Clearing the Soul for Paradise

Clearing the Soul for Paradise (Taslik al-nafs ila ¿a¿irat al-quds) is a concise but comprehensive summa of theology, which al-¿Allama al-¿illi composed for his son at a midpoint of his career. It addresses all fields of knowledge one needs for informed and grounded belief, from the instrument of logic, through general metaphysics and natural philosophy, to theology, religious ethics, and eschatology. ¿illi approaches each topic as a focus of debate, marching forth the diverging positions of the full range of earlier theologians (mutakallimun) and the Peripatetic philosophers. The book is thus designed to engage the inquisitive reader and provides an excellent tool for teaching the foundations of theology.