Al-Ghazali: The Book of Belief for Children

Imam al-Ghazali used many metaphors and imaginary tales to best illustrate very profound concepts and ideas. The Ant and The Pen, for example, is a story that tries to help explain how God knows and plans everything which will happen to us. The Imam uses the image of small plants which grow in our hearts into magnificent trees to illustrate how doing beautiful deeds will nourish inner growth and later produce beautiful fruits. His metaphor for polishing the heart makes it very easy for us to imagine the process of self-observation and correction.

In the Book of Knowledge, we were able to create stories that could best explain Imam al-Ghazali’s ideas to children. In Book Two, however, he presents very profound concepts about belief and the afterlife. A friend in Abu Dhabi suggested that young Muslims love heroic figures and that Imam al-Ghazali would make an excellent addition to the great personages in the Islamic world for young people to admire.

Also, he suggested that children enjoy such magical ideas as “time travel.” It was therefore decided that in the Book of Belief, the Imam would make an imaginary visit to the children in order to answer their questions. It is for this reason that we have included the Imam in such a fashion, using such a metaphor for his timeless message coming to our children.

But the reason why the Publisher has chosen to transport Imam al-Ghazali to our world is not only to engage the imagination of children but to underscore the point that real learning and truth are ageless and not bound by concepts of time and space. Al-Ghazali and his message still live with us today.

"This work is nothing less than a revolution in developing humane, ethical, and committed Muslim youth. Imam al-Ghazali is the "Proof of Islam", and these teachings, presented in a beautiful life-affirming way, will prove to be a major shift in the way Islam is taught to young people, who are in desperate need of guidance in today's confusing times. As a community, we owe much to Fons Vitae for bringing them to fruition. Let the transformation begin!"

 -Shaykh Hamza Yusuf

About The Author

Imam Abu Hamid Muhammad Al-Ghazali was born in 450 AH (1058 A.D) in the Iranian town of Tus, studied Islamic law and theology at the Seljuq College in Nishapur, and became a distinguished professor at the famous Nizamiyya University in Baghdad.

Despite his glittering success, he was inwardly dissatisfied, so he abandoned his career for the life of hardship, abstinence and devotion to worship. During ten years of wandering, he experienced a spiritual transformation, in which the Truth came to him at last, as something received rather than acquired.

Blessed with an inner certainty, he then applied his outstanding faculties and vast learning to the task of revitalizing the whole Islamic tradition. Through his direct personal contacts, and through his many writings, he showed how every element in that tradition could and should be turned to its true purpose.

Imam al-Ghazzali was fondly referred to as the "Hujjat-ul-lslam", Proof of Islam, he is honored as a scholar and a saint by learned men all over the world and is generally acclaimed as the most influential thinker of the Classical period of Islam.

He passed away in 505 AH (1111 A.D).