A Reconciliation of Faith: Al-Ghazali, Sufism, and 1لفلسفة اإلسالمية
“Never have I dealt with anything more difficult than my own soul, which sometimes helps me and sometimes opposes me.”
– Imam al-Ghazali
Born Abu Hamid Muhammad al-Ghazali in eleventh century Iran and known simply as “Algazel” in the West or “Al-Ghazali” across the Islamic world, the Muslim theologian pursued the study of law, philosophy, and Islamic mysticism or Sufism during his lifetime. He left behind a prominent legacy in the area of Sunni theology at a time when it had just passed through ontological consolidation and began entering a period of intense pushback from Shi’ite and Ismail’ite theology, as well as the Arabic tradition of Aristotelian philosophy or falsafa.2Nonetheless, Al-Ghazali found fault with the Aristotelian inclinations of his predecessors, including Al-Farabi (Alpharabius) and Ibn-Sina (Avicenna) respectively, and emphasized the inconsistencies of philosophy with Qur’anic teachings. In the early years of his career, he acquired an intense and intimate knowledge of both philosophy and Islamic theology3 and eventually articulated his refutation of falsafa in his seminal work, The Incoherence of the Philosophers. In this landmark text, Al-Ghazali provided an alternative view of the Aristotelians’ teachings from an Islamic perspective aligned with the Qur’an and hadith, or record of the Prophet Muhammad’s صلى الله عليه وسلم teachings throughout his lifetime (what he saw, said, and did). Although some contemporary sources have classified him as a polemical figure and orthodox Ash’arite scholar4 severely critical of those whom he believed maligned the Qur’an and hadith, his scholarship was a reasoned attempt to demarcate the boundaries of philosophical thought and its relationship with Islamic tradition while articulating what falsafa could and could not do.5 During the zenith of Muslim history, when the theologian began studying Sufi literature or tasawwuf after quitting his teaching posts in Baghdad in 1095 and discarding his wealth in order to become a wandering ascetic, his works gradually broached the place of philosophy and its relation to Islamic mysticism. By embracing Sufism more fulsomely, Al-Ghazali not only reconciled his faith with his opposition to philosophy, but also improved upon the latter and its potential compatibility with al-falsafa al-islamiyya or Islamic philosophy. Thus, this brief essay will touch upon Al-Ghazali’s opposition to philosophy or falsafa, the mounting role of Sufism in his life, and how he elevated and enriched the former through his multi-layered awareness and understanding of the latter.
As mentioned prior, philosophy during the time which Al-Ghazali lived had historically encompassed the teachings of Aristotelianism and Neoplatonism in the works of ninth to eleventh century influential philosophers like Al-Farabi and Ibn-Sina. Since the movement of falsafa in the Middle East resulted from the translation of Greek philosophical and scientific literature into Arabic from the eighth to the early tenth centuries2, Muslim philosophers actively deconstructed and built upon Aristotelian and Neoplatonic texts in conjunction with Islamic philosophy in uniquely original ways. In his twelfth century autobiographical account, The Deliverance from Error, Al-Ghazali described the intellectual and socio-spiritual atmosphere of his era broadly as one of religious ferment, excessive innovation, and contradictory claims, and hence, the catalyst for his intense pursuit of truth and certainty.6 Meanwhile, in The Incoherence of the Philosophers, he revealed that his frustration with philosophy was derived from its “destructive effects” on the fundamentals of religion3, and though he sought to refute the Aristotelians on purely philosophical grounds, he could not help but point out that many of their propositions were contrary to Islamic teachings.5 As stated in The Deliverance from Error, Al-Ghazali insisted that it was the “God-given duty” of Islamic theologians to successfully preserve orthodoxy, defend the creed they received from prophetic sources, and rectify “heretical innovations.”5 That being said, elements of Ibn-Sina’s philosophical positioning— including the world as lacking a beginning in the past and creation in time, that God’s knowledge was limited to “universals” and not “particulars,” and that the soul could never return to the body after death— were critiqued by Al-Ghazali, who believed that each assertion culminated in a “denial” of religious meanings. Whilst the theologian was heavily opposed to the application of Aristotelianism to these sensitive points, he advocated for Aristotelian logical methods as potential solutions to problems in Islamic philosophy. This is justified by the philosopher Jules Janssens’ postulation that despite the fact that he remained a “religious thinker,” Al-Ghazali was able to appreciate the rational contributions of philosophy (i.e. natural philosophy, mathematics, and logic) as long as they addressed matters that remained within the scope of human reasoning.4 For Al-Ghazali, metaphysics in this sense, was far more susceptible to unfulfilled propositions that were dangerously removed from religious teachings. In The Incoherence of the Philosophers, he went further and examined twenty propositions which he believed the Aristotelians had not adequately demonstrated.5
For example, in response to the Aristotelians’ position on causality, Al-Ghazali put forward the doctrine of Occasionalism. This was an Ash’arite notion that God’s omnipotence required that He be the only “causal agent.”5 Parallel to Qur’anic teachings, Occasionalism stressed that God was rational, consistent, and able to produce an effect without an immediate cause. Al-Ghazali divided the schools of philosophy he encountered in his studies into various branches and claimed that even if some of them were “closer” to the truth than others, their practitioners all generally suffered from the “defect” of being infidels and irreligious individuals.5 Similarly, he regarded scepticism as the crux of philosophical thought— a phenomenon which shook the foundations of religious doctrine.3 Nevertheless, by virtue of being human, the theologian attempted to correct his doubts and strengthen his faith during the episodes in his life wherein he underwent spiritual crises. In an effort to recover from his intellectual incertitudes, Al-Ghazali pursued ethical refinement and purification of the soul in the form of Sufism or tasawwuf. According to The Deliverance from Error, Al-Ghazali observed that the “complete mystic way” included both intellectual belief and practical activity.5 Tasawwuf is considered by Muslims to represent the spiritual aspect of Islam; it also stresses its ritualistic, esoteric, and moral dimensions.7 In this vein, Al-Ghazali began endorsing Sufism out of the belief that it consisted of “getting rid” of obstacles in the self and in purging its “base characteristics” and “vicious morals” so that the heart may liberate itself from what was not God and embark on reaching clarity and certainty.5 Soon after, he obtained the materials required to investigate Sufism and learned through reading books, oral instruction, and observation. The conclusion Al-Ghazali came to, however, was that Islamic mysticism was something that could not be apprehended by academic study, but only meaningfully by immediate experience and ecstasy, by disunion from materialism, and by moral change.5 In addition to progressing as a Sufi mystic, Al-Ghazali outlined Occasionalist reasons for the knowledge he acquired— that the certainty he sought did not come about by systematic affirmation or technical argument, but by a radiance or noor which God, Allah the Most High, shone into his breast.6 After this spiritual experience, the theologian began writing works such as The Marvels of the Heart, which focused on the significance of the heart and the intention behind worship and duty. In The Revival of the Religious Sciences, he employed personal experience in counselling Muslims to perform numerous acts of spiritual piety and reflection to keep religion alive in the heart aside from physical acts of worship.6
Al-Ghazali realized perhaps, that the “sciences” he had laboured over and the great lengths he went to in order to interrogate Islamic mysticism and philosophy only served to reinvigorate his faith in God, Qur’anic revelation, and the Islamic end-of-times (yawm al- qiyāmah or the “Day of Judgement”). He made known that these three “creedal principles” were always a part of him, but modified his previous view of causality by stating that these principles were not there through argued proofs, but by reason of various causes, coincidences, and experiences which were incapable of being stated in exact detail.5 His complete devotion to an ascetic Sufi lifestyle ultimately abated his interest in returning to his teaching position at the esteemed Nizamiyya madrassa8 in Baghdad and reclaiming his various titles and accolades. As he came to reconcile with the new human being and Muslim he was becoming, Al-Ghazali decided to introduce Sufism to his community through teaching and as a means of acquiring certainty for his heart and soul. His utter change in persona, from a rational and intellectual logician grounded firmly in the maintenance of religious principles to a heartful practitioner of tasawwuf, demonstrates the way in which he reunited with his faith and raised philosophy to a loftier level. The more he came to grasp Sufi theories such as inspiration or kashf, knowledge or ilm, fervent love or ishq, immediate experience or dhawq, faith or iman, states of the heart, worship or ibadah, and virtues and vices, the more he softened in terms of opening up to a new philosophy rooted in Sufism. Al-Ghazali detached himself from his orthodox past in this way, and proselytized Sufism as an imam9 and shaykh10 by relaying its benefits and rewards, encouraging outsiders to see the beauty in the practice and distinguishing the Sufis as deeply “enlightened ones.”5 Indeed, this is a testament to how a theologian like Al-Ghazali, who divided “seekers” into four categories which he believed held the truth5, came to terms with his humanity in an honest effort to become one with God. For Al-Ghazali, there dawned a realization that worldly activities like teaching, lecturing, and studying the sciences did not contribute to the attainment of eternal life,5 and as a result, he bravely shrugged off the mantle of his previous intellectual endeavours and all the theories he had invested his mortal life into. In a way, this ameliorated the distrust he held towards philosophy in the past and enabled him to improve upon it by adding his Sufi knowledge to the discipline of philosophy (i.e. on the topic of causality). To put it simply, embracing Sufism enabled Al-Ghazali to turn once again to his former criticism of philosophy with new eyes and a completely reinvigorated fount of knowledge. If he had not passed away so soon after taking up the lifestyle of a Sufi ascetic, he might have had the opportunity to return to the arguments he once made against philosophy and expand upon them in a greater intellectually and spiritually flexible manner.
The contributions of Al-Ghazali to Islamic philosophy are irrefutably significant. Although in the early days of his career he was inclined towards critiquing Aristotelian metaphysics or philosophy, his personal experience with Sufi mysticism allowed him to cast away his preconceptions and surrender himself to a way of life which emphasized the role of the heart, love, worship, introspection, and inspiration. Al-Ghazali endured many intellectual and spiritual trials in identifying his place in the world, but his unfailing devotion to his craft and ability to deeply inhabit dialogical spaces while constantly challenging himself immortalized him in Sunni theology and Islamic philosophy as a “reviver” of his age and everlasting force. Furthermore, his prolific teachings were also adopted by Western theologians and Medieval Jewish and Christian philosophers like Judah Halevi and St. Thomas Aquinas among many others. In taking up Sufism, Al-Ghazali not only initiated the renewal of an Islamic philosophy emerging from within Islamic religious tradition and fortified the bonds of his own spirituality, but also confronted and reconstructed his intense dissent of falsafa by expanding upon its profound compatibility with Islamic theology.
