Deliverance from Error
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Translator
R.J. McCarthy
Description
One of the most remarkable documents to have come down from classical Islamic civilization, this autobiography of the most influential thinker of medieval Islam (1058-1111) describes 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 Sufis. 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.
The volume also contains extensive translations from other key works of 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.
This new edition contains five important works of 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 Mustazhieites).
Fons Vitae has done a great service by republishing McCarthy's Freedom and Fulfillment. 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.
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
R.J. McCarthy: Richard Joseph McCarthy SJ (1913-1981), known academically as R.J. McCarthy, was an American Jesuit priest and pioneering scholar of Arabic language and Islamic intellectual history. He is best known for his critical edition and translation of al-Ghazali's celebrated spiritual autobiography 'al-Munqidh min al-Dalal' (Deliverance from Error), which appeared under the title 'Freedom and Fulfillment.' McCarthy taught at the American University of Beirut and was a respected authority on classical Islamic theology and kalam literature. His scholarly output included critical Arabic editions and English translations that opened major classical Islamic texts to Western academic audiences. His translation of the 'Munqidh' remains an important reference work in Ghazali studies.
Specifications
EAN 13 / ISBN
9781887752275
Publisher
Fons Vitae
Author
al-Ghazali
Pages
374
Translator
R.J. McCarthy
Editor
Ilse Lichtenstadter
Year Published
2004
Size
W-6 in | H-9 in | D-0.9 in
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