Al Munqidh min Al Dalal by Imam Al Ghazali (recommendation)

[ZubeirAwal]

This book that I'm currently reading really opened up my eyes to some things. Al Ghazali wrote this short 80 page book almost 1000 years ago, in which he refutes the ideology and philosophies of Socrates, Plato & Aristotle. He also goes on to refute Ibn Sina and Al Farabi, the partisans of the Greek philosophers in Islamic philosophy. In this book he pin-points the faults of their philosophies and breaks down philosophy into three main divisions; materialists, naturalists and theists.

His defining of the first category goes as follows, " The Materialists, were a group of the most ancient philosophers who denied the existence of the omniscient and omnipotent Creator-Ruler. They alleged that the world has existed from eternity as it is, of itself and not by reason of a Creator. Animals have unceasingly come from seed, and seed from animals: thus it was, and thus it ever will be. These are the godless in the full sense of the term."

What strikes me the most is how he pinpoints the essence of the philosophy of the materialists so accurately yet keeps it compacted to less than 200 words, the chapter where that extract derives from is entitled; "The Categories of the Philosophers and the Fact That the Stigma of Unbelief Is Common to All of Them".

To summarize the book he follows the paths of the Philosophers, and two other extinct sects within Islam,for several years (to find out their essence) and finally the Sufi's. When describing the Sufi's (traditional ahlul mutasawwufeen) he knew that the only way to grasp their viewpoint and tradition was not that of theory, but in practice, he says:

"It had already become clear to me that my only hope of attaining beatitude in the afterlife lay in piety and restraining my soul from passion. The beginning of all that, I know, was to sever my heart's attachment to the world by withdrawing from this abode of delusion and turning to the mansion of immortality and devoting myself with total ardor to God Most High. That, I knew, could be achieved only by shunning fame and fortune and fleeing from my preoccupations and attachments."

This was a man who was famed for his knowledge at a young age, his mastering of nearly all the mathaahib, and all the sciences of Islam. He however gave up all of that, and went into seclusion for almost 10 years before resuming teaching and instructing to his students in Baghdad, his books were transmitted into medieval Europe and translated to many languages, a unique thinker in every sense of the term I recommend that you all buy this book, costs £7.99 in Amazon UK and $8.99 in Amazon US.

[sahal80]

That was my favour book I get from maktabat ibnu kathir in damascus in 2010 on my way to cumra. I gave it to some masjid months ago with other books.

Basically the imam has started his al tasawuf with that book after he recovered from al 7obsa cous of his prayer being answered. He was the head of al madrasa al nizamiya the highest dar al 3ilm in baghdad and was close to the amirs but he was afflicted with al 7obsa(being speachless) for that hypocricy role aka 3olama al baladh/al soltan.