ANNOUNCING A NEW TITLE IN THE FONS VITAE GHAZALI SERIES. JUST PUBLISHED.

In the Banes of the Tongue (Kitāb āfāt al-lisān), book 24 of Imām al-Ghazālī’s 40-volume magnum opus, the Revival of the Religious Sciences (Iḥyāʾ ʿulūm al-dīn), al-Ghazālī divides up the banes, or defects, of the tongue from the least to the most offensive, into twenty chapters. These include seemingly mundane acts, such as speaking about what is not our concern, superfluous chatter, pretentious speech, to more serious defects, such as using obscene words, cursing, ridiculing others, making false promises, lying, gossip, and backbiting (even with gestures and looks).

Al-Ghazali: The Banes of the Tongue (Book 24 of The Revival of the Religious Sciences)