Al_Ghazali

IMAM ABU HAMID AL-GHAZALI

Who was Al-Ghazali?

Al-Ghazali was a Muslim Saint, a scholar, who came from a humble background and through intelligence and determination became one of the most famous scholarly authorities in the whole Islamic world.

CHILDHOOD AND EDUCATION

• Al Ghazali's full name was Abu Hamid Muhammad Ibn Muhammad Al-Ghazali.
• He was born in 1058 CE in the district of Tus, which lies in present day Iran.However this place does not exist now because it was almost entirely destroyed during the Mongol invasion in 1220 CE.
• Al Ghazali's father, Muhammad, was a poor man who made his living as a cotton merchant. He passed away when Al-Ghazali was very young.
• Al Ghazali's early education was from local teachers, in his hometown.
• In 1073 CE, Al Ghazali travelled to Gurgan, a town on the shores of the Caspian Sea, to study law. He was only fifteen years old at the time.
• In those days there were many schools and colleges in every major town and city. However, Nishapur and Baghdad were the two most famous towns. Since Nishapur was closer to home, Imam Ghazali decided to go there around the age of twenty. Here Al Ghazali studied Islamic sciences under Imam Al-Haramain al Juwayni, the greatest scholar of his time. Nishapur was one of the famous centers for learning in the Muslim world. Imam Al-Haramain was the Grand Mufti at that time. He was held in high esteem by the government and the public. He had an unrivaled reputation and status.

THE STUDENT

• Imam Ghazali soon earned a special place amongst the students of Imam Al-Haramain. He was appointed as the “Mueed”, assistant teacher. Imam Ghazali began to write books and his teacher encouraged him in this endeavour. Soon his fame began to spread.
• He was cleverer than many of his teachers.
• Apart from Quran, the young Al Ghazali learned Arabic grammar, theology (study of divinity or religious truth), logic, Islamic law and Hadith.

IMAM GHAZALI IN BAGHDAD

After the death of Imam Al-Haramain in 1086 CE (475 AH), Imam Ghazali, who was then twenty seven years old, decided to leave Nishapur and head for Baghdad. Baghdad was the other great centre of learning under the patronage of Nizam al-Mulk.

Nizam al-Mulk was the vizier or chief minister of the sultans of Seljuq Dynasty.( seljuqs was a Turkish group that had claimed control of Baghdad and thus controlled much of the Islamic world, during Al Ghazali's life).

Nizam al Mulk's court was like a debating society that provided the young scholars the opportunity not only to show off their debating skills but also to impress the royals.

While searching for knowledge, al Ghazali had the desire to advance in the world, so he joined this court and loved the pomp and ceremony of these occasions. It wasn’t long before Imam Ghazali’s genius became apparent, his debates, lectures and counselling was over-whelmingly impressive. His brilliance in all branches of learning was now well established and Nizamul Mulk recognised this.

In 1091 CE, when Al-Ghazali was thirty four, Nizam al Mulk, offered him to be the principal of the Al Nizamiyyah College in Baghdad.

Al Ghazali accepted the offer and this penniless young boy from Tus was now one of the most important scholars in Islamic world.He became a wealthy, powerful and famous man.

Imam Ghazali had a lot of influence on the royal family, so much so that they listened to him and heeded his advice.

Nizamiyyah College was located on the eastern bank of the River Tigris.

Later, this building was damaged during the Mongol conquest of Baghdad and now no longer exists.

Al Ghazali had a wide range of interests, but philosophy and spirituality were his favorite subjects.

This young professor also investigated the teachings of Muslim philosophers, al-Farabi and Ibn Sina, who had studied the philosophy of ancient greeks and attempted to apply it to Islam.

Al Ghazali strongly opposed the ideas of these philosophers and it was his arguments and books that prevented Greek philosophy from having long term influence in the Islamic world.

As his interest in spirituality deepened, Al Ghazali became critical of the pomp, wealth and his love of status.A conflict began to brew inside him.He started experiencing a personal spiritual crisis and felt like leaving Baghdad and retire into wilderness.He found that there was something lacking in how the religion was presented to Muslims of his time, for he himself sought a deeper knowledge and could not find it in most of the avenues open to him.

Searching for inner peace, he took the path of Sufism.(A path of spirituality in which Muslims seek to find the truth of divine love and knowledge through direct personal experience of God, under the guidance of a Shaykh of s Sufi order.)

Sufism provided a way into the heart of Islam for him, but he also wanted to revive the religion for all Muslims.

A NEW LIFE

After years of success, Al Ghazali left behind his fame, money, his prestigious position and his family, and became a poor traveller to experience the peace of a content inner life.

Before leaving Baghdad, he gave up his teaching post to his brother, Ahmed.

Al Ghazali left for Damascus and spent most of his time at The Umayyad Mosque, one of the great buildings of Islamic world.

He spent nearly two years in Damascus, devoting himself to the purification of his soul and cleansing his heart for the remembrance of Allah (SWT), according to the way he had learned from the writings of the Sufis.( A Sufi is a Muslim seeking Allah's pleasure by His constant remembrance and abstaining from worldly pleasures.)

After two years of devotion and spiritual exercises he moved to Jerusalem and stayed in the Dome of the Rock.

Later he went to Hebron to visit the tomb of Prophet Ibrahim (AS), after which he went to Makkah to perform hajj.

For ten long years he remained on his journey of self discovery and the search for truth.During this time Imam Ghazali wrote books and taught in seminaries and guided students.

Once again he returned to Baghdad after ten years. However, he returned a very different man this time. He was no longer a proud scholar seeking worldly desires and fame.He was a seeker of Allah (SWT)'s pleasure.

After his return,lmam Ghazali taught at Nizamiyya Nishapur only for a short while before going back to his home town of Tus.Here he established a small seminary where he taught and directed students.

HIS DEATH

He died on 14th Jamadi-as-Sani 505 AH (1111 CE) at the age of 53. His younger brother Ahmad Ghazali gives an account of his last moments: “On Monday morning Imam woke up, he performed wudu and prayed salat al Fajar and then asked for his shroud and kissing it said “I eagerly accept my Lord’s command. He lay down and passed away.May Allah bless his soul.

IMAM GHAZALI'S BOOKS

Following are some of his books:

• Minhaaj ul Abidin – A Program for the worshipers
• Al-Munqiz min Ad-dalal – The savior from deviation.
• Ihya ‘ulum ud din – The Revival of Religious Sciences.

Ihya 'ulum ud din, is his most famous work bringing out much of the hidden depths of ordinary Islamic worship and leading the reader on a journey towards Allah (SWT), showing how He might be reached and some of the traps and pitfalls along the way.This book is divided into four sections.