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A review by perfect_leaves
Inner Dimensions of Islamic Worship by Imam Al-Ghazali
4.0
Because I was reading a translation of this novel, I feel I have to divide the review into two parts: ideas and translation.
Ideas
Ideologically, I very much enjoyed this book. Ghazali focuses first on each action's merit (using the Qur'an and hadith as evidence) then goes into what/how our inner selves should think/feel/gain from each actions. In most instances, however, he does not say how to achieve these inner states; the how is left to the reader. Still, just being conscious of the purpose of prayer (and other acts of worship) has improved the quality of my prayers tremendously.
Translation
The reason I gave this book four stars instead of 5 is the clunkiness of the translation. At times it felt like modern speech and at times the phrasing felt a little bit awkward or outdated. I'm not sure how much of that is the translation and how much of it is the author, but I would have liked a bit more consistency. I also felt jipped, for lack of a better word, in the end. The last two chapters were exceedingly short, and the comparison is even paler when I consider how long and thorough the preceding chapter (the one regarding Hajj) is. The book feels like it just ends. I'm aware that this book is the extremely abridged version of Ghazali's several-volume work, and I believe the brevity of the last two chapters is a result of the truncation of the larger work because the chapters don't follow the same thought process as the chapters before it. I see no reason why the rest of these chapters would have been left out, but the abrupt ending left me wanting more. If, one day, I am able to read Persian/Farsi, I will read the original text (insha'Allah).
Ideas
Ideologically, I very much enjoyed this book. Ghazali focuses first on each action's merit (using the Qur'an and hadith as evidence) then goes into what/how our inner selves should think/feel/gain from each actions. In most instances, however, he does not say how to achieve these inner states; the how is left to the reader. Still, just being conscious of the purpose of prayer (and other acts of worship) has improved the quality of my prayers tremendously.
Translation
The reason I gave this book four stars instead of 5 is the clunkiness of the translation. At times it felt like modern speech and at times the phrasing felt a little bit awkward or outdated. I'm not sure how much of that is the translation and how much of it is the author, but I would have liked a bit more consistency. I also felt jipped, for lack of a better word, in the end. The last two chapters were exceedingly short, and the comparison is even paler when I consider how long and thorough the preceding chapter (the one regarding Hajj) is. The book feels like it just ends. I'm aware that this book is the extremely abridged version of Ghazali's several-volume work, and I believe the brevity of the last two chapters is a result of the truncation of the larger work because the chapters don't follow the same thought process as the chapters before it. I see no reason why the rest of these chapters would have been left out, but the abrupt ending left me wanting more. If, one day, I am able to read Persian/Farsi, I will read the original text (insha'Allah).