Abu Hamid Al-Ghazali was one of the most prominent and influential Muslim philosophers, theologians, jurists, and mystics of Sunni Islam. His great work, Iḥyāʾ ʿulūm ad-dīn (“The Revival of the Religious Sciences”), made Ṣūfism (Islāmic mysticism) an acceptable part of orthodox Islām. Inspirational Imam Al-Ghazali quotes will encourage you to think a little deeper than you usually would and broaden your perspective.
If you’re searching for powerful quotes by philosophers that perfectly capture what you’d like to say or just want to feel inspired yourself, browse through an amazing collection of Thomas Aquinas quotes, Rene Descartes quotes, and Miyamoto Musashi quotes.
Most Famous Al-Ghazali Quotes
Knowledge exists potentially in the human soul like the seed in the soil; by learning the potential becomes actual. – Al-Ghazali
Advice is easy, what is difficult is accepting it, for it is bitter in taste. – Al-Ghazali
Shaikh Muhammad Al-Ghazali was asked, “What is the ruling of the one who left prayer?” He replied, “The ruling is for you to take them along with you to the mosque.” Be a caller, not a judge. – Al-Ghazali
The hypocrite looks for faults; the believer looks for excuses. – Al-Ghazali
When God loves a slave, He increases people’s need for him. Imam Al-Ghazali
As I look back on my life, I realize that every time I thought I was being rejected from something good; I was actually being re-directed to something better. You must convince your heart that whatever God has decreed is most appropriate and most beneficial for you. – Al-Ghazali
It is the states of the heart, the place of our intentions, that holds us accountable. – Al-Ghazali
What is destined will reach you, even if it be beneath two mountains. What is not destined will not reach you, even if it be between your two lips. – Al-Ghazali
The real friend is the one who, when you ask him to follow you, doesn’t ask ‘Where?’ but gets up and goes. – Al-Ghazali
Only that believer is graced with the blessings and benefits of Friday, who looks forward for it most anxiously and eagerly; and wretched is the negligent one who is least interested in it and who does not even know in the morning which day has dawned. – Al-Ghazali
Keep company with those who have firm faith, hear from them the learning of sure faith, follow them always, so that your faith may become firm as their faith became firm. – Al-Ghazali
Never have I dealt with anything more difficult than my own soul, sometimes it helps me and sometimes it opposes me. – Al-Ghazali
Declare your jihad on thirteen enemies you cannot see – Egoism, Arrogance, Conceit, Selfishness, Greed, Lust, Intolerance, Anger, Lying, Cheating, Gossiping and Slandering. If you can master and destroy them, then will be ready to fight the enemy you can see. – Al-Ghazali
To get what you love, you must first be patient with what you hate. – Al-Ghazali
If your busy with yourself now, you will be busy with yourself then. If you are busy with Allah now, you will be with Him then. – Al-Ghazali
Only that which cannot be lost in a shipwreck is yours. – Al-Ghazali
No one who possesses snow would find any hardship in exchanging it for jewels and pearls. This world is like snow exposed to sun, which continues to melt until it disappears altogether, while the next life is like a precious stone that never passes away. – Al-Ghazali
He who buries his head deep into a nosebag full of food cannot hope to see the invisible world. – Al-Ghazali
Love for God is the farthest reach of all stations, the sun of the highest degrees, and there is no station after that of love, except its fruit and its consequences. – Al-Ghazali
The essence of knowledge is to know what obedience and worship are -Abu Hamid al – Al-Ghazali
Understand that for every rule which I have mentioned from the Quran, the Devil has one to match it, which he puts beside the proper rule to cause error. – Al-Ghazali
It is sometimes said that we drink our religion with our mother’s milk. – Al-Ghazali
If the world had two gods, it would surely go to ruin-this is the first premise. Now it is known that it has not gone to ruin-this is the second premise. From these premises the conclusion must of necessity follow, that is, the denial of two gods. – Al-Ghazali
Inspirational Imam Al-Ghazali Quotes
Whatever the situation may be, in the recollection of death there is reward and merit. For even the man engrossed in the world benefits from it by acquiring an aversion to this world, since it spoils his contentment and the fullness of his pleasure; and everything which spoils for man his pleasures and his appetites is one of the means of deliverance. – Al-Ghazali
He who does not arrive at the Intuition of these Truths by means of Ecstasy knows only the name of Inspiration. – Al-Ghazali
Each of your breaths is a priceless jewel, since each of them is irreplaceable and once gone, can never be retrieved. – Al-Ghazali
Are you ready to cut off your head and place your foot on it? If so, come; Love awaits you! Love is not grown in a garden, nor sold in the marketplace; whether you are a king or a servant, the price is your head, and nothing less. Yes, the cost of the elixir of love is your head! Do you hesitate? 0 miser, It is cheap at that price! – Al-Ghazali
Man’s nature is made up of four elements, which produce in him four attributes, namely, the beastly, the brutal, the satanic, and the divine. In man there is something of the pig, the dog, the devil, and the saint. – Al-Ghazali
A man of bad character punishes his own soul. – Al-Ghazali
You possess only whatever will not be lost in a shipwreck. – Al-Ghazali
youth…….be assured that knowledge alone does not strengthen the hand……Though a man read a hundred thousand scientific questions and understood them or learned them, but did not work with them—They do not benefit him except by working…..Knowledge is the tree, and working is its fruit; and though you studied a hundred years and assembled a thousand books, you would not be prepared for the mercy of Allah the Exalted except by working. – Al-Ghazali
In God, there is no sorrow or suffering or affliction. If you want to be free of all affliction and suffering, hold fast to God, and turn wholly to Him, and to no one else. Indeed, all your suffering comes from this: that you do not turn toward God and no one else. – Al-Ghazali
If you do not prepare now for the Afterlife, then when will you do so? – Al-Ghazali
A human-being is not a human-being while his tendencies include self-indulgence, covetousness, temper and attacking other people – Al-Ghazali
Whoever passes forty without his virtue overpowering his vice, let him get ready for hellfire. This advice contains enough for people of knowledge. – Al-Ghazali
People count with self-satisfaction the number of times they have recited the name of God on their prayer beads, but they keep no beads for reckoning the number of idle words they speak. – Al-Ghazali
If those who do not possess knowledge avoid the scholarly discussions, disagreement will end. – Al-Ghazali
The biggest barrier between you and God is you. – Imam Al-Ghazali
Whoever determines the truth from people alone will remain lost in the plains of bewilderment. Rather, know the truth, and you will know its people. – Al-Ghazali
Remember it is the heart and not the body, which strives to draw near to God. By heart I do not mean the flesh perceived by the senses, but that secret thing which is sometimes expressed by spirit, and sometimes by soul. – Al-Ghazali
In the intricate paths of life when difficulties and hardships confront a man, and the darkness of difficulty and suffering becomes long, it is patience only that acts like a light for a Muslim, that keeps him safe from wandering here and there, and saves him from the muddy marsh of disappointment, desperation and frustration. – Al-Ghazali
The true greatness of man lies in his eternal progress. – Imam Al-Ghazali
Anyone who refuses to marry is shrinking his farmwork, wasting the seed, and leaving idle the appropiate tools created by God; he sins against the purpose of creation and wisdom visible in the evidence of natural structure. The man who refuses to marry has severed a chain of being, a previously unbroken chain linking his own existence to that of Adam. – Al-Ghazali
There are two kinds of Riya – Showing off-Ostentation ie pure ostentation and adulterated ostention. In pure ostentation “”Riya”” a man does a good deed only for worldly benefit. In Adulterated ostentation, a man does a good deed with the intention of reaping the benefits of the world as well as of the Hereafter. – Al-Ghazali
Know, O beloved, that man was not created in jest or at random, but marvelously made and for some great end. Although he is not form everlasting, yet he lives for ever; and though his body is mean and earthly, yet his spirit is lofty and divine – Al-Ghazali
Imam Al-Ghazali Quotes on Education, Knowledge and Life
There is no way to reach the end without mastering the beginning. – Imam Al-Ghazali
Men have such a good opinion of themselves, of their mental superiority and intellectual depth; they believe themselves so skilled in discerning the true from the false, the path of safety from those of error, that they should be forbidden as much as possible the perusal of philosophic writings. – Al-Ghazali
Do not fix hopes on your health, and do not laugh away life. Remember how they walked and now all their joints lie separately, and the tongue with which they talked lightly is eaten away by the worms – Al-Ghazali
The mere physical man is like the ant crawling on the paper, who observes black lettering and attributes its production to the pen and nothing more. – Al-Ghazali
The soul should take care of the body, just as the pilgrim on his way to Makkah takes care of his camel; but if the pilgrim spends his whole time in feeding and adorning his camel, the caravan will leave him behind, and he will perish in the desert. – Al-Ghazali
Work for your terrestrial life in proportion to your location in it, and work for your afterlife in proportion to your eternity in it. – Al-Ghazali
Do not allow your heart to take pleasure with the praises of people, nor be saddened by their condemnation. – Al-Ghazali
Knowledge without action is wastefulness and action without knowledge is foolishness. – Al-Ghazali
Desires make slaves out of kings and patience makes kings out of slaves. – Al-Ghazali
Those who look for seashells will find seashells; those who open them will find pearls. – Al-Ghazali
If you see Allah, Mighty and Magnificent, holding back this world from you, frequently trying you with adversity and tribulation, know that you hold a great status with Him. Know that He is dealing with you as He does with His Awliya’ and chosen elite and is watching over you. – Al-Ghazali
Half of disbelief in Allah in the world is caused by people who make religion look ugly due to their bad conduct and ignorance – Al-Ghazali
Dear friend, your heart is a polished mirror. You must wipe it dean of the veil of dust that has gathered upon it, because it is destined to reflect the light of divine secrets. – Al-Ghazali
Often love between two people intensifies not because of beauty or some advantage, but because of sheer spiritual affinity. – Al-Ghazali
Whoever says that all music is prohibited, let him also claim that the songs of birds are prohibited. – Al-Ghazali
Remember your contemporaries who have passed away and were your age. Remember the honors and fame they earned, the high posts they held, and the beautiful bodies they possessed. Today all of them are turned to dust. They have left orphans and widows behind them, their wealth is being wasted, and their houses turned into ruins. No sign of them is left today, and they lie in dark holes underneath the earth. Picture their faces before your mind’s eye and ponder. – Al-Ghazali
You must convince your heart that whatever Allah has decreed is most appropriate and most beneficial for you. – Al-Ghazali
The happiness of the drop is to die in the river. – Al-Ghazali
To completely trust in Allah is to be like a child who knows deeply that even if he does not call for the mother, the mother is totally aware of his condition and is looking after him. – Al-Ghazali
The final purpose of self-discipline is to find one’s heart constantly in the presence of God. – Imam Al-Ghazali
Does money upset the hearts of learned men? He answered, men whose hearts are changed by money are not learned – Al-Ghazali
When you have a bad suspicion about a Muslim in your heart, you should increase your consideration toward him and make dua for him. This way you will infuriate Satan and will be able to drive him away. Because of this, Satan will be reluctant to put evil thoughts into your heart, afraid that you would increase your consideration towards your brother and will make dua for him again. – Al-Ghazali
Neglect not your time, nor use it haphazardly; on the contrary you should bring yourself to account. Structure your litanies and other practices during each day and night. This is how to bring about the spiritual blessing (baraka) in each period. If each of your breaths is a priceless jewel, Be not like the deceived fools who are joyous because each day their wealth increases while their life grows ever shorter. – Al-Ghazali
The corruption of religions comes from turning them to mere words and appearances. – Al-Ghazali
Purifying the soul is serious: the hereafter is ahead, the world is behind, death is near, the journey is far and the provisions are light. – Imam Al-Ghazali
If the first inward thought is not warded off, it will generate a desire, then the desire will generate a wish, and the wish will generate an intention, and the intention will generate the action, and the action will result in ruin and divine wrath. So evil must be cut off at its root, which is when it is simply a thought that crosses the mind, from which all the other things follow on. – Al-Ghazali
The way to paradise is an uphill climb whereas hell is downhill. Hence, there is a struggle to get to paradise and not to hell. – Al-Ghazali
This visible world is a trace of that invisible one and the former follows the latter like a shadow. – Al-Ghazali
Do not dispute with anyone in any matter as far as possible. For in argumentation lies much harm and its evil is greater than its benefit. – Al-Ghazali
An honorable person won’t tell people how great they are, people will experience their greatness just by being with them. – Imam Al-Ghazali
Live as long as you want, but you must die; love whatever you want, but you will become separated from it; and do what you want, but you will be repaid for it. – Imam Al-Ghazali
If we had perfect power to determine our destinies, and perfect vision to see the future and know what is best for us, we would choose exactly the fate that Allah has chosen for us. – Al-Ghazali
One departs from the station of patience through anxiety, exaggeration of complaint, making an exhibition of sorrow, possessions and food. – Al-Ghazali
Verily the soul becomes accustomed to what you accustom it to. That is to say: what you at first burden the soul with becomes nature to it in the end. – Al-Ghazali
We are creatures that love to blame the external, not realizing that the problem is usually internal. – Al-Ghazali
The first stage of sincerity is that your private and public state should be the same. – Al-Ghazali
Take every effort to guard your tongue, as it is the strongest cause for your destruction. – Imam Al-Ghazali
Adapt a gentle tone when speaking, for verily the tone at times, has a greater impact than the speech. – Imam Al-Ghazali
If you see an unbeliever, say, “I don’t know, maybe he will become a Muslim, and his life will be sealed with the best of deeds, and for his Islam he will emerge free of sin, as a strand of hair is gently removed from dough. As for me, Allah could cause me to go astray, so that I become of the unbelievers, and my life could be sealed with the worst of deeds. So tomorrow this person might be of the Ones Drawn Nigh [to Allah], and I of the distant ones! – Al-Ghazali
The tongue is very small and light, but it can take you to the greatest heights and it can put you in the lowest depths. – Al-Ghazali
Beauty of form belongs to the spirit, and not to the body. It is a proof that there is nothing agreeable in the body by itself, that when the spirit is separated from the body by death, no one has any inclination afterwards to look upon the face of the dead, but on the contrary his feelings repel him and he turns away from it. – Al-Ghazali
Whosoever complains of the bad character of another man has revealed the badness of his own character. – Imam Al-Ghazali
Four traits lift a person to the highest ranks, even if their works and knowledge are little: forbearance, humility, generosity, and good character. This is the perfection of faith. – Imam Al-Ghazali
Soft words soften the hearts that are harder than rock, harsh words harden hearts that are softer than silk. – Al-Ghazali
Teach what you know to him who does not know, and learn from him who knows what you do not know. If you would do this you would learn what you have not known and would retain what you have already known. – Imam Al-Ghazali
Using his powers to attain to knowledge can raise him up to the ranks of Angels. Following desire he is brought down to the level of beasts. – Al-Ghazali
Dear seeker, you will not be able to rise to carry out the commands of Allah until you monitor your heart and limbs in every moment and every breath. – Al-Ghazali
The reward of patience in the face of misfortune is more than what has been lost. – Imam Al-Ghazali
Know that thankfulness is from the highest of stations, and it is higher than patience, fear, and detachment of the world. – Imam Al-Ghazali
The world will not be free of me who will establish religion secretly and openly in order that the proofs of God are not obliterated. They will be few in number but they will be great in honour. They will be lost openly, but their pictures will reign in hearts. God will preserve His religion through them. They will leave the religion for their successors and they will plant it in the hearts of the young. The real nature of knowledge will be disclosed with their help. They will get good news from the life of sure faith. They will make easy what the rich think difficult and they will make clear what the heedless think obscure. They will keep company with the world witht their bodies, but their souls will be kept hanging in lofty places. They are servants of God among His people, His trustees and deputies on the earth. Then he wept and said: How eager I am to meet them. – Imam Al-Ghazali
