Biography
(1058 –
1111)
Al-Ghazzali was an important Sufi who
was instrumental in making Sufism acceptable to traditional Muslims. He is
known to Muslims as Muhyi al-Din, “the Restorer of Religion,” for his
synthesis and integration of many seemingly opposing ideas that divided
Sufis and other Muslim sects. Al-Ghazzali studied the Asharite kalam (word
or discourse, official theology of Islam) and went on to master
the Greek-influenced philosophical theories of Ibn Sina and other
Faylasufs, so that he could critique them in his Refutation of
Philosophies.
Al-Ghazzali was from a young age
driven to find the truth, wherever it may be found. After studying
Asharite law and theology, he taught and was made director of the
Nizamiyyah mosque in Bhagdad. Dissatisfied with the uncertainty of his
faith and the truth of the doctrines of other Islamic teachings, al-Ghazzali
experienced a spiritual crisis. How could he believe wholeheartedly in
God? Since His existence
could not be proven without a doubt, then the Divine Reality may be a
delusion. Al-Ghazzali’s doubts caused in him a spiritual crisis, and in
1094 he could no longer lecture. He left his Bhagdad and traveled to
Syria, Jerusalem and Egypt, where he was exposed to the ideas of Judaism
and Christianity. During his ten-year travels away from Bhagdad, al-Ghazzali
spent two years in Syria with Sufis, where he found an answer. Without
compromising his need for truth and certainty, al-Ghazzali found that the
mystical experiences of the Sufis included a direct and intuitive
experience, through the intellectual intuition, which is objective
perception made possible because “the kingdom of God is within us”.
The direct experience of God that could not be denied; it was not
opposed to logic and reason, it transcended them. The ability to
experience God directly gave Al-Ghazzali the certainty needed to restore
his faith.
He
returned to Bhagdad where he taught for a short time before retiring to
Khurasan, the village in which he was born, where he founded a seminary (madrasa)
and “convent” of Sufis. Al-Ghazzali believed that the Kalam was
an inadequate expression of the total religious truth; expressions of
faith and sincerity and trust in God were not addressed in the legalistic
texts of Islam. However, mystical certainty was attained by a chosen few,
and for most people law and exoteric traditions were necessary elements of
spiritual life, more important for them than the unattainable mystical
experience. For this reason, Ghazzali founded a spiritual practice in
which awareness of God could become part of the daily life of Muslims.
Because of his ability to synthesize the mystic and traditional
discourses, his authority became unquestioned and his work was accepted by
orthodox Muslims.
