Pairs of names Two of the beautiful names of Allah Almighty are Al-Mu’izz and Al-Mudhill. Al-Mu’izz is the One who gives honour while it’s opposite, Al-Mudhill is the One who humiliates. As we have seen with other names, they sometimes come in pairs such as Ar-Rafi, the One who elevates and Al-Khafid, the One who…
Bringing Allah’s names into our lives Anything related to Allah Almighty is beautiful. When talking about His attributes and His names, we should reflect on how we can live by His names, and activate His names in our lives. Bringing Allah’s names into our lives is transformative. It gives us a new dimension to our…
The vital role of understanding Allah in our lives Our foremost obligation is to know Allah Almighty, and reflecting on His beautiful names helps us to do this. Before any other duty, gaining knowledge of Allah Almighty is incumbent upon us. The Quran emphasises this by stating, فَاعْلَمْ أَنَّهُ لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ “Know that…
The interconnected meanings of Al-Fattah Al-Fattah is one of Allah Almighty’s names. It has different meanings, but its primary meaning is the Opener, or the One who opens things for you. It also has other meanings which we will look at. For instance, in the only ayah that Al-Fattah has been mentioned in the Quran,…
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)…
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. [29:64] The ayah is saying that true life is not this life….
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…
Remembering Death The tenth and final chapter of The Forty Principles of the Faith is about death. Imam Ghazali chose to end his book, which is a summary of the great tome, Ihya Ulum ad-Din, with this topic. He mentions that the previous nine principles are not all on the same level. Some of them…
Remembering Death The tenth and final chapter of The Forty Principles of the Faith is about death. Imam Ghazali chose to end his book, which is a summary of the great tome, Ihya Ulum ad-Din, with this topic. He mentions that the previous nine principles are not all on the same level. Some of them…
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,…
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…
Life is a journey to Allah which we do not pursue alone. We are not an island – we are surrounded by people, friends, family, colleagues, neighbours, those whom we employ and those we work for, and, fleetingly, those people we pass along the way. These interactions are fraught with a variety of emotions –…
Sabr: Difficult but not impossible 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, and his life’s works and thoughts. In the last ten principles of the forty, he looks at good…
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, and his life’s works and thoughts. We are looking at the last ten principles (good traits) out of the forty. The first is…
Ghazali lived in 5th century Hijri (450H-505H=1058- 1111), 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, and his life’s works and thoughts. Overview of the book Ihya Ulum al-Din is divided into four sections. The first quarter…