Al-Ghazali
is truly an interesting man whose story gives much insight on the practice of
Sufism. Al-Ghazali’s path to Sufism was
indeed a long one but throughout his life journey he always would “penetrate
far into every murky mystery, pounce into every problem and dash into every
mazy difficulty.” He believed that God
had created him such that he craved to grasp the real meaning of things and his
quest was one of truth. With this,
Al-Ghazali sifted his way from understanding “knowledge” to Sufism.
Ghazali’s
story shook my initial impressions of Sufism.
Ironically, it no longer seemed completely “weird” to me. I understood his thought process and how he
arrived at the practice of Sufism.
Al-Ghazali believed that there were four different groups or categories
of those seeking the truth. They
included the Mutakallimun, the Batinites, the philosophers and the Sufis.
Al-Ghazali made his way through the study of each of these groups in a
search for a cure for his “sickness.”
Beginning with the science of kalam and the Mutakallimun, Al-Ghazali
ruled this not to be the remedy for his sickness as it was “inadequate for his
own aim.” It did little for him except attack the beliefs of its adversaries.
Next,
Al-Ghazali ripped philosophy to shreds.
In his study of philosophy, which took years to unravel, he observed
that they fell into different categories.
However, they all shared the “stigma of unbelief and godliness.” Al-Ghazali had little nice to say about
philosophy. As a Muslim, it seemed
haram, or forbidden, to engage in the science of philosophy. There were some philosophers who denied the
presence of a God in addition to the the essential, core beliefs of Islam like
the Last Day or the presence of an afterlife.
Thus, the evil and mischief that was philosophy did not satisfy
al-Ghazali. Next, Al-Ghazali delved into
the doctrine of the Ta’limites. Having
previously proved their doctrine wrong, his point is that they have no cure to
save anyone from the darkness of conflicting opinions. They cannot designate an Imam or
authoritative teacher and people are commanded to follow their personal
opinion.
Next
stop for Al-Ghazali was the practice of Sufism-which finally made sense. He
understood that “their way is realized only by knowledge and activity.” The aim of the knowledge is to attain a heart
empty of all save God. This was
striking. As a Muslim, the good of this
world and the good of the hereafter is important. But, in order to attain the good, one must
worship God and leave the desires of this world as they are insignificant in
comparison to the hereafter or afterlife.
Theory was a part of Sufism which Al-Ghazali explored but a huge part
was the notion of practice, or activity.
In order to prepare for the afterlife, and explore the practice of
Sufism, Al-Ghazali disengages himself from the world and entered seclusion in
Damascus leaving teaching and his students behind for years.
Al-Ghazali
was satisfied with seclusion and practice of Sufism for a number of years. He knew with certainty that “Sufis are those
who uniquely follow the way to God most high, their mode of life is the best of
all, and their ethic the purest.” Prophecy
was another component of Sufism. “Faith
in prophecy is to acknowledge the affirmation of a stage beyond reason.” This faith in prophecy is something that the
philosophers lacked. Al-Ghazali also
mentions that prophecy is connected with Sufism in that through the “fruitional
experience” Sufis can perceive the properties of prophecy.
So,
what does Sufism offer Al-Ghazali that the others don’t? Sufism offers piety, fruitional experience,
and most importantly it answers the questions and addresses the sickness of his
heart. Like Al-Ghazali noted, the remedy
for sickness may be different for different people. For him, he found his remedy and his “truth”
in the practice of Sufism.
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