Al-Ghazdli on Poverty tjiul Atfinence is the thirty-fourth chapter of the Revival of the Religious Sciences (Ihya lUlum al-Dln), which is widely regarded as the greatest wo r k of Muslim spirituality. In Al-Ghazdli on Poverty a nd Abstinence, Abu Hamid al-Ghazali considers two themes dear to Islamic devotional literature: poverty a nd abstinence. Taking as his example the Prophet’s love fo r the poo r , Ghazali explains that poverty is not simply an accidental state of destitution that might befall anyone but rather an inner acceptance of the Will of God a nd a fo r m of abstinence fo r His sake. Thus the life of poverty a nd abstinence described by Ghazali in Al-Ghazdli on Poverty a nd Abstinence refers to what every devoted follower of the Prophet is meant to adopt whatever his o r her outer state may be.

This volume also includes a translation of imam Ghazali’s own Introduction to the Revival of the Religious Sciences, which gives the reasons that caused him to write the wo r k, the structure of the whole of the Revival a nd which places each of the chapters in the context of the others.

Abu Hamid al-Ghazali (1058-nn), theologian, logician jurist a nd mystic, was bo r n a nd died in Tus in Central Asia, but spent much of his life lecturing at Bagndad o r leading the life of a wa ndering dervish. His most leiebrated wo r k, Revival of the Religious Sciences, has exercised a profound influence on Muslim intellectual histo r y by explo r ing the mystical significance of the practices a nd beliefs of Islamic o r thodoxy, earning him the title of Hujjat al Islam, the ‘Proof of Islam.
Dr. Anthony F. Shaker is the autho r of several studies including the only complete study of Sadr al-Din Qunawi. He is also the translato r of Al-GWi on Intention, Sincerity a nd Truthfulness a nd Al-Ghazdli on Vigilance a nd Self-ExamiiMiwn in the Islamic Texts Society’s al-Ghazali Series. أقرأ أقل