International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences

search-icon

The Inner Knowledge (‘Ilm Al-Batinah) of good deeds according to Iman Al-Ghazali

Open access
This article analyses al-Ghazali’s theory of the Inner Knowledge (‘Ilm al-Batinah) of good deeds or devotional acts (‘ibadah). This article is theoretical in nature, and it involves bibliographic research, employing descriptive and analytic methods. The article argues that al-Ghazali formulates unique and profound ways of understanding good deeds, which, if analysed accordingly alongside his theory of Inner Actions (al-A‘mal al-Batinah), can be developed into a spiritual model of good deeds. The article found that al-Ghazali places great emphasis on the need to understand inner knowledge of good deeds which requires one to understand their Inner Meanings (al-Ma‘ani al-Batinah), real purposes, as well as their different grades and significance. His analysis of these elements is unique and profound, filled with spiritual insight. Al-Ghazali’s insight of this spiritual dimension of good deeds can increase one’s consciousness, and help one to be more attentive or present in performing good deeds or worship.
Al-Ghazali. (1953). The Beginning of Guidance, in The Faith and Practice of al-Ghazali. pp. 93-168. Translated by W. Montgomery Watt. Oxford: Oneworld Publications, 2004. First published in 1953.
Al-Ghazali. (1965). Al-Ghazali’s Book of Fear and Hope. Translated with introduction by William McKane. Leiden: E. J. Brill.
Al-Ghazali. (1967). Al-Munqidh min al-Dalal wa al-Muwassil ila dhi al-‘Izzah wa al-Jalal. Edited with introduction by Jamil Saliba and Kamil ‘Ayyad. 7th ed. Bayrut: Dar al-Andalus.
Al-Ghazali. (1981). Al-Ghazzalis Mishkat al-Anwar (“The Niche of Lights”). Translated with introduction by W. H. T. Gairdner. New Delhi: Kitab Bhavan.
Al-Ghazali. (1986). Ihya’ ‘Ulum al-Din. Edited by Zayn al-Din Abi al-Fadl ‘Abd al-Rahim ibn al-Husayn al-‘Iraqi. 4 volumes. Bayrut: Dar al-Ma‘rifah.
Al-Ghazali. (1991). The Mysteries of Purity: Being a Translation with Notes of The Kitab Asrar al-Taharah of al-Ghazzali’s “Ihya’ ‘Ulum al-Din.” Translated by Nabih Amin Faris. Reprint, Lahore: SH. Shahzad Riaz.
Al-Ghazali. (1992). Letters of al-Ghazzali. Translated by Abdul Qayyum. New Delhi: Kitab Bhavan.
Al-Ghazali. (2001). Kimiya’-i-Sa‘adat (Alchemy of Eternal Bliss). Full English translation of the Persian original texts. Translated by Muhammad Asim Bilal. Revised by Munir Ahmad Mughal. Lahore- Pakistan: Kazi Publications.
Al-Ghazali. (2003) Al-Arba‘in fi Usul al-Din fi al-‘Aqa’id wa Asrar al-‘Ibadat wa al-Akhlaq. Edited by ‘Abdullah al-Hamid ‘Arwani and Muhammad Bashir al-Shaqfah. Dimashq: Dar al-Qalam.
Al-Ghazali. (2010). Jalan Pintas Meraih Hidayah: 40 Prinsip Agama (Malay translation of al-Arba‘in fi Usul al-Din). Translated by Rojaya. Selangor: Pelima Media Sdn Bhd.
Al-Ghazali. (2011). Al-Ghazali on Patience and Thankfulness: Book XXXII of The Revival of the Religious Sciences Ihya’ ‘ulum al-din. Translated with introduction and notes by H. T. Littlejohn. Cambridge: The Islamic Texts Society.
Arafat, W. N. (1970). “Al-Ghazali on Moral Misconceptions.” Islam Quarterly 14 (1970): 57-62.
Burrel, D. B. (2011). Towards a Jewish-Christian-Muslim Theology. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.
Highland, J. A. (2004). “Guidance, Tolerance, and the Reverent Mindset in the Thought of al-Ghazzali and Symeon.” The Muslim World 94, no. 2 (2004), 259-273.
Levering, M. (2011). “Providence and Predestination in al-Ghazali.” New Blackfriars 92, no. 1037 (2011): 55-70.
MacDonald, D. B. (1899). “The Life of Al-Ghazzali, with Especial Reference to His Religious Experience and Opinions.” Journal of the American Oriental Society 20 (1899): 71-132.
Rahman, M. R. A. (2014). “Good Deeds in Christianity and Islam: Comparing the Perspectives of Augustine and Al-Ghazali.”(Unpublished Doctoral thesis, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia).
Quasem, M. A. (1974). “Al-Ghazali’s Theory of Devotional Acts.” Islamic Quarterly 18, no. 3-4 (1974); 48-61.
Quasem, M. A. (1978). The Ethics of al-Ghazali: A Composite Ethics in Islam. Monographs in Islamic Religion and Theology. Delmar, N.Y.: Caravan Books.
Watt, W. M. (1994). trans. Islamic Creeds: A Selection. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
Rahman, M. R. A., & Muthaliff, M. M. A. (2017). The Inner Knowledge (‘Ilm Al-Batinah) of good deeds according to Iman Al-Ghazali. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 7(13), 199-209.