{"id":28,"date":"2023-06-17T00:46:37","date_gmt":"2023-06-17T00:46:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/premodernmiddleeast\/?post_type=chapter&p=28"},"modified":"2024-01-31T20:58:49","modified_gmt":"2024-01-31T20:58:49","slug":"chapter-5-medieval-sunni-theological-writing","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/premodernmiddleeast\/chapter\/chapter-5-medieval-sunni-theological-writing\/","title":{"rendered":"Chapter 9: Medieval Sunni Theological Writing"},"content":{"raw":"Ab\u016b H\u0101mid Mu\u1e25ammad ibn Mu\u1e25ammad al-Ghaz\u0101l\u012b (1058-1111 CE) was one of the most influential Muslim theologians of the Middle Ages.\u00a0 Born in Northeast Iran, al-Ghaz\u0101l\u012b became a professor at the prestigious Niz\u0101miya madrasa in Baghdad in his early thirties (1091 CE).\u00a0 Four years later, al-Ghaz\u0101l\u012b left teaching to take on the lifestyle of a Sufi mystic.\u00a0 He returned to teaching in 1106 at a madrasa in the city of Nishapur, and went on to publish numerous treatises, the best known of which (The Revival of the Religious Sciences<\/em>) is still widely read among Sunni Muslims in our own time.\r\n\r\nAl-Ghaz\u0101l\u012b's texts, in which he attacked the Muslim use of rationalist philosophy (most notably in The Incoherence of the Philosophers<\/em>) as well as defended mainstream Sufi teachings and practices, were extremely influential upon the beliefs and teachings of scholars who followed in his footsteps.\u00a0 Although the study of rationalistic philosophy had been practiced by earlier Muslim scholars such as al-Kindi, al-Farabi and Ibn Sina, it mostly died out in Sunni scholarship during the years that followed the death of al-Ghaz\u0101l\u012b.\u00a0 Meanwhile, Sufi practices expanded and became more widely accepted in the Sunni world.\u00a0 While al-Ghaz\u0101l\u012b can't be held completely responsible for these developments, there is no doubt that his writings contributed directly to them.\r\n\r\nThe two texts linked below will introduce you to the important work of al-Ghaz\u0101l\u012b.\u00a0 \"The Life and Writings of al-Ghaz\u0101l\u012b\" connects you to an article from the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy<\/em>.\u00a0 This article not only provides a concise biography of al-Ghaz\u0101l\u012b's life, but it also summarizes and evaluates his most important works and their impact upon Muslim thought.\u00a0 The second text is a link to an English translation of al-Ghaz\u0101l\u012b's semi-biographical work entitled The Confessions of al-Ghazzali <\/em>(note that the difference in spelling al-Ghaz\u0101l\u012b's name is due to variations in transliteration of the original Persian).\u00a0 In this text, al-Ghaz\u0101l\u012b describes how he came to his viewpoints on philosophy (falsafa<\/em>) and Sufism as a result of his search for a true knowledge of God.\u00a0 You may find the English used in this text to be a little dated, as the translator, Claud Field, completed his translation of the text in 1909.\u00a0 Still, many modern readers can identify with al-Ghaz\u0101l\u012b's search for truth and are impressed with his sharp intellect and keen insight, whether or not they agree with his conclusions.\r\n\r\nLife and Writings of al-Ghazali<\/a>\r\n\r\nThe Confessions of al-Ghazzali<\/em>, trans Claud Field<\/a>\r\n\r\n ","rendered":"

Ab\u016b H\u0101mid Mu\u1e25ammad ibn Mu\u1e25ammad al-Ghaz\u0101l\u012b (1058-1111 CE) was one of the most influential Muslim theologians of the Middle Ages.\u00a0 Born in Northeast Iran, al-Ghaz\u0101l\u012b became a professor at the prestigious Niz\u0101miya madrasa in Baghdad in his early thirties (1091 CE).\u00a0 Four years later, al-Ghaz\u0101l\u012b left teaching to take on the lifestyle of a Sufi mystic.\u00a0 He returned to teaching in 1106 at a madrasa in the city of Nishapur, and went on to publish numerous treatises, the best known of which (The Revival of the Religious Sciences<\/em>) is still widely read among Sunni Muslims in our own time.<\/p>\n

Al-Ghaz\u0101l\u012b’s texts, in which he attacked the Muslim use of rationalist philosophy (most notably in The Incoherence of the Philosophers<\/em>) as well as defended mainstream Sufi teachings and practices, were extremely influential upon the beliefs and teachings of scholars who followed in his footsteps.\u00a0 Although the study of rationalistic philosophy had been practiced by earlier Muslim scholars such as al-Kindi, al-Farabi and Ibn Sina, it mostly died out in Sunni scholarship during the years that followed the death of al-Ghaz\u0101l\u012b.\u00a0 Meanwhile, Sufi practices expanded and became more widely accepted in the Sunni world.\u00a0 While al-Ghaz\u0101l\u012b can’t be held completely responsible for these developments, there is no doubt that his writings contributed directly to them.<\/p>\n

The two texts linked below will introduce you to the important work of al-Ghaz\u0101l\u012b.\u00a0 “The Life and Writings of al-Ghaz\u0101l\u012b” connects you to an article from the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy<\/em>.\u00a0 This article not only provides a concise biography of al-Ghaz\u0101l\u012b’s life, but it also summarizes and evaluates his most important works and their impact upon Muslim thought.\u00a0 The second text is a link to an English translation of al-Ghaz\u0101l\u012b’s semi-biographical work entitled The Confessions of al-Ghazzali <\/em>(note that the difference in spelling al-Ghaz\u0101l\u012b’s name is due to variations in transliteration of the original Persian).\u00a0 In this text, al-Ghaz\u0101l\u012b describes how he came to his viewpoints on philosophy (falsafa<\/em>) and Sufism as a result of his search for a true knowledge of God.\u00a0 You may find the English used in this text to be a little dated, as the translator, Claud Field, completed his translation of the text in 1909.\u00a0 Still, many modern readers can identify with al-Ghaz\u0101l\u012b’s search for truth and are impressed with his sharp intellect and keen insight, whether or not they agree with his conclusions.<\/p>\n

Life and Writings of al-Ghazali<\/a><\/p>\n

The Confessions of al-Ghazzali<\/em>, trans Claud Field<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":114,"menu_order":9,"template":"","meta":{"pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[],"contributor":[],"license":[],"class_list":["post-28","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry"],"part":3,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/premodernmiddleeast\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/28","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/premodernmiddleeast\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/premodernmiddleeast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/premodernmiddleeast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/114"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/premodernmiddleeast\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/28\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":252,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/premodernmiddleeast\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/28\/revisions\/252"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/premodernmiddleeast\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/3"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/premodernmiddleeast\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/28\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/premodernmiddleeast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/premodernmiddleeast\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=28"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/premodernmiddleeast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=28"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/premodernmiddleeast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=28"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}