Wikipedia's first sentence called it “unused template to list other templates associated with a similar title or shortcut”. Today it says “a 12th-century book written by the muslim scholar al-ghazali”. The one-line description Wikipedia serves to search engines and AI systems read “12th-century literary work by Al-Ghazali”. It now reads “12th-century book by al-Ghazali”.
Measured, not asserted. Every count, date and revision on this page was taken from Wikipedia's own history and checked against the live article. The words quoted are theirs.
Machine-checked against the full current article on 2026-08-03.
We saved snapshots of this article over twenty years; you are reading the 2025 one. Red dashes: removed from Wikipedia since.Pale dots: rewritten; the numbered note shows what it says now.Red text: written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot.1 tap a number or a side note to jump between them
The opening as it read in 2025
The Revival of the Religious Sciences ( Arabic : إِحْيَاء عُلُوم ٱلدِّين , romanized : Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn ) is a 12th-century book written by the Muslim scholar al-Ghazali . The book was composed in Arabic by al-Ghazali on his spiritual crises that stemmed from his appointment as the head of the Nizamiyya University in Baghdad, which led to his eventual disappearance from the Muslim world for over 10 years. It is regarded as one of his chief works and a classic introduction to the pious Muslim's path to God , and is widely considered to be the most impactful book in Islamic history after the Quran . It originally spanned 40 volumes and dealt with Islamic concepts and practices, demonstrating how these might be formed the foundation of reflective religious life, thereby attaining the higher stages of Sufism . Some consider Kimiyā-ye Sa'ādat (Alchemy of Happiness) as a rewrite of this work, which is a common misconception. Kimyā-ye Sa'ādat is shorter than this book; however, Ghazali said that he wrote the former to reflect the nature of the latter and a few of his other theological writings. "Ghazali, /Abu /Hamed /Mohammad, ii, iii." Encyclopedia Iranica. 1-12.
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 1293727180.
The opening as it stood in 2020
Iḥyā′ ‘Ulūm al-Dīn ( can refer to: See also [ edit ] Trans (disambiguation) Topics referred to by the same term This is an unused template to list other templates associated with a similar title or shortcut. If an internal transclusion led you here, you may wish to change it to point directly to the intended page. should never be transcluded in the main namespace. ; ) is an 11th-century book written by Abū Ḥāmid Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad al-Ghazali . The book was composed in Arabic and was based on personal religious experience. It is regarded as one of his chief works and a classic introduction to the pious muslim's way to God. Originally spanning over 40 volumes, it deals with the principles and practices of Islam and demonstrates how these can be made the basis of a reflective religious life, thereby attaining the higher stages of Sufism. Some consider Kimiyā al-Sa'ādat as a rewrite of this work, which is a common misconception. Kimyā al-Sa'ādat is shorter than this, however Ghazali said that he wrote the former to reflect the nature of the latter and a few of his other theological writings. "Ghazali, /Abu /Hamed /Mohammad, ii, iii." Encyclopedia Iranica. 1-12.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 959338242.
The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023 4 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
12th-century literary work by Al-Ghazali The Revival of the Religious Sciences ( ) is a 12th-century book written by the Persian scholar Abu Hamid al-Ghazali .The book was composed in Arabic by Al-Ghazali on his spiritual crises that stemmed from his appointment as the head of the Nizzamiyya University in Baghdad, which led to his eventual disappearance from the Muslim world for over 10 years.It is regarded as one of his chief works and a classic introduction to the pious Muslim's path to God, and is probably the most impactful book in Islamic history after the Quran and Hadith.It originally spanned 40 volumes and dealt with Islamic concepts and practices, demonstrating how these might be formed the foundation of reflective religious life, thereby attaining the higher stages of Sufism .Some consider Kimiyā-ye Sa'ādat (Alchemy of Happiness) as a rewrite of this work, which is a common misconception. Kimyā-ye Sa'ādat is shorter than this book; however, Ghazali said that he wrote the former to reflect the nature of the latter and a few of his other theological writings. "Ghazali, /Abu /Hamed /Mohammad, ii, iii." Encyclopedia Iranica. 1-12.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1175414509.
Today
Wikipedia's first sentence called it “unused template to list other templates associated with a similar title or shortcut”. Today it says “a 12th-century book written by the muslim scholar al-ghazali”. The one-line description Wikipedia serves to search engines and AI systems read “12th-century literary work by Al-Ghazali”. It now reads “12th-century book by al-Ghazali”. Read the current article and compare.
2020
Oct '23
2025
Counts in the opening at each snapshot. Green: the word gained ground. Red: it was cut. Grey: no change.
What Wikipedia says this is
Every article opens by defining its subject. This one was redefined since 2020, and today's defining sentence is their current revision.
Then
unused template to list other templates associated with a similar title or shortcut
Now
a 12th-century book written by the muslim scholar al-ghazali
Struck red text is no longer in the article; dotted amber text was rewritten. Every revision id links to Wikipedia's copy; the text shown is our own saved copy. Data: /data. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA; quoted for the record; not affiliated with Wikipedia.
