Riyāḍa
Definition
Riyadha — literally the training or exercise of the nafs — is al-Ghazali's term for the systematic process of character transformation. Just as physical training gradually changes the body's capacities through repeated, disciplined effort, riyadha changes the heart's habitual orientations through the consistent practice of virtues opposite to one's current vices. Al-Ghazali argues that riyadha is both possible and necessary: possible because human character is malleable, and necessary because the unexercised nafs defaults to its lowest impulses the way an untrained horse throws its rider toward the nearest green field.
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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