The Middle Way with Acquaintances and Final Advice

The Beginning of Guidance for Muslim Women

Alhamdulillah, All Praise is for Allah, Lord of the Worlds, The Most Merciful, Gracious and Generous. May His peace and blessings be upon our beloved Prophet and Messenger, Muhammad and his noble family and companions.

We have reached the end of our presentation of Imam al-Jawi's commentary Maraqi al-'Ubudiyyiah on Imam al-Ghazali's Bidayat al-Hidayat, The Beginning of Guidance. This book is 395 pages long, and for the majority of listeners, will have been the first time they have studied a full classical text with commentary. Anything that you have found to be good is only from Allah and I ask you for your forgiveness for my shortcomings and errors throughout the presentation and study of these texts. May our time spent studying be a witness for us on the Day of Judgment, and may we attain the intercession of the two noble and distinguished authors for the time and effort that each and every person has spent seeking to learn and benefit from their knowledge, Ameen.

In this final episode, Imam al-Ghazali counsels us on how to deal with acquaintances, warns us of the pitfalls of seeking what they appear to have and directs us towards suitable conduct in their company.

In conclusion, he reiterates what he mentioned at the beginning of the book about being inclined to want to act on and implement the knowledge in the text, and that the desire to seek what it calls to is a tremendous Divine favour and blessing and is indeed, the beginning of guidance.

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Jazakum Allahu khairan and may Allah bless you and your loved ones abundantly.

Your sister, Umm Abdullah.