Al-Ghazali

Lore & Background

Al-Ghazali was born in c. 1058 in Tabaran, a town in the district of Tus, Khorasan. He began instruction in fiqh from Ahmad al-Radhakani and Abu ali Farmadi, later studying under al-Juwayni in Nishapur. After al-Juwayni's death in 1085, he joined the court of Nizam al-Mulk, who advanced him in July 1091 to the professorial position at the Nizamiyya of Baghdad, the most prestigious academic post in the Muslim world at the time. He underwent a spiritual crisis in 1095, abandoned his career, and left Baghdad on the pretext of pilgrimage to Mecca, disposing of his wealth and adopting an ascetic lifestyle. After time in Damascus and Jerusalem, with a visit to Medina and Mecca in 1096, he returned to Tus for several years of seclusion, during which he wrote his magnum opus Iḥyā’ ‘ulūm ad-dīn and many other works. He reluctantly returned to teaching at the Nizamiyya of Nishapur in 1106, then later returned to Tus, declining an invitation in 1110 to return to Baghdad. He died on 19 December 1111 and was buried near his home in Tus.

Reader's Guide

Al-Ghazali's significance lies in his integration of Sufism into mainstream Islam and his critique of Aristotelian philosophy. His work Tahāfut al-Falāsifa ('Incoherence of the Philosophers') marked a major turn in Islamic epistemology, advancing a theological occasionalism that held all causal events as direct products of divine will. This critique influenced later European thought. His magnum opus, Iḥyā’ ‘ulūm ad-dīn, aimed to revive the spiritual sciences he believed had been forgotten. As a prominent mujtahid in the Shafi'i school and a key member of the Asharite school, he refuted the Mutazilites while holding a slightly different position from orthodox Asharites. His decade of seclusion after a spiritual crisis produced his most celebrated works, and his fatwa against the Taifa kings of al-Andalus was used to justify their removal. His legacy endures as a renewer of the faith and a central figure in Islamic thought.

Did You Know?

• Al-Ghazali was awarded the honorific title 'Proof of Islam' (Ḥujjat al-Islām).
• He underwent a spiritual crisis in 1095, abandoned his career, and left Baghdad on the pretext of going on pilgrimage to Mecca.
• During his seclusion, he worked as a mosque sweeper in Damascus and lived in the minaret of the Umayyad Mosque.
• He wrote a fatwa against the Taifa kings of al-Andalus, declaring them unfit to rule.

Notable Quotes (Wikiquote)

"The man who makes his religion a means to the gaining of this world, will lose both worlds alike; whereas the man who gives up this world for the sake of religion, will get both worlds alike." — Al-Ghazali "The Faith and Practice of Al-Ghazali, Allen & Unwin (1963), p. 152." — Al-Ghazali "Fada’ih al-Batiniyya. Edited by Abdurahman Badawi. Kuwait: Muasassa Dar al-Kutub al-Thiqafa (1964), p. 82." — Al-Ghazali "Tibawi, A.L. (ed. and tr.). (1965) Al-Risala al-Qudsiyya (The Jerusalem Epistle) “Al-Ghazali's Tract on Dogmatic Theology”. In: The Islamic Quarterly, 9:3–4 (1965), 3-4." — Al-Ghazali