Ihtisab
Definition
Ihtisab is the act of consciously and sincerely presenting one's suffering to God with the intention of earning divine reward — saying, in effect, 'I am bearing this for You, and I expect my account with You to reflect it.' Al-Ghazali describes ihtisab as the means by which ordinary hardship is transmuted into extraordinary spiritual currency. The person sick in bed who practices ihtisab is, in the spiritual economy, performing worship with every labored breath. The condition is sincerity: the suffering must be genuinely offered to God, not merely claimed as an excuse or performed for the sympathy of others.
As understood in the classical tradition of Imam al-Ghazali and the scholars of his school.
Appears in
1 book in the library
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