Article contents
Al-Ghazali’s Method of Doubt
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 09 March 2016
Extract
Al-Ghazali introduces the issue of doubt in his book al-Munqidh min al-Dalal [Deliverance from Error]. The book can be considered an intellectual autobiography of this philosopher. Here al-Ghazali describes his intellectual development and the method of his search for truth. He also discusses the ideas of various doctrines that were present in Islamic society in his period, including the philosophers, al-Mutakallimun (scholastics), al-Batiniyya (interiority), and Sufism. The book is a concise exposition of al-Ghazali’s experience in the field of research and epistemological criticism.
- Type
- Essays
- Information
- Copyright
- Copyright © Middle East Studies Association of North America 2004
References
1 Durant, Will, The Story of Civilization: The Age of Faith (New York, 1950), vol. 4, p. 331.Google Scholar
2 Farrukh, Umar., “Rujua’ Alghazali Lilyaqen” Abu Hamid al-Ghazali: In Memory of the 9th Century of his Birth (Damascus, 1961), p. 311.Google Scholar
3 Tamir, Aref, al-Ghazali (London, 1987), p. 58.Google Scholar
4 de Vaux, A. Carra, al-Ghazali, translated by A’adil Za’ter (Cairo, 1959), pp. 48–49.Google Scholar
5 Makhul, Najeb, al-Ghazali wa Ibn Rushd (Beirut, 1962), p. 20.Google Scholar
6 Saliba, Jamel and Ayyad, Kamil, in their Introduction to the al-munqidh min al-dalal (Beirut, n.d.), p. 22.Google Scholar
7 Zakzuk, Mahmoud, Almanhag Alfalsafi bain al-ghazali wa Descartes (Cairo, 1997), p. 76.Google Scholar
8 Dunya, Sulaymam, al-hakeka fi Nzar al-ghazali (Cairo, 1965), pp. 26–31.Google Scholar
9 Watt, W. Montgomery, Muslim Intellectual, A Study of al-Ghazali (Edinburgh, 1963), p. 53.Google Scholar
10 Algar, Hamid, Imam Abu Hamid Ghazali (Oneonta, NY, 2001), p. 16.Google Scholar
11 Bakar, Osman, “The Meaning and Significance of Doubt in al-Ghazali’s Philosophy,” The Islamic Quarterly 146 (1986): 38–39.Google Scholar
12 This period was characterized by a variety of religious sects and intellectual doctrines such as Batiniyya, Falasifa, Sufism, and Kalam.
13 al-Ghazali, , al-Munqidh min al-Dalal wa al-Musil ila al-‘Izzati wa al-Jalal, ed. by Milhem, Ali Abu (Beirut, 1993), p.18.Google Scholar
14 Ibid.
15 Ibid.
16 Ibid.
17 Al-Ghazali, , Mizan al- ‘Amal, Introduction by Ali Abu Milhem (Beirut, 1995), p. 222.Google Scholar
18 al-Ghazali, , Ihya’a ‘Ulum al-Din (Beirut, n.d), vol. 3, p. 75.Google Scholar
19 Shafaq, S.R., “Some Abiding Teaching of al-Ghazali,” The Muslim World 44 (1954): 44.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
20 Al-Janabi, Maitham, al-Ghazali (Damascus, 1998), p. 40.Google Scholar
21 al-Ghazali, , al-Munqidh min al-Dalal, p. 19.Google Scholar
22 Ibid.
23 Ibid., p. 21.
24 Ibid., p. 22.
25 Ibid.
26 Ibid.
27 Ibid., p. 23.
28 Ibid.
29 Ibid., p. 22.
- 1
- Cited by