Al-Ghazali was a Muslim Theologian, Jurist, Philosopher and Mystic of Persian Decent. He was born in 1058 A.D. in Khorasan, Iran. He received his early education from Baghdad and Nishahpur where he received a high-level scholarship in the field of religion and philosophy. For his efforts, he was made the professor at the Nizamiyah University of Baghdad, which was recognized as the greatest institute for learning during the ‘Golden Era of Islam’.
Belonging to Sunni denomination, Al-Ghazali practiced Shafi jurisprudence and associated with the Asharite school of thought. He was a key member of the Asharites and the primary refuter to the Mutazilites. However, his views and thoughts differed from the orthodox Asharite school of thought.
There came a point in Al-Ghazali’s life where he got involved in a process of mystical transformation and gave up his academic pursuits. He disposed of his wealth amongst his family and went to Mecca for Pilgrimage. He started living in seclusion and wandered like an acetic. Therefore, an era of solitary life was dedicated to contemplation and writing which produced many ever-lasting books.
Ghazali’s main interests were Islamic jurisprudence, Theology and Sufism. At a time where Greek philosophy was influencing many Muslim thinkers, Al-Ghazali believed that Neo-platonic philosophy mainly was conflicting with Islamic teachings. On the other hand, Sufism was also being evolved into beliefs that were un-Islamic. Ghazali with his knowledge and personal mystical experience set out to rectify these trends.
In philosophy, Ghazali wrote a book entitled ‘The Incoherrence of the Philosophers’. It played a pivotal role in Islamic epistemology disapproving Muslim philosophers like Ibn-Sina and Al-Farabi...
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...d the use of logic, Ghazali’s works were able to enter the realm of Islamic learning centers and were part of the curriculum for centuries to follow.
Al-Ghazali wrote more than 70 books on the sciences, Islamic Philosophy and Sufism. He wrote most of his work in Arabic and a few in Persian including ‘ The Alchemy of Happiness’. William Montgomery Watt concurred that Ghazali was a reviver of his age. Ghazali’s profilic writing had a huge influence on Jewish and Christian Scholasticism. Many Christian philosophers have used his arguments to restore the authority and orthodoxy of their religion. His argument in favor of religion is considered to be so strong that he is assumed to have damaged the cause of Philosophy. Ibn-Rushd even wrote a confutation to Ghazali. Though, this argument was disputed, Ghazali had already set the course of Islamic epistemology.
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Ansary, Mir Tamim. Destiny Disrupted: A History of the World through Islamic Eyes. New York: PublicAffairs, 2009. Print.
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Sufism is often described as being the mystical branch of Islam – a spiritual path that speaks to the very heart of the believer and brings to the fore, a very real sense of God’s immediacy within the context of daily life and religious practice. As a mystical tradition, it propositions a God that has shared His divine essence with mankind – a God who is available to address and dwell within the human condition. By discussing Sufi practice and its development of traditional Islamic precepts including prayer and fasting, this essay will place it within the context of Islam with a look at how its mystical notions contribute towards a more immediate understanding of God. Furthermore, the practice of dikhr s well as the Sufi path of divine love as a journey towards divine unity will be discussed in showing how Sufism involves a sense of self-denial in favour of comprehending the divine nature of God. Sufism’s intersection with Greek science and philosophy will also be outlined in illustrating the all-encompassing nature of the Sufi God. Comparing different viewpoints, this essay includes critical commentary that will suggest that as a progression of the Islamic faith, Sufism indeed makes a substantial contribution to an understanding of the Islamic God – one that is relevant within the context of modern day society.
In the history of concepts, there is no concern that Al-Ghazali’s figure emerges as one of the best Western thinkers. Considered as the prominent Sunni theologian that ever lived, Al-Ghazali’s polemic againstNeoplatonic thinkers, mainly Ibn Sina, dealt a fatal rage to philosophy within Islamic world. Written following his period of private study of philosophy, and completed in 1094 CE, Tahafut al-Falasifa carried the purpose of pursuing the analysis of reason that inspired his stint of cynicism, and was attempting to illustrate that reason is not self-reliant in the sphere of metaphysics and is incapable out of itself to construct an absolute world-view. Whereas, as Goldziher (1981) explains, Al-Ghazali uniquely held certain beliefs which he refuted in Tahafut, he wanted to demonstrate that reason on its own cannot establish that the world has the creator, two gods are unfeasible, God is not an entity or a body, and that he understand both himself and others, that the spirit is a self-resilient body. This paper will analyze Al-Ghazali’s argument on the eternity of the world, as found in his first areas of debate with philosophers and evaluated against Ibn Rushd’s answers.
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Throughout his life, the Prophet Muhammad proved to be exceptionally adept at uniting diverse groups, negotiating a series of alliances and loyalty arrangements that spanned religious, tribal, ethnic, and familial lines (Berggren 2009). Among other things, this ability enabled Muhammad to forge a shared identity and found a nascent Islamic state from a diverse and even heterogeneous community (Rahman 1982; Ernst 2003, pp. 87-93). This diversity proved to be both a source of strength and conflict for Islam, and following the death of Muhammad early Islamic communities engaged in extensive debates not only about the nature of his teachings or how to carry his legacy forward, but also about the terms that should be used to define his authority. Although this debate produced a colorful array of movements within the tapestry of early Islamic civilization, this essay offers a critical examination of two particularly distinct perspectives on the nature of prophetic authority: namely, those articulated
There are two declarations of faith in Islam: That there is only one God and that Muhammad is the Messenger of God. In Memories of Muhammad, Omid Safi explores the ways in which Muhammad – both the historical and spiritual Muhammad – is remembered, commemorated, and contested by Muslims throughout the centuries. Safi focuses on the movements and moments in Muhammad’s life and after his death that for many Muslims best exemplify the teachings of Islam. He succeeds in opening up the dialogue to correct the negative portrayals of Muhammad and the religion of Islam, calling it a “Muhammad problem” in his introduction. Furthermore, he provides a book that is accessible and intelligible to both Muslims and non-Muslims, drawing from historical and spiritual sources, and addresses relevant issues contested between Muslims in relation to other religions, presenting Muhammad as a historical figure and one who is beloved by the Umma.
Natural philosophy might have played a much smaller role in Islamic science but is not to be overlooked. Al ma’mun built observatories as high as three stories in order to gain a better understanding of the cosmos. With these tools, Islamic astronomers made accurate descriptions of the heavens and created their own geocentric views of the orbits of the heavenly bodies. Attached to many of these observatories were great libraries. Islamic libraries contained a wealth of knowledge which was taken from other civilizations and translated to Arabic such as the House of Wisdom. These libraries had upwards of 2 million books, a massive accomplishment considering they did not have movable type. The Islamic Empire also saw great advances in mathematical understanding with the creation of trigonometry and algebra.
The Islamic tradition, as reflected in Naguib Mahfouz’s Zaabalawi, has over the course of history had an incredible impact on Arab culture. In Mahfouz’s time, Islamic practices combined with their political relevance proved a source of both great power and woe in Middle Eastern countries. As alluded to in Zaabalawi, Mahfouz asserts the fact that not all Muslims attain religious fulfillment through this common tradition, and other methods outside the scope of Islam may be necessary in true spiritual understanding.
Since the beginning of time, religion has played one of the most significant roles within human existence and has been believed to be the source whereby our governing laws have been derived. However, dating back to as early as the 3rd to 6th century, Greek philosophers inclusive of Diagoras of Melos, Euhemerus, alongside the schools of Hindu philosophy, Samkhya and the Greek Cyrenaic School were all amongst some of the first who did not accept the idea of God (Friedrich, 1942, 25). In the 7th century and during the Early Middle Ages, undergoing the Golden Age, the idea of knowledge was emphasised amongst the Muslim world, translating and collaborating knowledge from all over the world, giving rise to a group of people known as the Dahriyya who were the ‘holders of materialistic opinions of vari...
Highlighting the main beliefs of Islam as well as criticising these philosophies, Al Ghazali’s main contribution to Islamic theology was showing the relationship between God’s power and human acts.
Abu Al-Walid Muhammad Ibn Ahmad Ibn Rushd, known in Latin as Averroes, was one of the most influential Islamic philosophers and scientist. He lived in a time where Philosophy was not celebrated in the Islamic world, and philosophers were regarded as unbelievers. He, however, revived the Aristotelian philosophy stressing that it has no conflict with the belief in God, and that was the theme he used throughout his writings. He integrated religion and philosophy challenging the anti-philosophical view of the Muslim scholars at that point. That influenced a group of western scholars who used the same examination and identified themselves as the “Averroists.”
1-Fakhry, Majid. Al-Farabi, founder of Islamic Neoplatonism : his life, works and influence, Oxford: Oneworld,c 2002. Print.
I have been somewhat critical of the author at times, but this is only because he opens the door for the reader to think. I would not be able to formulate opinions if he hadn’t questioned whether Muhammad was being a fair and effective leader. After all, he greatly changed the course of history as we know it. Cook’s objective way of looking at Muhammad’s life allows one to attain a clear view of just how deep of an impact he made.
G. Esposito, John L (2002) Islam; What Everyone Should Know. New York. Oxford University Press Inc.