The Mysteries of the Pilgrimage Book 7 of Ihya' 'ulum al-din, The Revival of the Religious Sciences

Abu hamid al-Ghazali discusses the fundamentals and inner meanings of the pilgrimage, including its pillars, preconditions, and obligations. The book begins with an introduction on the merits of the pilgrimage and its rewards. Al-Ghazali explains the Qur'anic statement announcing the pilgrimage: And proclaim to the people the pilgrimage; they will come to you on foot and on every lean camel; they will come from every distant pass—that they may witness benefits for themselves and mention the name of God on known days over what He has provided for them of [sacrificial] animals.

Abdurrahman Fitzgerald has been involved in education and the study of Arabic, Islam, and Sufism for the past thirty years, holding degrees from the University of California and Shenandoah University, Virginia, and is the director of the Center for Language and Culture in Marrakesh. He co-translated Ibn al-Qayyim on the Invocation of God (Islamic Text Society, 2000) and edited and annotated Denys Johnson-Davies’s translation of al-Ghazali’s Kitab adab al-akl (Islamic Texts Society, 2000), as well as Dr. Kenneth Honerkamp’s edition ofal-Rasa ‘il al-kubra by Ibn ‘Abbad (Dar al-Machreq, 2005).