Al Ghazali between Philosophy and Sufism

Al Ghazali embarked on his investigation of four different schools ofthought that were influential in his time-BaJinism, theology, philosophy,and Sufism’-in order to find truth in them. The first three did not satisfyhim, while Sufism provided him the truth for which he had been searching.There have always been notable Sufis of varied backgroundsthroughout the history of Islamic thought. Whereas most of them receivedthe traditional education, some had so much interest in logic and philosophythat they pursued these fields in depth. However, none of them penetratedinto these sciences as far as al Ghazali, who acquired an intimateknowledge of both philosophy and theology.Of all of the theologians who penetrated philosophy so deeply, nonebut al Ghazali managed to escape its harmful impact and, after masteringit, refute it. Many previous intellectuals had attacked philosophy from theviewpoint of religious or other convictions, but none were as original andinfluential as al Ghazali. Their arguments against philosophy were nottaken seriously, for they were unable to use philosophical terminologyproperly and could hardly grasp the meanings of the various complicatedand abstract arguments.However, al Ghazali’s case is completely different. His rejection ofphilosophy and his status as the author of such philosophical works as TheIntentions of the Philosophers and The Inconsistency of the Philosophers,which rank high in the Islamic version of Peripatetic philosophy, are milestones.The contents of these two books have been subjected to frequentdistortion by various factions: Theologians hailed these works as representingthe victory of religious faith over philosophical thinking, whileintellectuals inclined toward philosophy considered them to be examplesof sheer antagonism toward philosophy in general. However, this case isnot so trivial that it can be exploited by a scholar-jurist or so shallow andlacking in depth that it can be considered “a prejudicial act against philosophy”by a mediocre philosopher.Al Ghazali himself discloses why he was frustrated by philosophyin his quest for truth and why he chose to adopt Sufism instead. Hisaccount may be summed up as follows: His disillusionment with philosophywas, derived from its destructive effect on the fundamentals ofreligion, while his attraction to Sufism was rooted in the fact that ethicalrefinement and the purification of the soul were necessary conditionsin this discipline ...