Zuhd fī al-Shahwāt
Definition
Zuhd fi al-shahwat — asceticism regarding desires — extends the concept of zuhd (non-attachment to the world) specifically to the domain of physical pleasures. Al-Ghazali argues that the person of genuine zuhd is not the one who has no access to pleasurable food and sexual satisfaction but the one who has access and chooses to take less than they could have, because they have tasted something more satisfying than any physical pleasure offers. This higher satisfaction — the satisfaction of closeness to Allah, of the heart that is free from craving — is the goal that makes the disciplines of kasr al-shahwatayn worth undertaking.
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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