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 — John Shaqi
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
Facsimile title page of the last book Al-Ghazali wrote, entitled
“Minhaj Al-ʾAbidin.” On the margin this Cairo edition gives
another of his celebrated works, “Badayat-al-Hadaya” 232
A _Mihrab_ or prayer-niche made of cedar wood and dating from
the Eleventh Century. (Cairo Museum) 242
I
The Eleventh Century
“Between the civilizations of Christendom and Islam there is
a gulf which no human genius, no concourse of events, can
entirely bridge over. The most celebrated Orientals, whether in
war or policy, in literature or learning, are little more than
names for Europeans.”
—_“The Assemblies of Al-Hariri,” by Thomas Chenery._
“With the time came the man. He was Al-Ghazali, the greatest,
certainly the most sympathetic figure in the history of Islam,
and the only teacher of the after generations ever put by a
Muslim on a level with the four great Imams. The equal of
Augustine in philosophical and theological importance. By his
side the Aristotelian philosophers of Islam, Ibn Rushd and
all the rest, seem beggarly compilers and scholiasts. Only
Al-Farabi, and that in virtue of his mysticism, approaches him.
In his own person he took up the life of his time on all its
sides and with it all its problems. He lived through them all
and drew his theology from his experience.”
—_“Muslim Theology, Jurisprudence and
Constitutional Theory,” by D. B. Macdonald._
I
THE ELEVENTH CENTURY
The great characters of history may be compared to mountain peaks that
rise high above the plains and the lower foot-hills and are visible from
great distances because they dominate the landscape. In the historical
study of Islam four names stand out prominently. They are those of
Mohammed himself; of Al-Bokhari, the most celebrated collector of the
Traditions; of Al-Ashʾari, the great dogmatic theologian and the opponent
of rationalism; and of Al-Ghazali, the reformer and mystic. The last
named has left a larger imprint upon the history of Islam than any man
save Mohammed himself. “If there had been a prophet after Mohammed,” said
As-Suyuti, “it would have been Al-Ghazali.”