Al-Ghazali : Deliverance from Error [5 Key Texts]

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Al-Ghazali - Deliverance from Error,
[A5] Paperback - 334 pages,
by Abu Hamid al-Ghazali,
Published by Fons Vitae, USA.

Five Key Texts Including His Special Autobiography,
al-Munqidh min al-Dalal,
Translated & Annotated by R.J. McCarthy,
[Freedom & Fulfillment].

Back in Stock November 2020

Description :

One of the most remarkable documents to have come down from classical Islamic civilisation, this autobiography of the most influential thinker of medieval Islam (1058-1111CE) describes 'Hujjat al-Islam' (the Proof of Islam) Imam al-Ghazali, may Allah be pleased with him, his education and his intellectual crisis, which left him so paralyzed by doubt that he was forced to resign the most distinguished academic appointment. His faith returned after years of wandering and seeking, during which he achieved direct knowledge of God in the form of the illuminative experience of the Sufi's.

Among his most outstanding contributions to Muslim intellectual life were masterly defenses of Islamic orthodoxy, mysticism, and law, against the attacks of those who advocated purely legalistic, or entirely esoteric, readings of the religion. He hence articulated the Islam of the middle way, in balance between the extremes of the letter and the spirit. As such, his works have become a manifesto for modern Muslims struggling against extremist and hence heterodox readings of the faith.

This new edition contains five important works of Imam al-Ghazali in addition to "The Deliverance from Error," which makes the volume a significant contribution to the works of Al-Ghazali currently available.

Included as appendices are:

---Kitab Sharh Aja'ib al-Qalb: (The Explanation of the Wonders of the Heart),
---Al-Qistas al-Mustaqim: (The Correct Balance),
---Al-Maqsad al Asna fi Sharh Ma'ani Asma Allah al-Husna: (The Noblest Aims in the Explanation of God's Fairest Names),
---Faysal al-Tafriqa bayn al-Islam wa l-Zandaqa, (The Clear Criterion for Distinguishing between Islam and Godlessness), and
---Fada'ih al-Batiniyya wa Fada'il al-Mustazhiriyya (The Infamies of the Batinites and Virtues of the Mustazhietes).

''The volume also contains extensive translations from other key works of al-Ghazali. One is the Definitive Criterion (Faysal al-Tafriqa), which shows the generous, inclusive nature of Islam and the difficulties involved in excluding any individual from it. This is followed by a tract against the Ismaili sect, and writings on conforming the character to the divine, and on the 'Wonders of the Heart', an important Sufi tract about the nature and function of the soul.'' _{---T.J. Winter, Cambridge University, translator of al-Ghazali's 'On Disciplining the Soul & Breaking the Two Desires' and 'The Remembrance of Death and the Afterlife,'-The Islamic Texts Society.}

''This is by far the most scholarly, thoughtful, and sympathetic translation of al-Ghazali's classic autobiography. It also includes several extremely pertinent selections from al-Ghazali's other works, making it the best one-volume selection of his writings.'' _{---William C. Chittick, State University New York}.

Biographical note :: Imam Abu Hamid al-Ghazali, may Allah be pleased with him, is generally acclaimed as the most influential thinker of medieval Islam, whose writings have been regarded as the greatest in spirituality and have been, for centuries, the most read work after the Qur'an in the Muslim world.