Inner Dimensions Of Islamic Worship
In this work, Al-Ghazali goes beyond the most obvious aspects of ibadah (like prayer, almsgiving, fasting, pilgrimage, etc). These selections from his `Ihya `Ulum al-Din explain, in his characteristically powerful and inspiring way, how to reap the rich harvests of spiritual, moral and social upliftment that must be their reward. It is an especially important book for young men and women of today who are seeking God's pleasure - a lifestyle impossible to maintain without an understanding of the inner resources which Islam offers.AL-GHAZALI, Abu Hamid Muhammad (450/1058-505/1111), a towering figure in Islam, was born at Tus, near Mashhad in Iran, in the early Seljuq era and studied theology and law at Nayshapur. His formidable intellectual abilities soon won him honour and respect at the Court of the famous Seljuqi Prime Minister, Naizam al-Mulk, and, while still in his early thirties, he became Professor at Madrasa Nizamiyya in Baghdad and attained great prominence there. But soon he abandoned his professorship for a decade of contemplation and studies. He returned for a while to lecture at the Nizamiyya in Nayshapur before his death. He wrote a large number of works which include Al-Munqidh min al-Dalal (a biographical account), Tahafut al-Falasifa; but his magnum opus remains the Ihya"Ulum al-Din in four volumes, compiled during his period of retirement and contemplation.
INNER DIMENSIONS OF ISLAMIC WORSHIP consists of selections from Al-Ghazali's Ihya', translated into English, wherein he leads us in his characteristically powerful and inspiring way, into those dimensions of Islamic worship rites-Prayer, Almsgiving, Fasting, Pilgrimage, etc. -which are essential to the fulfilment of their inner quality and reaping the rich harvests of spiritual, moral and social upliftment that must be their reward. The book will be of immense help to the countless young men and women of our times who are rapidly growing in their commitment to Islam and ever trying to bring their lives under the sovereignty of One God -a task which is impossible unless one can develop the immense inner resources which Islamic worship offers.
MUHTAR HOLLAND, born in Durham in 1935, studied Arabic and Turkish at Balliol College, Oxford. He went on to lecture in Arabic, Turkish . and Near Eastern History at the University of Toronto; Islamic law at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London; Classical Arabic and Greek Philosophy at the Institute of Malay Language, Literature and Culture, National University of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur. He was Senior Research Fellow at the Islamic Foundation, Leicester (1978-1980) and is currently the Director of Nur Al-Islam Trust, U.S.A. He embraced Islam in 1969.
