Abdal Hakim Murad - The Cambridge Companion to Islamic Theology

228 William C. Chittick
body and the limbs, and that which concerns inner things, such as
character traits and ‘‘the states of the heart’’. Acts pertaining to outward
things can then be divided into acts of worship (‘ibadat) and customary
practices (‘adat). Acts pertaining to inner things can be divided into
blameworthy and praiseworthy traits.
The headings of Ghazalı’s chapters provide a rough survey of what is
entailed by any thorough discussion of ‘‘worship’’. Notice that Part 1, on
‘‘acts of worship’’, begins with the book of knowledge, which analyses
the creed. In other words, the first chapter unpacks the implications of
the two halves of the Shahada, the recitation of which is the first of the
five pillars of Islamic practice. The remaining nine books deal with
ritual purity, s _
alat (second pillar), zakat (third pillar), fasting (fourth
pillar), H _
ajj (fifth pillar), recitation of the Qur’an, remembrance (dhikr)
and supplication (du‘a’), and the recitation of litanies (awrad).
Part 2 of the Revival outlines the proper attitudes and comportment
of true servants in daily activities. If these are not labelled ‘‘acts of
worship’’, it is because that word is reserved for rites and rituals. But the
broad path of guidance set down by the Qur’an and the sunna is by no
means limited to ritual and cultic activities, and everything that Ghazalı
discusses in this section is rooted in the guidance of these two sources
and of the pious forebears. The topics of the books are eating, marriage,
earning a living, the forbidden and the permitted, companionship and
social relationships, seclusion (‘uzla), travel, listening to music, commanding
the good and forbidding the evil, and right conduct of living
along with the character traits of prophecy.
Part 3 of the Revival is reminiscent of Muh _
asibı’s Observing the
Rights of God in that it focuses on blameworthy character traits. It
begins with an especially important chapter called ‘‘Explaining the
wonders of the heart’’, which is an analysis of the human soul and an
explanation of the necessity of self-knowledge. In his Alchemy of Happiness
(Kımiya-yi sa‘adat), which is a popularising Persian summary of
the Revival, Ghazalı puts this section at the very beginning of the book.
In the next nine chapters of Part 3, Ghazalı addresses the training of the
soul; the regulation of the two appetites (the stomach and the pudendum);
the blights of the tongue; the dangers of anger, rancour and envy;
the attractions of this world; possessions and stinginess; social rank and
hypocrisy; pride and self-satisfaction; and delusion.
The last part of the Revival delineates the character traits that need
to be acquired to establish taqwa and sincerity. This part is reminiscent
of many books written by the Sufis on the ‘‘stations’’ (maqamat) ofthe
path to God. The ten chapters cover repentance; patience and gratitude;
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