إحياء علوم الدين

"Ihya Ulum al-Din" (The Revival of the Religious Sciences) by al-Ghazali, in forty books arranged in four quarters: the quarter of acts of worship, the quarter of customs, the quarter of things that destroy, and the quarter of things that save. ¹

The quarter of worship contains knowledge, the rules of belief, the secrets of purification, prayer, alms, fasting and pilgrimage. The quarter of customs contains the etiquette of eating, earning a living, marriage, companionship and travel. The quarter of things that destroy contains the wonders of the heart, the afflictions of the tongue, the condemnation of this world and of pride. The quarter of things that save contains repentance, patience, thankfulness, fear, hope, the unity of God, love and remembrance of death. ¹

Hajji Khalifa reports from al-Nawawi that, had all the books of Islam been lost and the "Ihya" remained, it would have been sufficient. He reports that some people in the Maghrib denied it when it first reached them, and that Ibn al-Jawzi criticised it and gathered its errors in "Ilam al-Ahya bi-Aghlat al-Ihya". He also reports a view from al-Ghazali's grandson (the source does not specify who) that the book was built on the doctrines of the Sufis and left out the code of jurisprudence, so that people objected to the hadiths in it that were not authentic. Al-Hafiz al-Iraqi took out its hadiths in 751 AH. ¹