rise from the dry, ordinary manner of teaching to one which encourages action. Volume three focuses on the destructive vices and consists of ten books covering ‘The soul and its attributes’, ‘Disciplining the self’, ‘Breaking the two desires’, ‘Harms of the tongue’, ‘Anger, hatred and envy’, ‘Attachment to the world’, ‘Love for wealth’ , ‘Love for power and ostentation’ , ‘Pride and self-pride’ and ‘Condemnation of pride’.

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Abu Hamid al-Ghazali is a towering figure in Islam. His enormous influence can be summarized, in the words of Annemarie Shimmel, as the one who “teaches… only to help man to live a life in accordance with the sacred law, not by clinging exclusively to its letter, but by an understanding of its deeper meaning …so that he is ready for the meeting with his Lord at any moment.” His greatest work Ihya Ulum al-Din (Revivification of the Sciences of Religion), comprising forty books divided into four quarters of ten books each, has helped generations towards this end until today.