Fatwa ID: 05125

Answered by: Shaykh Ahmed bin Mohamed Umarji

Question

Can we read the book Ihyau Ulum Uddin by Hujjatul Islam Imam al Ghazali rahimahulloh? I think we can find many thoughts whether positive or negative in the writings of scholars in that book

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

Answer:

‘The Ihya’ has been a continuous inspiration until present times and has been highly regarded by many of the author’s admirers and detractors alike. Hafiz Zayn ad-Din al-Iraqi considered it the foremost literary composition of Islam. Muhammad Gazaruni declared that were all the Islamic sciences to be completely effaced, he could revive them with the help of Ihya’. Despite his differences with Imam Ghazali, the great historian and hadith master of Baghdad, Ibn al-Jawzi, acknowledged the popularity and matchless sincerity of the Ihya’ and wrote a summary of it, titled Minhaj al-Qasidin (Path of the Truth Seekers). Shibli Nu’mani said that every word of the Ihya’ possesses a magnetic effect on the reader. Ibn Taymiyyah stated that the Ihya’ contains many beneficial points, despite his other criticism of it.”[1]

Only Allah knows best

Written by Shaykh Ahmed bin Mohamed Umarji

Checked and approved by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah

Darul Ifta Birmingham

[1] Al-Arba’in fi Usul ad-Din, Page 15, Turath Publishers 2016