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SELECTIONS FROM THE

REVITALISATION OF THE SCIENCES OF RELIGIONAl-Ghazalis Ihya Ulum al-Din

The Ehi!s "# T$a%el

Cha&e$ One

C"n!e$nin' he Ehi!s #"$ he ("u$ney #$"mOuse " he Reu$n an) he Ineni"n "#T$a%elin' an) Is *ene#is

+a$ OneThe *ene#i "# T$a%el an) is E,!ellen!e an) Ineni"n

Know that travel is a kind of movement and association in, which there areadvantages and disadvantages.

The benefits, which are an incentive to travel are derived either from fleeing fromsomething or seeking something. The traveler may be traveling because there issome disturbance in the place he lives, and if the disturbance had not occurredhe would not have traveled, or he might have a purpose for, which he travels, orhe may be seeking something somewhere.

Taking flight from a matter, which is harmful to him in his worldly affairs: such asthe plague, a local epidemic, or fear of adversity, or cost of living. It is eithercollective or individual as in the case of one who has the intention to escape fromsome harm in his own town.

As for the religious benefits, such as when someone has been tried withinfluence and wealth and many causes, which hindered him from devotinghimself to Allah alone, he would prefer travel and laziness and to distancehimself from wealth and influence, or as in the one who has been forced intoinvention, or has been appointed to a position, which is unlawful for him, so heseeks to take flight from it.

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hat is re!uired from traveling is either worldly things such as wealth andinfluence, or religious. The religious is either knowledge or work.

Knowledge is either religious science or human science or the science of theearth and its wonders, as the "ourney of Thul Karnain in his tour around the earth.

ork is either worship or a visit, worship is pilgrimage, #mrah and $ihad. Thevisit is also of devotion, such as the intention to visit a place like %akkah or$erusalem, and ports like Ale&andria, as staying there is a kind of devotion, or itmay be the intention is to visit the righteous people and the scholars and they areeither dead, so you visit their graves, or alive, and you will be blessed by seeingthem. 'ou would benefit from seeing their circumstances in strengthening yourdesire to take them as your e&ample.

These are the benefits of travel, and we gain from it that travel is divided intoblameworthy, praiseworthy, and the permissible.

The praiseworthy is divided into the unlawful such as the pilgrimage and the!uest for knowledge, which is an obligation upon every %uslim, thecommendable such as visiting scholars and observing them.

(rom all these the intention of travel is clear, as the meaning of the intention isthe incentive, which causes you to travel and the setting out to answer theinvitation.

)et him have the *ereafter as his intention in all his travels, and that is evident inthe obligatory and the commendable, but it is impossible in the disliked and

forbidden.

As for the permissible, it depends upon the intention. As long as his intention inseeking wealth is to suffice himself from asking, and to keep the dignity of hisfamily and to spend in charity according to what can be afforded, this permissiblewill become, with this intention of the *ereafter, work. +ut if he traveled to makepilgrimage but his incentive was for show, that would be out of being acts of the*ereafter, this is because of what the rophet, praise and peace be upon him,said: -urely the deed is according to the intention./

+a$ T"C"n!e$nin' he Ehi!s "# he T$a%ele$ #$"mhis Sein' Ou " his Reu$n

The traveler should pay his debts before leaving, and make arrangements forthose he is obliged to support, and return all trusts to their owners, if he has any,and he should not take with him any provisions e&cept what is lawful and good.

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And he should take e&tra provisions with him to give to his traveling companions.Ibn #mar 0may Allah be pleased with them1 said: -(rom the generosity of a manis the goodness of his provisions when he travels./

hen traveling it is necessary to speak kindly to the people and to offer food and

to behave in a good mannered way on the "ourney.

*e should choose a companion so that he does not travel alone. A companionwho would help him in the religion, so if he forgets, he reminds him, and help himif he remembers. As the rophet, praise and peace be upon him, said: -A man ison the religion of his friend./ And the rophet, praise and peace be upon him,has forbidden any person from traveling alone.

*e should go to bid farewell to friends and family, to offer the prayer of therophet, praise and peace be upon him, upon his departure.

omeone said: -I accompanied Abd Allah ibn #mar 0may Allah be pleased withthem1 from %akkah to %adinah, and when I wanted to leave him, he saw me offand said: 2I heard the rophet, praise and peace be upon him, saying: 2)u!mansaid most surely when Allah, the Almighty is entrusted *e keeps it. And I amentrusting Allah, the Almighty with your religion, your sincerity and the seal ofyour deeds3./

The traveler should perform the prayer of asking Allah to choose for him beforehis travel, according to what we have described in the book of prayer. At the timeof his departure he should perform the prayer for traveling. hen he reaches thedoor of his house he should say: -In the name of Allah, I put my trust in Allah,

there is no power nor intercession e&cept with Allah, my )ord I seek refuge in youthat I mislead or misled or that I humiliate someone or that I be humiliated, oroppress or be oppressed, or to be ignorant or have things kept from me./ Andwhen he walks he must say: -4 Allah by 'ou I travel, and upon 'ou I relay, thereis no power or intercession e&cept with 'ou and towards 'ou I set myself. 4

Allah 'ou are my trust and 'ou are my hope, keep me away from worry, there isno god e&cept 'ou, 4 Allah endue me with piety, and forgive me my sins, andturn me towards good wherever I go./

*e should leave the house early. $abir said: -The rophet, praise and peace beupon him, departed on Thursday when he was going to Tabuk and said: 24 Allahbless my nation in their earliness3./

The traveler should take with him si& things. Ayesha, may Allah be pleased withher, said: -hen he traveled the rophet, praise and peace be upon him, used totake si& things with him: a mirror, a bottle, a scissors, a siwak 0toothbrush1 kohl,and a comb.

C"n!e$nin' he Ehi!s "# Reu$nin' #$"m T$a%el

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The rophet, praise and peace be upon him, used, on his return from campaignor pilgrimage or #mrah, to praise Allah upon every hillock of the earth three timesand say: -There is no god e&cept Allah alone, no partner to *im, to *i is thedominion and all thanks, and *e has power over all things, we are returning

repentant, worshiping, prostrating, to our )ord we are most grateful. Allah hasfulfilled *is promise and given victory to *is servant and alone ahs defeated theallies./

And when he arrives back in his town, he should say: -4 Allah make for us in it astay and a good provision./ And he should send in advance to his familysomeone to give them glad tidings of his arrival, so that he does not enter uponthem suddenly, and might see them while they are unprepared. *e should notarrive at his house at night, as the rophet, praise and peace be upon him, hasforbidden that. *e used, on his return, to enter the %os!ue first and pray twounits of prayer and then enter the house, and when he entered said: -e repent

and return to our )ord. 4ur )ord no sin should take us suddenly./

Cha&e$ T"C"n!e$nin' ha he T$a%ele$ Sh"ul) Lea$n ha is +e$missi.le Du$in'T$a%el/ he Di$e!i"n "# he 0i.lah an) he Time "# +$aye$

Know that the traveler needs at the outset his "ourney to provide for his worldlylife and for his end.

As to the provision for this worldly life: it is food and drink and what he will need

for his e&penses. +ut if he leaves without provision, there is no blame on him inthis, if his travel was in the company of others, or if his "ourney is throughvillages, which are at a near distance to each other. +ut if he travels through thedesert alone or with others who have no food or drink, if he was one of those whocan tolerate hunger a week or tens days, if he can manage to live by eating grasshe may do that. +ut if he cannot bear hunger nor tolerate eating grass, hisdeparture without food is a sin as he would be throwing himself into destruction.

As to the provision of the *ereafter, it is the knowledge, which he needs in hispurity, fasting, prayer, and worship, so he must e!uip himself with it. This wouldalleviate the burden of travel as he needs to know about shortening the prayer,gathering in prayer, and breaking the fast. To enable him to learn about mattershe did not need to know about before traveling, such as the direction of the5iblah and the time of prayers.