Al-Ghazali on Invocations & Supplications: Book IX of the Revival of the Religious Sciences

by Abu Hamid Muhammad Ghazali, Kojiro Nakamura (Translator)

Overview

Al-Ghazali on Invocations and Supplications is a translation of the ninth chapter of the Revival of the Religious Sciences (Ihya’ ‘Ulum al-Din). This chapter falls in the sections dealing with the requirement of religion. This new fourth edition includes the invocations and supplications in Arabic for those readers who would like to use them in their prayers and 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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781911141334
Publisher:	Islamic Texts Society
Publication date:	07/01/2017
Series:	Ghazali series
Edition description:	Fourth edition
Pages:	218
Product dimensions:	6.25(w) x 9.25(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Ghazali (1058-1111) is the most famous theologian-mystic in Islam and the equivalent of Thomas Aquinas in Christianity. His contribution to the formation and development of Islamic theology and mysticism is incalculable. Professor Kojiro Nakamura was head of the Islamic Studies Department, University of Tokyo, Japan.

Read an Excerpt

THE general merit of invocation is testified to by the Word of God: Remember Me, and I will remember you. Thabit al-Bunani said, 'Verily I know when my Lord remembers me'. So the people became alarmed at him and asked, 'How do you know that?' He said, 'When I remember God, He remembers me'.
   God has said, Remember God often, and When you rush together from 'Arafat in a crowd, remember God at the Holy Monument [al-mash'ar al-haram]; and remember Him as He has guided you and When you have completed your holy rites, remember God, as you remember your fathers, or more devoutly and ...those who remember God, standing, sitting, or lying down on their sides and When you have performed the ritual prayer [salat], remember God, standing, sitting, or lying down on your sides [on which] Ibn 'Abbas (may God be pleased with him) commented, 'That is: [remember God] whether at night or during the day, whether travelling or remaining at home, whether in poverty or in riches, in sickness or in health, in private or in public'. ...


The Emissary of God (may God bless him and grant him peace) said, 'Whenever people sit in a gathering invoking God, the angels welcome them, and grace descends upon them, and God mentions their names to those who are beside Him'.
   He said (may God bless him and grant him peace), 'There are no people who gather invoking God (Exalted is He!) and thereby desire nothing but His Face, without a herald from heaven calling upon them, "Rise up, O forgiven ones! Your sins have already been replaced with good deeds"'.
   He also said (may God bless him and grant him peace), 'Those who sit in the assembly with no invocation of God (Glorious and Exalted is He!) and no calling for blessing upon the Prophet—they will all grieve on the Day of Resurrection'.
   David (upon whom be peace) said, 'My Lord! If You find me leaving the gatherings of rememberers [of God] for those of the heedless [of Him], then break my legs before I reach them. For that would be a grace which You could bestow upon me'.

Table of Contents

Al-Ghazali's Introduction to the Revival of the Religious Sciences
Publisher's Note
Editor's Note
Abbreviation
Preface
Introduction
Notes to Introduction
Prologue
Chapter One: On the General Merit and Profit of Invocation, with an Illustration from the Qur'an, the Traditions and the Narratives
   The Merit of Gathering for Invocation
   The Merit of Tahlil
   The Merit of Tasbih, Tahmid and Other Invocations
Chapter Two: On the Forms and Value of Supplication and Some Transmitted Prayers; the Merit of Asking for Forgiveness and of Invoking Blessing upon the Emissary of God (may God bless him and grant him peace)
   The Merit of Supplication
   The Properties of Supplication, which are Ten in Number
   The Merit of Invoking Blessing upon the Emissary of God (may God bless him and grant him peace) and his Virtue
   The Merit of Asking for Forgiveness
Chapter Three: Transmitted Prayers whose Authors and Circumstances [of Composition] are Known and whose Use in the Mornings and Evenings and immediately after each Ritual Prayer is Desirable
Chapter Four: Prayers Transmitted from the Prophet and his Companions, with the Isnad Omitted and Chosen from the Collections of Abu Talib al-Makki, Ibn Khuzayma, and Ibn Mundhir
Chapter Five: Prayers Transmitted for every Emergent Occasion
Notes
Appendix I: Persons cited in text
Appendix II: Some Important invocations
Bibliography
Index to Qur'anic Quotations
General Index

Editorial Reviews

…the series as a whole, [is] a significant contribution to our understanding of this key figure in Islamic intellectual thought.

BRISMES Bulletin - Oliver Leaman

"The best thing of its kind I have ever seen . . . exactly the kind of thing I have wanted for years to put into the hands of students."  —Charles Adams, professor, McGill University, on Principles of Islamic Jurisprudence

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