This book is a thesis on ethical philosophy of Imam al-Ghazali based on his book Ihya Ulum ad-Din. The framework is easy to be understood and it was organized systematically. It elaborates the universal and humanitarian outlook of al-Ghazali’s philosophy as well.

The title of the book, The Ethical Philosophy, calls for explanation. The term ‘Ethics’ (‘Ilm al-Mu’āmala) — ‘Science of Practical Ethics’ or Akhlāq — is used by al-Ghazali in his ethico-relgiious system in a much wider sense than is usually done by modern ethical writers. It includes all the activities of man, religious as well as social; consequently, there are many topics included in the present work which would have been omitted in a book dealing strictly with ethics. But such an omission would have presented a distorted picture of al-Ghazali’s ethical theory.

Umaruddin’s aim in this work is to present the basic principles and the practical implications of al-Ghazali’s theory, and to reconstruct the whole system of his thought as presented in his works.