Al Ghazzali S Final Word On Kalam PDF
Al Ghazzali S Final Word On Kalam PDF
Al Ghazzali S Final Word On Kalam PDF
Fiazuddin Shuayb
Al-Ghazzls last work on speculative theologyIljm
al-awm an ilm al-kalm(Saving Muslims from Specu-
lative Theology)reflects a significant departure from
the Ashar school of thought and arrival at the way of
thesalaf (madhhab al-salaf). This so-called salaf path es-
poused in Iljm is indicative of the theological approach
of Traditionalists, especially anbals, which vehemently
rejected Kalm and allegorical interpretations of divine
attributes. In Iljm, his opponents are not so much the
Mutazils as they are the ashw anthropomorphists. Al-
though he still recognizedKalmas a scholastic discipline
that basically met the goal of protecting the Sunn creed
and defending it against heresies, he was convinced that
its method ultimately failed to delineate a decisive her-
meneutic path to intimately knowing God and His attri-
butes. This paper briefly examines al-Ghazzls Iljm, its
key theological constructs, its relative importance within
the Sunn corpus onKalm, and the scholarly debate over
the meaning of the Way of theSalaf.
Keywords: Ashar interpretation; al-Ghazzl; Iljm; Kalm; Way of the
Salaf ; common folk.
Introduction
Al-Ghazzl1 (d. 505 /1111), one of the most famous of all Muslim theologians,
authored several Sunn treatises on speculative or scholastic theology (ilm
1. Scholars have long differed on the proper pronunciation and writing of his
name: al-Ghazzl, al-Ghazl, al-Gazel, etc. I adhere to the first, that
is, al-Ghazzl, based on the majority opinion of Muslim historians
and genealogists who follow Ibn al-Athrs rendition. See Murta al-
Zabd, Itf al-sdat al-muttaqn bi shar Iy ulm al-dn (Beirut:
Muassasa al-Trikh al-Arab, 1994), vol. 1, 18.
departure from Asharism and arrival at the so-called Way of the Salaf (madhhab
al-salaf). His eventual embrace of the Salaf theological method, hitherto, has
not received the attention that it deserves in the scholarly discourse on kalm.
Although noting that kalm still had utility for some people on certain matters,
he posited that its method had ultimately failed to pave a clear hermeneutic
way to God and His attributes; therefore, he no longer recommended it for
the common folk (al-awm). This paper briefly examines al-Ghazzls Iljm,
highlights its key theological constructs and relationship to his earlier kalm
treatises, and explores his advocacy of madhhab al-salaf.
Authenticity of Iljm
Al-Ghazzl wrote Iljm al-awm an ilm al-kalm shortly before he died. The
work is cited in several listings of authentic works attributed to him, including
juddn al-Subks (d. 771/1370) abaqt al-shfiyya al-kubr (in which it is
entitled Iljm al-awm f (instead of an) ilm al-kalm),10 Ibn Q Shuhbas
(d. 779/1448) abaqt al-shafiyya,11 al-Zabds (d. 1205/1790) Itf al-sdat al-
muttaqn bi shar Iy ulm al-dn,12 and al-ussayn al-Wsis (d. 776/1374)
al-abaqt al-uly.13 Under the heading Later Dogmatic Works in his article
The Authenticity of Works Attributed to Al-Ghazali, W. Montgomery Watt
cited the 1309 AH Cairo edition of Iljm.14 In his Revised Chronology of Ghazalis
Writings, George F. Hourani included it with the following note: Iljam al-
awamm an ilm al-kalam (Cairo 1309 = 1891/92, Maymuniyya Press). This
work is dated precisely by a colophon as having been completed in the first
days of Jumada II, 505, i.e., a few days before Ghazalis death on the 14th of
that month (December 18, 1111). The colophon is in a very early manuscript,
Istanbul: Shehid Ali 1712: 1, which gives its own date of completion as
the middle of Shabn, 507=113.15 This citation agrees with Houranis
exists22 and, more recently, an English translation of it has been published for
popular consumption.23 There is no dispute that Iljm is an authentic work of
al-Ghazzl.
22. El justo medio en la creencia, trans. Miguel Asin Palacios (Madrid: Compendio
de teleologa dogmatic, 1929); see Badaw, Muallaft al-Ghazzl, 139.
23. Abdullah bin Hamid Ali, A Return to Purity of Creed (Philadelphia:
Lamppost Publications, 2008). Ali is of the view that al-Ghazzl did
not repudiate any opinion that he held about the Ashar school or
the science of Kalm. I discuss the various ways in which Iljm has
been received in the section below entitled Reactions to Iljm and the
Way of the Salaf of this paper.
24. Ibn Khaldn, al-Muqaddima, 551. Cf. al-Qinawwj, Abjad al-ulm
(Damascus: Wizrat al-Thaqfa wal-Irshd al-Qawm, 1978), vol. 2,
44053; Louis Gardet, Ilm al-Kalm in Encyclopedia of Islam, 2nd
ed. (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1971), vol. 3.
25. See W. Montgomery Watt, The Faith and Practice of Al-Ghazl (London:
George Allen & Udwin Ltd., 1952), 27.
26. Iy, vol. 1, 116.
156 n Islam & Science n Vol. 9 (Winter 2011) No. 2
27. Ibid.; cf. Arent J. Wensinck, The Muslim Creed: Its Genesis and Historical
Development (New York: Barnes & Noble, Inc, 1965), 95101.
28. Translated as Watt, Faith and Practice.
29. Ibid., 28.
30. Harry A. Wolfson, The Philosophy of the Kalam (Massachusetts: Harvard
University Press, 1976), 42.
31. Wensinck, The Muslim Creed, 8384.
Fiazuddin Shuayb n 157
divine attributes and who were mainly identified with the Salaf theological
method. In al-Ghazzls own words in Iljm, I say that it is unlawful (arm)
for preachers on the pulpits to answer questions [from the common folk] that
delve into tawl and elaborateness [on divine attributes]; rather, the preachers
duty is to confine themselves to what we have mentioned here as well as the
salaf, strongly emphasizing Allahs sanctity and negating anthropomorphism
(tashbh).39
Post-Ashar al-Ghazzl
Throughout its long timeline, from the fourth/ninth century to the eighth/
thirteenth century, the Kalm discourse was largely dominated by the dialectics
of Ashars, Traditionalists, Mutazils, and Shis (especially Zayds and
Ismals to some extent). During this contentious period and beyond, many
leading Muslim scholars, representing the majority Traditionalist orthodoxy,40
were adamantly opposed to the ideas of Kalm. Several compilations of their
names have been made. Among them were Ab anfa (d. 150/769)41, Sufyn
al-Thawr (d. 161/778), Mlik b. Anas (d. 179/795), Ab Ysuf (d. 182/798), al-
Shfi (d. 204/819), Amad b. anbal (d. 241/855), al-Balkh (d. ca. 309/921
or 319/931), Ibn al-al (d. 643/1245), al-Qurub (d. 671/1272), al-Nawaw
(d. 676/1277), Ibn al-Wazr (d. 840/1436), al-Shawkn (d. 1250/1834), and
many more too numerous to mention here.42 Specifically on the issue of
interpreting divine attributes, Mutazils43 categorically denied them (tal),
48. Iy, vol. 1, 123; Faris, Foundations of the Articles of Faith, 51; cf. al-Ghazzl,
al-Maqad al-asn f shar man asm Allh al-usn, ed. Fadlou A.
Shehadi (Beirut: Dr al-Mashriq, 1971), 192.
49. Iljm, 53.
50. Q 43:56 (Y. Ali translation). See also Ibn Manr, Lisn al-Arab (Cairo: Dr
al-Marif, n.d.), vol. 3, 206970.
51. Edward Lane, Arabic-English Lexicon (London: Williams & Norgate, 1863),
1408.
52. Here al-Ghazzl uses ashwiyya pejoratively for anthropomorphists
in general. For further information on the term, see the article
ashwiyya (ashawiyya, ushwiyya, or Ahl al-ashw) in
Encyclopedia of Islam, 2nd ed. (Leiden: E.J. Brill).
53. Iljm, 5152.
Fiazuddin Shuayb n 161
Shiism, one group called themselves al-Salafiyya (the other two were known for
their Mutazila and Mushabbaha, i.e. tashbh, orientations)54; in Ibn Taymiyyas
works, adherence to the path of al-salaf al-li is a major theme; more recently,
the Salafiyya School in Egypt was pioneered by Muammad Abduh (d. 1905);
and the contemporary Wahhab-Salaf religious phenomenon, originating
in Saudi Arabia, is the latest manifestation of the Salaf trend almost as old
as Islam itself. By madhhab al-salaf, al-Ghazzl clarified in Iljm, he meant
the following: The reality of the Way of the Salaf , which is correct to us, is
that every lay person, who comes across an ambiguous tradition [concerning
Divine Attributes], is obliged to do seven things: (i) sanctification (taqds), (ii)
acceptance (tasdq), (iii) confession of inability (itirf bil-ajaz), (iv) silence
(sukt), (v) restraint (imsk), (vi) abstinence (kaff), and (vii) deference to the
people of gnosis (al-taslm li-ahl al-marifa).These are the seven principles
that the Salaf collectively believed are incumbent on the common folk. It is
improper to think that they believed otherwise.55
Why does this particular theological approach, which shuns
anthropomorphism (tashbh) and denial (tal), constitute the Way of the
Salaf and correct understanding of divine attributes in Iljm? To support his
claims, al-Ghazzl provided two arguments based respectively on logical and
theological proofs. The rational proof is that the Prophet is better acquainted
with God and His revelation than anyone else, that he faithfully disclosed the
Guidance to the people, and that he never endorsed speculative inquiry into
the nature of divine attributes; therefore, his Sunna as regards these matters
ought to be followed. As for the theological proof, al-Ghazzl expressed it in
syllogistic form:
The Way of the Salaf is true and is opposite to heresy (bida), which is
blameworthy,
The common folks delving into interpretation (tawl) of divine
attributes is a blameworthy bida,
Therefore, opposition to itabstinence from speculative inquiry into
Divine Attributes (i.e. Kalm)is recommended and praiseworthy.56
When [the believer] hears the word above in the words of Allah,
He (Allah) is the Irresistible, [watching] from above (fawq) over His
worshippers,60 or They all revere their Lord, high above (fawq) them,61
let him know that fawq is multivocal, designating two meanings.
Firstly, fawq refers to a bodys relationship to another, such that
the one is above and the other below; that is, higher in relation
to lower. Secondly, fawq also expresses rank, as in the statement
the caliph is above (fawq) the sultan, and the sultan is above
(fawq) the vizier. The former invokes two bodies in [spatial]
relationship to each other; the latter does not. Therefore, let
the faithful firmly believe that the first meaning is not intended
and is inconceivable in respect of Allah, since it is a contingency
of bodies or accidents of bodies. If a person is aware of the
negation of this unthinkable reference in relation to the Divinity,
then nothing more is required of him if he does not know why
it is expressed in such a manner or what is meant by it. Now
compare what we have mentioned here with that which we have
not.62
All of them are in need of rescue from the dangers of Kalm, which encourages
speculation, which in turn leads to abominable interpretation or, worse, denial
of Divine Attributes contrary to the Way of the Salaf. Because of its probabilistic
tendency, given the polysemous nature of descriptions, tal is more difficult
to treat than tashbh,65 since the latter can easily be refuted with Qurnic
proofs like nothing is like unto Him (laysa ka-mithlihi shay).66 The only class of
people that al-Ghazzl exempted from the broad category of the common
folk are the skilled divers into gnosis (marifa) who, by shortening their
lives, renouncing the life of the world and passions, and abandoning wealth,
glory, and pleasures, learned how to swim in its oceans; they are sincere to
God in knowledge and deed, executing the ordinances of Islamic law (shara)
and etiquette as regards obedience and disobedience, emptying their hearts
collectively from everything besides God, and disdaining the worldly life, even
the hereafter and the highest abode in Paradise, purely for the sake of Gods
love; nevertheless, they too are in grave peril in which nine out of ten divers
perish, save the one who is happy, having obtained the hidden pearl and
treasured secret.67 For this class of successful peoplethe skilled divers of
gnosisGod has decreed al-usn, or, the best outcome: And thy Lord knows
all that their hearts conceal and all that they reveal.68
The preceding passage indicates al-Ghazzls contention, to wit, that only
those favored with the mystical experience, intuition, or union with God can
truly apprehend the secrets and mysteries of divine attributes. These special
people include of course the prophets, the veracious ones (iddiqn), the Salaf
(who, as he defined them, were the Prophets Companions and Followers),
the people of gnosis (ahl al-marifa), and the friends (awliy) of God. As
for the scholars (specialists in exoteric Islam) and laypeople who strive to
be acquainted with God and His ways, they should avoid the perplexity of
Kalmthe abstruse discussion on Divine Attributes, involving philosophical
concepts of essence, bodies, accidents, substance, disputation, and its rational
framework of speculative theologyapplying themselves assiduously to his
seven-point guideline based on madhhab al-salaf, lest they go astray, stumbling
into esoteric pathways beyond their threshold of comprehension.
mentioned that al-Ghazzl came around to accepting that (tawl) was unlawful
after he had praised it.69 In his Irshd al-ful min ilm al-ul, al-Shawkn
(d. 1250/1834) recounted Ab Amr b. al-als (d. 643/1245) statement that
there were three schools of theological thought as regards interpreting divine
attributes: one group figuratively explained their apparent meanings; another
group anthropomorphized them; and a third group presumed that the Divine
Lawgiver would not have expressed them in such a manner unless He deemed
its usage permissible and its outward acceptance properthus they declared
Gods sanctification (taqds), transcendence (tanzh), and exoneration (tabarr)
from all limitations, including anthropomorphism. The latter was the way
of the first part (adr) of the Ummah, the Muslims and their leaders, which
prominent fuqah and muhaddithn later adopted and which none of the great
muttakallimn ignored or rejected.70 Ibn al-al further stated, In several
places, al-Ghazzl eloquently articulated fleeing from everything besides
this path, and ultimately reined in every scholar and layperson to it with his
bridlei.e., his book Iljm al-awm an ilm al-kalm. It is definitely the last
book of al-Ghazzl, in which he urged them to adhere to the Way of the Salaf
and those who followed them.71 Al-Shawkn added this comment:
Al-Dhahab (d. 748/1374), in his [Siyar] al-nubal, on the
biographical profile of Fakruddn al-Rz (d. 606/1209), stated
that he recognized it (the Way of the Salaf) toward the end of
his life, saying I have reflected on the methods of Kalm and the
philosophers but did not see them curing the sick or soothing
grief; but I did see that the nearest path [to it] is that of the
Quran. For I read in it about affirming (ithbt) that the Most
Gracious, established (istaw) on the throne of His almightiness?72;
unto Him ascend all good words.73 I also read therein about negation
(nafyi): there is nothing like unto Him.74 Whosoever experiences
what I have experienced will know what I have learnt [about the
ambiguity of Divine Attributes].75 On al-Juwayns (d. 478/1085)
biographical profile, al-Dhahab wrote that he explained [in
his al-Risla al-nimiyya f al-arkn al-islmiyya (The Nimite
al-dn),82 al-Ghazzl also wrote on it but did not expatiate it or attain mastery
(mustabir) of it. I investigated the reason, discovering that it was due to his study
of philosophy (falsafa) before achieving mastery in ul al-dn; consequently, his
reading of falsafa caused him to take an audacious approach on semantics but
was lax toward realities. That is because falsafa proceeds on its own thoughts
ungoverned by rulings of shara or without fear of contradicting the leaders
who follow it.83 This critique of al-Ghazzl was robustly deflected by al-Subk:
I concur with al-Mzars statement that he was not proficient (mustabir) in
Kalm, but I argue that his feet were firmly rooted in it, though not to the same
extent as they were in the other sciences; so his opinion is speculative. As for
his statement that al-Ghazzl was preoccupied with falsafa before he engaged
ul al-dn, it is not so; rather, he did not study falsafa until after he had delved
into ul al-dn, as he himself clearly explained in al-Munqidh min al-alla
(Deliverance from Error).84 Furthermore, al-Mzars claim that al-Ghazzl
read falsafa before becoming proficient (mustabir) in ul al-dn, which comes
after his previous statement that he was not proficient (mustabir) in ul al-
dn, is contradictory.85 Indeed, despite being widely acknowledged as one of
the greatest scholars of Islam (kibr al-ulam), al-Ghazzl had his fair share
of critics among Shis, Mutazils, Zandiqa86, and Sunns, such as al-Mzar,
al-arsh (d. 520/1127), Ibn al (d. 643/1245), Ibn Taymiyya (d. 728/1327),
Ibn Qayyim (d. 751/1350), and others who differed with him on a wide range
of issues, including Arabic grammar, philosophy, Sufism (taawwuf), adth,
and Kalm.
In the western scholarly discourse on Muslim theology, the post-Ashar
Salaf phase of al-Ghazzls reflection on Kalm is often overlooked. Wolfson
82. Ul al-dn (like ilm al-kalm or al-aqid (sing. aqda) is another term for
Muslim theology.
83. Al-Subk, al-abaqt al-shafiiyya, vol. 6, 24041.
84. Al-Ghazzl, al-Munqidh minal-alla, ed. Mamd Bj, 2nd ed. (Amman:
Dr al-Fat, 1992), 3740; Watt, Faith and Practice, 2729.
85. Al-Subk, al-abaqt al-shfiiyya, vol. 6, 247; al-Zabd, Itf, 29.
86. Zandiqa (sing. zindq) is Arabized from the Persian, meaning Manichaean;
originally, it referred to a follower of Mazdek, a Zoroastrian high
priest, who preached that women and wealth are to be enjoyed and
shared, and in whose time appeared the book Zendhence zand or
the Arabized zindq (pl. zandaqa). The term was broadly applied to
a person without religion, one who believes in the eternity of time, a
disbeliever in the Hereafter, or simply non-Muslim heretics. See al-
Khwrizm, Maft al-ulm, 2nd ed. (Beirut: Dr al-Kitb al-Arab,
1989), 56; Ibn Manr, Lisn al-arab (Cairo: Dr al-Marif), vol. 3,
1871; Edward W. Lane, Arabic-English Lexicon, 1258; F.C. de Blois,
Zind in Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2nd ed. (Leiden: E.J. Brill).
168 n Islam & Science n Vol. 9 (Winter 2011) No. 2
did not refer to it or the Iljm in The Philosophy of the Kalam. Wensinck omitted
it in The Muslim Creed. Nagel, in his History of Islamic Theology, presented al-
Ghazzl as an innovative Asharite theologian87 and did not detect any
paradigm shift in his theology. Marmura, apart from a lone footnote on
Iljm in his Ghazali and Asharism Revisited, was preoccupied with the pre-
Iljm works. The list goes on. Al-Allf took umbrage at this seemingly glaring
omission by Wolfson et al, suspecting it as part and parcel of an Orientalist
agenda: This book (Iljm) is one of the most authentic books attributed to
[al-Ghazzl], yet Orientalists eschewed it because of its commitment to the
Sunna, maxims, and lessons pertaining to the unification of Muslim ranks
and their guidance to the straight path. Orientalists tried to disregard it and
misdirect students of knowledge away from it.88 Al-Allf is right regarding
the oversight of al-Ghazzls Salaf position in Iljm on the part of some non-
Muslim scholars (as on the part of many Muslim scholars), but he misreads
their reasons. First, some Islamicists information on Iljm might have been
secondhand or they may not have inquired into it in the first place. Second,
it is also possible that al-Ghazzls discussion of the Way of the Salaf has
simply been overshadowed by the long established conventional image of him
as an Ashar thinker, causing many not to notice his late theological emphasis
or underestimate it. Third, several scholars in the west have discussed Iljm,
holding conflicting assessments of its thesis. Take Watt, for instance, who
acknowledged that Iljm is al-Ghazzls final work, insisting that he remained
an Ashar. A few days before his death he completed a short work (roughly
within the field of jurisprudence89) in which he maintained that it was wrong
to communicate the subtleties of Kalm to ordinary people. From these facts
it seems certain that al-Ghazl remained a Shfite and Asharite to the end
of his life, though he was using philosophical methods to defend Asharite
doctrine.90 Watt later revised his opinion: It has now received powerful
confirmation from the discovery by Bouyges of a date for the Ilcm (Iljm)
which makes it the latest of all al-Ghazls works; for the Iljm is concerned
with problems of tabh (anthropomorphism) which are essentially within
the universe of discourse on scholastic theology.91 Griffel had first-hand
information on Iljm, even examining one of its manuscripts in order to
87. Tilman Nagel, History of Islamic Theology from Muhammad to the Present
(Princeton: Markus Wiener Publishers, 2006), 195.
88. Al-Allf, Kutub al-imm al-Ghazzl; see note 19 above.
89. Watt mischaracterized Iljm as a work of jurisprudence. Unmistakably,
Iljm is a work on Muslim theology.
90. Watt, Islamic Philosophy and Theology, 92.
91. Watt, The Study of al-Ghazl, 12425.
Fiazuddin Shuayb n 169
Ashariyya Salafiyya
tawl no tawl
kalm no kalm
bi-l-kayf
Juwayn, al-Ghazzl, al-Rz, et al, while being fully cognizant of the Way of
the Salaf as is plain in their writings, embraced the Kalm method temporarily,
infusing it with a philosophical outlook,100 largely for polemic reasons. Their
opponents the Mutazils propagated their theology principally through
Kalm and were joined in that by the Ashars, practically challenging their
detractors to use the masters tools to destroy his house; for no sooner were
these scholars satisfied and confident that they had repudiated the dogmatic
positions of Mutazils, anthropomorphists, and others, meeting the dialectic
aim of Kalm, which is to preserve the faith and protect it against heresies,
than they began to expose its shortcomings and frown upon it as a valid
hermeneutic approach to knowing Godas if to acknowledge that the time
had come to move on with the more important task of instructing believers
to become acquainted with Divinity through the simple albeit correct Way
of the Salaf , as they espoused it. Iljm is the primary and best documentary
evidence that we have of al-Ghazzls switch in theological method from
Asharism to Salafism in respect of understanding divine attributes. Today
the question or challenge to us is whether his ultimate theological orientation
is to be evaluated on the basis of his earlier works or his final word on Kalm.