What did al-Ghazali say about self-examination (muḥāsabah)?
Muḥāsabah is the practice of holding oneself to account before one is held to account. Al-Ghazali laid out how to do it — daily, nightly, and over a lifetime.
10 passages from 8 books in the library
Al-Ghazali described muḥāsabah as holding oneself to account before being held to account, and devoted a whole book of the Iḥyāʾ to self-examination and self-reckoning. He cries to the soul, 'Woe to you! Do you not believe in the day of reckoning, thinking that death will free you?' — recalling that whoever's good deeds outweigh his bad enters Paradise without reckoning, while one whose deeds are equal faces an easy reckoning. He warns against the self-delusion of imagining oneself already cleared, and Ibn Kathir relates the counsel to 'work with reckoning, for you will be questioned.'
Drawn from the classical sources below — in the scholars' own words.
The classical approach.
These passages are drawn from 8 books by Imam al-Ghazali and Ibn Kathir — part of the classical Sunni tradition that carries over a thousand years of reflection on the Qurʾān, the authentic Sunnah, and the consensus of the early community. Nothing below is a paraphrase. The words are the scholars' own, translated from the original Arabic manuscripts.
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
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"Whoever's good deeds outweigh his bad deeds on the Day of Judgment, that is the one who enters Paradise without reckoning."
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"And whoever's good deeds and bad deeds are equal, that is the one who will have an easy reckoning and then enter Paradise."
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
· Provenance →
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"If he thinks he is free at reckoning and like someone who never possessed the wealth or needed to sell it,"
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"If he considers himself ascribed with praiseworthy qualities, he might be guided to self-examination."
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
· Provenance →
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"Hearing words of rejection or acceptance in daily life reminds one of the final reckoning. This focus"
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
· Provenance →
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"unburdened heart, and an easy reckoning, while the rich chose a troubled soul, a preoccupied heart,"
14th century · Bosra, Syria
Monumental history Al-Bidāyah wa al-Nihāyah, the world's most widely read Qurʾanic commentary, and the classical Stories of the Prophets.
More on Ibn Kathir →
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"how it will turn out. Work with reckoning for you will be questioned. If your eyes were to see what"
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
· Provenance →
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"his actions after the disputes, demands, questions, and reckoning. The Prophet, peace be upon him,"
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
· Provenance →
-
"Woe to you, O soul! Do you not believe in the day of reckoning, thinking that death will free you?"
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
· Provenance →
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"Fear is due to the dread of the Day of Recompense and Reckoning, of which He alone is the Master."
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