احیاالعلوم کی کتاب التفکر : ایک مطالعہ

A Study of Kitāb al-Tafakkur in Iḥyā al-Ūlūm

Abstract

Abū Hāmid al-Ghazālī was a Muslim scholar, law specialist, rationalist, and spiritualist of Persian descent. He was a prominent mujtahid in the Shafi'i school of law. He believed that the Islamic spiritual tradition had become moribund and that the spiritual sciences taught by the first generation of Muslims had been forgotten. This belief led him to write book entitled Iḥyā’‘ulūm ad-dīn (The Revival of the Religious Sciences ). This work covers almost all fields of Islamic sciences including Fiqh, Sufism etc. It contains four major sections like Acts of worship (al-Ibādāt), Norms of Daily Life (al-Ādāt), The ways to Perdition (al-Muhlikāt) and the ways to salvation (al-Munjiyāt). The Iḥhyā became the most frequently recited Islamic text after the Quran and the hadith. Its great achievement was to bring orthodox Sunni theology and Sufi mysticism together in a useful, comprehensive guide to every aspect of Muslim life and death. The book was well received by Islamic scholars. Section 1 deals with knowledge and the requirements of Faith, Prayer, Charity, Fasting, Pilgrimage, Recitation of Quran and so forth. Part 2 concentrates on people and Society, the manners related to eating, marriage, earning, living and friendship. Part 3 and 4 are dedicated to the inner life of the soul and discuss first the voice is that people must overcome in themselves and then the virtues that they must drive to achieve. This article analyzes of Kitāb al-Taffakkur (part 4 of Ihya al-Uloom). It presents that creations and wonders of Allah in a delightful and unique way and inspires us to think about them. It argues that the whole universe is like a house. When we go to a rich man's house and see the doors and walls, colors of his house, we put our finger in our mouth, and appreciate it, similarly we keep our eyes on Allah's earth and sky, animals and minerals and their fine impressions, but we neither talk about them nor pay attention to them. This is because we forget our Lord and are attracted to our self. We only fill our bellies; we do not see anything other than our lust and honor. If we read all these things and are oblivious to seeing the creations of Allah and their wonders, then we do not have any importance for the Kingdom of Allah and His beauty. It is only by considering Allah's actions and attributes that one gets the knowledge of Allah's glory and gets guidance.