"A fourth group of people climbs from ignorance and pretends to possess the rational faculty. They suppose that the highest felicity is the expansion of honor and fame, the spread of reputation, a multiplicity of followers, and the influence of the command that is obeyed. Hence, you see that their only concern is eye service and cultivation of the things upon which observers cast their glance. One of them may go hungry in his house and suffer harm so that he can spend his wealth on clothes with which to adorn himself so that no one will look at him with the eye of contempt when he goes out. The types of these people are beyond count. All of them are veiled from Allah by the sheer darkness that is their own dark souls." --- Al-Ghazali (The Niche of Lights)

"For such people, the ruling gods are progress, science, and development. They imagine that we know so much more about the world than those people of olden times, because "we" have science. Of course, they themselves do not have science, they have simply heard and believed that scientific knowledge is real knowledge. They know little about the goals and methods of science, and nothing about the Islamic Intellectual tradition. They are blind imitators in intellectual issues, that is, on the level where they should be striving for their own understanding. What is worse, this is a selective imitation, since they only accept the authority of the "scientists" and the "experts", not that of the great Muslim thinkers of the past. If Einstein said it, it must be true, but if Al-Ghazali or Mulla Sadra said it, then it can't be true, because it isn't scientific." — William C. Chittick

"... you questioned me about servanthood, and it is three things. The first of them is observing the ordinance of the Sharī'a. The second of them is being satisfied with the divine decree, with predestination, and the fate allotted by God the Exalted. The third of them is rejecting the satisfaction of your ego, in seeking the satisfaction of God the Exalted."

 --- Al-Ghazālī, Letter to a Disciple

"O disciple, listen to another statement from me, and think about it to find salvation. If you were notified that the ruler would be coming to you on a visit in a week's time, I know that during this period you would occupied with nothing but putting in order what you knew his glance would fall on of your clothing, your person, house, furnishings and so on. Now think what it is I am hinting at, for you are intelligent. A single word is enough for someone clever." --- Al-Ghazali, Letter to a Disciple

Abū Ḥāmid al-Ghazālī [d 505H/1111CE], Iḥyā ‘Ulūm al-Dīn

Ramadan - Food for Thought

"Taqwā means godliness, devoutness or piety. Crucially, […] fasting is not merely about physical abstinence or exertion. […] The Prophet Muhammad (s) said, “All that some people get from their fasting is hunger and thirst.” (Ibn Mājah) […] Taqwā is not an automatic by-product of fasting. In understanding this, it is worth considering that Imam Al-Ghazzāli wrote that there are three degrees of fasting. Firstly, the fast of ‘the ordinary person’ – consisting of abstinence of the appetite, sexual intercourse, noise, arguing, etc. Next, there is the fast of ‘the select few’, who keep the ears, eyes, tongue, hands and feet together with all the other senses free from sin. Finally, there is the fast of ‘the elite’, which is the fast of the heart from bad thoughts, worldly worries and anything else that may divert from anything but thoughts of Allāh (swt)" --- Toobaa: Ramadan - Food for Thought

"Be assured of this, O Sultan, that justice springs from perfection of the intellect and that perfection of the intellect means that you see things as they [really] are, and perceive the facts of their inner reality without being deceived by their outward appearance." --- Al-Ghazali

"[H]uman beings - because of the difference of their natures, the inherent diversity of their passions and the divergence of their opinions - would perish to the last man if they were left to their own devices and if there were not an obeyed opinion to reconcile their differences." --- Al-Ghazali

"This school does not teach the complete abandonment of 'this world' nor the eradication of appetites. The follower takes from 'this world' what is sufficient for provision. He suppresses those appetites that violate the law [shar'] and reason." --- Al-Ghazali

Islam and Reformation - What is the way forward?

The Alchemist of Happiness - Al-Ghazzali

"I observed mankind, and saw that everyone had an object of love and of infatuation which he loved and with which he was infatuated, some of what was loved accompanied him up to the sickness of death and some [even] up to the graveside. Then all went back and left him solitary and alone, and not one of them entered his grave with him. So I pondered and I said: the best of what one loves is what will enter one's grave and be a friend to one in it. And I found [it to be] nothing but good deeds! So I took them as the object of my love, to be a light for me in my grave, and a friend to me in it and not leave me all alone." --- Hatim al-Asamm, as quoted in ‘Letter to a Disciple’ by Al-Ghazali.

I saw everyone relying on something created - some on the dinar and dirham, some on wealth and property, some on their business and trade, and others on some similar created thing. So I meditated on His statement (the Exalted), "And whoso relies upon God - He is his sufficiency. Verily, God brings His command to pass. God has made a portion for everything." So I relied on God, and He is my sufficiency and the most exalted trustee! --- Hatim al Asamm, as quoted in 'Letter to a Disciple' by Al-Ghazali.

O disciple, get zeal in respect of the spirit, subdual in respect of the ego and mortification in respect of the body, for your destination is the grave, and the people of the graves expect you at any moment to meet up with them. Beware, beware lest you meet up with them without provision! --- Al-Ghazali, Letter to a Disciple

Enjoining Good, Forbidding Evil. Nay, it is said that [the speaker who adopts the wrong way to preach and advise] is a ghoul, a demon who sweeps men off the path and destroys them, and they must run from him, since this speaker will wreak havoc on their religion the like of which Satan himself cannot. It is incumbent on whoever has the wherewithal and capability, to get him down from pulpits and prevent him from sermonizing, for this is part of 'enjoining good and forbidding evil.' --- Al-Ghazali, Letter to a Disciple

[Be] on your guard against becoming a preacher or admonisher for it involves much harm, unless you first 'practice what you preach', then preach it to people. Think of what was said to Jesus (upon him be peace), 'O Son of Mary! Preach to your soul, and if it learns its lesson, preach to people - otherwise show humility before your Lord.' --- Al-Ghazali, Letter to a Disciple

Islam is a commitment to principles, not people. --- Imam al-Ghazali