The Beginning of Guidance (Bidayat al-Hidaya)
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Translator
Mashhad al-Allaf
Description
The Beginning of Guidance (Bidāyat al-Hidāya) is Imam al-Ghazālī's concise manual for those setting out on the path of guidance, built on the foundation of God-consciousness (taqwa). Imam al-Ghazālī teaches that just as this noble path has an end, it also has a beginning, and that beginning must be made firm if the seeker is to succeed. The work lays out, with clarity and warmth, the fundamentals a believer needs to start well and continue steadily.
The manual is structured as a detailed daily timetable, moving through the etiquette of waking, purification, prayer, and sleep, and extending to the etiquette of Friday and of fasting. It is divided into three main sections: obedience, refraining from disobedience, and the etiquette of companionship with the Creator and with creation. Within these, Imam al-Ghazālī addresses matters such as guarding the eyes and ears, and cautions against faults like lying, breaking promises, backbiting, quarrelsome argument, and self-praise.
This White Thread Press edition, published in 2010 and running 171 pages, presents the translation for the first time alongside the facing Arabic text, with extensive notes and transliteration provided for the supplications contained in the work. It is a fitting companion for readers beginning a structured study of character and practice, and is used as a set text in the SeekersGuidance curriculum on spirituality, sunna, and good character.
About the Contributor(s)
About the author
al-Ghazali: Abu Hamid Muhammad al-Ghazali (450-505 AH / 1058-1111 CE) was born in Tus, in the Khorasan region of Persia, and is remembered as one of Islam's most influential thinkers. Losing his father young, he studied at Nishapur and was appointed, while still in his thirties, to the prestigious Nizamiyya college in Baghdad. He was Shafiʿi in law and Ashʿari in creed, and his contemporaries honored him as Hujjat al-Islam, the Proof of Islam. At the height of his fame al-Ghazali passed through a profound spiritual crisis, recounted in his autobiography al-Munqidh min al-Dalal (Deliverance from Error). He abandoned his teaching post, traveled, and devoted years to the inward discipline of the Sufis before returning to instruction with a renewed purpose. His landmark work, Ihyaʾ ʿUlum al-Din (The Revival of the Religious Sciences), reconstructs the religious life across four parts, acts of worship, social custom, the vices that ruin the soul, and the virtues that save it. In philosophy he wrote Tahafut al-Falasifa (The Incoherence of the Philosophers), a careful critique of the Hellenistic thinkers of his age. Bridging law, theology, philosophy, and mysticism, al-Ghazali shaped the direction of Sunni thought for centuries, and his books remain widely read and translated. His many works are available here in English translation.
About the translator
Mashhad al-Allaf: Dr. Mashhad al-Allaf holds a doctoral degree in Modern Philosophy with a focus on Science and Metaphysics (1995). His bachelor's and master's degrees concentrated on the Philosophy of Science. He has taught philosophy at Washington University, St. Louis University, and Webster University. His authored works include The Essential Ideas of Islamic Philosophy (2006), Locke's Philosophy of Science and Metaphysics (2007), and The Basic Ideas and Institutions of Islam (2008). He is co-author of the forthcoming Islamic Philosophy of Science and Logic, published by the University of Pittsburgh. His current research interests include integrative studies and multiculturalism, Engineering Ethics, Biomedical Ethics, Love and Romance in Islam, and Islamic Theory of Science. He translated The Beginning of Guidance (Bidayat al-Hidaya) of Imam al-Ghazali for White Thread Press.
Specifications
EAN 13 / ISBN
9781933764061
Publisher
White Thread Press
Author
al-Ghazali
Pages
176
Translator
Mashhad al-Allaf
Year Published
2010
Size
W-6 in | H-8.9 in | D-0.6 in
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