ʿAfw
Definition
Afw — pardon and forgiveness — is the primary cure that al-Ghazali prescribes for hiqd. He distinguishes between three levels: releasing the anger internally (the minimum), releasing it externally in one's behaviour toward the person (treating them normally despite inner discomfort), and releasing it completely — forgiveness that produces genuine goodwill toward the person who caused the injury. He holds up the third level as the prophetic ideal but acknowledges that even the first level is a significant spiritual achievement for many people. The movement from the first to the third is the work of riyadha applied to the disease of rancor.
As understood in the classical tradition of Imam al-Ghazali and the scholars of his school.
How the scholars use ʿAfw.
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"Ibn Abi Hatim and al-Tha'labi narrated in their exegeses from the narration of Ali ibn Zayd ibn Jud'an from Sa'id ibn al-Musayyib that when this verse was revealed, the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, "If it weren't for Allah's pardon and forgiveness, no one would enjoy life." The hadith of Abu Musa says: "My ummah is a community that has received mercy; there is no punishment for it."
— Imam al-Ghazali, Book 33: Fear and Hope
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"you love to meet me? They will say, Yes, our Lord. He will say, Why? They will say, We hoped for your pardon and forgiveness. So he will say, I have made my forgiveness incumbent upon you. The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him. Loved optimism. This is agreed upon from the Hadith of Anas within a longer Hadith."
— Imam al-Ghazali, Book 40: The Book of the Remembrance of Death and the Afterlife
Appears in
1 book in the library
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