Nur al-Habib Foundation

'Were all books of Islam to be lost, and only the Ihya Ulum al Din remain, it would suffice by itself to revive the religion.' This statement, made by many of the leading Ulama of the past, attests to the unique status of the Ihya in world history.  

One of the features most commonly associated with Sufis - and perhaps the most controversial - is the spiritual concert. Famous in one form in the subcontinent as Qawwali, it encompasses a variety of modes of melody, poetry and deep spiritual meaning across every tradition of the Muslim world.

It has led to practitioners being held in suspicion by some jurists, but has also been the path to spiritual awakening (kashif) for great luminaries of the past. Virtually every form of congregational remembrance of God outside of the daily prayer would fall into a broad definition of Sama’a: circles of dhikr and hadra, to name but a few.

It has been said about the spiritual concert that “tell me the state of the listener, and I will tell you its ruling. Sama'a is like the sun: some are warmed by it, whilst others are burnt.”

In this semester, Shaikh Asim will delve into Imam Ghazali‘s survey of the spiritual concert, the debates about its legalities and manners, as well as the nature of the Islamicate world in which it arose and flourished.

The Ihya of Imam Hujjat al-Islam Abu Hamid al-Ghazali is unquestionably one of the most important and influential works ever composed. Comprising forty books on the outward and inward aspects of Islam, it traces Ghazali's Ilm Tariq al-Akhira (the knowledge needed for the journey to the life eternal).

Shaykh Dr Asim Yusuf is recognised as an expert in Ghazali and Islamic spirituality and philosophy. Over the past few years, he has been working his way through the Ihya in one of the only full recitations and teaching of the text being undertaken anywhere in the world.

In addition to the recitation and translation of the Ihya, he provides both valuable commentary that keeps the work relevant to the contemporary world, but also uncovers the deep philosophy that underpins the work in terms of Ghazali's 'higher theology' and how this has been understood and transmitted by mystics and philosophers through the ages.

The Shaykh will analyse the words and wisdom of the Imam, seeking to draw out the eternal principles and contextualising his teachings so as to maximise the benefit for the students.