Al-Ghazali on Vigilance and Self-Examination: Book XXXVIII of the Revival of the Religious Sciences (Ihya’ ‘Ulum al-Din)

DescriptionIn this work from the Revival of the Religious Sciences, Abu Hamid Al-Ghazali builds on the previous chapter of Intention, Sincerity & Truthfulness with the qualities that support good intention. While this present work is entitled Vigilance and Self-examination, the main virtue steadfast commitment (murabata); vigilance and self-examination being two of its stations. Ghazali refers to the Quran and states that God has enjoined upon creation patience and steadfast commitment and that the latter is made up of six stations: agreeing the conditions he soul must follow (musharata), vigilance (muraqaba), self-examination (muhasaba), punishment (muaqaba), renewed striving (mujahada) and, finally, censure (muataba). Of these six stations, Ghazali gives particular attention to vigilance and self-examination which he considers to be the cornerstones of steadfast commitment. The Islamic Texts Society has also included 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 work, the structure of the whole of the Revival and places each of the chapters in the context of the others.Authors BiographyAbu Hamid Muhammad Al-Ghazali (1058-111), theologian, logician, jurist and mystic, was born and died in Tus in Central Asia, but spent much of his life lecturing at Baghdad or leading the life of a wandering dervish. His most celebrated work, Revival of the Religious Sciences, has exercised a profound influence on Muslim intellectual history by exploring the mystical significance of the practices and beliefs of Islamic orthodoxy, earning him the title of Hujjat-al-Islam, the Proof of Islam.Anthony F. Shaker holds a PhD in Islamic Studies from McGill University and is the author, among other works, of Thinking in the Language of Reality: Sadr al-Din Qunavi and the Philosophy of Reason. He writes on the philosophical and Sufi traditions of Islam, contemporary developments around the world, and is a professional consultant and researcher.