Malaka
Definition
Malaka — a firmly established disposition — is the goal of the entire programme of kasr al-shahwatayn: a state in which the governance of appetite has become second nature rather than requiring constant deliberate effort. Al-Ghazali argues that the person who has achieved malaka in the governance of food and sexual desire has achieved something more valuable than the occasional act of self-denial: they have restructured their character so that the temptation itself is weaker, the resistance is stronger, and the whole landscape of desire has been fundamentally transformed. This is the difference between discipline and virtue — virtue is discipline that has become natural.
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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