Analysis of Abu Hamid Al-Ghazali essays

Analysis of Abu Hamid Al-Ghazali essays Abu Hamid Al-Ghazali (1058-1111 CE) is regarded by scholars as an Islamic intellectual giant. He is one of the greatest teachers and interpreters of Islam, other than Muhammad. Born in 1058 CE in Tus, (in what is now known as Khorasan, Iran), he was a well educated man, having been taught in school in his early adulthood, studying under a distinguished theologian, al-Juwayni in Nishapur. Because of his privileged upbringing and intellectual capabilities at that time, he brought into existence various manuscripts on Islamic theology and law, which are still being used in the present. Al-Ghazali lived during the period known as the Golden Age of Islam (750-1258 CE), a period of growth in the mastery of art, mathematics, astronomy, medicine, and music. After his years of study, he later moved on to easing the political struggles of his time by writing religious treatises. He was later appointed the position of rector and professor of the Nizamiyya institute in Baghdad. Baghdad, at this time was considered the intellectual centre of the known world. This institute was also the greatest seat of learning in Islam. He produced two of his most important texts, The Intentions of Philosophers and The Incoherence of Philosophers. Afterwards, Al-Ghazali resigned as professor for pilgrimages between the cities of Mecca, Medina, Tus, and Damascus, during a period of ten years. His copious work which was made up of forty books, called Revivification of the Religious Sciences, was a seminal text which outlined the significance and meaning of the practices of Islam. He link ed theology, Muslim law (Sharia) and Sufi mysticism. Al-Ghazali was a very prominent contributor in the areas of philosophy, religion and especially Sufism. Greek philosophy in his time, including Neoplatonic philosophy, was accepted and further developed by a number of Muslim philosophers which w ...