Ihya 'Ulum al-Din
The Revival of the Religious Sciences — Imam al-Ghazali’s magnum opus, a comprehensive guide to the spiritual life covering worship, daily living, the destructive vices, and the saving virtues.
The complete Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — all forty books of al-Ghazālī's Revival of the Religious Sciences — is available as an English audiobook series on Joyful Muslims, translated in-house from the Arabic, with a word-synced Arabic and English transcript. Free to start listening.
What is the Iḥyāʾ?
Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — "The Revival of the Religious Sciences" — is Imam al-Ghazālī's masterwork (d. 505 AH / 1111 CE) and one of the most influential books ever written in the Islamic world. It is a complete map of the religious life in forty books, arranged in four quarters: acts of worship, the customs of daily living, the destructive vices, and the saving virtues.
Its ambition is in its name: not to inform the reader, but to revive them. Each book takes one matter — knowledge, prayer, the wonders of the heart, envy, patience, love of God — and walks from the outward ruling to the inward reality.
For nine centuries the Iḥyāʾ has been read, taught, and memorized across the Muslim world. Yet in English it has been very hard to reach: printed translations are partial and scattered, and no complete audio existed at all — until now.
Verified August 2026: no other complete English audiobook of the Iḥyāʾ exists — not on Audible, not on podcast platforms, not anywhere else we could find. All forty books are here.
Is there an English audiobook of Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn?
Yes. Joyful Muslims publishes all forty books of the Iḥyāʾ as English audiobooks — the complete work, translated in-house from the Arabic, with a word-synced bilingual transcript for every book. As of August 2026 it is the only complete English audio edition of the Iḥyāʾ we could find anywhere.
How long is the complete Iḥyāʾ in audio?
The forty books together run well over one hundred hours. Most listeners take it one book at a time — each book stands on its own.
Where should I start?
Book 1, The Book of Knowledge, is the door al-Ghazālī himself built — it explains why everything after it matters. Many listeners also start with Book 22, Disciplining the Soul, or Book 2, The Foundations of Belief.
Is it free to listen?
The whole library is open to everyone — every book, including all forty books of the Iḥyāʾ. Every member gets five hours of listening free each month; Joyful+ removes the time limit.
Last updated 2026-08-27
Book 1: The Book of Knowledge
The first book of the Ihya examines the nature and purpose of knowledge, distinguishing beneficial from harmful knowledge, and establishing the foundations of Islamic learning and scholarship.
Open volume 1 →The full Ihya 'Ulum al-Din series
40 volumes in the library today.
