Ghazali

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[[File:Al-Ghazali.png|left|thumb|165px|Having a strokey-beard moment.]]
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'''Abu Hamid Mohammad ibn Mohammad al-Ghazali''' (1058–1111), sometimes known in the West as '''Algazel''', was a Persian [[theologian]], [[philosopher]], and Sufi mystic. He is considered one of the most influential figures in [[Middle Ages|mediaeval]] [[Islam]]ic thought and a key figure in the historical tension between [[rationalism]] and religious orthodoxy.<ref>{{cite web |author1= William Montgomery Watt|author2= Britannica Editors|date=  January 1, 2026|title= al-Ghazālī |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/al-Ghazali |website= Encyclopaedia Britannica |access-date=January 25, 2026}}</ref><ref name="GriffelPlato2026">Griffel, Frank, "al-Ghazali", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Spring 2026 Edition), Edward N. Zalta & Uri Nodelman (eds.), forthcoming URL = <https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2026/entries/al-ghazali/>. </ref>

Ghazali is best known for his work {{wpl|The Incoherence of the Philosophers|Tahāfut al-Falāsifa}} (“The Incoherence of the Philosophers”), in which he critiqued the rationalist philosophers of his time, especially [[Avicenna]] and other {{wpl|Peripatetic school|Peripatetic thinkers|.}} He argued that reason alone is insufficient to grasp ultimate truth and that revelation and divine guidance are necessary.<ref name="GriffelPlato2026"/><ref>Mujahidin, S. (2024). The Supremacy of Revelation over Reason: Al-Ghazali’s Critique of Rationalist Philosophy in Tahafut Al-Falasifah. Islamic Thought Review, 2(2), 151–162. https://doi.org/10.30983/itr.v2i2.8838</ref><ref> Griffel, Frank, 'Al-Ghazālī’s (d. 1111) Incoherence of the Philosophers', in Khaled El-Rouayheb, and Sabine Schmidtke (eds), The Oxford Handbook of Islamic Philosophy, Oxford Handbooks (2016; online edn, Oxford Academic, 2 Nov. 2016), https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199917389.013.8, accessed 25 Jan. 2026.</ref>

He was strongly opposed to the {{wpl|Mutazilite school||,}} which emphasized rationalist interpretations of Islam based on Greek philosophy, and engaged in debates with figures such as {{wpl|Averroes||,}} who defended [[Aristotelian]] thought. Ghazali played a significant role in the decline of Mutazilite influence, and some critics, such as {{wpl|Robert R. Reilly}} in ''The Closing of the Muslim Mind'', have argued that his work contributed to a narrowing of intellectual openness in the Muslim world.

Although he opposed the more rationalist Mutazilites, Ghazali should not vehemently a [[conservative]] or [[fundamentalist]] scholar. He reconciled [[Sufism]] with [[Sunni|Sunni Islam]], integrated Atomism (an ancient philosophical tradition from Greece and India) with Islamic thought (which is consistent with his rejection of Aristotelian philosophy), and systematized [[kalam argument]]s for the existence of [[God]].

Ghazali is also famous for advancing '''occasionalism''', the belief that material objects never directly interact but only act through God’s mediation. In his view, all movement and causation are the result of continuous divine intervention. He is celebrated for harmonizing orthodox Islamic practice with mystical experience, helping bridge the divide between the Ulema and Sufi communities.

All in all, Ghazali’s work represents a complex blend of [[skepticism]] toward unaided reason, commitment to orthodox faith, and support for mystical experience, making him a historically pivotal figure in debates over rationalism, theology, and philosophy in the Muslim world.

{{stub|Islam|Islam}}

==References==
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[[Category:Islam]]
[[Category:Philosophy]]

Categories: Islam, Philosophy