What is zuhd (detachment from the world)?
Zuhd is not refusing the world — it is refusing to let the world own the heart. The classical distinction between the zuhd of the hand and the zuhd of the heart.
4 passages from 1 book in the library
The classical approach.
These passages are drawn from 1 book by Imam al-Ghazali — 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.
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· Provenance →
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"Sari said, I have practiced everything concerning renunciation, and attained what I desired, except renunciation of people."
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"God placed all evil in a house and made its key the love of the world, and He placed all good in a house and made its key the renunciation of the world."
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"The sign of renunciation is the equal regard for poverty and wealth, honor and humiliation, praise and blame, due to the prevailing intimacy with God."
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"Yahya ibn Mu'adh said the sign of renunciation is threefold, action without attachment, speech without greed, and dignity without leadership."
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