Kaff
Definition
Kaff — literally 'holding back' — is the quality that al-Ghazali places at the centre of his analysis of fasting. He argues that fasting is essentially a training in kaff: the capacity to hold the self back from what it wants. This capacity, once developed through the disciplined practice of the Ramadan fast, generalises to every domain of life — the person who has genuinely learned kaff from their fast finds it easier to hold back their anger when provoked, their eyes from the unlawful, their tongue from backbiting. The fast is a school; kaff is the skill being taught.
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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