Al-Ghazali: The Banes of the Tongue for Young People & Their Parents – Book 24

Product Description WATCH: ‘Guarding the Tongue’ a seminar for children by project founder Gray Henry at the Cambridge Central Mosque Excerpt from the book: The Mysterious Mountain and the Golden Cave For as long as the townspeople could remember, a soft glowing, golden light always seemed to be shining down from a cave high up on the mountain which rose behind the forest and their homes. People had been living in this small town below located between Damascus and Jerusalem for centuries. At night, the glow appeared to be like a golden cloud. Everyone was used to it – part of life included looking up occasionally and recalling how years ago people used to scale the mountain face and disappear into the opening high above – never to return. There was a story often told about someone’s grandmother who wanted to find her granddaughter. She was rather athletic for her age and the climb would not have been impossible. As the day she planned to climb up grew near, friends and relatives begged her not to go. Her son implored her, “Mother, no one has ever come back. We don’t want to lose you! You are important in our lives and we love you!” But Grandmother was determined to solve the mystery of her granddaughter’s disappearance, as well as that of the many other vanished townspeople. A neighbor had a great idea. “What if we tied a cord gently around your waist and that way we can pull you back after giving you enough time to investigate and understand what is going on?” Table of Contents A Word from the Publisher 5 Introduction by Hamza Yusuf Hanson 7 The Mysterious Mountain and the Golden Cave 15 The Thousand-Year-Old Letter 21 The First Bane: Speaking About What Does Not Concern You 33 The Second Bane: Superfluous Talk 39 The Third Bane: Becoming Engrossed in Vain Talk 43 The Fourth Bane: Arguing 45 The Fifth Bane: Legal Disputation 50 The Sixth Bane: Grandiloquence 53 The Seventh Bane: Obscenity, Insult, and Vulgarity 55 The Eighth Bane: Cursing 59 The Ninth Bane: Singing and Poetry 61 The Tenth Bane: Joking 63 The Eleventh Bane: Ridicule and Mockery 67 The Twelfth Bane: Divulging Secrets 71 The Thirteenth Bane: Making False Promises 75 The Fourteenth Bane: Lying in Speech or Oath 79 The Fifteenth Bane: Backbiting 87 The Sixteenth Bane: Scandalmongering: Spreading What is Untrue 99 The Seventeenth Bane: Speaking with Two Tongues 103 The Eighteenth Bane: Praise 107 The Nineteenth and Twentieth Banes: Carelessness Concerning Errors in Speech and Questions from the Unlearned about the Attributes, Speech, and Words of God s.w.t. and Whether His Words Are Eternal or Created 109 Images of the Community Spending the Last Ten Days of Ramadan in Silence 112 Recommendations for Effective Activities Which Support a Change of Habit 126 Questions for Reflection, Activities, and Topics for Discussion 127 Reviews The Imam Ghazali Children's Series is a gift to our children who deserve a pedagogy of Islam that allows them to develop the innate goodness which God has placed within each human being so they can become moral, kind and happy adults Professor Ingrid Mattson SubhanAllah what an inspiring and moving video! May Allah ﷻ bless the tireless efforts of our beloved Gray Henry and the entire Fons Vitae team! The Imam Ghazali children’s series is precisely the type of resource that every Muslim child should have access to to help them learn all of the principle and essential qualities of Prophetic comportment (tarbiya, akhlaq, and adab, i.e., emotional intelligence). Please look into this invaluable project now! Hosai Mojaddidi In today’s modernist world where religion has been stripped of its essential beauty, the need for the Alghazali children’s Project cannot be overstated. Children in th eMiddle East increasingly suffer from the loss of traditional teachings that foster a positive Muslim identity and world-view. The unfortunate state of school curricula pertaining to Islam in the Arab world is one where the shell of religion is taught while its beautiful kernel, the foundation of which is mercy, is discarded. This approach to teaching religion, leaves children in a vulnerable and confused state where they are prone to take extreme positions. Parents across the Middle East are at a loss as to how to teach their children about Islam and are desperately looking for guidance and material that will help them raise productive, ethical and humane adults. the Al-Ghazali Children’s Project provides parents and children with that vital material. Any spiritual curricula must tap into the wisdom of traditional Islam to assist in this challenging era. It is time to return to traditional modes of learning that center around vertical, contemplative reflection that engages the whole personality, namely the intellect and the heart. The Al-Ghazali Children’s project curricula provides the material that will assist parents and children embark on that beautiful journey of the heart towards light and illuminating knowledge. Aya K. Abuhassan, Jordan After reading the children storybooks and workbooks, my years of worrying about how to teach my children (without persistently nagging them) to be ethical and socially responsible in their actions and their intentions, has been put to ease, God willing. I must also be truthful and let you in on a secret: Sadly, I believe my soul is in more of a need for The Al-Ghazali Children series books even more so than my own children. It is honestly hard to describe what I do feel since reading the books. If I could, then I would say that my inner conscience is suddenly and constantly talking to me, whether it is reminding me of my responsibilities as a mother or of being more cautious of my thoughts and intentions. Whatever it is, I know I could feel my faith increasing. Noura Elbekkahi, Sydney, Australia. This work is nothing less than a revolution in developing humane, ethical, and committed Muslim youth. Imam al-Ghazali is the "Proof of Islam", and these teachings, presented in a beautiful life-affirming way, will prove to be a major shift in the way Islam is taught to young people, who are in desperate need of guidance in today's confusing times. As a community, we owe much to Fons Vitae for bringing them to fruition. Let the transformation begin! Shaykh Hamza Yusuf Hanson