Ihya Ulum id Din
The Revival of the Religions Sciences
By Imam Al Ghazali
Translated by Al Hajj Maulana Fazlul-Karim
Hard Back 4 Volume set,
Published in India/Pakistan By Various Publishers , The Revival of the Religions Sciences (Ihya Ulum al-Din) is widely regarded as one of the great work of Muslim spirituality, and has, for centuries, been the widely read work in the Muslim world.
The masterpiece of Imam al-Ghazali, unquestionably one of the greatest thinkers and theologians of Islam.
It is divided into four parts each containing ten chapters.
First part deals with knowledge and the requirements of faithritual purity, prayer, charity, fasting, pilgrimage, recitation of the Quran, etc.; Part two concentrates mostly on people and societythe manners relating to eating, marriage, earning a living, friendship, etc.; Parts three and four are dedicated to the inner life of the soul and discuss first the vices that people must overcome in themselves and then the virtues that they must strive to achieve. Volume 1 - Book of Worship,
Volume 2 - Book of Worldly Usages,
Volume 3 - Book of Destructive Evils,
Volume 4 - Book of Constructive Virtues. As far as we know this is the only English Translation of the complete set of this well known Work of Imam Al-Ghazali (Although Parts of it may be Abridged translation)
The Quality of the Print and the translation does not do justice to this Monumental Work, (For a better Quality Print and Level of translation see the translations of Individual Sections (Click)
Some have criticised the book for quoting Weak Hadith and other traditions. This is true, however Imam Ghazali was well aware of the Rulings of the fuqaha (Jurists) of his time and he himself followed the Shaf'ee fiqh and he does not use these weak traditions as a basis for deriving Hukm (Rule) Shar'ee. Rather he uses it in the process of tackling some real Issues that we face during the course of everyday Life. 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)
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