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.
How the scholars use Ghafla.
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"love, joy, and anger is not impossible, for it begins from Him and returns to Him. And اللّٰه, glorified be He, knows best. Chapter: The Difference Between Heedlessness and Forgetfulness Chapter: He said: Remembrance is the liberation from heedlessness and forgetfulness. The difference between heedlessness and forgetfulness is that heedlessness is a neglect by the choice of the heedless one, while forgetfulness is a neglect without his choice."
— Ibn al-Qayyim, Volume Two
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"The one consumed by hatred for the world is heedless of God, just as the one who is preoccupied with love for it. However, the one busy with loving the world is heedless, and in his heedlessness, he walks the path of distance from God. In contrast, the one preoccupied with hating it is also heedless, but in his heedlessness, he walks the path of nearness to God, as it is hoped that his state will lead to the end of this heedlessness and transform into witnessing."
— Imam al-Ghazali, Book 34: Poverty and Asceticism
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"If the heedlessness were of abandonment, there would be no showing off. They said: If we assume it is heedlessness of an obligation only, it is a warning of the threat of woe for heedlessness of sincerity and presence, even more so for several reasons: The time obligation in prayer can be adjusted in cases of necessity, allowing for its substitute."
— Ibn al-Qayyim, Volume One
Appears in
1 book in the library
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Every book above uses Ghafla the way the classical scholars meant it. Listen with the full Study Kit in the app.