Exploring Abu Hamid al-Ghazali’s Rationality in the Context of Later Abbasid Period and its Impact on Muslim Societies

Author(s) : Ehsan Elahi, Dr. Muhammad Abrar Zahoor

Abstract:

Endowed with reason, logic, sagacity and intellect, Abu Hamid Muhammad ibn Muhammad al-Ghazali (b.1058-d.1111) was destined to play a significant role in the history of human thought. On account of his contribution, he was surnamed as ‘Islam’s convincing proof’, and a Mujaddid (Renewer/ Reviver) and even reckoned at par with four imams. No doubt that Islamic world produced many men of high caliber, but the uniqueness of Ghazali lies in the fact that his life and works are so interlinked and interconnected that it is difficult to conceive of the separation of one from the other. According to Macdonald, Ghazali is the equal of Augustine in the philosophical and theological disciplines. But, to Ghazali, the position of early philosophers of Islam was merely that of peripatetic, who were concerned with espousing the cause of Aristotelian philosophy. Only al-Farabi wins exception, for he, by virtue of his mysticism, approaches him with some degree of closeness. By nature, Ghazali was curious and inquisitive, who was prone to disentangle the mysteries shrouding the truth, which, according to him, had been lost in the labyrinth of doubt and suspicion. However, he is blamed to have stymied the spirit of scientific inquiry and quest for logic and thus contributed in decline of Muslim societies. This paper challenges this interpretation and tries to shift blame not on a single person but multiple factors which may have contributed to such a decline.