Abu Hamed Mohammad ibn Mohammad al-Ghazzali (1058-1111), known as Algazel to the Western Medieval world, was born and died in Tus, in the Khorasan province of Persia (modern-day Iran). He was a Muslim theologian, jurist, philosopher, and mystic of Persian origin and remains one of the most celebrated scholars in the history of Islamic thoughts.
Al-Ghazzali contributed significantly to the development of a systematic view of Sufism and its integration and acceptance in mainstream Islam. He was a scholar of orthodox Islam, belonging to the Shafi’i school of Islamic jurisprudence and to the Asharite school of theology. Ghazzali received many titles such as Sharaful A’emma, Zainuddin, Hujjatul Islam, meaning “Proof of Islam”.
He is viewed as the key member of the influential Asharite Schol of early Muslim philosophy and the most important refuter of Mutazilites. However, he chose a slightly different position in comparison with the Asharaites; his beliefs and thoughts differ, in some aspects, from the orthodox Asharite School.
This book The Mysteries of Worship in Islam is one of the books from acclaimed series The Revival of the Religions Sciences (Ihya Ulum al-Din), which is widely regarded as the greatest work of Muslim spirituality, and has, for centuries, been the most read work after the Qur’an in the Muslim world.
