Al-Ghazali on Ascent to the Transcendental Realm

Abstract

Al-Ghazali, Abu Hamid (1058–1111), outstanding Islamic philosopher, jurist, theologian and Sufi (mystical) thinker. Under the influence of Islamic Mysticism (Sufism), Asharite school of Islamic Theology and Peripatetic Arabic school of Avicenna, al-Ghazali developed his own intuitive cognition of God. Al-Ghazali’s integral teaching is exposed in full detail in his magnum opus, Ihya’ ‘Ulum al-Din [The Revival of Religious Sciences]. According to al-Ghazali, there are two ways to achieve intuitive cognition: one the spiritual enterprise and other prophecy. The cognition of God results from heart discovery and intuition. Heart is the means by which man becomes to get mystical knowledge. Al-Ghazali considered heart as a mirror of the Divine knowledge. The visible object cannot be said to become united with the mirror; it is merely reflected in it. Using mirror analogy, al-Ghazali said that God does not indwell a human heart but merely reveals Himself in it. Mystic’s heart does not reflect the divine reality but its sign. The profane world is only a hint (mithal) of the transcendental reality. Truth can be achieved through heart discovery and intuition. Mystical cognition (ma‘rifa) seeks to obtain knowledge of God through moral perfection for the salvation in the next world.