Narrations on Virtuous Acts in Epitomes of al-Ghazālī’s <i>Iḥyāʾ : </i>From Ibn al-Jawzī’s <i>Minhāj al-Qāṣidīn</i> to Its Reception in Modernity

<p dir="ltr">The genre of narrative virtue ethics in the Islamic tradition arguably finds its clearest expression in the field of <i>ḥadīth</i> literature, more particularly in the category of virtuous acts (<i>faḍāʾil al-aʿmāl</i>), as well as in sayings attributed to the earliest generations (<i>al-salaf al-ṣāliḥ</i>), and in the sayings and stories of prominent early Sufi figures. Abū Ḥāmid al-Ghazālī’s (d. 505/1111) <i>Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn</i> (“Revival of the Religious Sciences”) is a rich source for such narrative virtue ethics, which he copied from works from the earlier tradition, mainly Abū Ṭālib al-Makkī’s (d. 386/996)<i> Qūt al-Qulūb</i> (“Nourishment of the Hearts”). His seemingly uncritical incorporation of Prophetic narrations on virtuous acts, that were often classified as weak (<i>ḍaʿīf</i>) or forged (<i>mawḍūʿ</i>), has not been without dispute in the later tradition. Whether unreliable <i>ḥadīth</i> material on virtuous acts can be transmitted uncritically and acted upon plays a prominent role in modern critiques on the reliability of the <i>Iḥyāʾ</i>.</p><p dir="ltr">Historically, the role of this specific point of criticism on the <i>Iḥyāʾ</i> was more marginal, although always present. The eventual relative absence of ḥadīth criticism in early polemics against the <i>Iḥyāʾ</i> may have to do with the topics for which al-Ghazālī used Prophetic narrations. The <i>Iḥyāʾ</i> hardly deals with matters of <i>fiqh</i>, for which scholars historically have always demanded the highest standards of reliability for Prophetic narrations. Most narrations that al-Ghazālī employs are parenetic, stressing certain supererogatory acts of worship, addressing the ethical topics of good manners and virtuous character (<i>adab and akhlāq</i>), as well as “softeners” (<i>raqāʾiq</i>) and “exhortation and dissuasion” (<i>al-targhīb wa-l-tarhīb</i>), to all of which scholars historically applied different standards of reliability than to creed- and <i>fiqh</i>-related topics.</p><h2>Other Information</h2><p dir="ltr">Published in: <i>Ḥadīth</i> and Ethics through the Lens of Interdisciplinarity<br>License: <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/" target="_blank">https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/</a><br>See chapter on publisher's website: <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1163/9789004525931_007" target="_blank">https://dx.doi.org/10.1163/9789004525931_007</a></p>