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Hi, just wanted to post my first post here, since i had some time to spare and wanted to contribute to the subreddit I got a lot of valuable input. This post includes questions and also a a long thread what amazes me about al-Ghazali. Just to inform you before starting; the post is 5 minute read. Keep in mind before starting to read; you can skip the post or without reading the thread just write your thoughts on my questions below.
Let us start with questions.
● What is your impression of Al-Ghazali?
● Which arguments of him are you cynical about?
I would love to further read about Al-Ghazali by narrowing my focus to most discussed ideas from him, and trying to a sort of cross-referencing. Thank you for your time.
Al-Ghazali amazes me every single time. I started reading him just to learn because Islamic history is a hobby of mine.
But every time I read this guy who lived 1000 years ago, on every single topic, I see incredibly practical knowledge, an incredible capacity for reasoning and analysis, and a phenomenal ability to argue. The man just doesn't miss any field, and One can sense strength of the arguments underlining his works, and day by day I become more aware of Islamic terms such as tawhid, ihlas, salat. All this starts making much more sense, altogether. And much different from what I get from my family.
And lastly, the thing that makes me fall in love with him recently is his honesty. Who else can be so honest about himself, knowing well that others will read about it too?
" I fell into doubt about the reliability of even the senses, and even the capacity of the intellect to reach certain knowledge. I sank into a profound skepticism." Then he wrote "I examined my motives and found that all my striving was for fame and status. I realized I was on the brink of Hell."
6 months of existence crises, described by his words " Never have I dealt with anything more difficult than my own soul, which sometimes helps me and sometimes opposes me"
This is one of the most reputable scholars of this age. He is at the height of his career when he was 29 years old. He builds the political theory of Sunni Islam and basically says, "I don't even trust my own senses anymore." This man had no ego protection. No defense. Just pure self-honesty; then he abandons all possessions which took years to build. He leaves everything; family, title, money, and fame and becomes an ascetic for the next 11 years.
This is the man who once said that the fruits of the knowledge of this world are: honor, happiness, dominion, having a say even over sultans, being held in esteem...
Knowledge is not just learning what must be done or what facts are. Knowledge is understanding how to act. Therefore, you have to explore causes, but remember that both the cause and the consequences come from the same point of origin. That itself is knowledge; Knowledge of God. And being the servant of Allah gives honor. The gifts of the Bestower (Al-Wahhāb) brings the people happiness. Understanding Allah grants dominion (Self-regulation of self using the best way of managing oneself, to be pure (Al-Quddūs, absolutely pure)).
al-Ghazali’s fear of God may have been the fear of putting his finger in God’s hegemonic area, which we can assume from the fact that, following his psychological breakdown at the age of 38, al-Ghazali gained high tolerance for differences). God is just and merciful. The ability to resist tyranny and oppression, having an understanding that only legitimate authority belongs to the just and merciful or to the Hegemon (El-Müheymin), allows you to stand firm against injustice and oppression. Accepting absolute authority in absolute hegemon will make you free of all your other burdens: anxiety, self-respect, economic anxiety, fear of death, and even fear of death of loved ones.
This is the essence of being anti-fragile (Nassim Nicholas Taleb, 2012). Fragile gets broken down by coercion, nonfragile withstands coercion, while anti-fragile becomes stronger under coercion.