Though Islamic philosophy did not long survive al-Ghazali’s criticism, he contributed greatly to the subsequent philosophization of Islamic theology and Sufism.„From my early youth, since I attained the age of puberty before I was twenty, until the present time when I am over fifty, I have ever recklessly launched out into the midst of these ocean depths, I have ever bravely embarked on this open sea, throwing aside all craven caution I have poked into every dark recess, I have made an assault on every problem, I have plunged into every abyss, I have scrutinized the creed of every sect, I have tried to lay bare the inmost doctrines of every community. Thus Sufism came to be generally recognized in the Islamic community.

Through his own religious experience, he worked to revive the faith of Islam by reconstructing the religious sciences upon the basis of Sufism, and to give a theoretical foundation to the latter under the influence of philosophy. It was only later that he finally attained to that truth in the ecstatic state ( fana’) of the Sufi. However, he was also forced to admit that the certainty of revelatory truth, for which he was so desperately searching, cannot be obtained by reason. The importance of his criticism lies in his philosophical demonstration that the philosophers’ metaphysical arguments cannot stand the test of reason. He mastered philosophy and then criticized it in order to Islamicize it. First of all, his attitude towards philosophy was ambivalent it was both an object of criticism and an object of learning (for example, logic and the natural sciences). In fact, his refutation of philosophy is not a mere criticism from a certain (orthodox) theological viewpoint. (This means that the traditional form of Islamic faith was in a very critical condition at the time.) This realization is possibly related to his criticism of Islamic philosophy.

It was, he says, due to his realization that there was no way to certain knowledge or the conviction of revelatory truth except through Sufism. In the meantime he resumed teaching for a few years at the Nizamiyyah College in Nishapur.Īl-Ghazali explained in his autobiography why he renounced his brilliant career and turned to Sufism. After wandering in Syria and Palestine for about two years and finishing the pilgrimage to Mecca, he returned to Tus, where he was engaged in writing, Sufi practices and teaching his disciples until his death. Four years later, however, al-Ghazali fell into a serious spiritual crisis and finally left Baghdad, renouncing his career and the world. As the intellectual head of the Islamic community, he was busy lecturing on Islamic jurisprudence at the College, and also refuting heresies and responding to questions from all segments of the community.

Being recognized by Nizam al-Mulk, the vizir of the Seljuq sultans, he was appointed head of the Nizamiyyah College at Baghdad in AH 484/ ad 1091. He was also involved in Sufi practices from an early age. He learned various branches of the traditional Islamic religious sciences in his home town of Tus, Gurgan and Nishapur in the northern part of Iran. Al-Ghazali is one of the greatest Islamic jurists, theologians and mystical thinkers.

Abu hamid al ghazali