The Marvels of the Heart: Science of the Spirit

by Al-Ghazali, Walter James Skellie (Translator), T. J. Winter (Introduction), Hamza Yusuf

Overview

Marvels of the Heart is thought to be the key volume of the 40-book Ihya' 'Ulum-Al Din—Revival of the Religious Sciences—, the most read work in the Muslim world after the Qur’an, and considered by many to be the Summa Theologica of Islam. These traditional teaching stories, which use the theme of the heart as a mirror, illustrate key tenets of Islam on the requirements of religion, living in society, and the inner life of the soul.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781887752312
Publisher:	Fons Vitae of Kentucky, Incorporated
Publication date:	04/01/2010
Pages:	242
Sales rank:	433,378
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Al-Ghazali was a theologian, a logician, a jurist, and a mystic. He was the author of more than 100 books of Islamic scholarship, and is regarded by many as the renewer of the fifth Muslim century. Walter James Skellie was a Presbyterian Minister who earned an M.A. and PhD in Arabic studies from the Hartford Seminary Foundation and served on missions in the Middle East for more than 25 years. T. J. Winter, also known as Abdal Hakim Murad, is currently the ShaZayed Lecturer of Islamic Studies at Cambridge University and the director of studies in theology at Wolfson College. Hamza Yusuf, founder of the Zaytuna Institute and the first American lecturer to teach in Morocco's prestigious and oldest University, the Karaouine in Fes, has translated into modern English several classical Arabic traditional texts and poems.

Table of Contents

Foreword iii

Editor's Note vi

Translator's Introduction ix

Author's Foreword 1

Chapter 1 An Exposition of the Meaning of 'Soul,' 'Spirit,' 'Heart,' and 'Intelligence,' and of the Purport of these Names 5

Chapter 2 An Exposition of the Armies of the Heart 13

Chapter 3 An Exposition of the Similitudes of the Heart and its Internal Armies 17

Chapter 4 An Exposition of the Special Properties of the Heart of Man 21

Chapter 5 An Exposition Summarizing the Qualities and Similitudes of the Heart 29

Chapter 6 An Exposition of the Similitudes of the Heart as Related Specifically to Knowledge 35

Chapter 7 An Exposition of the Condition of the Heart as Related to the Categories of Knowledge: Intellectual, Religious, Worldly, and Otherworldly 45

Chapter 8 An Exposition of the Difference between General Inspiration (ilham) and Learning (taallum); and the Difference between the Sufi Way of Seeking the Unveiling of Reality and the Way of the Speculative Theologians (nuzzar) 51

Chapter 9 An Exposition of the Difference in Rank between the Two Positions by a Tangible Example 57

Chapter 10 An Exposition of the Testimony of Divine Law to the Validity of the Method of the Mystics in Gaining Experiential Knowledge, not through Instruction nor in the Ordinary Way 67

Chapter 11 An Exposition of the Domination of Satan over the Heart through Evil Promptings; the Meaning of such Suggestion, and the Means of Overcoming it 77

Chapter 12 A Detailed Exposition of the Ways by which Satan Enters the Heart 91

Chapter 13 An Exposition of that for which Man is Held Accountable and that for which he is Pardoned and not Punished for Evil Promptings of Hearts, their Decisions, Involuntary Suggestions, and Purposes 117

Chapter 14 An Exposition of whether or not Evil Promptings Can be Conceived of as Entirely Cut Off during Remembrance [of God] 125

Chapter 15 An Exposition of the Rapidity of the Heart's Changes; and of the Way Hearts are Classified in Respect to Change and Stability 131

Bibliography 139

Index 145

Translator's Biography 153

Editorial Reviews

"This is a book which all Muslims should cherish in their personal libraries. Without it one would lose the beauty and richness of our Islamic heritage."  —Dr. Mustafa Ceric, Grand Mufti of Bosnia

From the Publisher