الرحلةThe Journey

أبو حامد الغزالي

Imam al-Ghazali (RH)

Abu Hamid al-Ghazali

Also known as: Ghazali, Hujjat al-Islam, Algazel

450–505 AH · 1058–1111 CE

Sufism & Theology Shafi'i Sufism Theology Fiqh

Hujjat al-Islam, the Proof of Islam. Jurist, theologian and author of Ihya' 'Ulum al-Din.

Al-Ghazali studied under al-Juwayni in Nishapur and rose to become the most celebrated professor of his age at the Nizamiyya in Baghdad. At the height of his fame he went through a profound crisis of certainty, which he describes in his autobiography al-Munqidh min al-Dalal. In 1095 he left everything to follow the path of the Sufis.

During years of retreat he wrote Ihya' 'Ulum al-Din, the Revival of the Religious Sciences, which brings law, theology and the inner life of the heart into one framework. His Tahafut al-Falasifa critiqued the philosophers, and al-Mustasfa is a classic of Shafi'i legal theory. He is widely credited with establishing Sufism firmly within Sunni orthodoxy.

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Life journey

  1. 1058 CE Tus طوس
  2. 1077 CE Nishapur نيسابور
    Studied under Imam al-Haramayn al-Juwayni.
  3. 1091 CE Baghdad بغداد
    Appointed to teach at the Nizamiyya by Nizam al-Mulk.
  4. 1095 CE Damascus دمشق
    Left Baghdad after a spiritual crisis; lived in retreat in Damascus and visited Jerusalem, Hebron, Makkah and Madinah.
  5. 1097 CE Tus طوس
  6. 1106 CE Nishapur نيسابور
    Returned to public teaching at the Nizamiyya of Nishapur.
  7. 1109 CE Tus طوس
    Died 1111 CE · 505 AH

Teachers

  • al-Juwayni (RH) 1028–1085 CE
    Al-Ghazali studied with al-Juwayni at the Nizamiyya of Nishapur until al-Juwayni's death.

Students

  • Abu Bakr Ibn al-'Arabi (RH) 1076–1148 CE
    Abu Bakr ibn al-'Arabi met al-Ghazali in Baghdad during his journey east and studied with him.

Key works

  • Ihya' 'Ulum al-Din إحياء علوم الدين
    The Revival of the Religious Sciences
    Forty books uniting law, worship, ethics and the purification of the heart.
  • al-Munqidh min al-Dalal المنقذ من الضلال
    Deliverance from Error
    His spiritual autobiography: the search for certainty and the turn to Sufism.
  • Tahafut al-Falasifa تهافت الفلاسفة
    The Incoherence of the Philosophers
    A critique of the metaphysics of the Muslim Aristotelian philosophers.

Places in their life

al-Mustansiriyyah, an Abbasid college of 1233, Baghdad
al-Mustansiriyyah, an Abbasid college of 1233, Baghdad
Photo: Taisir Mahdi, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
The courtyard of the Umayyad Mosque, Damascus
The courtyard of the Umayyad Mosque, Damascus
Photo: Vyacheslav Argenberg, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Sources

  • al-Ghazali, al-Munqidh min al-Dalal
  • Taj al-Din al-Subki, Tabaqat al-Shafi'iyya al-Kubra
  • Frank Griffel, Al-Ghazali's Philosophical Theology (2009)
Draft, awaiting scholarly review.
Born 450 AH per most sources; Griffel argues for 448 AH (1056 CE). Years for the moves after 1095 are approximate.