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Al-Ghazālī and Rasā’il Ikhwān al-Ṣafā’: Their Influence on His Thought

Abstract

In his Munqidh, al-Ghazālī states that there were four classes of seekers of truth at his time: the theologians, the followers of the doctrine of Ta‘līm, the philosophers, and the Sufis. He depicts himself here as a Sufi who denounces the others, especially philosophy. This image of al-Ghazālī became the major perception of him from the beginning. But this perception changed completely in the twentieth century. The most recent scholarship challenges this image and views him as a kind of scholar who was heavily influenced by philosophy and disseminated its teachings in disguise. However, the concentration is given mostly to the philosophy of Ibn Sīnāwhile searching the source of this influence. While not denying the influence of Ibn Sīnā, this study argues that Rasā’il Ikhwān Ṣafā’ must be taken seriously as a major source of philosophical influence on al-Ghazālī’s thought despite the negative remarks he makes about them. It tries to prove its argument first by situating al-Ghazālī’s negative remarks in the political and social conditions of his time and second by comparing his works, especially his Mishkāt al-Anwār, with Rasā’il. For its purpose, this study considers al-Ghazālī as a philosopher whose main concern was to direct the attention of his readers to their inner states and the behaviors resulting from them. This concern led him to search for and develop an ethical theology in which the theory of the soul and its purification played a role of utmost importance. The study shows that during his search, al-Ghazālī found the essential ingredients of this theology in the work of Ikhwān al-Ṣafā’, gave it a new form, and put it on the market with a new name, “the Science of the Hereafter” (‘ilm al-akhirah) with its two subdivisions: the science of practice (‘ilm al-mu‘āmalah) and the science of unveiling (‘ilm al-mukashafah).

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