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 crisis. In al-Munqidh min al-Dalal, a spiritual autobiography of sorts, Ghazali explains that he chose seclusion as a means to endure this crisis. After living in various cities, such as Damascus and Jerusalem, he returned to his homeland in Tus, where he passed away in 1111.

Ghazali was a Sunnī scholar, belonging to the Ash'ari school of theology and the Shafi'i school of Islamic law. He represents a turning point in Islamic thought. The literature of Islamic thought is usually divided as before and after Ghazali. An exceptional and multidimensional scholar, he was interested in multiple fields, such as law and legal theory, theology, philosophy, and Sufism.

It is reported that Ghazali's writings fill over 400 letters and books, which were in circulation throughout the Muslim world even in his lifetime. He began to write on Islamic law and legal theory at an early age. He composed three main books on Islamic law, written mainly from a Shafi'i perspective, titled al-Wajiz, al-Wasit, and al-Basit, and also wrote two books on Islamic legal theory. The first is al-Mankhul fi al-Usul, which some say is his first published work; but his main influence in Islamic legal theory occurred through another book, al-Mustasfa fi al-Usul, which was written toward the end of his life. In this work, he presents an original classification and a new approach to Islamic legal theory that is still influential in the discipline.

Ghazali has also made an important impact on theology through works such as Fadaih al-Batiniyyah, al-Iqtisad fi al-I'tiqad, and Iljam al-‧awam an ‘ilm al-kalam, though he wrote many other important works on theology as well. Ghazali's legacy in the history of Islamic theology is exceptional. He left behind an epistemological system striving to reach certain truth and a distinct understanding of existence.

Ghazali was also interested in philosophy and wrote two important books in the field. He devoted Maqasid al-Falasifah to explaining in detail what philosophy is, and he critiqued both Greek and Muslim philosophers in Tahafut al-Falasifah. Despite his critical approach to philosophy, however, his Mi'yar al-'ilm made Aristotelian logic, the topic of the work, a necessary tool for every Islamic discipline.

His most celebrated work on Sufism, Ihyau ulum al-Din, has been widely considered one of the most influential works of Islamic thought. With this work, he fundamentally changed the way Sufism was understood and, in certain ways, legitimized it among Islamic disciplines. Ghazali, with his exceptional thought, continues to influence the ways in which current Muslims perceive Islam and to give shape to present Islamic movements on a global scale.

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