Ghazali (1058–1111)

Abu Hamid Muhammad ibn Muhammad al-Ghazali (1058–1111) is one of the most important figures in the history of Islamic thought and has [Page 445]influenced almost all Islamic disciplines. He was born in Tus, present-day Mashad, in northeastern Iran. After his basic education, he attended the Nizamiyah Madrasa, a higher-learning institution, in Nishapur, where he became a student of Abu al-Maali al-Juwayni (1025–1085). Then, at the age of only 33, he was appointed as the head of the Nizamiyah Madrasa in Baghdad by Nizam al-Mulk, the vizier of the Turkish-Seljuk ruler Malikshah. Because of his lectures at the Nizamiyah Madrasa, his fame spread throughout the Muslim world. In 1095, he left his job and headed to Mecca (Makkah) for a pilgrimage due to a personal spiritual ...