A Return To Purity In Creed

In A Return to Purity in Creed, Imam Abu Hamid Al-Ghazzali proves, once again, to be a man of the times by striking a balance between two extremes and refocusing the common Muslim on the simplistic beauty of the Islamic doctrine as learned and transmitted by the early Muslim community.

Largely debated between speculative theologians (mutakallimun) and traditionists (ahl al-hadith) for centuries, speculative theology (kalam) and figurative interpretation (ta'wil) remain a very lively source of contention among Muslims today. Traditionists have remained loyal in their opposition to rational pursuits in theology and claim the mantle of orthodoxy in creed. The speculative theologians, while having strong rational and scriptural support for their views, still struggle to convince a considerable sector of the Muslim populace that their understanding is not a departure from the creed of the pious forbears (salaf) Abdullah bin Hamid Ali, translator and annotator of The Attributes of God (Amal press), does well in his choice to follow up that uniquely resourceful english rendition of The Attributes of God.

Reviews: "This is a fluid and accessible translation of an important work on the Islamic beliefs that clearly presents how a believer should strive to understand the Divine Attributes" -Shaykh Faraz Rabbani, Seekers Guidance

"Following the successful translation of Ibn Al-Jawzi's, The Attributes of God, Shaykh Abdullah Ali is to be commended for rendering Imam Al-Ghazzali's Iljam al-awamm an ilm al-kalam into English. This work deals with highly specialized and advanced topics of Islamic beliefs, in which the author, Al-Ghazzali, warns with great details about the detriments of engaging in polemical theology. Complete with explanatory notes, this translation is a great contribution to English readers." -Mufti Abdur-Rahman ibn Yusuf, White Thread Press