Yet at the same time, I was ready to quote al-Ghazālī when his statements accorded with my worldview.īut study, time and events have enabled me to realise that his central recommendation in his chapter on knowledge, to discipline the soul, is one of the most important personal duties of any Muslim that seek to engender a social or political change.
#Who is imam al ghazali series
May God give us the will and success to do so.Imam Abū Ḥāmid al-Ghazālī in his magnum opus, Ihya Ulum al-Din, supports a series of searching recommendations that I would have, regretfully, scoffed at many years ago when starting in the world of Islamic activism. We should learn to grow and be curious, but we should also learn to polish our innermost jewel our hearts.Īs long as there is life, there is a chance to seek. Prioritize them and then engage with those learned or seekers of wisdom about.Ĭan we be honest with ourselves and not just about the outward world but our inward world and be genuine people rather than pretenders? As we move to life it is hard to imagine no visits or stays from arrogance, or vanity, or show off. Dig deep in your past or current state and ask what are the saved questions you want answered. Adults can be stagnant with life turning into a reaction to bills.
Will we approach our realities with wondering curiosity? One beautiful quality in children is nonstop questions. Whether it is essentials, or enrichment, or a reaction to a life change, one can always find something to learn that is obligatory or recommended. Just like many are encouraged to do this careers, we owe it to our souls to make every year an addition to our knowledge. Ask Yourself…Īre we willing to embrace our commitment to life as seekers? One would benefit from approaching the deen with the attitude of a lifelong learner. Imam al-Ghazali died in 1111 CE, but nearly 900 years later, his legacy inspires several questions. Soon after, the curtain of his life would draw to his close as he met the fate of every human, mortality. The tradition he embodied, was still sought, but this time in the knowledge of hadith, which he probably didn’t feel he studied sufficiently before. It is related he would hold hadith collection of Imam al-Bukhari to study and hug. His life-long journey to seeking didn’t stop. Imam al-Ghazali, always the seeker, established a space for spiritual seekers and gave them his care. It seems that Imam al-Ghazali can now retire… Hugging the Tradition After much pleading he agreed to teach, but everyone that knew him realized something profound has changed about him. He would eventually return to his town, but not intending to teach. He sought spirituality, experienced it, and even shared some of this experience in his autobiography and various other spiritual works. Spiritual SeekingĪfter reaching spiritual realization and contentment, he penned his knowledge in classics and mainstays of a spiritual tradition that are read until this day. In it, Imam al-Ghazali left prestige, fame, the ego, and spiritually developed himself unlike any learning previous experience he had before.
#Who is imam al ghazali full
He wouldn’t take a break from teaching for a month or two, nor a year or two, but a full decade. That crisis led him to resolve the prior dilemma of teaching publically and seeking spiritual solitude to attain certainty. Imam al-Ghazali, not feeling content, went through a crisis of his own. He learned and sought spirituality on top of his mastery of rational sciences, theoretical sciences, and mastering the ability to preach and teach. After inheriting much knowledge from his teacher one would think, that would be sufficient, but he didn’t stop there. Later in his life, he traveled to study with one of the giants of Islamic scholarship and geniuses of the world, Imam Diya al-Din ‘Abd al-Malik al-Juwayni. His basics established a foundation for further studies that shaped his future. Imam al-Ghazali climbed the path to knowledge on trodden steps. In our age of social media, claims to expertise, and selling oneself, many don’t value basics in comparison to the allure of appearing sophisticated. A religious caretaker was entrusted by his father, who himself both loved preachers and scholars of his time. He was sent to be a student, after the funds his father left with his caretaker ran out. Imam al-Ghazali learned the basics in his hometown of Tabaran.