| |
|
Al-Ghazali
on Poverty and Abstinence
Book XXXIV of the Revival of the
Religious Sciences (Ihya’ ‘Ulum al-Din)
Translated by:
ASAAD F. SHAKER
The Book of Poverty and Abstinence is the thirty-fourth
chapter of The Revival of the Religions Sciences. It falls
in the section dealing with the virtues. Ghazali gives definitions
of what real poverty and abstinence should be and how the poor should
conduct themselves. He goes on to describe poverty that has no virtue
and which is based on greed and love of the world. For Ghazali,
the virtues of real poverty and abstinence are closely linked with
patience, contentment, lack of worldliness, asceticism, trust and
surrender to God.
Dr Asaad F. Shaker holds a PhD from McGill University and works
on classical Islam.
|
