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The Revival of the Religious Sciences (Iḥyāʾ ʿulūm al-dīn)
is widely regarded as the greatest work of Muslim spirituality, and is perhaps the most read work in the Muslim world, after the Qurʾān.
The Revival of the Religious Sciences is divided into four parts, each
containing ten chapters. Part one deals with knowledge and the
requirements of faithritual purity, prayer, charity, fasting, pilgrimage,
recitation of the Qurʾān, and so forth; part two concentrates on people and
societythe manners related to eating, marriage, earning a living, and
friendship; parts three and
four are dedicated to the inner life of the
soul and discuss first the vices that people must overcome in themselves and
then the virtues that they must strive to achieve. Below are details of the
contents of the books, translations (mainly into English) and a link to the original
Arabic here for the first time on the internet. |
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Books of the Iḥyāʾ in translation:
First Quarter: Acts of worship (Rubʿ
al-ʿibadāt)
- Book
1: Book
of knowledge (Faris' text)
- English translation by N. A. Faris
(PDF). A new English translation is forthcoming.
- English
translation that was a PhD thesis at Hartford Seminary by W.
McCall (1940). (See item # 30 for details)
- Turkish translation (PDF)
18 mb
- Book 2:
Foundations
of Belief. English translation by N. A. Faris (in HTML and PDF). Review of the Faris translation by Watt (in 1964). Also Turkish Translation (PDF)
8.76 mb. A new English language translation is forthcoming.
- Book 3:
Mysteries
of Purity. English translation by N. A. Faris (PDF).
Also .doc format. - Turkish Translation (PDF)
4.76 megs. New English translation
- Book 4:
Mysteries
of Worship. English translation by E. E. Caverley (also in
PDF).
New English translation forthcoming
- Book 5:
Mysteries
of Zakat (Charity). (.doc format) English Translation by N. A. Faris (also PDF)
- Book 6:
Mysteries of
Fasting. English translation by N. A. Faris (PDF)
- Book 7:
Mysteries of
Pilgrimage. English translation by I. Umar
(AUC
[Thesis 340]:
1975 M.A. dissertation) (html)
(Author's complete)
Proof reading by S. Sharafi courtesy of Nur! Thank
you both, you guys are great! (PDF) Also another Arabic edition, M. A. ʿAlī: PDF
- Book 8:
Etiquette
of Qurʾānic Recitation. translated
- Book 9: On Invocations and Supplications.
English translation by K. Nakamura (ITS
description).
- Book 10: On the Arrangements of Litanies and
Divisions of the Night Vigil. It has been
translated and in currently in production.
Second Quarter: Norms of Daily Life
(Rubʿ al-ʿadat)
- Book 11: On the Manners Related to Eating.
English translation by D. Johnson-Davies. (ITS
description)
- Book 12: On the
Etiquette of
Marriage:
-
Arabic original
(Word file format only!) with ḥadīth verifications.
-
English
translation* by the late M. Farah. Also in
PDF
- Another English translation The Proper Conduct of Marriage in Islām (Ādāb an-Nikāḥ) Book Tweleve of Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm ad-Dīn by M. Holland: Al-Baz Publishing (1998), 99p.
-
Persian translation (from
Kimiya-i-Saʿadat) (Persian PDF)
-
French translation
(from Algiers) (French PDF)
- German translation: Hans Bauer: Al-Ghazālī. Das Buch der Ehe.
Kitab adabi n-nikah. Das 12. Buch der Iḥyaʾ ʿulum ad-din. Übersetzt und
kommentiert von Hans Bauer (Kandern, Spohr, 2005).
- Book 13: On the Etiquette of Acquisition and Earning a Livelihood.
Translated as
The Book of the Proprieties of Earning and Living, translated by Adi Setia, IBFIM, Kuala Lumpur, 2013, 187pp, ISBN: 9789670149288.
- Book 14: The Lawful and Prohibited (Translated)
Translated as the Book of the Lawful and the Unlawful,
translated by Nicholas Mahdi Lock, IBFIM, Kuala Lumpur, 2013, 258pp, IBN: 9789670149271.
- Book 15: On the Duties of Brotherhood. Partial translation by M.
Holland. (cover-image) (Arabic
edition partial outtakes PDF). Complete English Translation forthcoming.
Note that M. Hollland also did a fuller unpublished translation.
- Book 16: On the Etiquette of Seclusion.
- Book 17: On the Etiquette of Travel (English
translation forthcoming)
- Book 18: On Music and Singing. Translated by D. B.
MacDonald in three parts (PDF)
Part I
+ II + III, published as Music and Singing by IBT Books, Kuala Lumpur, 2009, 139pp. ISBN: 9789675062230.
- Book 19: On Enjoining Good and Forbidding Evil. Partial translation in Michael Cook's Commanding Right and Forbidding Wrong in Islamic Thought, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000, pp. 427-459.
- Book 20: Etiquette of Living and the Prophetic Mannerism: (E-text)
rtf
(rich text file- word) or (PDF)
Third Quarter: The Ways to
Perdition (Rubʾ al-muhlikat)
- Book 21: The Marvels of the Heart.
- Complete English translation by W. J.
Skellie (PhD thesis (PDF), Hartford Seminary—published edition (Fons Vitae March 2010). N.B. that Skellie translated the edition that was published by Zabidi in his commentary on the ihya' which has slight variations from the standard Cairo edition. These have been restored in the Fons Vitae edition.
- Partial translation in Freedom and
Fulfillment by McCarthy (Boston: Twayne, 1980), pp. 363–382;
- Reprinted (Louisville, KY: Fons Vitae, n.d.), pp. 309–325;
- Also in Knowledge of God in Classical Sufism
by John Renard (New York: Paulist Press, 2004), pp. 298–326.
- Also published as Wonders of the Heart (Malaysia: IBT, 2007), without the complete translator's introduction and notes; includes an index and publishers note.
- Book 22: On Disciplining the Soul.
English translation by T. J. Winter (ITS
description).
- Book 23: On Breaking the Two Desires.
- Book 24: Defects of the Tongue
- Book 25: Condemnation of Rancor and Envy
- Book 26: Condemnation of the World
- Book 27: Condemnation of Miserliness and Condemnation of the
Love
of wealth.
- Book 28: Condemnation of Status and Ostentation.
Translation of its
Arabic
Summary.
- Book 29: Condemnation of Pride and Conceit.
Currently being translated (into English) by M. Rustom.
- Book 30: Condemnation of Self-Delusion.
Fourth Quarter: The Ways to
Salvation (Rubʿ al-munjiyat)
- Book 31:
On Repentance. English Translation by M. S.
Stern. (E-text) (PDF)
- Also available in (unedited word file)
- Part I is now available
in html.
- German translation: Books 31–36: Richard Gramlich,
Muhammad al-Gazzālīs
Lehre von den Stufen zur Gottesliebe : die Bücher 31-36 seines
Hauptwerkes. Eingel., übers. u. komment. von Richard Gramlich (Wiesbaden, Steiner, 1984).
- Book 32: On Patience and Thankfulness. English translation by H.
T. Littlejohn. (ITS
description).
- Book 33: On
Fear and Hope. English translation by W. McKane (E-text) (PDF).
Also in complete edited
word file. Also reviewed by
Watt in
1964. (pdf)
- Book 34: On Poverty and Abstinence. English translation by A. F.
Shaker. (ITS
description)
- Book 35: Faith in Divine Unity and Trust in Divine Providence.
- English translation by D. Burrell. (Published
by Fons Vitae)
- German: Hans Wehr, Al-Gazzālī's
Buch vom Gottvertrauen. Das 35. Buch des Ihyaʾ ʿulum ad-dīn. Übers. u. mit Einl.
u. Anm. vers. v. Hans Wehr. Halle: Niemeyer, 1940.
- Book 36: On Love, Longing, Intimacy and Contentment. (English
Translation, E. Ormsby, 2012, ITS). For German see above #31.
- Book 37: On Intention, Sincerity, and Truth.
- English translation by A. F. Shaker (ITS
description).
-
German
translation by Hans Bauer, Islamische Ethik.
Nach den Orignalquellen übersetzt und erläutert. Heft 1: Über
Intention, Reine Absicht und Wahrhaftigkeit. (das 37. Buch von
Al-Ġazālī) (pdf )
- Book 38: On Holding Vigil and Self-Examination.
(English translation forthcoming)
- Book 39: On Meditation.
- Book 40: On the Remembrance of Death and the Afterlife. English
translation by T. J. Winter (ITS
description)
- SUMMARY: There are many summaries of the Iḥyāʾ, though only a handful are published; the others remain in manuscript
form. For more information about the summaries of the Iḥyāʾ in Arabic, see
this short article (Arabic
html).
- Summary by Aḥmad al-Ghazālī (pdf)
Lubab al-iḥyāʾ, published here
as Mukhtaṣar Iḥyāʾ ʿulūm al-dīn. The publisher claims that it is by
Abū Ḥāmid al-Ghazālī, though I believe this is incorrect (PDF)
- The Iḥyāʾ was summarized in a book entitled Minhaj al-qaṣidīn
by Ibn al-Jawzī (d. 597 AH/1201 CE), which was further summarized in
Mukhtaṣar minhaj al-qaṣidin by Ibn Qudāma al-Maqdisī (d. 620
AH/1341 CE). (link
Arabic HTML). This book has been widely distributed and reprinted
several times, one of which by Dār al-Khayr, Damascus, 1998; with
ḥadīth verification by M. W. Salman and A. A. H. Abulkhair (PDF) also other editions are available: ʿA. Ḥ. M. Darwish edition:PDF, S. ʿĀref edition: PDF, ʿA. Ḥ. ʿA. Ḥalabī edition: PDF, and ʿA. Q. al-ʾArnāouṭ edition: PDF, and Z. Shāwīsh edition: PDF)
- Tahẓib muʿaẓat al-muʾmineen, Jamal al-Dīn al-Qasimi,
n.p. n.d. Note that he also did a sumarry of Qut al-Qulub (PDF), (PDF) .
- The latest attempt at summarizing the Iḥyāʾ comes from Saliḥ Aḥmad al-Shami,
al-Muhaẓab min iḥyaʾ ʿulum al-dīn, 2 vols. (Beirut: Dār al-Qalam, 1993). Sample translation (link) Also another edtion is available from Dār ibn al-Qayīm: PDF.
- While others are reworked summaries, such as Saʿid
Ḥawwa's attempt: al-Mustakhlaṣ fī tazkiyat al-anfus (Cairo:
Dar al-Salam, 1984). (PDF)
- Printed Edition:
- First printed edition: Būlaq, 1269/1853: al-Juzʾ al-awwal (- al-juzʾ
al-rābiʻ) min Kitāb iḥyāʾ ʻulūm al-dīn / taʾlīf
Abī Ḥāmid
Muḥammad b. Muḥammad b. Muḥammad al-Ghazzālī. - [Cairo : s.n.],
1269 [1853] - 4 v. in 2 ; 33 cm. - See sample
pdf
- First India printed edition by offset (ḥajrīya): Iḥyāʾ al-ʻulūm
fī arabaʻ mujalladāt / li-hujat al-Islām Muḥammad al-Ghazzālī.
[Lucknow] : Niwal Kishūr, 1863. - See sample
pdf. bi
Ihitimam Muḥammad ʻAlī Mumtaz: 1280/1863;
vol1 and
vol2 in pdf
facimile. Note that volume 2 is missing the last page.
- A facsimile of a standard edition.
This is perhaps the best edition; it was published
ʿIsa
al-Babī al-Ḥalabī wa Awladahu and reprinted by Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Kutub
al-ʿArabiyya with an introduction by Dr. Badawi Ṭabana in 1957; this was then known as the Ṭabana edition.
- al-Ghazālī. Iḥyāʾ ʿulūm al-Dīn. Cairo: Lajnat Nashr al-Thaqāfa al-Islāmiyya, 1356–57 (1937–38). This is the edition that the Dār al-Shaʿab based their editon on. It has been recreated here with the pagination in red on the pdf files. Thanks is due to Prof. Frank Griffel for this information, his help in recreating this edition and providing the scans of the missing pages. Do note that this is the edition that is used for scholarly pursit.
- al-Ghazālī. Iḥyāʾ ʿulūm al-Dīn. Dār al-Shaʿb, Cairo: Dār al-Shaʿb, w. d. (Silsilat Kitāb al-Shaʿb): (link)
- Modern printed edition with additional
ḥadīth verification by A. Tamer in 5 volumes:
- Another printed edition in 4 volumes:
- Another printed edition in 5(?) volumes:
- Another printed edition in 5 volumes: Iḥyāʾ ʻulūm
al-dīn - taṣnīf al-Imām Abī Ḥāmid Muḥammad b. Muḥammad al-Ghazzālī.
Wa-bi-dhaylihi kitāb al-Mughnī ʻan ḥaml al-asfār fī al-asfār
fī takhrīj mā fī al-Iḥyāʾ min al-akhbār. Miṣr : al-Maktabah
al-Tijārīyah al-Kubrá, [195-?]
-
Volume 1 (PDF)
-
Volume 2 (PDF)
-
Volume 4 (PDF)
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Volume 5 (PDF) contains
Taʻrīf al-aḥyāʾ bi-faḍāʾil al-Iḥyāʾ by al-ʻAydarūs, al-Imlāʾ
ʻan ishkālāt al-Iḥyāʾ by al-Ghazzāli, and ʻAwārif al-maʻārif
by al-Suhrawardī.
- COMMENTARY: one
commentary (sharḥ) of al-Iḥyaʾ exists by Murtaḍā al-Zabīdī's [d. 1791]
Itḥaf al-sada al-muttaqīn bi sharḥ iḥyāʾ
ʿulum al-dīn. Cairo 1894 in 10
large volumes (Sample extract introduction
PDF). This work is
still in print in facsimiles of this edition as well as well as a newly
re-typeset edition. Note that the link provided is for the complete
1894 edition.
- Defense: As many were critical of al-Ghazālī there were as
many if not more who rallied to his defense:
- In his own defense, al-Ghazālī wrote: al-Imlāʾ fī ishkalat al-iḥyāʾ
(Notes on issues of the Iḥyāʾ) printed
as an appendix in some editions of the Iḥyāʾ (pdf)
- ʿAbd al-Qādir al-ʿAydrūs, Taʿarif al-aḥyāʾ bi faḍʾil al-iḥyāʾ
(Introducing the living to the benefits of the Iḥyāʾ) printed as an appendix in some editions of
the Iḥyāʾ (pdf).
Note the pun in the title, which is, of course, intentional.
- al-Suyūṭī, Tashyad al-ʾarkan fī "laysa min al-imkan ʾabdaʿ min maʾ kān
(Fortifying the foundations of [the statement] "the best of all possible
worlds" )
printed as an appendix in some editions of the Iḥyāʾ (PDF).
Note also this was part of a study done in Theodicy in Islamic Thought:
The Dispute over Al-Ghazālī's "Best of All Possible Worlds" by Eric L.
Ormsby (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1984).
- Unknown author: Risala fi bayan faḍil iḥyāʾ
ʿulum al-dīn (mss in al-Azhar
number 1956 [majami 91] folios 76-86).
- Unknown author: Risala fi al-rad
ʿala min ʿatraḍa ʿala al-ghazālī fi
qawlihi ana al-musabibat ratabat ʿala al-ʾasbab (mss in Dar al-Kutub al-misriyya
[majami 210])
- Refutations: This work has generated some heated discussions
mostly revolving around the traditions that al-Ghazālī included here but
also about some of his statements.
- Ibn al-Jawzī (d. 597 AH) iʿlam al-aḥyaʾ bi aghlat al-iḥyāʾ (not
printed and no known mss copies)
- al-Dhahabi mentioned that Abū al-Ḥasan b. Sukar wrote
Iḥyāʾ mayit al-aḥya fi al-rad ʿala kitab al-iḥyāʾ (not printed and no known
mss copies)
- Aḥmad b. Munir al-Iskandarī (d. 1284) wrote
al-Ḍiyaʾal-mutalali fi
taʿqub al-iḥyāʾ lil ghazālī as mentioned by Zabīdī (in commentary above)
vol. 1. p .33, ln 10) (not printed and no known mss copies)
- A Shiʿa 'recension': under the title: al-Maḥajjah
al-bayḍā' fī tahdhīb al-Iḥyāʾ by Muḥammad b. al-Murtaḍa
al-madʿū bi-al-Mawla Muḥsin al-Kāshānī (d. 1681) Thanks to Prof. Alger for referring to this book in his monograph on Ghazali. (sample
PDF)
- Fatawas (judicial decrees) by scholars and these are
too many list or know but Ibn Taymiyya is known to have written one as
well as al-Ṭarṭushi. Even in modern times there have been fatwās issued by
Saudi ʿulamāʾ. A typical critique along those lines is by ʿA. R. Dimashqīya: PDF.
Miscellaneous:
Manuscripts:
A growing number of Arabic manuscripts are now available online.
- King Saud University manuscript collection. A link to one such ms copied in 12th cen AH by ʿA. A. Kanānī, a partial ms. More manuscripts are available here: link2, link3, link4, link5, link6, link7, link8, link9, and a summary here, Mukhtaṣar Iḥyāʾ ʿulūm al-dīn: link10.
- Princeton University Library, has a complete copy of the ihya but it is not available online yet! we can hope.
- Illuminated
manuscript. (scanned from the Tunisian National Archives).
- Manuscripts from Turkey.
- List of Iḥyāʾ manuscripts from Badawi (Arabic
word file with minor additions in red), original entry in PDF
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