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Glossary Entry

Jūʿ

Definition

Juʿ — deliberate hunger — is one of the primary tools of al-Ghazali's programme of soul-discipline. He argues that the experience of hunger, voluntarily undertaken through fasting and reduction of food intake, has profound spiritual effects: it sharpens the intellect, softens the heart, increases compassion for the poor whose hunger is not voluntary, weakens the nafs's grip on the heart, and creates the physical lightness that makes the night prayer and extended worship easier. He quotes extensively from prophetic teaching about the spiritual benefits of eating less and from the practice of the early scholars who were renowned for the simplicity and scarcity of their food.

As understood in the classical tradition of Imam al-Ghazali and the scholars of his school.

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1 book in the library

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