42 Facts About Al-Ghazali

Al-Ghazali is known as one of the most prominent and influential jurisconsult, legal theoretician, mufti, philosopher, theologian, logician and mystic in Islamic history.

Al-Ghazali is considered to be the 11th century's mujaddid, a renewer of the faith, who, according to the prophetic hadith, appears once every 100 years to restore the faith of the Islamic community.

Al-Ghazali's works were so highly acclaimed by his contemporaries that he was awarded the honorific title "Proof of Islam".

Al-Ghazali was a prominent mujtahid in the Shafi'i school of law.

Much of Al-Ghazali's work stemmed around his spiritual crises following his appointment as the head of the Nizzamiyya University in Baghdad - which was the most prestigious academic position in the Muslim world at the time.

Al-Ghazali believed that the Islamic spiritual tradition had become moribund and that the spiritual sciences taught by the first generation of Muslims had been forgotten.

Al-Ghazali was born in c in Tus, then part of Seljuk Empire.

Al-Ghazali was a Muslim scholar, law specialist, rationalist, and spiritualist of Persian descent.

Al-Ghazali was born in Tabaran, a town in the district of Tus, Khorasan, not long after Seljuks entered Baghdad and ended Shia Buyid Amir al-umaras.

Al-Ghazali later studied under al-Juwayni, the distinguished jurist and theologian and "the most outstanding Muslim scholar of his time," in Nishapur, perhaps after a period of study in Gurgan.

Al-Ghazali underwent a spiritual crisis in 1095, which some speculate was brought on by clinical hysteria, abandoned his career and left Baghdad on the pretext of going on pilgrimage to Mecca.

Al-Ghazali reluctantly capitulated in 1106, fearing rightly that he and his teachings would meet with resistance and controversy.

Al-Ghazali later returned to Tus and declined an invitation in 1110 from the grand vizier of the Seljuq Sultan Muhammad I to return to Baghdad.

Al-Ghazali contributed significantly to the development of a systematic view of Sufism and its integration and acceptance in mainstream Islam.

Al-Ghazali received many titles such as Zayn al-Din and Hujjat al-Islam.

Al-Ghazali is viewed as the key member of the influential Asharite school of early Muslim philosophy and the most important refuter of the Mutazilites.

Al-Ghazali is known to have written a fatwa against the Taifa kings of al-Andalus, declaring them to be unprincipled, not fit to rule and that they should be removed from power.

Al-Ghazali gave as an example of the illusion of independent laws of cause the fact that cotton burns when coming into contact with fire.

Al-Ghazali crafted his rebuttal of the Aristotelian viewpoint on the creation of the world in The Eternity of the World.

Al-Ghazali lays out in The Decisive Criterion for Distinguishing Islam from Clandestine Unbelief his approach to Muslim orthodoxy.

Al-Ghazali wrote most of his works in Persian and in Arabic.

Al-Ghazali played a major role in integrating Sufism with Shariah.

Al-Ghazali was the first to present a formal description of Sufism in his works.

Al-Ghazali's works strengthened the status of Sunni Islam against other schools.

Al-Ghazali succeeded in gaining widespread acceptance for Sufism at the expense of philosophy.

Al-Ghazali's influence was not limited to Islam, but in fact his works were widely circulated among Christian and Hebrew scholars and philosophers.

Al-Ghazali's works were heavily relied upon by Islamic mathematicians and astronomers such as At-Tusi.

Al-Ghazali was by every indication of his writings a true mystic in the Persian sense.

Al-Ghazali believed himself to be more mystical or religious than he was philosophical however, he is more widely regarded by some scholars as a leading figure of Islamic philosophy and thought.

Al-Ghazali describes his philosophical approach as a seeker of true knowledge, a deeper understanding of the philosophical and scientific, and a better understanding of mysticism and cognition.

Al-Ghazali mentioned the number of his works "more than 70" in one of his letters to Sultan Sanjar in the late years of his life.

Al-Ghazali was called The Proof of Islam and undoubtedly was worthy of the name, absolutely trustworthy How many an epitome us setting forth the basic principles of religion: how much that was repetitive has he summarised, and epitomised what was lengthy.

Al-Ghazali used moderation, being quiet but decisive in silencing an adversary, though his words were like a sharp sword-thrust in refuting a slanderer and protecting the high-road of guidance.

Al-Ghazali studied fiqh in his own town, then he moved to Nisapur in the company of a group of students.

Al-Ghazali became well-versed in 'ilm al-kalaam and debate, until he became the best of debater.

Al-Ghazali has been seen by Orientalist scholars as causing a decline in scientific advancement in Islam, because of his refutation of the new philosophies of his time.

Al-Ghazali saw danger in the statements made by philosophers that suggested that God was not all-knowing or even non-existent, which strongly contradicted his conservative Islamic belief.

Al-Ghazali held economic activity to a very high level of importance in his life and thought that others should as well, as he felt that it was not only necessary for the overall benefit to society but to achieve spiritual wholeness and salvation.

Al-Ghazali thought that it should not be necessary to force equality of income in society but that people should be driven by "the spirit of Islamic brotherhood" to share their wealth willingly, but he recognized that it is not always the case.

Al-Ghazali believed that wealth earned could be used in two potential manners.

Al-Ghazali recognized the necessity of trade and its overall beneficial effect on the economy, but making money in that way might not be considered the most virtuous in his beliefs.

Al-Ghazali did not support people taking "excessive" profits from their trade sales.