Al-Ghazali : The beginning of Guidance
- Ex Tax: £10.99
- Publisher White Thread Press Publisher :
- Author: Imam Abu Hamed Al-Ghazali
- Availability: In Stock
£10.99
Al-Ghazali : The beginning of GuidanceBidayatul HidayahThe Complete English and Arabic Text By Imam Abu Hamed Al-GhazaliTranslator : Professor Ma..
Al-Ghazali : The beginning of Guidance
Bidayatul Hidayah
The Complete English and Arabic Text
By Imam Abu Hamed Al-Ghazali
Translator : Professor Mashhad Al-Allaf
Revised and Edited By Mufti Abdur-Rahman ibn Yusuf
Paperback 170 Pages
Arabic - English
About The Book
This translation published for the first time with facing Arabic text also includes many notes and transliteration for the supplications contained within.
This Book can be considered as an Introduction to The Imam's Magnum Opus The Revival of the Religions Sciences (Ihya Ulum al-Din)and directs the reader to the larger work for what lies beyond that. This book may not seem to be suited to the hurried life of a modern city. Yet al-Ghazali’s seriousness and sense of urgency stand out vividly and communicate themselves. The book is interesting, too, in that, though al-Ghazali’s standpoint is almost modern in many ways.
It is divided in two Parts, namely acts of obedience and refraining from Sin. It comprise the fundamentals of Din, Important basic issues and excellent virtues. It is brief, yet concise.
One of the Scholars has said that the benefit on anything sacred can not be achieved unless one follows its Adab i.e Etiquettes, this book deals with many of the etiquettes of everyday life according to the Sunnah.
Imam Al-Ghazali's Bidaya al-hidaya complements his spiritual autobiography, He emphasises the importance of knowledge and using it correctly at all times . From acts of obedience to relationship between God and Man. Imam Al-Ghazali shares with us how a man should order his life from hour to hour and day to day.
'Here, then I give you counsel about the beginning of Guidance so that thereby you may test yourself and examine your Heart....
'No one can reach the ending until he has completed the beginning ,no one can discover the inward aspect until he has mastered the outward.'
About The Author
Abu Hamid Muhammad, famous in the world of learning as al-Ghazali was born in 450 AH (1058 A.D). in Persia . He graduated from the Nizamia Madressa at Nishapur, with distinction.a very famous educational institution in Nishapur. Later he was appointed as a teacher at the Nizamia College in Baghdad, where he proved very successful in imparting knowledge to the scholars under his care.
This valuable gift of sustaining interest of his pupils and passing on his knowledge to them made him so famous that students from all parts of the country flocked to study under him.
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.
Al-Ghazali is generally acclaimed as the most influential thinker of the Classical period of Islam, in his autobiography The Deliverance from Error, the Imam describes his education and his intellectual crisis, which left him so paralysed by doubt that he he gave up his academic pursuits and worldly interests and became a wandering ascetic.
This was a process (period) of mystical transformation. Later, he resumed his teaching duties, but again left these. An era of solitary life, devoted to contemplation and writing then ensued, which led to the authorship of a number of everlasting books (Many of which have been translated in English).
For Imam Ghazali's Autobiography See: Al Munqidh min al-Dalal al-Ghazali's Path to Sufism, His Deliverance from Error, Iman Abu Hamid al-Ghazali's autobiography
'O ye who believe! Guard your own souls: If ye follow (right) guidance, no hurt can come to you from those who stray. the goal of you all is to Allah. it is He that will show you the truth of all that ye do." - {TM Qur'an Al Maidah 5:105}
A highly motivational manual detailing the fundamentals of acquiring guidance through God-consciousness (taqwa). Imam Ghazali argues that just as there is an end to this noble objective there is also a beginning to it, which must be made firm for one to achieve success. He then goes on to expound the fundamentals of this “beginning.”
While being concise and to-the-point the manual is laid out in the form of a detailed daily timetable providing the reader strong inspiration and much heart-rending counsel. The three sections of this book are on obedience, refraining from disobedience, and the etiquette of companionship with the Creator and with creation. One of Imam Ghazali's final works, it embodies a lifetime of learning, experience, and spirituality and can be taken as an introduction to his larger works.
About The Translator
Dr. Mashhad Al-Allaf holds a doctoral degree in Modern Philosophy: Science & Metaphysics (1995). His bachelor’s and master’s degrees concentrated on the Philosophy of Science. He has taught at Washington University, St. Louis University, and Webster University and is the author of several works, including The Basic Ideas and Institutions of Islam (2008), Locke’s Philosophy of Science and Metaphysics (2007), and The Essential Ideas of Islamic Philosophy (2006).
He is the co-author of the forthcoming Islamic Philosophy of Science and Logic (University of Pittsburgh). His current research focuses on integrative studies and multiculturalism, as well as Engineering Ethics, Biomedical Ethics, Love and Romance in Islam, and Islamic Theory of Science.