The Beginning of Guidance for Muslim Women MISK 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.

In this episode, Imam al-Ghazali explains the characteristics and qualities you should look for in a companion, then he advises on how to uphold your duties and responsibilities to that person as their friend.
In summary, seek to be in the company of those who remind you of God and help keep you firm on the Straight Path,. If you are blessed with such company, treat them with the best manners and prefer them and their needs over your own.
Finally - remember that in the next life you will be with whomever you love...so choose wisely and treat them how you would want them to treat you.

The final section of the Beginning of Guidance on Etiquette with the Creator and Creation begins with advice on how conduct oneself and be in the presence of the One Who never leaves you, Mighty and Majestic is He.
Then we discuss the advice of our Master and Guide, Imam al-Ghazali and the significant contributions of Imam al-Jawi, on the best comportment of:
The scholar The student Children with parents, and The appropriate etiquette one should maintain with the general public.
This is the first part of three episodes on the most beautiful and pleasing Adab / Etiquette that Islam cultivates and refines in the believer.

In this episode, we discuss the blessed Hadith of the great Companion, Sayyidna Mu'aath bin Jabal, may Allah be pleased with him, which summarises the transgressions of the heart and the journey of one's deeds towards Divine acceptance.
As this is the conclusion of the second section of the book, Imam al-Ghazali offers his final advice to the student of knowledge about purifying the heart and warns sternly against using religious knowledge for worldly gain.

Assalamu alaykum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuhu
Welcome back to the MISK women podcast series on Imam al-Ghazali's "Beginning of Guidance"!
After a longer break than expected, we are back to complete the book, seeking to benefit from the great knowledge, wisdom and advice of the author and our noble and beloved commentator, Imam al-Jawi, may Allah have mercy and be pleased with them both.
This episode is the recording of the last class we did on Zoom in October 2020.
At about 53 mins the statement "Whoever knows himself knows his Lord" is briefly mentioned. As a confirmation of the status of the statement, please note that the great scholar Imam Jalaluddin al-Suyuti wrote a short treatise on this statement and confirmed that it is NOT a Prophetic hadith, and is in fact attributed to a Sufi named Yahya ibn Mu'ath al-Razi.
Jazakum Allahu khairan.

Imam al-Ghazali begins the next section on guarding against the three transgressions of the heart addressed in this book; envy, ostentation and conceit.
The introduction looks briefly at the animalistic qualities inherent in a human being and how they are overcome by developing angelic qualities, through knowledge, wisdom and certainty. Two extremely important points are also mentioned for their relevance to the ideologically dominated time in which we live.
Thereafter, the first of the three transgressions, envy, is discussed in detail with the comprehensive commentary of Imam al-Jawi.