A Moslem seeker after God : $b showing Islam at its best in the life and teaching of al-Ghazali, mystic and theologian of the eleventh century
Al-Ghazali · en
He is at his best when he speaks of vices and their opposite virtues. No
one can read his chapter against pride and boasting without seeing that
he gives us again a page from his own experience. He begins by quoting
the saying of the Prophet, “No one shall enter paradise in whose heart
there is the weight of a grain of mustard seed of pride.” And another
saying, “Said God Most High, ‘Pride is my mantle and majesty is my cloak,
and whosoever takes away one of them from me I will cast him into hell,
and I care not.’” Another saying attributed to Mohammed is evidently
taken from the Gospel, “Whoso humbleth himself before God, God will exalt
him, and whosoever is proud God will bring him low.” His definition of
humility is beautiful: “True humility is to be subject to the truth and
to be corrected by it even though thou shouldst hear it from a mere boy
on the street.” In this connection he quotes also a saying of Jesus:
“Said the Messiah (upon Him be peace), ‘Blessed is he to whom God has
taught His book. He shall never die in his pride.’”
Pride is shown in different ways. Al-Ghazali enumerates pride of
knowledge, of worship, of race and blood, of beauty and dress, of wealth,
of bodily strength, of leadership. He quotes Mohammed as an example of
humility, and also Abi Saeed el Khudri, who said, “Oh, my son, eat unto
God and drink unto God and dress unto God. But whatsoever thou doest
of all of these and there enters into them pride or hypocrisy it is
disobedience. Whatever you do in your house do it yourself as did the
Apostle of God, for he used to milk the goats and patch his sandals and
sew his cloak and eat with the servants and buy in the bazaar, nor did
his pride forbid him carrying his own packages home; and he was friendly
to the rich and to the poor and he gave greetings himself first to every
one whom he met, etc.”
It is noteworthy that when he rises to the highest ethical teaching he
bases his remarks on the sayings (mostly apocryphal) of Christ, which we
collate in our final chapter. Al-Ghazali tried hard but failed to find in
Mohammed the ideals of his own heart. This is the tragedy of Islam.
VIII
Al-Ghazali as a Mystic