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What is Book 11 of the Iḥyāʾ?
Book 11 of Imam al-Ghazālī's Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn is the Book of Etiquettes of Eating. It opens the second quarter of the Iḥyāʾ, Norms of Daily Life. Imam al-Ghazālī wrote in the 11th to 12th century. The book answers a simple question: how should a Muslim eat? Al-Ghazālī treats food as a means, not an end. The body needs food so that it can carry out knowledge and action, and knowledge and action are the way to meet Allah in the abode of reward. So eating, done with the right manners, becomes part of the religion.
The book has four chapters and a closing section. Chapter 1 gives the etiquettes of eating alone, what must be observed even when no one else is present. Chapter 2 adds the etiquettes of eating in gatherings. Chapter 3 is on offering food to visiting brothers. Chapter 4 covers invitations to meals, hospitality, and similar matters. A final section brings together various fine and lawful manners. The edition also includes hadith verification and sources. Through all of it runs the warning of the description: excess is a danger, and a meal can be worship.
It opens with praise of Allah, who provides sustenance through the earth and the heavens and, by means of food, preserves the strength of living creatures for acts of obedience and righteous deeds. Al-Ghazālī quotes the saying of some of the righteous predecessors that eating is part of the religion, and the hadith that a man is rewarded even for a mouthful he raises to his own mouth and to the mouth of his wife, when it is done with the etiquettes of the religion. The reader is asked to eat so that the meal supports knowledge and action.
Is there an English audiobook of Etiquettes of Eating?
Yes. Joyful Muslims publishes the complete Book 11: Book of Etiquettes of Eating as an English audiobook (about 75 minutes), translated from the Arabic, with a word-synced bilingual transcript. It covers the spiritual etiquettes of food, the dangers of excess, and how even a meal can be an act of worship.
Is it free to listen?
The whole library is open to everyone. Every member gets five hours of listening free each month; Joyful+ removes the time limit.
How long is it?
About 75 minutes, in four chapters and a closing section: eating alone, eating in gatherings, offering food to visiting brothers, and the etiquette of hospitality.
Last updated 2026-09-11
Inside the book.
Chapters
Word-synced with the narrator.
The first three minutes are transcribed here. In the app, the Living Manuscript scrolls through the entire book in rhythm with the audio — Arabic alongside English.
Living Manuscript
Listen to the full book in the app for the complete Living Manuscript.
The full, word-synced transcript in Arabic and English is in the app.
