The Path of the Worshipful Servants to the Garden of the Lord of All the Worlds (Minhaj al-Abidin) PDF
Preview The Path of the Worshipful Servants to the Garden of the Lord of All the Worlds (Minhaj al-Abidin)
i The Path of the Worshipful Servants to the Garden of the Lord of All the Worlds - - [Minha-j al- ‹Abid-in ila- Jannati Rabbi ’l- ‹Alam-in] i i i The Path of the Worshipful Servants ii iii The Path of the Worshipful Servants to the Garden of the Lord of All the Worlds - - [Minha-j al- ‹Abid-in ila- Jannati Rabbi ’l- ‹Alam-in] - - - - - IMAM ABU H. AMID AL-GHAZALI TRANSLATED FROM THE ARABIC BY MUHTAR HOLLAND AL-BAZ PUBLISHING, INC. iii FT. LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA i v The Path of the Worshipful Servants Surå al-Ikhlåƒ - Q.112 Cover photography: Robin Roslund - www.photofl.com Cover Design: Dryden Design, Houston, Texas C over Preparation: DesignbyIndigo.com, Fort Lauderdale, Florida Body text set in Ghazali and Jilani fonts by Al-Baz Publishing, Inc. Printed on acid-free paper ©2000 by Al-Baz Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without permission in writing from the publisher and copyright owner. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 2011921727 First Edition February 2011 ISBN: 978-1-882216-26-0 Published by: Al-Baz Publishing, Inc. 1516 NE 38th Street Oakland Park, FL 33334, U.S.A. (425) 891-5444 E-mail: [email protected] Printed and bound in the United States of America by Sheridan Books, Inc. iv v Contents Acknowledgments vii Translator’s Introduction ix Concerning the Author xiii Preface 3 Author’s Introduction Preamble to the book by the author, Ab« ªåmid Mu¥ammad al-Ghazålº 5 The First Hurdle The Hurdle of Knowledge 18 The Second Hurdle The Hurdle of Repentance 31 The Third Hurdle The Hurdle of the Impediments 44 The Fourth Hurdle The Hurdle of the Four Hindrances 143 The Fifth Hurdle The Hurdle of the Incentives 198 The Sixth Hurdle The Hurdle of the Impairments 230 The Seventh Hurdle The Hurdle of Praise and Thankfulness 267 Conclusion 306 About the Translator 307 v v i The Path of the Worshipful Servants vi vii Acknowledgments All praise is due to Allåh, the Beneficent, the Merciful! We bear witness that there is no god except Allåh, and that Mu¥ammad is the Messenger of Allåh! Our Lord, thank You for giving us this wholesome task! (cid:2) (cid:3) Grateful thanks to Muhtar Holland for devoting years of his life to translating these works; may Allåh bless him! Thanks also to the many who have helped make this publication possible, among them the following: Nadeem Syed and his group of friends, may Allåh reward them. Rashid and Mahomed Raidhan Audria Gardner for the cover preparation Hani Nimr for the plate from Jerusalem with the Surå vii v i i i The Path of the Worshipful Servants viii ix Translator’s Introduction First and foremost, I wish to pay personal tribute to Imåm al-Ghazålº (mayAllåh be well pleased with him). As a non-Muslim university student and then lecturer in the field of Islåmic studies, I had acquired a superficial knowledge of the Imåm’s life and work, but it was only in the mid-to-late 1960’s that I really “discovered” Ihyå› ‹Ul«m ad-Dºn [Revival of the Religious Sciences], his magnum opus. At that stage in my life, I would express my view of religion by saying: “If I ever embraced a religion outwardly, it would be Islåm, for I am inwardly convinced that Almighty God is One and that Mu¥ummad is His Messenger.” For a variety of reasons, I resisted a growing urge to profess my Islåmic faith openly, but those reasons gradually ceased to prevail. One very important factor in dispelling my resistance was undoubtedly the wise influence of Imåm al-Ghazålº (may Allåh be well pleased with him), and I feel sure that his spiritual presence was there among the living witnesses to my public testimony of faith in 1969. Shortly after declaring myself a Muslim, I felt moved to translate Duties of Brotherhood, part of Book 15 of Imåm al-Ghazålº’s Ihyå› ‹Ul«m ad-Dºn. My translation was eventually published in 1975, and so began my career as a translator. I often say with a smile: “The author of Duties of Brotherhood has come to be my Elder Brother, guiding me from one part of the world to another, and helping me survive on translation work as a full-time profession!” However sincere, my own appreciation of the venerable Imåm may seem rather modest. Let me therefore assure the reader that his inestimable worth has been extolled in far more glowing terms. As reported by Aflåkº, for instance, Jalål ad-Dºn R«mº (may Allah sanctify his spirit) once said: “Imåm Mu¥ammad al-Ghazålº has purified the ocean of science in the world of the angels. He has raised its standard high. He has become the guide of the universe and the sage of mortal beings.”1 1 See: J. S. Trimingham. The Sufi Orders in Islam. Oxford University Press, London, ix 1971, p.52.
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