Al-Ghazali: The Alchemist of Happiness
Born in 1058 in Tus, Khorasan, in present-day Iran, Abu Hamid al-Ghazali was one of the most original thinkers the world has known. Besides being a major influence in the Muslim world, the West has also felt his effect. He influenced major figures of medieval philosophy, such as Thomas Aquinas and Moses Maimonides, who shaped the philosophy of the Latin West. As the author of some 250 books on topics ranging from theology and ethics to metaphysics and philosophy, al-Ghazali came to be known as 'Proof of Islam.' For almost a thousand years he has served as an inspiration for spiritual seekers everywhere as he was someone, like the Buddha, willing to give up everything: wealth, position, family, and comfirt in order to search for Truth."This film is a remarkable acheivement, capturing not only the drama of Ghazali's life and the texture of the world in which he lived, but also skillfully distilling the significance of major themes in his writings. This is no small feat: the art of dramatizing ideas. I cannot wait to show it in my courses on Medieval Muslim Thought."- Farouk Mitha, University of Victoria, Canada