Imam Al-Ghazali : A Deliverance from Error

To understand and evaluate the work and contribution of a scholar to the social, political and literary world, it is important to understand the dynamics of the world he lived in. The doctrines and philosophies of any dogma does not develop in a vacuum but often matures as a response to the tensions and challenges present in the era it aims to survive in. The eleventh century was a period of intense intellectual debate and doctrinal consolidation in Islamic world.  While the Abbasids were still claiming legitimacy in Baghdad, the power became de-centralized, with Seljuks rising to dominance in central lands , and Shia Fatimids ruling Egypt. From Baghdad and Nishapur to Cairo, Damascus, Bukhara, Samarqand, and al-Andalus, the scholarly ecosystems were interconnected yet rivaled in their approach to revelation and interpretation of the matters of theology and jurisprudence.

Early life

In such times, Abū Ḥāmid Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad al-Ghazali رحمه الله was born around 1056 in Tus, Khurasan in Central Asia. He received his early education in his hometown of Tus along with his brother who himself became a famous preacher and Sufi scholar. After few years he moved to Nishapur and studied under the patronage of Asharite theologian  Imam al-Juwaynī who was one of the most formidable Shāfiʿī jurists and Ashʿarī theologians of the age.

This brought him in close contact with the court of the Grand-Seljuq Sultan and more importantly, his grand-vizier Nizam al-Mulk. After the death of Al Juwayni, Nizam al-Mulk appointed al-Ghazali  as chief professor to the prestigious Nizamiyya Madrasa in Baghdad, a position of immense prestige and public influence. His reputation soared and he became closely connected to the caliphal court in Baghdad , apart from being a confidante of the Seljuq Sultan and his court in Isfahan. He undoubtedly was looked up as the most influential intellectual of his time.

Baghdad, a test of sincerity

Baghdad was a city where students gathered in hundreds. Debates raged between jurists, theologians, philosophers, and sectarian movements. Imam Ghazali mastered the language of each discipline, including the philosophical traditions he would later critique. On the outside he was living a successful life, he had  knowledge, authority, comfort and fame. From the inside, however, he was feeling empty and restless. He was beginning to realize that the high ethical standards of a virtuous religious life are not compatible with being in the service of sultans, viziers, and caliphs.

In his autobiographical work al-Munqidh min al-Ḍalāl (Deliverance from Error), Al-Ghazali described an internal conflict which constantly bothered him. He examined his public teaching and found it mixed with a craving for fame and status, not purely directed to Allah. He was realizing that a man can’t attain closeness to Allah, until he let go of all worldly desires. 

“Desires make slaves out of kings and patience makes kings out of slaves.” ~ Al-Ghazali

True success as described in Quran is:

“Successful indeed is the one who purifies it [the soul].” (Sarah Ash-Shams :9)

A lock upon his tongue

In his book, he portrays himself standing on a spiritual precipice—an accomplished professor afraid that his accomplishments might become evidence against him. He recounted months of hesitation: one day leaning toward renunciation of his current life and seek the path to purity, the next day pulled back by his status and reputation. In the morning, yearning for hereafter and in the evening, finding his heart indulging in the pomps of the court life.

Then, came the moment that became one of the most cited episodes in Islamic intellectual history:

He wrote “Allah put a lock upon my tongue…” He tried to lecture and he could not. The instrument of his public power, his speech, failed him. He felt grief, physical weakness, and a sense that the matter had passed from choice to compulsion. 

“Knowledge without action is wastefulness, and action without knowledge is foolishness.”

Deliverance from Error

In November 1095, Al-Ghazali abandoned his post in Baghdad, ostensibly for pilgrimage. He arranged support for his family, disposed of much of his wealth, and adopted an ascetic life. Then, he lived for nearly two years in Damascus, committing himself to seclusion, spiritual discipline, and the purification of the soul. He would spend time in divine remembrance (Dhikr) and meditation, ponder over the questions of life and death. He traveled to Jerusalem and stayed in the Dome of the Rock. Later he performed the Hajj, visiting Mecca and then Medina. 

He lived the life of seclusion and asceticism for ten years, he remained in journey, focussing on self-discovery, teaching at small seminaries, writing books, spending his nights in worshipping Allah, and seeking closeness with him. 

“Those who look for seashells will find seashells; those who open them will find pearls.” ~ Al-Ghazali

A widely circulated story says that, as a young student traveling, bandits robbed him, and he pleaded for the return of his notebooks. A robber allegedly rebuked him: if your “knowledge” can be taken away with papers, it is not truly yours—after which al-Ghazali committed himself to memorization and internalization.

Back to Baghdad as a changed person

In the beginning of sixth century, Imam Ghaali returned to Baghdad and started teaching at Nizamiyya Madrasa again, this time as a changed person. 

He dedicated himself to the works he is known best for. 

He wrote a number of books where he addressed the challenges posed by the extreme rationalists like Ibn Sina, and also by the theology of Ismailite Shias. Among his best known work is The Revival of the Religious Sciences which is a comprehensive guide to ethical behavior in the everyday life of Muslims. It is the book that made Sufism an acceptable part of orthodox Islam, by grounding spirituality in the doctrines and practices of Islam and showing how they lead to a profound devotional life.

He argued that acts like Salah, Sawm, Zakah, and Hajj have inner purposes. Without sincerity and presence of heart, religious practices becomes hollow, while “spirituality” without Sharīʿah practices becomes undisciplined.

he emphasized the need to diagnose spiritual “diseases of the heart” (riya’, kibr, hasad) , and prescribed practical cures through worship, self-accounting, repentance, and remembrance.

His book Incoherence of the Philosophers  is a masterpiece of philosophy which is translated in many languages. In this book, he refuted the approach of Neoplatonic and Aristotelian philosophers towards explaining the key theological questions of God’s nature, the human soul, or about the heavenly spheres. Al-Ghazali did not treat entire philosophy as an evil. He distinguished between useful disciplines (like logic and mathematics as tools of valid reasoning) and metaphysical claims which exceeded demonstrative proof and conflicted with revelation. He defended Sunni doctrines using rational argument while policing the limits of speculation. He taught that sense and reason have real scope, but ultimate religious certainty comes by revelation and deepened through prescribed islamic practices. He emphasized that knowledge should transform personal conduct and sincerity in devotion.

Legacy

Abū Ḥāmid Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad al-Ghazali was born when the islamic scholarly world was heavily influenced by the Neoplatonic and Aristotelian philosophy of philosophers like Ibn Sina and Al Biruni on one hand and Shiite Ismāʿīlite theology on the other. Imam Ghazali reshaped the debate around philosophy, spirituality, and jurisprudence through his work and teachings. He professed a middle ground which made inner purification a mainstream scholarly concern, he absorbed logical methods of understanding the revelations yet challenged metaphysical claims which he judged incompatible with revelation. He passed away in the year 1111 CE leaving behind a legacy of scholarship, which has been inspiring people till date.