20
Mar 2023
Munazarat an Nafs – debating with yourself The Forty Principles of the Faith ends with a debate between Ghazali and himself, and he recommends that we do this as well – rather than debating with others, try to convince yourself of the truth, as you try to convince your opponent. Scholars of tasawwuf (self purification) used to do this regularly. Ghazali says that having read all the preceding chapters, we should be able to reap the fruits of the lessons now. However there are steps we have to take, for instance......
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06
Mar 2023
True life is after death وَمَا هَٰذِهِ ٱلۡحَيَوٰةُ ٱلدُّنۡيَآ إِلَّا لَهۡوٞ وَلَعِبٞۚ وَإِنَّ ٱلدَّارَ ٱلۡأٓخِرَةَ لَهِيَ ٱلۡحَيَوَانُۚ لَوۡ كَانُواْ يَعۡلَمُونَ The present life is nothing but sport and amusement. The true life is in the abode of the Hereafter, if only they knew. The ayah is saying that true life is not this life. What is this life then? It is a series of trials and tests, as you have in a factory when they test a product over a period of time to see if it meets the quality standard......
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17
Feb 2023
The People of Allah are disconnected from dunya On the topic of remembering death, dhikr al mawt, Ghazali talks about the people of Allah – those with gnosis – their state, their connection with Allah and how they perceive death. Such people have deep knowledge of Allah, and devote their time in the remembrance of Allah, so they do not need to be reminded of death because their state is already close to Allah. By contrast, the rest of us, we need to remember death to cut us off from dunya and......
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27
Oct 2022
Ghazali looks at tawakkul, breaking it into divisions and levels of tawakkul. The essence of tawakkul is putting your trust in Allah which comes from 3 things: The 3 pillars of tawakkul ILM – Knowledge – of monotheism. Knowing that Allah is the Creator, Protector and Sustainer HAAL- State – leave your affairs to Allah, your heart trusts Him, you do not turn to other than Him in your heart. AMAL – Deeds – ignorant people might think tawakkul is abandon earning (kesb) and efforts (sai), or medical treatment (tadawi). There are......
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14
Oct 2022
Ghazali lived in 5th century Hijri and his book, Kitaab Al-Arba’in Fi Usul ad-Din, ‘The Forty Principles of the Religion,’ which he wrote before his death, is a summary of Ihya Ulumuddin (Revival of the Sciences of the Religion), and his life’s works and thoughts. In the last ten principles of the forty, he looks at good traits that we should adopt and nurture within ourselves. The first is tawbah (repentance); the second is khawf (fear) and the third is zuhd (asceticism), the fourth quality is sabr (patience). The fifth quality is......
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27
Feb 2022
Allah Almighty mentions in the Quran in different surahs, and on different occasions the continuous fight between truth and falsehood, since Adam was sent down to earth. There has been a battle between shaytan and his followers and Adam and his offspring, which will continue till the Day of Judgement. Every Friday, we read Surat al-Kahf which demonstrates the battle between the two camps – those who believe and those who do not, the believers, and the disbelievers, the camp of evil and the camp of goodness. In this surah, Allah Almighty......
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30
Jan 2022
Imam Ghazali’s book, Kitaab Al-Arba’in Fi Usul ad-Din, ‘The Forty Principles of the Religion,’ which he wrote before his death, is a summary of Ihya Ulumuddin, and his life’s works and thoughts. In his chapters on the purification of the heart, Ghazali mentions 10 principles. Love of dunya is the seventh principle. Love of status is connected to love of dunya. It is a saying (not a hadith) that the essence of all sins is the love of dunya. Ghazali says love of dunya is not just about wealth and status, as......
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24
Jan 2022
Imam Ghazali’s book, Kitaab Al-Arba’in Fi Usul ad-Din, ‘The Forty Principles of the Religion,’ which he wrote before his death, is a summary of Ihya Ulumuddin, and his life’s works and thoughts. In purification of the heart, Ghazali mentions 10 principles. Love of status is the sixth principle. Love of status (Al Jah) Love of status affects the heart. Ghazali shares his experience with us and give clarification of this principle. He wrote this book after the Ihya Ulumudin, so while he summarised it he also added to it. That is the......
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13
Nov 2021
Imam Ghazali’s book Kitaab Al-Arba’in Fi Usul ad-Din, The 40 Principles of the Faith is a summary of his great work, Ihya Ulumuddin which he wrote before he died. In the chapter on the purification of the heart, he breaks down the traits we need to excise from ourselves, and begins by focusing on the evils of the tongue. He zooms in on 5 of the common diseases, out of 20 evils of the tonque he listed in the Ihya. These 5 are: lying (kadhib) كذب, backbiting (ghiba) غيبة, argumentation (marah) مماراة,......
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23
Sep 2021
Following the Sunnah In Imam Ghazali’s Kitaab Al-Arba’in Fi Usul ad-Din, The Forty Principles of the Religion, which is a summary of his great work, Ihya Ulum ad-Din, he has a chapter on Following the Sunnah. He discusses the importance of following the Prophet (peace be on him) and establishing a bondship with him. Not just following him in ibadah but in all spheres of our life. Importantly, he emphasises that we should do this even if we do not understand the wisdom behind and refers to three secrets why we should......
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24
Aug 2021
Let there be a group among you who call ˹others˺ to goodness, encourage what is good, and forbid what is evil—it is they who will be successful. (3:104) The believers, both men and women, are guardians of one another. They encourage good and forbid evil, establish prayer and pay alms-tax, and obey Allah and His Messenger. It is they who will be shown Allah’s mercy. Surely Allah is Almighty, All-Wise. (9:71) They did not forbid each other to do wrong. How vile their deeds were! (5:79) My own favourite ayah on this......
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10
Jul 2021
Rule 9. Do good to everyone, whether they are worthy of it or not O you who have believed, bow and prostrate and worship your Lord and do good – that you may succeed (22:77) Spreading goodness is part of our identity as an ummah of khayr, as Allah called us. The bottom line is that it is important to spread goodness. In Surat al Hajj, we are given the equation for success – doing goodness leads to success. Therefore as per the weak narration you should do good to everyone, whether......
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10
Jul 2021
Rule 7: Do not pass on gossip Ghazali says do not listen to rumours about others and do not pass them on. We need this very sound nugget of advice because we are flooded by rumours, fabrications, lies and fake news. The Quran and Sunnah gave us the formula for dealing with them. What should you do when you hear a piece of news? Firstly, do not convey it. Secondly, if it needs to be passed on it, check it first. Most of the time, it should not be passed on. Marital......
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