Al-Ghazali on Proper Conduct for Reciting the Qur'an (Book 8 of the Revival of the Religious Sciences)
Translated by Khalid Williams, published by the Islamic Texts Society Al-Ghazali on Proper Conduct for Reciting the Qurʾan is the eighth chapter of the Revival of the Religious Sciences (Ihya’ ʿulum al-din), a monumental work of classical Islam written by the renowned theologian-mystic Abu Hamid al-Ghazali. In this chapter of the Revival, Ghazali first establishes the pre-eminence of the Qur’an and of those who are devoted to its recitation, and then discusses the proper outer conduct for recitation of the Qur’an and follows this with the inner actions while reciting the Qur’an. The proper outer conduct includes: the state of the reciter; the quantity of recitation; properly dividing the recitation; manner of writing; measured recitation; weeping while reciting; giving the verses their proper due; what to say before, during and on finishing one’s recitation; reciting aloud and beautifying one’s recitation. As to the inner actions, they are: understanding the grandeur of the Speech; venerating the Speaker; maintaining presence of heart; contemplation; striving to understand; ridding oneself of barriers to understanding; self-reference; reacting to what one reads; ascension and self-negation. In the final section of this work, Ghazali deals with an issue that continues to be a source of contention today: the problem of the permissibility of interpreting the Qur’an based on personal opinion (tafsir bi’l-ra’y). Al-Ghazali on Proper Conduct for Reciting the Qur’an also includes a translation of Ghazali’s own Introduction to the Revival of the Religious Sciences, which gives the reasons that caused him to write the work, and which outlines the structure of the whole of the Revival and places each of the forty Books in the context of the others. Abu Hamid al-Ghazali (1058–1111), theologian, logician, jurist and mystic, was born and died in Tus in Central Asia, but spent much of his life lecturing in Baghdad or leading the life of a wandering Sufi. His most celebrated work, Revival of the Religious Sciences, has exercised a profound influence on Muslim intellectual history by exploring the mystical significance of the practices and beliefs of Islamic orthodoxy, earning him the title of Hujjat al Islam, the ‘Proof of Islam’. Khalid Williams specialises in translation from Arabic, with a particular focus on Islamic Studies and Sufism. He is the translator of The Straight Path: A Commentary on the Holy Qur’an, Volume II of A Sufi Commentary on the Qur’an and The Qur’an and the Prophet in the Writings of Shaykh Ahmad al-ʿAlawi, all published by the Islamic Texts Society.