Abstract

There have long been two contending narratives when it comes to situating Abu Hamid Muhiammad al-(GazalI (Algazel/Algazali) (1056-1111), Islam’s most renowned theologian, within the history of philosophy. According to one, (Gazall proved the scourge of the Arabic philosophers when he pointed out their various pretensions and self-contradictions and when he advocated a retreat to fideism as well as a practically oriented mysticism. on this view, (Gazall’s philosophical explorations were of a uniformly dialectical character, aiming solely at defending the faith, in keeping with the tradition of Islamic speculative theology (kalam). The competing story has it that (Gazall became so enamored of philosophy that, against his protestations, he became a crypto-Avicennian himself. On this reading, (Gazall either salvaged philosophy for the uses of Muslim theology and mysticism, or else fatally corrupted the two with its taint. Both views have it right, and wrong. (Gazall’s criticisms of the Arabic Aristotelians are piecemeal and local, and he certainly appropriates from the philosophers far more than he rejects. At the same time, (Gazall’s commitments do not lie with the Peripatetics any more than with the Ash'arite school of theology, a tradition which he also criticizes. Rather, (Gazall is involved in developing a fresh synthesis that would reflect the insights he sees as crucial to authentic wisdom: the world’s profound contingency, the role played by the divine attributes in shaping this world, the rational soul’s ultimate destiny in the next, and the need for constant spiritual striving and prophetic guidance in purifying the soul to the point where it can attain its destiny.