Al-Ghazali on Poverty and Abstinence: Book XXXIV of the Revival of the Religious Science

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Al-Ghazali Letter to a Disciple
Ayyuha’l-Walad Published April 2005
Translated by: TOBIAS MAYER
Includes full Arabic Text
PAPERBACK 96 pages , size: 234 x 156mm ISBN: 0 946621 63 2
Published by Islamic text Society, Cambridge UK April 2005

‘Work for your terrestrial life in proportion to your location in it, and work for your afterlife in proportion to your eternity in it.’

This is part of the advice that the great theologian and mystic Abu Hamid al-Ghazali (1058-1111 AD) put down in his Letter to a Disciple. An old disciple of al-Ghazali had studied the Islamic sciences, including the many works of his master, for most of his life. Faced with the proximity of death, he turns again to his master this time asking for a summary of all his teachings. Letter to a Disciple is al-Ghazali’s response. The emphasis in this short treatise is on religious and spiritual action and on putting into practice the knowledge that one has acquired. Letter to a Disciple can be considered as the last testament of he who is regarded as Hujjat al-Islam, the ‘Proof of Islam’. This new translation is presented here as a bilingual, English-Arabic, edition

Table of Contents

1.	Introduction
2.	Translation
3.	Appendix
4.	Index of Qur’anic verses
5.	Bibliography
6.	General Index

About Imam Ghazali
Abu Hamid Muhammad, famous in the world of learning as al-Ghazzal was born in 450 AH (1058 A.D). in Persia . He graduated from the Nizamia Madressa at Nishapur, with distinction.a very famous educational institution in Nishapur. Later he was appointed as a teacher at the Nizamia College in Baghdad, where he proved very successful in imparting knowledge to the scholars under his care. This valuable gift of sustaining interest of his pupils and passing on his knowledge to them made him so famous that students from all parts of the country flocked to study under him.
Imam al-Ghazzali was fondly referred to as the "Hujjat-ul-lslam", Proof of Islam, He is honoured as a scholar and a saint by learned men all over the world.

Al-Ghazali is generally acclaimed as the most influential thinker of the Classical period of Islam, in his autobiography The Deliverance from Error, the Imam describes his education and his intellectual crisis, which left him so paralysed by doubt that he he gave up his academic pursuits and worldly interests and became a wandering ascetic. This was a process (period) of mystical transformation. Later, he resumed his teaching duties, but again left these. An era of solitary life, devoted to contemplation and writing then ensued, which led to the authorship of a number of everlasting books (Many of which have been translated in English)

Imam al-Ghazzali's life was spent in self-sacrificing service of God and his fellowmen. He left behind him a fine example for all men to follow. He died in 505 AH

For Imam Ghazali's Autobiography See:
Al Munqidh min al-Dalal al-Ghazali's Path to Sufism, His Deliverance from Error, Iman Abu Hamid al-Ghazali's autobiography

Al-Ghazali on Poverty and Abstinence
Book XXXIV of the Revival of the Religious Sciences (Ihya’ ‘Ulum al-Din)
Translated by: ASAAD F. SHAKER
The Book of Poverty and Abstinence is the thirty-fourth chapter of The Revival of the Religions Sciences. It falls in the section dealing with the virtues. Ghazali gives definitions of what real poverty and abstinence should be and how the poor should conduct themselves. He goes on to describe poverty that has no virtue and which is based on greed and love of the world. For Ghazali, the virtues of real poverty and abstinence are closely linked with patience, contentment, lack of worldliness, asceticism, trust and surrender to God.

Dr Asaad F. Shaker holds a PhD from McGill University and works on classical Islam.

FEATURES PAPERBACK

pages: 146 circa
size: 234 x 156mm
Published: Forthcoming
OTHER: Bibliography.
Indexes.

UK Price: £15.95
ISBN: 0 946621 76 4

A Selection from the Table of Contents

1.

The Reality of Poverty and its Different States

2.

The Excellence of Absolute Poverty

3.

Poverty’s Excellence over Wealth

4.

The Reality of Abstinence

5.

The Excellence of Abstinence

6.

The Degrees of Abstinence

7.

The Signs of Abstinence

Appendix: Persons Cited in the Text

Index to Qur’anic Quotations

Bibliography

General Index