Al-Ghazali on Patience and Thankfulness Book XXXII of the Revival of the Religious Sciences (Ihya' 'Ulum al-Din)

About The Book

Al-Ghazali on Patience and Thankfulness is a translation of the thirty-second chapter of The Revival of the Religions Sciences (Ihya’ ‘Ulum al-Din). This chapter falls in the section dealing with the virtues or what is conducive to salvation. Ghazali here presents definitions for patience and its different forms; the need for patience; the degrees of patience; and why patience is considered to be half of faith.

The second part of this chapter deals with thankfulness, and again Ghazali gives us definitions for thankfulness, its nature and its blessings. In addition to the translation, Dr Henry Littlejohn provides an extensive introduction which illustrates the importance of the topics of patience and thankfulness in Islam throughout the centuries.

A Selection from the Table of Contents

1. An Exposition of the Virtue of Patience
2. An Exposition of Patience being Half of Faith
3. An Exposition of the Divisions of Patience according to the Varying Degrees of Strength and Weakness
4. An Exposition of the Virtue of Thankfulness
5. An Exposition of the Reality and Divisions of Blessing
6. An Exposition of the Cause which Diverts Humans from Thankfulness
7. An Exposition of the Coalition of Patience and Thankfulness in One Thing

About The Author

Imam Abu Hamid Muhammad Al-Ghazali was born in 450 AH (1058 A.D) in the Iranian town of Tus, studied Islamic law and theology at the Seljuq College in Nishapur, and became a distinguished professor at the famous Nizamiyya University in Baghdad.

Despite his glittering success, he was inwardly dissatisfied, so he abandoned his career for the life of hardship, abstinence and devotion to worship. During ten years of wandering, he experienced a spiritual transformation, in which the Truth came to him at last, as something received rather than acquired.

Blessed with an inner certainty, he then applied his outstanding faculties and vast learning to the task of revitalizing the whole Islamic tradition. Through his direct personal contacts, and through his many writings, he showed how every element in that tradition could and should be turned to its true purpose.

Imam al-Ghazzali was fondly referred to as the "Hujjat-ul-lslam", Proof of Islam, he is honoured as a scholar and a saint by learned men all over the world and is generally acclaimed as the most influential thinker of the Classical period of Islam.

He passed away in 505 AH (1111 A.D).

About The Translator

Dr Henry T. Littlejohn is a retired university lecturer and pastor.