Knowledge
Volume 1: Acts of Worship
The work's fundamental aim is to revive the religious sciences that al-Ghazālī maintained had degenerated in his own age. According to the source text, most scholars of the period used knowledge as a means to obtain worldly rank, wealth, and reputation. Al-Ghazālī emphasizes that the science of the "Path to the Hereafter" has been forgotten, replaced by mere jadal (disputation) and formalistic jurisprudence. The document establishes that true knowledge must combine purification of the heart with action; that necessary sciences for worldly affairs such as medicine and arithmetic are farḍ al-kifāya, while the knowledge required to fulfill one's religious obligations is farḍ al-ʿayn.
Summary
The work's fundamental aim is to revive the religious sciences that al-Ghazālī maintained had degenerated in his own age.
Sections
A. The Merit of Knowledge and the Rank of Scholars
The source text defines knowledge as the sole honorific quality distinguishing the human being from other living creatures. The merit of knowledge derives both from its being a blessing sought for its own sake and from its being a means to eternal felicity.
- Heirship of the Prophets: True scholars are the heirs of the prophets. Yet this inheritance is not merely theoretical knowledge, but a moral stance in which knowledge and action are united.
- The Creation's Seeking Forgiveness: It is emphasized that for the scholar who acts upon his knowledge, all creation on earth and in heaven—even the fish in the sea—seek forgiveness on his behalf.
B. Classification of the Sciences
The work divides the sciences sharply according to communal and individual necessity:
| Type of Knowledge | Definition and Scope | Ruling | | :--- | :--- | :--- | | Farḍ al-ʿayn | The minimum knowledge one must possess regarding one's present condition (creed, action, prohibitions). | Obligatory upon every Muslim. | | Farḍ al-kifāya | Sciences necessary for the order of society (medicine, arithmetic, agriculture, politics, etc.). | When one group possesses them, the obligation is lifted from the rest. | | Sharʿī Sciences | Usūl, furūʿ, muqaddimāt, and mutammimāt transmitted from the prophets. | Accepted sciences. | | Blameworthy Sciences | Sorcery, talismans, deriving rulings from the stars (astrology), and knowledge that harms people. | Condemned/forbidden. |
C. Degeneration of Concepts and Semantic Drift
Al-Ghazālī notes that five fundamental terms used by the salaf (the early Muslims) gradually lost their meaning: 1. Fiqh: Initially "knowing the path to the Hereafter and the afflictions of the heart"; later reduced to "principles of legal verdicts and techniques of disputation." 2. Knowledge (ʿilm): While it meant knowing God and His acts; it became the art of silencing opponents. 3. Tawḥīd: While it meant heartily affirming that all things come from God; it became theological debate and jadal. 4. Remembrance (tadhkīr) and Wisdom (ḥikma): Stripped of their meanings of reminding one of God and possessing discernment.
D. The Science of *Mukāshafa* and *Muʿāmala*
- The Science of Muʿāmala: Encompasses the states of the heart (patience, gratitude, sincerity, etc.) and the movements of the limbs. This is the portion taken as the basis in this book and the part permitted to be written down.
- The Science of Mukāshafa: After the heart is purified, divine realities dawn upon it like a light. This knowledge is like "hidden jewels" and can be known only by the elect among the knowers of God; it is forbidden to commit it to books.
Common Traits of the Great School Imams
The text gathers the common qualities of the four great school imams (al-Shāfiʿī, Mālik, Abū Ḥanīfa, Aḥmad b. Ḥanbal) and Sufyān al-Thawrī under five headings: 1. Being devoted worshippers: Their abundant worship. 2. Being ascetics (zāhid): Their turning away from worldly rank and wealth. 3. Knowing the science of the Hereafter: Their familiarity with the states of the heart. 4. Guiding the people: Their issuing legal responses for God's pleasure. 5. Seeking only God's pleasure: Their not viewing knowledge as a means of superiority.
Case Example: Imām Abū Ḥanīfa's refusal of the state's offers of "superintendency of the public treasury" or "judgeship," preferring worldly torment to the torment of the Hereafter and accepting torture, is presented as the greatest proof that he was not a "worldly scholar."
Key concepts
- *ʿIbādāt* (Acts of Worship)
- The first quarter of the book; covers duties of servitude such as knowledge, creed, prayer, alms, fasting, and pilgrimage.
- *ʿĀdāt* (Customs)
- The second quarter of the book; covers the etiquette and rules of eating, marriage, trade, and social relations.
- *Muhlikāt* (Destructive Traits)
- Explains the evil states of the heart, training of the soul, afflictions of the tongue, pride, ostentation, and other elements that spiritually destroy a person.
- *Munjiyāt* (Salvific Traits)
- Treats qualities that bring salvation and draw one near to God, such as repentance, patience, gratitude, reliance, and love.
- The Science of *Muʿāmala*
- Knowledge that must be both learned and acted upon. It is divided into outward (the movements of the limbs) and inward (the states of the heart). This is the book's main subject.
- The Science of *Mukāshafa*
- Knowledge that is only to be known, comprising inward realities reached through purification of the heart. This science is not written in books, but opened to its people through consultation.
- Farḍ al-ʿayn
- Knowledge every Muslim must personally learn (the meaning of the testimony of faith, how to perform obligatory acts when their time arrives, ways to avoid the prohibitions one is exposed to).
- Farḍ al-kifāya
- Sciences whose obligation is lifted from others when a segment of the community knows them (medicine, mathematics, agriculture, weaving, and other crafts necessary for sustaining life, as well as deep legal questions).
- *Mukāshafa*
- The light and knowledge that dawn upon the servant's heart, after it is purified, concerning God's essence, attributes, and the secrets of the world.
- *Muʿāmala*
- Practical knowledge of action relating to the deeds of the limbs and the heart, whose application is obligatory.
- *Jadal*
- The art of disputation and silencing opponents; an occupation counted as knowledge in al-Ghazālī's age but one that hardens the heart.
- *Zuhd*
- Not valuing the world and worldly wealth, purifying the heart from love of possessions, and turning toward the Hereafter.
- *Muttaqī*
- One who fears God and scrupulously avoids forbidden and doubtful things.
Study questions
According to Imām al-Ghazālī, who are the "guides on the path to the Hereafter"?
Scholars who are the heirs of the prophets and who act upon their knowledge.
Who, in the source text, faces the most severe punishment on the Day of Resurrection?
The scholar whom God did not benefit through the knowledge he possessed.
What is given as the fundamental cause of the decline of religious sciences?
Scholars' preoccupation with gathering worldly wealth, and their turning to sciences of jadal (disputation) and preaching used only to take people's money.
Give examples of sciences that are farḍ al-kifāya.
Medicine, mathematics, agriculture, weaving, and politics.
Why did Imām al-Ghazālī place the "Knowledge" section at the beginning of his book?
Because knowledge is the most important matter for the human being, and it is the first thing God asks of everyone through the Prophet.
Why is the "science of *mukāshafa*" not explained openly in books?
Because the prophets spoke of this knowledge only through allusion and similitude; and because it is a light that opens only after the mirror of the heart is cleansed.
What is the fundamental reason for describing the science of *fiqh* as a "worldly science"?
Because fiqh is largely concerned with resolving people's worldly disputes, regulating the politics of rulers, and ruling on the correctness of outward acts (wordings).
Lecture sections
- Why Is the *Iḥyāʾ* Important?
- The Introduction to the *Iḥyāʾ*
- Knowledge
- The Aim of the *Iḥyāʾ*
- Etiquette the Student Must Observe
- Knowledge and Scholars
- The Effect of Knowledge on Human Character
- Signs of Scholars of the Hereafter 1
- Signs of Scholars of the Hereafter 2