Imam Al-Ghazali:

A Salik’s Journey to Allah

IMAM AL-GHAZALI:

ADAB OF LEARNING AND ETIQUETTES OF THE MASJID

• Arrive on time

• Face the Qibla

• Maintain Wudu

• Imagine that you are in the company of the angels

PURPOSE

• To introduce us to one of the greatest scholars of Islam

• To cover some of the essentials of our faith, especially the inner dimensions.

• To prepare us for the arrival of Ramadan.

WHO WAS IMAM GHAZALI?

• He was born around 450 AH (or about 1060 CE) and died in 505 AH

• Born in Khorasan and studied under the most renowned scholar Imam Juaani

• He mastered all of the Islamic sciences as well as the secular sciences of the day (linguistics, philosophy, logic, etc.).

• He memorized 12,000 pages of Fiqh texts, wrote influential books read throughout the Muslim world, and was responding to those who attacked Islam.


• Was given the highest position in Darul-Hikmah in Baghdad

• Had celebrity status and was known throughout the Muslim world for his extraordinary knowledge.

• Inner crisis

• Journey as a Salik


• Allah cast a light by which I began to see the reality of things as they really are

• Imam Ibnul Arabi’s visits Imam Ghazali

• Story of Moroccan Imam burning the Ihya

• Importance of respecting our scholars.

• Every 100 years Allah sends someone to revive the Dean.

THE REVIVAL OF THE ISLAMIC SCIENCES

• There are 40 books and he himself is 40 years old at this time. The first 10 deal with Ibaadat (prayer, fasting, etc.), the next 10 are the Aadat (eating, marriage, traveling, etc.), Muhlekaat (mortal vices) and then the Munjiaat (saving virtues like repentance, Tafaqur, love, etc.). He begins his first book on Ilm and ends his book on the remembrance of death and the After Life. The middle point exactly in this book (or Book 20) is on the good manners of the Messenger of Allah.

THEME 1

• Muaamelaat

• Mukaashefaat

• Everything has a Zahir and a Batin

• The Quran is not just a revealed book but a hidden book.

EXAMPLES

• Wudu

• Salawat

• Fiqh (examples of Imam Abu Hanifa and Imam Malik)

• Knowledge of Allah

• Your prayer has become mechanistic (feet and not as much focus on the heart). The entire purpose of worship is to attain nearness to Allah and you are preoccupied with whether the Tarawi is 8 or 20.

THEME 2

• As a believer is on a path to Allah, there are a few obstacles that he/she can expect to encounter.

OBSTACLE 1

• Shaitaan

OBSTACLE 2

• Sin

OBSTACLE 3

• Love of Dunya

OBSTACLE 4

• Company of the heedless

OBSTACLE 5

• Nafs

CURES

• The cures are a life long journey and should be done under the supervision of a teacher.

• However, our religion is designed to combat these obstacles if done properly.

THEME 3

• The first step in performing a deed properly is having the right intention.

• Uses the example of gold.

• If a deed is done for the wrong reasons but is done absolutely properly, then it becomes a non-deed and a source of debasement in the Hereafter.

EXAMPLES

• A qaarey, Mujahid, and charitable person.

• Story of Dhul Quaysira of Banu Tameem after Hunayn.

CONSIDER THE OPPOSITE

• Man who had his body burned.

• Man who lost his camel.

• Syedna Abu Bakr and his cloak.

• A person who simply intends to give but gives nothing.

• Summary

• Suggestions for the arrival of our friend.

WHO IS ALLAH?

• Allah in His essence is One, without any partner, Single without any similar, Eternal without any opposite, Separate without any like. He is One: prior with nothing before Him, from eternity, without any beginning, abiding in existence with none after Him, in Eternity, without any end, subsisting without ending, abiding without termination. He hath not ceased, and He will not cease to be described with glorious epithets. He is the First and Last, the External and Internal and He knows everything.

WHO IS ALLAH?

• We witness that He is not a body possessing bounds and limits—He does not resemble bodies either in limitation or in accepting division. He is not a substance, no entity resembles him, nothing is like Him and He is not like anything, measure does not limit Him and boundaries do not contain Him, the directions do not surround Him and neither the earth nor heavens are on different sides of Him.

WHO IS ALLAH?

• There is not in His essence his equal, nor in His equal His essence. He is far removed from change of state or of place. Events have no place in Him and mishaps do not befall Him. Nay, He does not cease through His glorious qualities to be far removed from changing and through His perfect qualities to be independent of perfecting increase.

WHO IS ALLAH?

• We witness that He is living, powerful and commanding. Inadequacy and weakness befall Him not, He is the Lord of the Worlds—the visible world and the invisible, that of force and that of might, He possesses rule, creation and the command: He created the creatures and their works and decreed their sustenance and their terms of life.

WHO IS ALLAH?

• We witness that He knows all the things that can be known, comprehending that which happened from the bounds of the earth unto the highest heavens; no grain in the earth or in the heavens is distant from His knowledge—yes, He knows the creeping of the little ant upon the rugged rock in a dark night and He perceives the movement of the mote in the midst of the air; He knows the secret and the concealed and has knowledge of the suggestions of the minds and the movement of the thoughts and the concealed things of the inmost parts—by a knowledge which is prior from eternity.

WHO IS ALLAH?

• We witness that He is The Willer of the things that are, and the things that happen; there does not come about in the world, seen or unseen, little or much, small or great, good or evil, advantage or disadvantage, faith or unbelief, knowledge or ignorance, success or loss, increase or diminution, obedience or rebellion—except by His will. What He wills is, and what He wills not is not. We witness that He is the All Hearing, the All Seeing and no audible thing is distant from His hearing and no visible thing is far from His seeing, however fine it may be. Distance does not curtain off His hearing and darkness does not dull His seeing.

WHO IS ALLAH?

• And we witness that He speaks, commands, forbids, praises as well as threatens with a speech that is subsisting in His essence from all eternity, not resembling the speech of created things. He is Living, Knowing, Powerful, Willer, Hearer, Seer as well as Speaker through Life. Power, Knowledge, Will, Hearing, Seeing, Speech—none of these are separated from His essence.

TAWHEED

• Tawheed is to see the Creator in the creation. It is to see the Provider in the provision.

EXAMPLES

• Surah Noor, Ayat 41

• Surah Duqaan, Ayat 29: Neither heaven nor the earth shed a tear for them and they were not given any respite.

• Al-Imran, Ayat 191: Those who remember Allah standing, sitting, lying down and they contemplate the wonders of creation in the heavens and the earth. They say, Our Lord You have not created this in vain, Glory to You. Give us relief from the fire.

• Al-Anbiya, Ayat 79 It was Our power that made the hills and the birds celebrate Our Praises with Dawood and it was Allah who did all of these things.

• Frog

• Trees

EYES OF THE MESSENGER

• The Messenger of Allah remarked, If you could see what I see, you would find Allah everywhere.

OPPOSITE OF TAWHEED IS SHIRK

• Shirk Al-Jali

• Shirk Al-Khafi

QUESTION ON THE DAY OF RECKONING

• On the Day of Judgment, Allah will say, “Go to those who you were doing these acts for and see if they have any rewards for you on this Day.

ONE STORY, TWO JOKES

• Cat

• I am fasting

• I am nothing

PRAYER

• So when we pray, we go from praising Allah to be in his presence. We go from Khitab Al-Gaaib to Khitaab al-Hadir (we go from a third person to the first person and we speak to Allah directly (You alone we worship…). We enter into the presence of our Lord. We say Assalamu alayka and not Assalamu alayhi).

OBSERVATIONS

• Driving

• Yawning

BENEFITS

• Benefits of doing actions properly are many including good dreams, a peaceful heart, enjoyment in worship, and very importantly, he says that you will begin to want to perform more worship because it’s meaningful to you. He calls this Zaouq.). But an important blessing is that your heart will do the Zikr without you knowing it.

IMPORTANT REMINDER

• Remember that whenever we speak or act, we have an audience of One.

HEART OF THE MESSENGER

• The actions of the Prophet (alei salam) emanated from a luminous heart. The reason his actions were so pure is because his heart was pure. This is why Syedna Abu Bakr said immediately after he (alei salam) passed away, Oh Messenger of Allah, you were pure in life and pure in death. The Quran says that Allah revealed the Quran on the heart of the Messenger of Allah (alei salam).

WHY DO WE PRAY?

• We don’t need to pray if there was only the body and flesh.

• Reason 1: Our spirit was in the presence of Allah at one time, before time.

• Reason 2: Salah removes impurities. (Hadith of a man who bathes in a river).

WHY DO WE PRAY?

• Reason 3: Prayer is an opportunity for us to converse with Allah. He gives the example of earthly kings and the King of Kings. Allah allows us to converse with Him intimately. Unlike earthly kings, He gently invites whereas earthly kings grant you to see them on occasion and when they have received a gift.

WHY DO WE PRAY?

• Reason 4: It is the first thing we are going to be asked about and if it is sound then our other deeds will be considered. Allah will not consider our other virtues if we are neglectful of our prayer.

• Syedna Abu Bakr used to say when the call to prayer was announced, Get up and extinguish the hell fire you have kindled for yourself.

WHY DO WE PRAY?

• Reason 5: We pray because it is the most beloved to Allah and most beloved to the best of creation (alei salam). He says that if something was more beloved to Allah then the angels would be performing that act. We know that countless rows of angels are performing some act of Salah.

SAJDA

• The servant draws nearest to Allah in prostration. Shaitaan weeps and says “This person has obeyed and paradise is his. I too was commanded to prostrate, but I disobeyed and hell is my lot.”

• He says that when you prostrate, you should imagine that you are restoring the branch with its root. When you go back for a second prostration, you are reaffirming your connection with Allah.

SAJDA

• A good word from Allah is like a good tree, whose root is firmly fixed and its branches reach the sky. It brings forth fruit at all times by the permission of its Lord. And Allah narrates stories for mankind so that they may remember and be guided. (Surah Ibrahim, Ayat 24-25)

GROUND

• Syedna Anas Ibn Malik said, If a person remembers Allah on a plot of ground, either in prayer or in Zikr, that plot will boast this honor to all the surrounding plots.

TWO PRAYERS

• If someone performs the prayer properly and with sincere intension and due humility, the prayer will rise up, bright and luminous, and will say “May Allah take care of you as you have taken care of me.” But if the opposite is true, the prayer will rise up like a dark cloud and will say “May Allah neglect you as you have neglected me.” Then it will be folded up like a rug and that person will be slapped in the face with it.

EXAMPLES

• Syedna Ali use to quake and change color when he used to stand for the prayer. When questioned, he used to remark that this trust was offered to the heavens and the earth and the mountains who rejected it. And we have taken it on.

• Syedna Muslim Ibn Yasar did not notice the collapse of a column of the Masjid while he was praying. There were Sahaba who would perform prayer before pulling an arrow from their body to ease the pain.

EXAMPLES

• Syedna Rabia Ibn Qaythum used to visit Syedna Abdullah Ibn Masud for 20 years. He used to keep his gaze low and his eyes used to be mostly closed. Syedna Abdullah’s servants used to say that your blind friend is here. Once while the two were walking, he fell unconscious when he saw a blacksmith working with fire. He used to say that when I begin my prayer, the only thought that enters my mind and heart is that I am speaking with Allah and He is speaking with me. Syedna Abdullah remarked that if the Messenger of Allah (alei salam) was alive today, he would have loved you and smiled upon seeing you.

EXAMPLES

• Syedna Talha and Syedna Zubair were famous for keeping their prayers brief. When asked why they do this, they responded that they do it to forestall the whisperings of Shaitaan.

EXAMPLES

• Hatem al-Asad said, “When the time for prayer approaches, I go to the spot where I intend to pray and sit there until all my limbs are in a collected state. Then I stand to perform my prayer, placing the Ka’ba between my forehead, the Siraat under my feet, paradise to my right and hell to my left, and the angel of death behind me with the thought that this will be my last prayer. I stand in the presence of Allah between hope and fear, and only then do I say Allahu Akbar.”

STATE OF MIND

• Awareness

• Understanding

• Reverence. A person can be both aware and understand but not show reverence.

• Awe: this is above reverence because it emanates from fear and recognizing the glory and majesty of Allah.

• Hope: this is the hope of Allah’s pleasure that Allah may accept it from us.

• Shame: this is the realization of one’s deficiencies and sins that one has done.

AFTER THE PRAYER

• After our prayer, we do Istighfar with a sense of shame.

• Sometime a wrong action that engenders humility and repentance is better than a right action that engenders a sense of superiority and arrogance.

• Wrong actions enable us to become humbled by them.

AFTER THE PRAYER

• Then you thank Allah for allowing you to perform this prayer. And imagine that you are saying farewell to this prayer and you may not see another like it.

• Even as humans, we emphasize not the gift but how it is presented.

ZIKR

• The Adab of performing Zikr:

• Perform a proper Wudu with a present heart.

• Face the Qibla

• Lower your gaze

• Remember death

• Imagine that you are in the presence of Allah and only then begin your Zikr. (Hudur Billah).

TIME

• Time is of the essence.

THREE PARTS

• Glorification of Allah

• Istighfar

• Salawat

ANGELIC AND ANIMALISTIC SIDES

• Angelic and animalistic side. When we allow our animalistic side to guide our behavior, we join the rank of the animal herd. Himmar Bin Nahar and Jifa Bil Layl. And when we cultivate our angelic side, then we join the rank of the angels who are in the presence of Allah .

• Conversation of the two devils

• Nafs

SENSORY PLEASURES

• There are five sensory pleasures according to Syedna Ali that Imam Ghazali discusses:

• Drink

• Food

• Cloth

• Scent

• ??

THREE SELVES

• He talks about the swine, the dog and the sage. The swine is the appetitive self and the dog is the metaphor for the lustful self. The first two have preoccupied us and the sage (the spiritual self) within has been buried.

• Donkeys by day and dead corps by night

RAMADAN

• The great cleanser

• Fish at the bottom of the sea

THREE GRADES OF FASTING

• There are three grades of fasting: ordinary, special and superlative. Ordinary deals with abstaining from food, drink, and other desires. Special fasting deals with keeping one’s eyes, ears, and other parts of the body free from sin. And superlative fasting is the fasting of the heart.

ARE WE REALLY FASTING?

• Story of two women who vomit in a bowl. These two women fasted the proper way. But they broke their fast on the flesh of others. They sat together and indulged in backbiting and the Prophet (alei salam) stated to the effect that the vomit is the flesh of the people they backbit against.

• Silence in the face of backbiting is unlawful. The Prophet (alei salam) taught that the backbiter and listener are copartners in sin.

• Exceptions

ARE WE REALLY FASTING ?

• “It doesn’t make sense to fast from lawful things and then indulge in the unlawful. A man who fasts like this is compared to one who builds a castle but demolishes a city. A person might give up excessive use of medicine from fear of its effects, but he would be a fool to switch to taking poison. The unlawful is a poison that is deadly to your Dean, while the lawful is a medicine, beneficial in small doses but harmful in excess.”


• Syedna Abu Dharda: How many of those who fast are not fasting and how many of those who are not fasting are keeping the fast. The fasting person who is a non-faster is the one who keeps his limbs and organs free of sin while eating and drinking. The non-faster who keeps his fast is the one who refrains from eating and drinking but is a servant to his lower desires.


• Imam Ghazali gives the example to describe such a person as the one who performs Wudu by going through the motions without using water. Because of his stupidity, his Wudu and prayer are rejected. In contrast, he who eats and yet fasts by keeping his limbs pure is like the one who performs Wudu with water once over his body. His Wudu and prayer are accepted because he paid attention to the essentials, even if he omitted the details. But the one who combines the two may be compared to the one who washes each part of his body three times and therefore attains perfection.

FAST OF THE HEART

• “What use is the fast as a means of conquering Allah’s enemy that at the time of breaking the fast, one makes up for what he missed during the daytime and then indulges in a variety of excessive eating which makes the Nafs stronger. It is well known that the object of fasting is to weaken the Nafs so as to empower the soul.”

• Give body its rights but not its privileges

• Focusing on anything that is Ghair Allah is to be rejected

FORGIVENESS

• He says that sweet water tastes bitter in the mouth of the sick. It’s not that the water is bitter, but rather, the container of the person is sick. Thus, as the body gets sick and weak by disease, so as the heart gets sick by sin. These sins are preventing you from enjoying the true pleasure of your worship. And this is the punishment. Being deprived from the sweetness of Zikr is the punishment. So stop doing what you are doing in the day, ask Allah for forgiveness, and Allah will grant you the ultimate gift of enjoying worship. This will be your gift and you will have a content heart.

ETIQUETTES

• Intention before Fajr of the day of the fast

• Take Suhuur even if it be with one date or water

• My Ummah will be in good standing as long as they take a late Suhuur and break the fast early (i.e. immediately as the call to the Maghrib prayer is announced)

• Vomiting, Gargling, and Accidently Eating or Drinking

ETIQUETTES

• Dua of the fasting person right before breaking the fast is not rejected.

• Soumukum Yaoma Tasoomun, Wa Fitr Rakum Yaoma Tafturoon (Your fasting is the day you begin your fast, and your Fitr is the day of your Eid.”

INTERNATIONAL SIGHTING

• If the moon is not sighted internationally, and if it is sighted by us, then what would you go with?

• Saudi Arabia follows local moon sighting

• Emphasis is on Matla

• Fajr

• Eclipse

LOCAL MOON SIGHTING

• If there is textual proof of following international sighting, then there is no harm in going with it.

• Focus on what is most important which is the group and attaining nearness to Allah.

WHAT TO AVOID

• Following one country

• Calculation

REMINDERS

• Intention should be pure like gold. Remember we have an audience of One.

• Wudu is a purification and a vehicle by which the noble eyes of the Messenger (alei salam) will recognize us.

• Salawat should be extended with correct presence

• Salah is to be done as if we are in the presence of Allah

• Sajda

Documents

Imam Al-Ghazali: