For comparisons with the western Christian tradition, Augustine comes more readily to mind than Aquinas, yet al-Ghazālī fulfills something of the role of each. He realized that understanding can be perfected in a faithful response to divine revelation, and that human reason can elucidate that response by showing the way through many pitfalls. Al-Ghazālī is aware of the deleterious effect of a simple reading of the scriptures, and so helps his readers to a sophisticated yet respectful grasp of the Word of God in the Qurʾan, all the while insisting that variant readings need to be discerned by careful intellectual examination. He is acutely aware of the way in which ordinary philosophical categories need to be stretched to accommodate the "creator of heaven and earth," and so of the necessary negative moments in using the names which the Qurʾan itself gives to God. Al-Ghazālī's recommended way to engage in that negative moment is via Sufi meditation, which can alert both mind and heart to their inadequacy as well as bolster both to continue the journey toward proximity with the divine. In this respect he can also be favorably compared with Moses Maimonides, who was probably cognizant of at least some of al-Ghazālī's writings.

See Also

Al-Ghazālī, Ahmad.

Bibliography

Recent Translations of Al-Ghazālī

Aims of the Philosophers. Translated by David Burrell and Tony Street. Provo, UT: Brigham Young University Press, 2004.

Incoherence of the Philosophers. Translated by Michael Marmura. Provo, UT: Brigham Young University Press, 1997.

On the Boundaries of Theological Tolerance in Islam. Translated by Sherman Jackson. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002.

Translations of Key Books from the Ihyaʾ

Deliverance from Error. Translated by R. J. McCarthy. Louisville, KY: Fons Vitae, 1999.

Disciplining the Soul and Breaking the Two Desires. Translated by T. J. Winter. Cambridge, U.K.: Islamic Texts Society, 1995.

Faith in Divine Unity and Trust in Divine Providence. Translated by David Burrell. Louisville, KY: Fons Vitae, 2001.

Invocations and Supplications. Translated by K. Nakamura. Cambridge, U.K.: Islamic Texts Society, 1990.

Niche of Lights. Translated by David Buchman. Provo, UT: Brigham Young University Press, 1998.

Ninety-nine Beautiful Names of God. Translated by David Burrell and Nazih Daher. Cambridge, U.K.: Islamic Texts Society, 1992.

Remembrance of Death and the Afterlife. Translated by T. J. Winter. Cambridge, U.K.: Islamic Texts Society, 1989.

Commentaries

Frank, Richard. Al-Ghazali and the Ashʿarite School. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1994.

Gianotti, Timothy. Al-Ghazali's Unspeakable Doctrine of the Soul. Leiden, Netherlands: Brill, 2001.

Shehadi, Fadlou. Ghazali's Unique Unknowable God. Leiden, Netherlands: Brill, 1964.