Ihya

Ihya, short for Ihya Ulum al-Din (The Revival of the Religious Sciences), is a major Islamic work by Abu Hamid al-Ghazali, completed in the late 11th or early 12th century. Written in Arabic, it became one of the most influential texts in Islamic spirituality, ethics, and jurisprudence, and it has been widely translated and circulated across the Muslim world.

The book aims to guide Muslims toward a harmony of outward worship and inward devotion. It blends Islamic legal thought with mysticism and moral psychology, drawing on Qur’anic verses, hadith, and pious anecdotes. The Ihya emphasizes intention, sincerity, and the purification of the heart (tazkiyah) as prerequisites for righteous action, and it addresses daily practices, rituals, remembrance of God, repentance, and the cultivation of virtue.

The work is traditionally organized into four books, which deal with acts of worship, the purification of the heart, ethical conduct and social behavior, and reflections on life, death, and the hereafter. Across its volumes, Ghazali covers topics such as prayer, fasting, almsgiving, ascetic discipline, humility, gratitude, patience, and the dangers of vice, often through a combination of legal guidance, spiritual exercises, and moral exhortation.

Reception and influence have been wide-reaching. Ihya shaped Islamic piety in both Sunni and Sufi circles, influencing education, devotional practices, and later scholarly commentaries. It remains a central reference in classical Islamic spirituality and is frequently studied in traditional religious settings as well as modern scholarship. Some later critics note tensions between its Sufi-oriented pedagogy and strict legalistic approaches, but its enduring prominence as a foundational work on spiritual and ethical refinement remains widely acknowledged.