Ghafla
Definition
Ghafla — heedlessness — is al-Ghazali's name for the primary disease of the heart in ordinary life: the state of forgetfulness of Allah that settles over the heart that is not actively maintained through worship, dhikr, and muhasaba. He quotes the Quranic warning against those whose hearts have become heedless of the remembrance of Allah, and argues that ghafla is both a symptom and a cause of spiritual disease — it arises from neglect of worship and it produces further neglect, in a downward spiral that, if unchecked, eventually hardens the heart to the point where divine guidance can no longer reach it.
As understood in the classical tradition of Imam al-Ghazali and the scholars of his school.
Appears in
1 book in the library
Hear the term in context.
Every book above uses Ghafla the way the classical scholars meant it. Listen with the full Study Kit in the app.