AMMIELYYA JAFRI  NESLIHAN YAKUTSAMIHAH ISMAILHADIDATUN SOFRUJENIAR FABRLLAH

AL-GHAZALI

His Life

Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Ahmad

The Proof of Islam" (Hujjat al-Islam) Ornament of the Faith Gatherer of the Multifarious Sciences “ Great Siddîq Absolute Mujtahid

He was born in Tabaran

Al-Ghazali's father died in poverty and left the young al-Ghazali and his brother Ahmed to the care of a sufi

al-Ghazali began to receive instruction in FIQH from Ahmad al-Radhakani

He later studied under Al-Juwayni -the distinguished jurist and theologian

Divides into 3 stages

1

•IMAM AL-JUWAYNI

2

•NIZAM AL MULK

3

•RETIREMENT(AH 488-505/AD 1095-1111)

1-) The first is the period of learning, first in his home town of Tus in Persia, then in Gurgan and finally in Nishapur.

_ Moved to the court of Nizam al-Mulk, and appointed as head of the Nizamiyyah College at Baghdad in AH 484/AD 1091.

2-) Second period was his brilliant career as the highest-ranking orthodox ‘doctor’ of the Islamic community in Baghdad (AH 484-8/AD 1091-5). During this time, as well as lecturing on Islamic jurisprudence at the College, he was also busy refuting heresies and responding to questions from all segments of the community.

3-) Renouncing his career and the world * the assassination of Nizam al-Mulk * the subsequent violent death of Sultan

Malikshah -

Contribution to politics

Tibru’l-Masbuk(“Molten Gold”) – Politico-ethical handbook for royal guidance

Sirru’l Alamin (“The Mystery of the Two Worlds”) – A book written to facilitate the fulfillment of the ambitions of kings

Iqtisad fi’l-I’tiqad (“Moderation in Belief”) – A writing on the basis of royal prestige

Kitabu’l-Wajiz – A handbook on fiqh

_Seljuq minister Fakhr ul-Mulk_He continued to live as a Sufi and to write until 1109 CE_Near his house he built a khangah or Sufi hermitage_Minhaj al-‘Abidin [The Path of the Worshippers]_He continued until his death in 1111 CE (505 H)

Al-Ghazali returned to Baghdad in 1097 CE (490 H) and continued to live the life of a Sufi in the ribat of Abu Sa‘id of Nishapur opposite the Nizamiya madrasa.

He took up teaching again for a short time, expounding his Ihya' ‘Ulum ad-Din.

He then went to his birthplace, Tus, where he continued to live as a Sufi and to write. It is during this period that he completed the Ihya' ‘Ulum ad-Din and several other works of a clearly Sufi nature.

AL-GHAZALI’s PHILOSOPHY

Al-Ghazali’s relationship with philosophy is subtle and complicated

He studied philosophy intensively while in Baghdad, composing Maqasid al falasifa (The Intentions of the Philosophers)

For Al-Ghazali, the philosophy represented by AL-FARABI and IBN SINA is not simply an object of criticism but also an important component of his own learning.

The Maqasid is a precise summary of philosophy.

However, in the medieval Latin world- the content of the Maqasid was believed to be al-Ghazali’s own thought, due to textual defects in the Latin manuscripts.

He had an influence through the Latin and Hebrew translations of his writings and through such thinkers as Yehuda HALEVI, Moses MAIMONIDES and Raymond Martin of Spain.

As a result, in 19th century, the image of the ‘Philosopher Algazel’ was created.

More works by Al-Ghazali began to be published thereafter, but some contained philosophical ideas he himself had once rejected.

From the middle of the 20th century there were several attempts to verify Al-Ghazali’s authentic works through textual criticism.

As a result of these works the image of Al-Ghazali as an orthodox Ash‘arite theology began to prevail.

Al-Ghazali composed 3 works on Aristotelian logic: a)Mi‘yar al-‘ilm (The Standard Measure of Knowledge)

b)Mihakk al-nazar f'l-mantiq (The Touchstone of Proof in Logic)

c)Al-Qistas al-mustaqim (The Just Balance)

The first two were written immediately after the Tahafut `in order to help understanding of the latter', and the third was composed after his retirement.

Philosophy declined in the Sunni world after Al-Ghazali, and his criticism of philosophy certainly accelerated this decline.

Nearly a century later, Ibn Rushd has made desperate efforts to resist the trend by refuting al-Ghazali’s Tahafut in his Tahafut al-tahafut (The Incoherence of the Incoherence) and Fasl al-maqal (The Decisive Treatise), but he could not stop it.

In the Sunni world also, Aristotelian logic was incorporated into theology and Sufism was partially represented philosophically.

Al-Ghazali's criticism of philosophy and his mystical thought are often compared to the philosophical and theological thought of Thomas AQUINAS, NICHOLAS OF AUTRECOURT, and even DESCARTES and PASCAL.

State and constitution 

State according to al-Ghazali

Khilafah/caliphate is a divine state and Allah (SWT) is the Supreme Authority.  Thus His divine laws should rule.  He thought khilafah is necessary to protect Muslim’s religious, social and political rights and from internal conspiracies and external invasion.  His  definition of khalifah as khalifatulllah was an innovation in a sense that the four earliest caliphs, Khulaf-e-Rashideen, never claimed to be Khalifatullah but Khalifatur-Rasool (the successor of the Prophet).

The state systems are made up of thirteen institutions. They are:

1.The Khaleefah (Al-khaleefah).2. The delegated assistant (mu'aawin at-tafweed).3. The executing assistants (mu'aawin at-tanfeeZH).4. Governors (Wulaah).5. Amir of jihad (Ameerul jihad).6. Home land (Interior) security.7. Foreign affairs.8. Industry.9. Judiciary (QuDaa'a).10. The state departments (maSaaliH ad-dawlah).11. State treasury (Bayt ul-mal).12. Media (I'laam).13. The council of the Ummah (Shura and accounting).

Constitution

The constitution by Imam Al-Ghazali is appointed by Islamic law (the Shari’ah) principles contains guidelines and rules for all aspects of a Muslim's life, such as how to pray, the proper way to conduct a business transaction, how to bury the dead, as well as crimes and punishments. Traditionally, these laws were based largely upon the Qur'an and the sunnah, which is the practice of the Prophet.

New Constitution• The timing and method of the writing of the

new constitution has emerged as a contentious issue in the Egyptian transition. All parties believe that timing and method will affect the content of the document and thus push for the approach they deem most likely to produce the constitution they want.

Rules of

Conduct Desires make slaves out of

kings andpatience makes kings out of

slaves.Imam al-Ghazali

1. Know the important and danger of the authority entrusted to him

2. A ruler should always be thirsting to meet devout ulama and ask them for advice but should be beware of the ulama with worldly ambitions

3. A ruler should always be just in his action, discipline his slave-troops servant and officers with his believe and never tolerate unjust conduct by them.

4. The holder of authority should not be dominated by pride for pride let him to anger. Anger is the evil genious and blight of the intellect.

5. The ruler should not think that he is superior than his subject and should be in any case to be lower than his subject.

6. The ruler should not disregard the attendance of petitioners at his court and should beware of the danger of so doing

7. The ruler should not form a habit of indulging the passions

8. The ruler should make the utmost effort to behave gently and avoid governing harshly

9. The ruler should endeavor to keep all the subjects pleased with him.

10.The ruler should not give satisfaction to any person if a contravention of God’s law would be required

THE EXECUTIVE • The nature of the Caliphate in al-Ghazali’s

theory The Caliphate comprehends the necessary

power to accomplish the maintenance of order

It represent or symbolizes the collective unity of the Muslim community and its historical continuity .

Deriving its functional and institutional authority from the Shariah , It is the only legitimate form of government in Islam

Duties of Khalifah / caliph :

He must be able to wage jihad

He must have knowledge for the purpose of ijtihad along with consultation of religious expert

He must be pious to carrry one his office as a political and religious entity

He must establish justice and settle cases with fairness

He must have knowledges of shariah and wisdom to endorse it as the rule of law

He must be a practical Muslim and must show a reliable Muslim character

He must be aware of the official matters and the perfomance of his administrators

He must keep his morality and must avoid immoral practices .

• It is clear that Al-Ghazali agreed that an Islamic State should be a divine state and it should be ruled under the divine laws .

• It isn’t something easy In order to be a caliph ,because a person must fulfill certain requirements , such as he must have knowledges of shariah , practical muslim etc .

CONCLUSION