Imam Ghazali Quotes

The happiness of the drop is to die in the river.

Knowledge exists potentially in the human soul like the seed in the soil; by learning the potential becomes actual.

Never have I dealt with anything more difficult than my own soul, which sometimes helps me and sometimes opposes me.

Desire makes slaves out of kings, while patience makes kings out of slaves.

Teringat saya amaran daripada Imam al-Ghazali, bahawa jika solat dipersembahkan kepada Allah tanpa ada sebarang rasa, sama keadaannya dengan mempersembahkan bangkai yang tidak bernyawa.

Ukhuwah itu bukan pada indahnya pertemuan, tapi pada ingatan seseorang terhadap saudaranya di dalam doanya.

In God, there is no sorrow or suffering or affliction. If you want to be free of all affliction and suffering, hold fast to God, and turn wholly to Him, and to no one else. Indeed, all your suffering comes from this: that you do not turn towards God.

The Prophet Muhammad (s) said: “Be kind, for whenever kindness becomes part of something, it beautifies it. Whenever it is taken from something, it leaves it tarnished.

Filsafat yang mampu mengubah sesearang

A wise man said: When knowledge increases, loquacity decreases.

What is meant for you, will reach you even if it is beneath two mountains. And what is not meant for you will not reach you even if it’s between your two lips.” IMAM AL-GHAZALI, 11TH-CENTURY MYSTIC

The learned man who does not act up to his knowledge is like a patient who describes the qualities of a medicine without using it or like a hungry man who describes the taste of a food without eating it.

Mujahadah adalah kunci petunjuk, tidak ada kunci petunjuk selain mujahadah

The Prophet said: Don't sit with every learned man. Sit with the learned man who calls towards five matters towards faith from doubt, sincerity from show, modesty from pride, love from enmity, and ascetism from worldliness.

Hendaklah tukang-tukang cerita waspada terhadap hal-hal bohong dan hikayat-hikayat yang menyajikan perbuatan salah, atau yang tujuan baiknya tidak dapat difahamkan oleh umum. Atau, cerita itu merupakan satu pertarungan antara yang baik dengan buruk, lalu yang buruk mendapat pembelaan yang berlebihan sebelum dikalahkan oleh yang baik. Tanpa disedari, hal ini memberanikan orang berbuat dosa (Ihya' Ulumuddin).

Den Wert von vieren kennen aber nur vier: Den Wert des Lebens kennen nur die Toten; den Wert des Gesunden nur die Kranken; den Wert der Jugendkraft kennen nur die Altersschwachen; und den Wert des Reichtums kennen nur die Armen.

Hatem said: You are not safe in this world unless you possess four characteristics - (1) overlook the ignorance of man (2) conceal your ignorance from them, (3) seek their good (4) don't seek anything from them.

Aklın bütün meseleleri kavramada müstakil ve bütün müşkillleri halledecek durumda olmadığını anladım.

O youth.......be assured that knowledge alone does not strengthen the hand......Though a man read a hundred thousand scientific questions and understood them or learned them, but did not work with them---They do not benefit him except by working.....Knowledge is the tree, and working is its fruit; and though you studied a hundred years and assembled a thousand books, you would not be prepared for the mercy of Allah the Exalted except by working.

A learned man said: The learned men are the lights of the ages. Each is a light in his own time giving light to the people of his time.

Wealth and property are the servants of body which is the vehicle of soul of which the essence is knowledge and for which there is honor of soul.

Hazrat Abu Darda'a said: He who thinks that to go at dawn in search of knowledge is not jihad is deficient in intellect.

I (Imam Ghazzali - RA) say that if privacy and seclusion had been lawful in those days, then they have become obligatory during our times.

Oh mein Sohn, es wird auch berichtet, dass Luqman (der Weise) seinem Sohn riet: "Oh Sohn, du möchtest doch nicht, dass der Hahn gescheiter ist als du. Er kräht zur Morgendämmerung und du schläfst weiter.

Kendimle yüzleştikten sonra dibi ateş çukuru olan bir uçurum kenarında bulunduğumu ve kendime çekin düzen vermem gerektiğini anladım. Bir seçim yapmalıydım; bir gün bu hâllerimden kurtulmaya karar veriyor, ertesi gün bu kararımdan vazgeçiyordum. İçimde ahiret arzusu belirdikten biraz sonra dünyalık arzulardan oluşan ordu bir saldırı düzenliyor, arzumu yerle bir ediyordu. Dünyalık arzularım beni zincire vurmuş, makam ve statü peşinde sürüklüyordu. İman münadisi ise şöyle sesleniyordu: "Dünyadan göçme zamanı, dünyadan göçme zamanı! Ve artık fazla vaktin kalmadı, önünde bir ahiret yolculuğu var. "Şimdiye kadar öğrendiğin bütün ilimlerin ve yaptığın işlerin hepsi riya ve gösterişten ibaret!

The third duty of a teacher is that he should not withhold from his students any advice. After he finishes the outward sciences, he should teach them the inward sciences. He should tell them that the object of education is to gain nearness of God, not power or richness and that God created ambition as a means of perpetuating knowledge which is essential for these sciences.

Another sign of the learned man of the hereafter is that he keeps himself distant from the ruling authorities and avoids their company, because this world is sweet, ever-new and its bridle is in their hands. He who comes near them is not free from their pleasures and harms. They are mostly unjust and do not obey the advices of the learned men. The learned man who frequents them will look to their grandeurs and then think God's gift upon him as insignificant. To keep company with the rulers is the key to evils.

He who acquires knowledge and acts up to it and teaches it to the people is noble to the angels of heaven and earth. He is like the sun which illumines itself and gives light to other things. Such a man is like a pot of musk which is full of fragrance and gives fragrance to others. He who teaches knowledge to others but does not himself act up to it is like a notebook which does not benefit itself but benefits others or like an instrument which gives edge to iron but itself has got no edge, or like a needle which remains naked but sews clothing for others, or like a lamp which gives light to other things but itself burns.

What’s meant for you will reach you even if it’s beneath two mountains, and what’s not meant for you won’t reach you even if it’s between your two lips.

And how can someone be described as flawless [or protector] who is not freed from his lower self

Bersungguhlah kamu dalam menuntut ilmu, jauhilah kemalasan dan kebosanan kerana jika demikian engkau akan berada dalam bahaya kesesatan.

INTELLECT AND ITS NOBLE NATURE. The noble nature of knowledge has been revealed through intellect. Intellect is the source and fountainhead of knowledge and its foundation. Knowledge is like the fruit of a tree and it flows from intellect, or like the light of the sun or like the vision of the eye. Why should it not be honored when it is the cause of fortune in this world and the next? What is there to distinguish between beasts and men except intellect? Even a ferocious beast which has got more strength than man fears a man at seeing him as it knows that he may put him into snare on account of his intellect.

According to Imam al-Ghazali, there are four worldly and four spiritual tips to help a person perform tahajjud. The worldly tips are: •Avoid overeating, and over-drinking, which would lead to heavy sleep. •Avoid tiring the body during the day in what is not beneficial. •Take to the afternoon nap, which helps you pray at night. •Never commit sins during the day, which may prevent you from praying tahajjud. The spiritual tips are: •To purify your heart of any resentment against another Muslim. •To constantly have fear in your heart of your Lord and realise that your life is short. •To understand the benefit of tahajjud. •To love Allah, and have strong faith when you stand in prayer in the night, calling upon Allah.

Some may say that the resources of the world are necessary for men to pass their lives in this world. How can they abstain from using these necessaries of life? It may be noted carefully that whatever has been said about Zuhd (abstinence) pertains to the possession and use of useless and superfluous things of life. The practice of Zuhd has been advised about things which are not indispensable for life in this world. None can advise against using things which are necessary to maintain health so necessary for keeping body and soul together and for devotion and worship in the path of Exalted Allah.

(12) TWELVTH SIGN: Another sign of the learned man of the next world is that he saves himself from innovations even though the people are unanimous on innovations and novelties. He is rather diligent in studying the conditions of the companions, their conduct and character and their deeds. They spent their lives in jihad, meditation, avoidance of major and minor sins, observation of their outer conduct and inner self. But the greater object of thought of the learned men of the present time is to teach, compose books, to make argumentation, to give Fatwa, to become mutawali of Waqf estates, enjoy the properties of orphans, frequent the rulers and enjoy their company.

Materi pada esensinya adalah sesuatu yang mungkin, tidak bisa diadakan kecuali ada sebab-sebab bagi keberadaannya, dan tidak bisa tiada kecuali ada sebab-sebab yang bisa membuatnya tiada

Moral Character is… Knowing the good, desiring the good and doing the good is shown by good habits of mind, habits of the heart and habits of action. Thomas Lickona, educational psychologist

Make Imam al-Ghazali your therapist.

The fourth duty of a teacher is to dissuade his students from evil ways with care and caution, with sympathy and not with rebuke and harshness, because in that case it destroys the veil of awe and encourages disobedience.

The world will not be free of me who will establish religion secretly and openly in order that the proofs of God are not obliterated. They will be few in number but they will be great in honour. They will be lost openly, but their pictures will reign in hearts. God will preserve His religion through them. They will leave the religion for their successors and they will plant it in the hearts of the young. The real nature of knowledge will be disclosed with their help. They will get good news from the life of sure faith. They will make easy what the rich think difficult and they will make clear what the heedless think obscure. They will keep company with the world witht their bodies, but their souls will be kept hanging in lofty places. They are servants of God among His people, His trustees and deputies on the earth. Then he wept and said: How eager I am to meet them.

The Prophet said in a sermon: Blessed is he whose concern for his own faults keeps him away of finding fault of others, who spends out of his lawful earnings, keeps company with theologians and the wise, and spurns the sinners and the wicked people. Blessed is he who humbles himself, makes his conduct refined, heart good and does not do harm to the people. Blessed is he who acts up to his knowledge, spends his surplus wealth, abstains from superfluous talks, follows sunnah and does not introduce innovations.

To give a thing to one who is not fit for it and not to give a thing to one who is fit for it is equally oppression.

Even Imam Ghazali himself was not against science per se, but only on bringing science in matters of faith. Imam Ghazali said: 'Whosoever thinks that to engage in a disputation for refuting such a theory is a religious duty harms religion and weakens it. For these matters rest on demonstrations, geometrical and arithmetical, that leaves no room for doubt.' Imam Ghazali is also quoted to have stated: 'Great indeed is the crime against religion committed by anyone who supposes that Islam is to be championed by the denial of these mathematical sciences. For the revealed Law nowhere undertakes to deny or affirm these sciences, and the latter nowhere address themselves to religious matters.

Islam provides the method by which our hearts can become sound and safe again. This method has been the subject of brilliant and insightful scholarship for centuries in the Islamic tradition. One can say that Islam in essence is a program to restore purity and calm to the heart through the remembrance of God. This present text is based on the poem known as Maṭharat al-Qulūb (literally, Purification of the Hearts), which offers the means by which purification can be achieved. It is a treatise on the “alchemy of the hearts,” namely, a manual on how to transform the heart. It was written by a great scholar and saint, Shaykh Muhammad Mawlud al Ya’qubi al-Musawi al-Muratani, As his name indicates, he was from Mauritania in West Africa. He was a master of all the Islamic sciences, including the inward sciences of the heart. He stated that he wrote this poem because he observed the prevalence of diseased hearts. He saw students of religion spending their time learning abstract sciences that people were not really in need of, to the neglect of those sciences that pertain to what people are accountable for in the next life, namely, the spiritual condition of the heart, In one of his most cited statements, the Prophet said, “Actions are based upon intentions.” All deeds are thus valued according to the intentions behind them, and intentions emanate from the heart. So every action a person intends or performs is rooted in the heart. Imam Mawlud realized that the weakness of society was a matter of weakness of character in the heart, Imam Mawlud based his text on many previous illustrious works, especially Imam al-Ghazali’s great Ihya’ Ulum alDin (The Revivification of the Sciences of the Religion). Each of the 40 books of Ihya‘ Ulum al-Din is basically about rectifying the human heart. If we examine the trials and tribulations, wars and other conflicts, every act of injustice all over earth, we’ll find they are rooted in human hearts.

A tradition (hadith of Prophet Muhammad [May peace and blessings of Allah be upon him]) says: “[O Human Being!] Spend your life the way you like but [keep in mind that one day] you will die, and love whoever you like but [keep in mind that one day you] will get separated from him/her, and perform deeds the way you like but [keep in mind that one day] you will surely get their just compensation [good or bad depending on your deeds].

It is recounted that a man asked Ibn Mas’ud about a sin he had committed: did he have a chance of repentance? Ibn Mas’ud turned away from him, then turned back and saw tears flowing from his eyes. Ibn Mas’ud said to the man: ‘Indeed Paradise has eight gates which open and close, but the gate of repentance, guarded by a special Angel, does not close; do [repent], and do not despair.’[23] IMAM AL-GHAZALI

Imam al-Ghazali says, “Your time should not be without structure, such that you occupy yourself arbitrarily with whatever comes along. Rather, you must take account of yourself and order your worship during the day and the night, assigning to each period of time an activity that must not be neglected nor replaced by another activity. By the ordering of this time, the blessing will show in itself”.

Consciousness is there in animal life. Beyond animal instincts, humans also have inherent recognition of good and evil in their conscience. Belief in deterministic justice and rewards in afterlife fulfils our aspiration to have true and fair reward for every small act of goodness and evil in afterlife. Every moment of a nurse and that of a cured or dead patient is not meaningless if one believes and prepare for afterlife by achieving excellence in morals. Imam Ghazali wrote that wealth is useful till we die, relatives till we are put in grave and only good deeds will be the currency on judgement day. If we have good deeds to take in next life, then we can have everlasting happiness that is not infected and affected by any Corona Virus.

Among the Muslim contributions to social sciences, Imam Ghazali and Ibn-e-Khuldun discussed the concept of the labour theory of value and division of labour in economics several centuries earlier than Adam Smith and David Ricardo. The famous Laffer curve in economics was first discovered by Ibn-e-Khuldun.

He has said the world is like filthy, dead and rotten meat. See how despicable is its outcome. Its best and most delicious foods turn into foul-smelling excrement. These things of this world have been made attractive from the outside, but the real substance concealed within them is hateful and loathing.

It was the practice of our past pious seniors and veterans that at such times of corruption they used to keep themselves aloof from the general public. They advised others to follow the same course as they followed during their secluded lives. There is no doubt that they were more farsighted and discerning and sympathetic with the people than we. The present age is worse than their age. Hazrat Imam Ghazali (RA) has given this account about the 5th century A.H. Now consider what is the condition of this age. How necessary is it to seek safety from the evils of the times, to reform ourselves and take to privacy and seclusion.

Change happens when we make the path easy for people, when we inspire them toward their greatest potential through hope and love. As the great scholar Imam Al-Ghazali said, “Half of the weight of the spread of disbelief in the world is carried by religious people who made God detestable to His creation through their terrible conduct and terrible speech.” Our calling is not to judge people, but through love to inspire them toward their greatest potential.

When the prophet read this verse: If God wishes to guide anyone, He expands his breast for Islam (6 : 125), he was asked as to the meaning of expansion of breast and he said: This is light. When it is cast into heart, it expands. He was asked: Has it got any sign? The Prophet replied: Yes, to be separate from this world of deceit, to turn to the hereafter and to prepare for death before it actually comes.

But there are such men who established the truth of an eternal matter by such proof as follows. If there be no existence of an eternal thing, then all things are originated or created. If all things are created, they come without cause or some of them come to existence without cause. This is impossible and that which leads to impossibility is itself impossible. Therefore the mind is compelled to believe in the existence of something eternal.