Al Ghazali on the Manners relating to Eating

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Al Ghazali on the Manners Relating to Eating

Book XI of the Revival of the Religious Sciences (Ihya’ ‘Ulum al-Din)

The eleventh chapter of the Revival of the Religious Sciences begins the section dealing with man and society. In this volume, concentrating on the manners relating to eating, Ghazali first discusses what a person must uphold when eating by himself: that the food is lawful, that both the person and the surroundings should be clean, and that one must be content with what is available, and how the person should conduct himself while eating and after eating. Ghazali then proceeds to discuss eating in the company and says that to all the above should be added the necessity of courtesy, conversation and the proper presentation of food. Finally, Ghazali expounds on the virtues of hospitality and generosity and the conduct of the host as well as that of the guest. Other topics that are discussed are abstention from food, fasting and general health.

In this new edition, the Islamic Texts Society has included a translation of Imam Ghazali’s own Introduction to the Revival of the Religious Sciences, which gives the reasons that caused him to write the work, the structure of the whole of the Revival, and places each of the chapters in the context of the others.

About The Author

Abu Hamid ibn Muhammad ibn Muhammad al-Tusi al-Shafi’i al-Ghazali

Abu Hamid ibn Muhammad ibn Muhammad al-Tusi al-Shafi’i al-Ghazali (or al-Ghazzali) was born in 450/1058 in Tus (located in present-day Iran). He studied under the great theologian and jurist Imam al-Haramayn al-Juwayni (478/1085) and produced a number of texts on Islamic law and theology. At the age of 34, he accepted a position as rector and professor of the Nizamiyya College in Baghdad. He remained busy teaching, refuting heresies, and responding to questions from all segments of the community. During this period, he produced the celebrated works The Objectives of the Philosophers (Maqasid al-Falasifa), followed by The Incoherence of the Philosophers (Tahafut al-Falasifa), in which he strongly challenged Peripatetic philosophy. Thereafter, facing a personal spiritual crisis, Imam Ghazali abruptly left his position and spent the next ten years in or between the cities of Damascus, Makka, Madina, and Jerusalem. During this period, he wrote the seminal Revivification of the Religious Sciences (Ihya’ ‘Ulum al-Din), a grand work of forty books outlining the significance and wisdom underlying the practices of Islam. At this point, Imam Ghazali returned to teaching in Nishapur and finally in his birthplace of Tus, leaving a legacy of works that synthesized jurisprudence, philosophy, theology, and Sufism. Imam Ghazali died in 505/1111 in Tus and, in a short time, was recognized as the reviver (mujaddid) of the century, celebrated ever since among Muslims as the Proof of Islam (Hujjat al-Islam).