Spiritual Purification in Islam: The Life and Works of al-Muhasibi

Purification of the soul is a principle that is central to understanding Islamic spirituality but despite this, relatively little has been written explicitly in the Islamic tradition regarding this discrete method of spiritual purification. This book examines the work of a scholar of this discipline, al-Hārith al-Muhāsibī, who lived and worked during the classical Islamic period under the Abbāsids.

Although al-Muhāsibī was well known for his skills in many disciplines, including the Qur’ān,...