By Abu Hamid al-Ghazali [Bio]
Complete Arabic Text with
Facing English Translation
Translated by Mashhad Al-Allaf, Revised and
Edited by Abdur-Rahman ibn Yusuf [Bio]
Imam Ghazali’s Bidayat al-Hidaya is a highly
motivational manual detailing the fundamentals of acquiring guidance
through God-consciousness (taqwa). Imam Ghazali argues that
just as there is an end to this noble objective there is also a
beginning to it, which must be made firm for one to achieve success. He
then goes on to expound the fundamentals of this "beginning." While
being concise and to-the-point the manual is laid out in the form of a
detailed daily timetable providing the reader strong inspiration and
much heart-rending counsel. The three sections of this book are on
obedience, refraining from disobedience, and the etiquette of
companionship with the Creator and with creation. One of Imām Ghazālī’s
final works, it embodies a lifetime of learning, experience, and
spirituality and can be taken as an introduction to his larger works.
This
translation published for the first time with facing Arabic text also
includes many notes and transliteration for the supplications contained
within.
"An excellent translation of an important book on the
fundamentals of Muslim piety and etiquette. With an accessible English
translation alongside the original Arabic text, this introductory work
will be useful for readers interested in
exploring the realities of
Islamic piety, students of Arabic and educators alike."
jonathan ac
brown University of Washington
"This welcomed translation provides
Ghazali’s manual The Beginning of Guidance (Bidayat
al-Hidaya) to serious students, seekers, and scholars and combines
contemporary fluency with respect for sacred Islamic tradition."
Marcia
Hermansen Loyola University Chicago
Dr. Mashhad Al-Allaf
holds a doctoral degree in Modern Philosophy: Science & Metaphysics
(1995). His bachelor’s and master’s degrees concentrated on the
Philosophy of Science. He has taught at Washington University, St. Louis
University,
and Webster University and is the author of several
works, including The Basic Ideas and Institutions of Islam (2008),
Locke’s Philosophy of Science and Metaphysics (2007), and The Essential
Ideas of Islamic Philosophy (2006). He is the co-author of the
forthcoming Islamic Philosophy of Science and Logic (University of
Pittsburgh). His current research focuses on integrative studies and
multiculturalism, as well as Engineering Ethics, Biomedical Ethics, Love
and Romance in Islam, and Islamic Theory of Science
