Introduction
"The Faith and Practice of Al-Ghazali" 1 is a translation of two of
Al-Ghazali's works by W. M. Watt. The first work is "Deliverance from Error"
(al-Munqidh min ad-Dalal) and the second work is "The
Beginning of Guidance" (Bidayat al-Hidayah).
The Deliverance From Error
"Deliverance from Error" attempts to present a solid
foundation for divine knowledge. Al-Ghazali detailed his own
quest for truth to show how truth can be known with
certainty. The description of his own quest for truth gives
an interesting, albeit sketchy, autobiography of his life.
Naturally, the autobiography of his thought-life is used to
buttress his own case for 'Deliverance from Error.'
After a short introduction, he sets out four different
ways that truth is commonly thought to be attained.
1. The Theologians (mutakallimum) are the class of
individuals who intellectually speculate upon the sacred
writings to arrive at their true meaning. These individuals
belonged to those who studied the science of kalaam.
2. The Batiniyah accepted 'authoritative instruction' (ta'lim)
from an infallible Imam as the true path to truth.
3. The Islamic Philosophers (al-falasifa) taught that foundational
truth could be arrived at via logic and syllogistic
demonstration.
4. The Sufis and Mystics claimed they arrived at clear
truth by direct prophetic 'encounter' with Allah. In some
mystical sense, they were gifted with a vision and
understanding of clear divine truth.
In brief, Al-Ghazali critiques these four different
attempts to obtain the certainty of truth. In the end, he
finds that truth must be justified by a mystical prophetic
experience.
The Beginning of Guidance
"'The Beginning of Guidance" attempts to show how a
student should begin his or her successful spiritual
journey. This book is divided into two sections.
Part 1. Acts of Obedience.
This section covers the physical acts of obedience to Allah.
It begins by describing how a person should awake from sleep
until they go to bed at night. It covers personal physical acts
of obedience as well as social acts of obedience. Al-Ghazali
believed that the physical acts of obedience were important
aids to help in the spiritual development of a seeker of truth.
Part 2. The Avoidance of Sins.
The first part of the
second section covers 'outward' acts of sin, such as lying,
backbiting, wrangling, self-justification, invoking evil
upon creatures and jesting and scoffing. The second section
covers 'The Sins of the Heart.' These sins are mainly envy,
hypocrisy, and pride. He seems to think that the intentions
of the heart determine the worthiness of any physical
devotional act. If the internal, unspoken motives were not
pure, the outward act will be worthless.
Al-Ghazali cited a Tradition to make his point clear and
unambiguous,
"Thus we find in Tradition, 'On the day of
resurrection orders will be given to take the martyr to the
Fire, and he will say, "O Lord, I was martyred fighting
in Thy path", and God most high will say to him,
"You wanted it to be said that so and so is brave; that
has been said, and that is your reward".' The same will
be said of the scholar, the man who has performed the
pilgrimage to Mecca, and the reciter of the Qur'an."
page 145.2
Finally, both of his books are easy to read and
understand. He set forth his ideas in a clear fashion, and
then he used appropriate illustrations to clarify his ideas.
This reinforced his ideas and reassures his reader that he
is actually understanding the thoughts of Al-Ghazali.
Last edited 04/02/2000
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