Imam Al Ghazzali's book"The Niche of lights" is a classic book in Islamic Philosophy that explains Koranic " verse of light". Althogh short, its philosophical substance is deeply rich. Al-Ghazzali was one of the most prolific and original of the orthodox Moslem philosophers. His other two famous books are " The Incoherence of the Philosophers" , and his Opus Magnum " The Revivication of Religious Sciences".
Yes, I applaud the Brigham Young University for puplishing this book, as well as the rest pf its "Al-Hikma: Islamic Translation Series". The translation is great. It can not ,in my opinion , comes any closer to convying to the English reader what I think Imam Al-Ghazzali wrote in Arabic. Lastly, the quality of the pulication and the paper is excellent.

Like a mind expanding drug

Imam Ghazali's book Mishkat Al-Anwar took my breath and left me gasping for air. A truly mind expanding experience.

The Light Verse:

"Allah is the Light of the heavens and the earth. The Parable of His Light is as if there were a Niche and within it a Lamp: the Lamp enclosed in Glass: the glass as it were a brilliant star: Lit from a blessed Tree, an Olive, neither of the east nor of the west, whose oil is well-nigh luminous, though fire scarce touched it: Light upon Light!" - 24:35

Imam Ghazali takes the Light Verse from Surah Nur of the Quran and writes a book on it. He explains first what the verse means, and explains man's relation to his creator. Then before he finishes the book, he decides to totally blow your mind away by explaining how the whole cosmos works.

I can relate to the other reviewers of this book, this book will blow your socks off. But be warned, this is a philosophical book, that reaches some very deep levels.

Anybody ready for deep philosophy and willing to examine man's relation to God, will find this book very illuminating. Esspecially since the cheaper translation called "Mishkat al-Anwar" translated by Erle Stanley Gardner costs 6.95. Judging from some of the non-Muslim reviews, you dont need to be a muslim to read this.

"My Father, which gave them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one." John 10:30

"That they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us ... so that they may be one, as we are one ... I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one," John 17:20-3

By finishing this book, I was left in a state of hallelujah. I've known God never as before. We may become in complete unity, we may become completely one, "so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me." John 17:23

Was I surprised when Imam Ghazali once again immpressed and inspried me with his writing? Well, yeah, actually I was. This was a really good book, Imam Ghazali comes at the whole issue from points of view I didn't quite have in mind when I picked the book up.

Adab un-Nikah explains many aspects of marriage that never made sense to me. The book goes over the advantages of marriage, the disadvantages, the problem with woman (And he gets picky) and then finally Imam Ghazali's conclusion. He hits on many arcane ideas and concepts that were new to me. A lot of chapters covered things I'd never related to marriage.

The book is written specifically for men, but woman will find this book useful also (If only to glean the wisom in Imam Ghazali's written word). My only difficulty in the book was that it was written from a very high-level sufi perspective. Many of examples used in the book do not exist anymore, or are very uncommon. (ie. topics covering single men who have devoted their entire lives to Dhikr)

The prose is easy...the layman can easily understand the text. At some parts, I wonder at how accurate the translation was; but alas, this is the only English version available.

I recommend this book for all married muslims, esspecially the men. Unmarried men/woman might be confused at some aspects of the book, but it's still good to read. As for non-muslims...You'll need a strong Islamic Knowledge base before you try tackling this one...

This book written by the venerable "Proof of Islam" and great scholar, theologian and Sufi Imam Abu Haamid al Ghazzali is a superb work full of Qura'nic ayats, hadiths of the Beloved Messenger and sayings of the great awliya and ulama vis-a-vis the important subject of marriage. The Imam details with, in his unmatched style, all the important aspects of marriage including the spiritual aspects.

A must read and a book all Muslims should have! Beautifully presented by Al Baz publications.

May Allah bless the soul of Imam Ghazzali!

(I reviewed this above anonymously--then felt that why should i be anonymous?!!)

This book written by the venerable "Proof of Islam" and great scholar, theologian and Sufi Imam Abu Haamid al Ghazzali is a superb work full of Qura'nic ayats, hadiths of the Beloved Messenger and sayings of the great awliya and ulama vis-a-vis the important subject of marriage. The Imam details with, in his unmatched style, all the important aspects of marriage including the spiritual aspects.

A must read and a book all Muslims should have! Beautifully presented by Al Baz publications.

May Allah bless the soul of Imam Ghazzali!

I have read numerous translations of books from the Ihya and was absolutely amazed and pleased to come across TJ Winters English rendition of this classical work of Islamic philosophy. It is not easy endeavor to bring forth the essence of al-Ghazali's Arabic style into the European languages. But, this books has done it! Really protrays the message, tone, and intention of al-Ghazali for the English reader. A must have for all those interested in philosophy, especially Islam.

Imam Ghazzali (Algazel) wrote this book hundreds of years ago, but the morays and virtues expressed in this text provide guidance that is much needed today. Read this book and you will find out why some regard this man as one of the greatest scholars of Islam, and his works on spirituality affected the Western world so immensely.

Ghazali is a master. Anyone who has read any of his works can appreciate the depth of his vision. This transalation does great justice to this particular chapter of his great work - the Iyha. Good translations of Ghazali's works are hard to find. This is an excellent translation and a remarkable find. Lucky is the reader who can find a copy. A sobering view of death and how the remembrance of death is something to be valued, not to be turned away from. Overall, very highly recommended.

Remarkable! This text has made its way to our hands in order to use the timeless widsom of this Grand Master. Easy to read, heavy to reflect upon, the sickness of the heart, concerning greed and envy, ect.. have all been carefully mastered into a text that is easy to grasp.

Some may say he has gone off the far end, perhaps reaching deeply for ultimate abstainance from this life, perhaps, he may, but the lessons he teaches can be taken in 2 ways. 1) That the people of his time may have been so "off", Islamicly speaking towards implementing Sharia, that he needed to write this text in order to level out the boundries. Therefore, his society may have been to one extreme of leaving Sharia. and this book is from another extreme implementing Sharia to the upmost respect.

This small volume will take the observant traveller (muslim) throught the mental and physical regimen required to grow in devotional respect for his (or her) religion. No single book outside the Qur'an has so moved me. Obtain it, study it, practice it, and see for yourself.

A first-rate translation, by a top scholar, of a great, rich, and historically important text by one of the most significant thinkers and most influential figures in Islamic history.

Does anything remain to be said?

Okay, a bit more: For anyone interested in the relationship between revelation and reason or between faith and philosophy, or in Islamic intellectual history, or in the history of philosophy, or in a number of other fields, this is a must-read.

This book is easy to read and very slim, so it does not take long for a person to read through it at least once. Most people, however, will want to take longer so they can reflect on what Al-Ghazali is saying. Basically, he breaks down the 5 pillars of Islam and focuses on each one and how to perfect one's worship in that pillar. My favorite was the one that he focuses the most on: Prayer. He lists techniques to be better at performing prayer and being closer to Allah while doing so. The best part is that he explains how even the companions of the Prophet (saw) had problems and were not perfect in their worship. It is a constant struggle, and his book helps in that struggle. A must read for everyone who is interested strengthening their faith.

Without doubt the original work by Imam al Ghazzali, entitled "Keemiya-i-Sa'adaat" (Alchemy of Happiness) is one of the great works of world religious literature, especially mystical. However, although it is an abridgement of Imam Ghazzali's magnus opus, "Ihya al Ulum ud-Din" (The Revival of the Religious Sciences) made by the master himself, this translation presents but a TINY portion of the abridged work. To give you an indication of just how much has been left out of this book, I have seen a full Urdu translation of the Keemiya and it runs to approx. 1000 pages. This work is 122 small sized pages!! (The Ihya of course is about 4000 large pages).Obviously therefore most of the book is missing. Secondly, this is an English translation of a French translation of the Urdu version of the Persian from the original! The number of errors in that sequence will be large. Also the translator has made some glaring errors in the translation of some technical Sufi terms used by the Imam. e.g. the word "sama'" has been translated, incorrectly, as it almost invariably is by Orientalists as "music". Now, "sama'" as understood by the Sufis themselves does NOT mean music. Its actual meaning is to listen to melodious voices or singing without musical accompaniment.That is what sama' gatherings were: gatherings of Sufis and disciples to listen to mystical poems sung in melodious voices with the rules of musical rhythms etc. with NO accompanying instruments NOT musical concerts as is often implied.

Therefore as a general taster of the great work by Imam Ghazzali this is ok but it is a poor substitute. Alas, the English speaking world must still wait for the first complete and accurate translation of the Alchemy of Happiness.

Clear guidance for this age old wisdom propounded by so many enlightened souls from Socrates to Muhammad, peace be upon them. A potent source of inspiration and guidance for purifying the soul and attaining The Divine Presence.

Although Al-Ghazzali offers a few anachronisms (he died in 1111), and uses quotes from Islamic traditions to drive home his points (which many people in today's world would not accept as authoritive), his short but powerful argument for why people should take their spiritual lives seriously has perhaps never been improved upon in all the intervening centuries. His compelling perspective has not been lost in the translation from one time to another, from one culture to another, or from one language to another.

Can you feel any logical sensation with the so called mysticism.Ghazzali was the best practician of the logic upon mysticism.Ghazzali was not only a master of the recent affairs throughout the islamic world but also his sctriptures were extremely donated along the western humanities and the philosophy of renaissance.Ghazzali was the eclectic face of the last thousand years in the eastern half the western world(that is Islam,yeah you're right!)

Kitab al-Tawhid wa al-Tawakkul is a significant part of al-Ghazali's Ihya Ulum al-Din, so I purchased it the first time I saw its translation. Unfortunately, it is my humble opinion that the translation is a little disappointing in that it is hardly acceptable by scholarly standards, which does not allow the reader to enjoy what the author has to say about the subject matter of the book. In many places, the meanings of the original Arabic statements were not reflected in the English interpretation at all, and this seems to have led the translator to be too liberal at times in interpreting those statements. The English rendition of certain crucial statements appear to be far-fetched interpretations and hardly make sense, at least to me. I do not think al-Ghazali actually says, in many places, what the translator claims he says. Readers who do not know Arabic to check the Arabic original must be very careful and cautious in reading it. I am just wondering if the Arabic-knowing people listed in the acknowledgments have really read and checked the translation at all. This work seems to be the result of a perfunctory effort and needs a total revision. It is just not fair to al-Ghazali, nor to the reader.

Though I have serveal issues with Imam al Ghazali I really enjoyed his personal insight into the reality of tawhid. People generally love or hate Imam al Ghazali, but I have read his works from time to time convinced he has something important to say. While he doesn't have all of the answers (who does), and his opinions about women leave much to be desires, his deeper spiritual insights are quite complex and interesting. He articulates the intricacies of tawid and explains its operative fucntion. The operative function of tawhid as a state of being is that the multiplicities of Allah's creation are understood to be an extension of that One to whom all worship is due. In such a state the slave of Allah is interacting with Allah on a personal level through the medium of His creation (when the slave gives charity to someone in need, he is actually giving it to Allah). Much more can be said about the merits of this manuscript, but I dont wish to overemphasize to the extent of redundancy. If you really want to untangle this business of tawhid and have run into the narrow and over-simplistic explanations given in the numerous wahabi publications of today- then this is a good book for you.