'Abu Hāmed Mohammad ibn Mohammad al-Ghazzālī ' (
1058-
1111) (), known as 'Algazel' to the western medieval world, born and died in
Tus, in the
Khorasan province of
Persia (modern day
Iran). He was a
Muslim theologian,
jurist,
philosopher, and
mystic of
Persian origin
[3] and remains one of the most celebrated scholars in the history of Islamic thought.
Biography
Al-Ghazali contributed significantly to the development of a systematic view of
Sufism and its integration and acceptance in mainstream Islam. He was a scholar of orthodox Islam, belonging to the
Shafi'i school of Islamic
jurisprudence and to the
Asharite school of
theology. Ghazali received many titles such as ''Sharaful A'emma'' (
Arabic: شرف الائمه), ''Zainuddin'' (Arabic: زین الدین), ''Hujjatul Islam'', meaning "Proof of Islam" (Arabic: حجة الاسلام).
He is viewed as the key member of the influential
Asharite school of
early Muslim philosophy and the most important refuter of
Mutazilites. However, he chose a slightly different position in comparison with the Asharites; his beliefs and thoughts differ, in some aspects, from the orthodox Asharite school.
[4]
Life
Al-Ghazali was born in 1058 in
Tus, a city in
Khorasan province of
Persia. His father, a traditional
sufi, died when he and his younger brother, Ahmad Ghazali, were still young. One of their father's friends took care of them for the next few years. Later in 1070, Ghazali and his brother went to
Gurgan to get enrolled in a
madrassah. There, he studied
fiqh (islamic
jurisprudence) next to Ahmad ibn Muhammad Rādkānī and Abu'l Qāsim Jurjānī. Approximately after 7 years of studying, he returned to Tus.
His first important trip to
Nishapur occurred around 1080 when he was almost 23 years old. He became the student of the famous muslim scholar
Abu'l Ma'ālī Juwaynī, known as ''Imam al-Haramayn''. After the death of Al-Juwayni in 1085, Al-Ghazālī was invited to go to the court of
Nizamul Mulk Tusi, the powerful vizier of the
Seljuq sultans. The vizier was so impressed by Al-Ghazali's scholarship that in 1091 he appointed him as chief professor in the
Nizamiyya of
Baghdad. He used to lecture to more than 300 students, and his participations in Islamic debates and discussions made him popular in all over the Islamic territories.
He passed through a spiritual crisis in 1095 and abandoned his career and left Baghdad on the pretext of going on pilgrimage to
Mecca. Making arrangements for his family, he disposed of his wealth and adopted the life of a poor Sufi. After some time in
Damascus and
Jerusalem, with a visit to
Medina and Mecca in 1096, he settled in Tus to spend the next several years in seclusion. He ended his seclusion for a short lecturing period at the
Nizamiyyah of
Nishapur in
1106. Later he returned to
Tus where he remained until his death in December,
1111. He had one son named Abdu'l Rahman Allam.
Works
Ghazali wrote more than 70 books on Islamic sciences, Philosophy and Sufism. His 11th century book titled ''
The Incoherence of the Philosophers'' marks a major turn in Islamic
epistemology, as Ghazali effectively discovered philosophical
skepticism that would not be commonly seen in the West until
René Descartes,
George Berkeley and
David Hume. The encounter with skepticism led Ghazali to embrace a form of theological
occasionalism, or the belief that all causal events and interactions are not the product of material conjunctions but rather the immediate and present will of God.
The ''Incoherence'' also marked a turning point in Islamic philosophy in its vehement rejections of
Aristotle and
Plato. The book took aim at the ''falasifa'', a loosely defined group of Islamic philosophers from the 8th through the 11th centuries (most notable among them
Avicenna and
Al-Farabi) who drew intellectually upon the
Ancient Greeks. Ghazali bitterly denounced Aristotle,
Socrates and other Greek writers as non-believers and labeled those who employed their methods and ideas as corrupters of the Islamic faith.
In the next century,
Averroes drafted a lengthy rebuttal of Ghazali's ''Incoherence'' entitled the ''Incoherence of the Incoherence''; however, the epistemological course of Islamic thought had already been set.
Another of Ghazali's major work is ''Ihya al-Ulum al-Din'' or ''Ihya'ul Ulumuddin'' (The Revival of Religious Sciences). It covers almost all fields of Islamic sciences:
fiqh (Islamic
jurisprudence),
kalam (
theology) and
sufism. It contains four major sections: ''Acts of worship'' (Rub' al-'ibadat), ''Norms of Daily Life'' (Rub' al-'adatat), ''The ways to Perdition'' (Rub' al-'muhlikat) and ''The ways to Salavation'' (Rub' al-'munjiyat). Many admirable comments were made regarding his this book: ''"If all Islamic sciences were disappeared, they could be taken back from Ihya'ul Ulumuddin."'' He then wrote a brief version of this book in
Persian under ''The Alchemy of Happiness'' (Kīmyāye Sa'ādat).
At the insistence of his students in Jerusalem, Ghazali wrote a concise exposition of Islam entitled ''The Jerusalem Tract''.
[ Before Their Diaspora, Walid Khalidi, , , Institute for Palestine Studies, Washington D.C., 1984, ]
During the 1930's, under Ataturk's presidency, the young Turkish Republic translated almost all the works of ancient philosophers (including but not limited to
Socrates,
Plato,
Aristotle, etc.) into Turkish. These translations were published by the Ministry of Education in thousands and distributed to high school students free of charge. Thus, the revival of rationalism was indeed a goal of the young Turkish Republic. For this reason, it may be that Ataturk did not choose to use state funds to translate the works of Al-Ghazali into Turkish, though he did not explicitly forbid it.
Ghazali's influence
Ghazali had an important influence on both
Muslim philosophers and
Christian medieval philosophers.
Margaret Smith writes in her book ''Al-Ghazali: The Mystic'' (London 1944): "There can be no doubt that Al-Ghazali’s works would be among the first to attract the attention of these European scholars" (page 220). Then she emphasizes, "The greatest of these Christian writers who was influenced by Al-Ghazali was St.
Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274), who made a study of the Arabic writers and admitted his indebtedness to them. He studied at the
University of Naples where the influence of Arab literature and culture was predominant at the time."
Ghazali's influence has been compared to the works of St.
Thomas Aquinas in Christian theology, but the two differed greatly in methods and beliefs. Whereas Ghazali rejected non-Islamic philosophers such as Aristotle and saw it fit to discard their teachings on the basis of their "unbelief," Aquinas embraced them and incorporated ancient Greek and Latin thought into his own philosophical writings.
"A careful study of Ghazali's works will indicate how penetrating and widespread his influence was on the Western medieval scholars. A case in point is the influence of Ghazali on St. Thomas Aquinas — who studied the works of Islamic philosophers, especially Ghazali's, at the
University of Naples. In addition, Aquinas' interest in Islamic studies could be attributed to the infiltration of ‘Latin Averroism’ in the 13th century, especially at [the University
of]
Paris."
[5]
It is also believed that
René Descartes' ideas from his book called "
Discourse on the Method" were influenced by Al-Ghazali and very much similar to Al-Ghazali's work. Thus, some scholars today believe that Descartes was being dishonest by writing the "Discourse on Methods" without giving any academic reference to Al-Ghazali's work in his book.
Ghazali also played a very major role in integrating
Sufism with
Shariah. He combined the concepts of Sufism very well with the Shariah laws. He was also the first to present a formal description of Sufism in his works. His works also strengthened the status of
Sunnite Islam against other schools. The
Batinite (
Ismailism) had emerged in
Persian territories and were gaining more and more power during Ghazali's period, as
Nizam al-Mulk was assassinated by the members of Ismailis. Ghazali strictly refuted their ideology and wrote several books on refutation of Baatinyas which significantly weakened their status.
Ijtihad
Ijtihad is the process through which Islamic scholars can generate new rules for Muslims. Ijtihad was one of the recognized sources of Islamic knowledge by early Islamic scholars - that is, in addition to
Quran,
Sunnah and
Qiyas. While it is not widely agreed that Al-Ghazali himself intended to "shut the door of ijtihad" completely and permanently, such an interpretation of Al-Ghazali's work led the Islamic societies to be "frozen in time". Works of critics of Al-Ghazali (such as Ibn-Rushd, a rationalist), as well as the works of any ancient philosopher, were practically forbidden in these "frozen socities" through the centuries. As a result, all chances were lost to gradually revitalize religion - which may have been less painful had it been spread over a period of centuries.
Whether the actual outcome of "freezing Islamic thinking in time" was the goal of Al-Ghazali is highly debatable. While he himself was a critic of the philosophers, Al-Ghazili was a master in the art of philosophy and had an immense education in the field. After such a long education in philosophy, as well as a long process of reflection. But only taking Al-Ghazali's final conclusions, while lacking a comparable education (and a reflection process) in the area, and as a result being unable to trace Al-Ghazali in his thought process, only exacerbates the probability of the misuse of Al-Ghazali's conclusions.
List of Works
Al-Ghazali had mentioned the number of his works "more than 70", in one of his letters to
Sultan Sanjar in the late years of his life. However, there are more than 400 books attributed to him today. Making a judgment on the number of his works and their attribution to Ghazali is a difficult step. Many western scholars such as
William Montgomery Watt (''The works attributed to Al-Ghazali''),
Maurice Bouyges (''Essai de chronologie des oeuvres d'Al-Ghazali'') and others prepared a list of his works along with their comments on each book.
Finally,
Abdel Rahman Badawi, an Egyptian scholar, prepared a comprehensive list of Ghazali's works under 457 titles:
★ from 1 to 72: works definitely written by Ghazali
★ from 73 to 95: works of doubtful attribution
★ 96 - 127: works which are not those of Ghazali with most certainty
★ 128 - 224: are the names of the Chapters or Sections of Ghazali's books that are mistakenly thought books of his
★ 225 - 273: books written by other authors regarding Ghazali's works
★ 274 - 389: books of other unknown scholars/writers regarding Ghazali's life and personality
★ 389 - 457: the name of the manuscripts of Ghazali's works in different libraries of the world
The following is a short list of his Major works:
'Theology'
★ ''al-Munqidh min al-dalal'' (Rescuer from Error)
★ ''Hujjat al-Haq'' (Proof of the Truth)
★ ''al-Iqtisad fil-i`tiqad'' (Median in Belief)
★ ''al-maqsad al-asna fi sharah asma' Allahu al-husna'' (The best means in explaining Allah's Beautiful Names)
★ ''Jawahir al-Qur'an wa duraruh'' (Jewels of the Qur'an and its Pearls)
★ ''Fayasl al-tafriqa bayn al-Islam wa-l-zandaqa'' (The Criterion of Distinction between Islam and Clandestine Unbelief)
★ ''Mishkat al-Anwar'' ()
★ ''Tafsir al-yaqut al-ta'wil''
'Sufism'
★ ''Mizan al-'amal'' (Criterion of Action)
★ ''Ihya'ul ulum al-din'', "Revival of Religious Sciences", Ghazali's most important work
★ ''Bidayat al-hidayah'' (Beginning of Guidance)
★ ''Kimiya-ye sa'ādat'' () [a resumé of Ihya'ul ulum, in
Persian]
★ ''Nasihat al-muluk'' (Counseling Kings) [in Persian]
★ ''al-Munqidh min al-dalal'' (Rescuer from Error)
★ ''Minhaj al-'Abidin'' (Methodolgy for the Worshipers)
'Philosophy'
★ ''Maqasid al falasifa'' (Aims of Philosophers) [written in the beginning of his life, in favour of philosophy and presenting the basic theories in Philosophy, mostly influenced by Avicenna's works]
★ ''Tahafut al-Falasifa'' (
The Incoherence of the Philosophers), [in this book he refutes the Greek Philosophy aiming at Avicenna and Al-Farabi; and of which
Ibn Rushd wrote his famous refutation ''Tahafut al-tahafut'' (The Incoherence of the Incoherence)]
★ ''Miyar al-Ilm fi fan al-Mantiq'' (Criterion of Knowledge in the Art of Logic)
★ ''Mihak al-Nazar fi al-mantiq'' (Touchstone of Reasoning in Logic)
★ ''al-Qistas al-mustaqim'' (The Correct Balance)
'Jurisprudence'
★ ''Fatawy al-Ghazali'' (Verdicts of al-Ghazali)
★ ''Al-wasit fi al-mathab'' (The medium [digest] in the Jurisprudential school)
★ ''Kitab tahzib al-Isul'' (Prunning on Legal Theory)
★ ''al-Mustasfa fi 'ilm al-isul'' (The Clarified in Legal Theory)
★ ''Asas al-Qiyas'' (Foundation of Analogical reasoning)
Works in Persian
Al-Ghazali wrote most of his works in
Arabic and few in
Persian. His most important Persian work is 'Kīmyāyé Sa'ādat' (The Alchemy of Happiness). It is Al-Ghazali's own Persian version of ''Ihya'ul ulumuddin'' (The Revival of Religious Sciences) in Arabic, but a shorter work. It is one of the outstanding works of 11th-century-Persian literature. The book was published several times in
Tehran by the edition of Hussain Khadev-jam, a renown Iranian scholar. It is translated to
English,
Arabic,
Turkish,
Urdu and other languages.
Apart from Kimya, the most celebrated of Ghazali's works in Persian is 'Nasīhatul Mulūk' (The Counseling Kings), written most probably for Sultan
Ahmad Sanjar ibn Malekshah. In the edition published by Jalāluddīn Humāyī, the book consists of two parts of which only the first can reliably be attributed to Ghazali. The language and the contents of some passages are similar to the Kimyaye Sa'adat. The second part differs considerably in content and style from the well-known writings of Ghazali. It contains the stories of pre-Islamic kings of
Persia, especially those of
Anoshervān. Nasihatul Muluk was early translated to Arabic under the title '' al-Tibr al-masbuk fi nasihat al-muluk'' (The Forged Sword in Counseling Kings).
'Zād-e Ākherat' (Provision for the hereafter) is an important Persian book of Ghazali but gained less scholarly attention. The greater part of it consists of the Persian translation of one of his Arabic books, ''Bedāyat al-Hedāya'' (Beginning of Guidance). It contains in addition the same contents as the Kīmyāyé Sa'ādat. The book was most probably written during the last years of his life. Its manuscripts are in
Kabul (Library of the Department of Press) and in
Leiden.
'Pand-nāma' (Book of Counsel) is another book of advice and probably attributed to Sultan Sanjar. The introduction to the book relates that Ghazali wrote the book in response to a certain king who had asked him for advice. 'Ay farzand' (O son!) is a short book of counsel that Ghazali wrote for one of his students. The book was early translated to Arabic entitled ''ayyuhal walad''. His another Persian work is 'Hamāqāti ahli ibāhat' or 'Raddi ebāhīyya' (Condemnation of antinomians) which is his ''
fatwa'' in Persian illustrated with
Quranic verses and
Hadiths.
'Faza'ilul al-anam min rasa'ili hujjat al-Islam' is the collection of letters in Persians that Ghazali wrote in response to the kings, ministers, jurists and some of his friends after he returned to
Khorasan. The collection was gathered by one of his grandchildren after his death, under five sections/chapters. The longest letter is the response to objections raised against some of his statements in ''Mishkat al-Anwar'' (The Niche of Light) and ''al-Munqidh min al-dalal'' (Rescuer from Error). The first letter is the one which Ghazali wrote to
Sultan Sanjar presenting his excuse for teaching in
Nizamiyya of
Nishapur; followed by Ghazali's speech in the court of Sultan Sanjar. Ghazali makes an impressing speech when he was taken to the king's court in Nishapur in 1106, giving very influential counsels, asking the sultan once again for excusing him from teaching in Nizamiyya and refuting the accusations made against him for disrespecting
Imam Abu Hanifa in his books. The sultan was so impressed that ordered Ghazali to write down his speech so that it will be sent to all the
ulemas of
Khorasan and
Iraq.
Criticism
Praise for al-Ghazali not withstanding, he also received criticism from within Islam:
Ibn Taymiyyah states:
Similarly, Imam
an-Nawawi wrote in his one of his books:
In addition, Abu 'Umar ibn as-Salah, a well-known
Shafi'i scholar wrote:
Al-Ghazali is also accused for using or mentioning ''weak
Hadiths'' in his book ''Ihya'ul Ulumuddin'' (The Revival of Religious Sciences).
Response to criticism
In regard to the ahadith contained in Ihya'ul Ulumuddin, these hadiths were prevalent even before Imam Ghazali was born. The reason for Imam Ghazali having included such weak hadiths in his most beneficial work, is the fact that he did not know of their fabrication. Shaikh Abdul-Fattāh Abu Ghuddah states: "Imam Ghazali was unique in regards to the knowledge of Jurisprudence, its principles, Tasawwuf, beliefs, philosophy and others except for the knowledge of Hadith, for verily he did not spare time to master it".
[6] Al-Ghazali has mentioned regarding himself, ''"And my knowledge of Hadith is but scanty."''
[7]
As for the role of weak Hadiths, Imam Sakhavī has mentioned: "Regarding weak narrations there are 3 views, a) It cannot be accepted at all, b) It will be accepted if there are no other Hadiths to substantiate that particular chapter or topic, and c) It will be accepted for virtues of deeds and not for the different laws in
Shari'ah.'
[8] Sakhawi further claims: "And this (third view) is the view of the majority."
Shaikh Abdul Fattaah further states another reason for this, "Perhaps his excuse for doing that (i.e. including fabrications in Ihyaa) is that he relied on the book, ''Qootul Quloob'' of Abu Taalib Makki and he mentioned those Hadiths therefrom."
Literature
★ Laoust, H: ''La politique de Gazali'', Paris 1970
★ Campanini, M.: ''Al-Ghazzali'', in S.H. Nasr and O. Leaman, History of Islamic Philosophy 1996
★ Watt, W. M.: ''Muslim Intellectual: A Study of al-Ghazali'', Edinburgh 1963
★ Zwemer, S. M. ''A Moslem Seeker after God'', New York 1920
★ Nakamura, K. ''Al-Ghazali'', Encyclopedia of Philosophy
References
1. ''The Influence of Islamic Thought on Maimonides'', Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, June 30 2005, LINK
2. ''Muslim Philosophy'', Islamic Contributions to Science & Math, netmuslims.com LINK
3. The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition 2006
4. R.M. Frank, ''Al-Ghazali and the Ash'arite School'', Duke University Press, London 1994
5. Shanab, R. E. A. 1974. ''Ghazali and Aquinason Causation''. The Monist: The International Quarterly Journal of General Philosophical Inquiry 58.1: p.140
6. al-Ta'aliqatul Hafilah
7. Qanun al-Ta'wil, pg. 16
8. al-Qawlul Badee, pg. 473
External links
★
Al-Ghazali Web Site
★ Full text of
Incoherence of the Philosophers, from Al-Ghazali Website
★
Extensive List of books by Al-Ghazali - Fons Vitae books
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