Asceticism and Generosity
Questions and Answers
Imam al-Ghazali states that the essence of asceticism is generosity. What is the relationship between asceticism and generosity?
| The Fountain | Issue 161 (Sep - Oct 2024)
This article has been viewed 1995 times
In This Article
-
Asceticism can also be approached from Bediuzzaman’s perspective as “renouncing the world not in action but in the heart.”
-
Generosity should not be understood solely as providing food, drink, or financial assistance. The scope of generosity is much broader, encompassing all forms of giving, good wishes, and goodwill towards others.
Asceticism (zuhd), in essence, involves renouncing worldly pleasures and completely removing the desires for the material world from one’s heart. A person who practices asceticism is known as an ascetic (zahid). An ascetic defines their relationship with the world based on necessity and need. They only seek the strength and energy required to perform their worship, explore spiritual realms, and focus on their ultimate spiritual goals. Their main aim is to achieve the pleasure of God and eternal happiness in the afterlife. However, they also understand that maintaining a balanced approach to...
More Coverage
Editorial: Seeking Solace from “Cancellation”
Holding abusive people accountable is important, but aren’t we overstepping a bit on this? In our digital age, many of us with a smart phone feel like we have a responsibility to “correct” anyone we disagree with, and we want to ...
Hearts and Minds: Hizmet Schools and Interethnic Relations
Authored by Dr. Vincent N. Parrillo and Dr. Maboud Ansari, two American scholars specializing in sociology, Hearts and Minds: Hizmet Schools and Interethnic Relations, are on the bookshelves for readers’ perusal. Having heard of the ideals of Feth...
The Distance between Two Bows or Nearer
This metaphoric Qur’anic expression concerns God’s Messenger’s unparalleled nearness to God during his Ascension. From the viewpoint of Sufism, it denotes rising beyond the horizons of Divine Acts and Names and reaching the peak of Attributes or e...
Editorial: All About Flies
As we head into the summer in the northern hemisphere, we think of how we can avoid the annual war we fight every year: the war with the flies. The southerners are over with it as they start enjoying the calm that comes with fall. Having seeded th...