Imam Ghazali

B. Sheik Ali

Knowledge society PublicationsSaraswatipuram,

Mysore

Islamic Study series - III

Title of the book : Imam Ghazali

Year of Publication : 2008

Price : 1,000

Publishers : Knowledge Society Publications

Publication : No. 59, 7th Main, 3rd Cross,Saraswatipuram,Mysore - 570 009Cot.:0821 - 2543439

E mail: : bsheikali@gmail.com

Web : www.bsheikali.in

DEDICATION

Dedicated to the effort of simple,gentle and noble souls,

Mr. & Mrs. Abdul Wahabof Tumkur in Karnataka, India,

who raised a large enlightened familydevoted to the values preached by

Imam Ghazali.

Preface

Imam Ghazali is a great name in Islamic history. It was hewho perfected the Sufi system of thought. It was he whodemolished the mansion of Greek logic which was causingconfusion in faith and belief. It was he who expounded theprofound philosophy of Light in his mounmental work,Mishkat-id-Anwar. It was he who synthesized the essence ofIslamic learning in his encyclopadic work, Ahya-ul-Uloom.

His main purpose was to take man to his destiny of�Perfect Man�, for which he pressed into service the highestabsolute values, which were none other than the attributesof God. From an ocean of those attributes, he took a fewdrops, such as beauty, justice, love, light, knowledge andcreativity to turn them into pearls of wisdom. Since UltimateReality is eternal beauty, whose nature being self-expressiongot itself reûected in the universe-mirror, because of love,love is appreciation of beauty and beauty is perfection, Ghazalireflected deeply on these attributes of love, beauty andperfection and built his beautiful mansion of � Spiritual Life�,which continues to fascinate man to this day.

The quest for �Spiritual Life� resulted in Sufism, whichis the mystical side of Islam. It involves the purification ofheart from baser temptations, ascension to celestial heightsby Divine knowledge and the gaining of personal experienceor communion with God. This is not an easy job for whichGhazali has laid down an elaborate procedure of penance,

piety, repentance, renunciation, meditation, love, labour, hope,fear, longing, equanimity and certainty. Apart from these thereare quite a few other states, stages and stations which Ghazalipoints out to reach the goal. They are technically called Zikr(remembrance), shughul (action), marakhiba (contemplation),mahasiba (introspection) and fana (getting lost). Ghazaliperfected the system of Sufism.

Sufi system of thought is only one of the contributionsof Imam Ghazali. His 70 books in 53 years of life throwintensive light on several and several aspects of life. He tellsus that we cannot live pleasantly unless we live wisely andjustly and generously. The two essential elements for such alife are a good mind and good character. When God hasendowed us with intellect we have to come out of darknessinto light. No darkness is greater than the darkness ofignorance, where we fail to recognise God dwells within us.That is our conscience which we must kindle with the torchof learning, when we would realise the responsibility we oweto God, to ourselves and to society. That which has noexistence either for God or for others or for itself is thevery extreme of darkness. To live in the Light of God isthemessage of Mishkat-ul-Anwar. God is all Absolute Light,a distant ray of which is man�s intellect which should be putto right use.

If no darkness is greater than ignorance, no light isbrighter than knowledge, for knowledge is light, knowledge islife, knowledge is power and knowledge is Divine. The veryfirst chapter of Ahya-ul-Uloom is on knowledge that makesman a partner of God. If God created night, man lit a lampand dispelled the darkness of night. If God made mud andsand, man turned that into a shining glass. If God made junglesto grow, manmade gardens to bloom. It is all because ofknowledge, the product of man�s mind, which is just a grainof sand on the vast vistas of God�s ocean of knowledge.

The greatest contribution of this encyclopadic Work isto ignite in man that unity, solidarity, harmony and freedomwhich would result in a culture that would be bright likediamond having two qualities, its glow and weight. The glowof that culture would be unity of God, and the weight ofthat culture would be unity of man. Ghazali has stressed thatfaith in God would gift unity in everything, and love of manwould gift a social order of peace and prosperity. He hasrelated faith (Iman) with unity, love with harmony, knowledgewith creativity and wisdom with liberty. He would say thebest witness to God�s truth arc those who show its light intheir life, and that only those things that are Godly wouldgain real victory. In short Ghazali�s works are that richtreasure house of wisdom and knowledge which have illuminedman�s mind, soul and conscience since ages.

In the end it remains to be said that this work wouldnever have seen the light of the day but for the graciousgenerosity of Dr. Imtiaz Ahmed of Florida, U.S.A., a medicalconsultant, who has earned the gratitude not only of thepatients but also of the whole Umma. He is now busilyengaged in social service even in U.S.A which may objectifythe dream of Imam Ghazali. He has extended the canvas ofhis support almost to cover the globe,� for many institutionsin India including Sultan Shaheed Education Trust of Mysore,have been immensely benefited by his generosity. This authorowes a deep debt of gratitude to him. He is thankful to Mr.Fairoze Ahmed of Mufeed Graphics of Bangalore for his kindinterest, efficiency and promptness with which he has beenbringing out all publications of Knowledge Society.

Mysore B. Sheik Ali

December 1, 2008

Contents

1. Early Life and Formative Phase 1

2. Imam Ghazali and Philosophy 15

3. Ahya-ul-Uloom 21

4. Mishkat-ul-Anwar 35

5. Oneness (Wahdaniyat) 47

6. Sufiyan 57

7. Knowledge 73

8. Ethics and Morality 89

9. Reformation of a Salik (Seeker of Truth) 101

10. Political Reforms 133

1

EARLY LIFEAND FORMATIVE PHASE

Even if Islamic enlightened society of the Middle Ages hadnot done anything except presenting Ahya-ul-Uloom of ImamGhazali, that would have been enough for its glory. Even ifall the Sufis of the world had not enriched the treasure ofmystic thought, the contribution of one mighty soul ImamGhazali, would have been enough to immortalize Islamicspiritual life. Even if none had taught ethics and moality,what Imam Ghazali has propounded on the philosophy ofmorals and manners would have been enough to turn maninto a better being. Indeed Imam Ghazali was the brighteststar on the horizon of Islamic learning. He has thrownintensive light on several aspects of life, whether of this worldor next, whether of mind or body, whether physical or spiritualphenomenon, whether religion or philosophy, and whether lawof nature or law of behaviour. He has examined in depth therealities of life in the light of Quran and Hadis in such amanner as to form the essence of the teachings of Islam.He has presented the thoughts of the Prophets, saints,savants, Sufis and philosophers in such a way as to make hisworks the treasure house of man�s rich experience. Hisgreatest contribution is his gift to humanity the bed rock ofSufism on which stands the whole mansion of sufi thought.

Imam Ghazali2

Before sketching that mansion, let us have a look on his earlylife, education and formative phase.

Imam Ghazali�s full name is Muhammad Bin MuhammadGhazali. Ghazali is derived from the profession of the familywho were weavers. �Ghazal� in Arabic is connected to themeaning of spinning the cotton. His surname is Abu-Hamid.His learning gained for him the title of �Hujjat�ul�Islam�, buthe is well-known in history only as �Imam Gazali�. He was ajurist, a sufi, a saint and a profound scholar. He became anexpert in Shafei canonical law. He was born in Toos inCentral Asia in 450 A.H. (1058 A.D), and passed away in 505A.H (1111 A.D). Toos was also the birthplace of Firdausi. Itwas not far from Meshhad in Khurasan. His early educationwas in Toos under Shaikh Ahmed-ul-Raz Kafi, who made himproficient in Shafei law. He moved to Jarjan where he studiedunder Imam Abu Nasr Ismaili. From Jarjan he went toNaishapur, the centre of great learning where he studied underImam-ul-Harmain Abul Ma�ali Juwaini, who was a greatscholar of the day. It was his education in Naishapur thatshaped his future. His diligence, hard work and innatepotentiality very soon made him a distinguished scholar.

An instance of his educational days was memorable. Thepattern of education in those days was to prepare exhaustivenotes of the lectures the teacher would deliver. They werecalled �Taliqat� which the students would preserve as preciousproperty. When he was returning home with these papers,high-way robbers seized everything he possessed, includingthose papers. Imam Saheb implored the chief of the gang togive back at least those papers which were more precious tohim than his own life. The chief had a hearty laugh and said,�Your precious property is stored in papers and your head isempty. What is that knowledge where you rely on papersand not on mind?� Imam Saheb was aghast. He learned thegreatest lesson of his life which he never forgot ever since he

Imam Ghazali 3

lived. From that day he remembered whatever he read, andregarded the high-way robber as a great teacher.

Apart from Imam-ul-Harmain, there was yet another verygreat teacher, Allama Abu Ishaq Shirazi, at Naishapur, fromwhom Ghazali learned a lot. The educational Centre ofNaishapur was called �Madras-e-bahiquia� which was one ofthe earliest. Subsequently, other centres such as Sayeedia,Nasria and Nizamia, had come into existence. But theforemost centre was Nizamia which was established muchearlier than the one of the same name in Baghdad that gainedworld renown. Imam-ul-Harmain had taught for long bothat Mecca and Medina where the decrees he had passed werein force. It was because of his long stay there that he wascalled �Imam-ul-Harmain�. When Nizam-ul-Mulk establishedthe famous Nizamia Centre of Higher Learning at Naishapur,he invited him to be its main Director. Apart from academicwork, he was asked to look after all religious activities of theState including Wakf properties. He commanded greatrespect from the Sultans and high dignitaries of the day. Hewas so upright that he decreed the orders of one of theSultans, Malik Shah Saljukhi, as unlawful, and the Sultanobeyed his orders. Imam Ghazali sat at his feet and learnedso much as to excel his own teacher.

Imam Ghazali�s brightness was such that while he wasyet a student he was asked to teach. He would be holdingclasses of his own class-mates. Such bright students who didthis were called �Sayeeds�. As a tutor he impressed Imam-ul-Harmain so much as to win his love and affection. Aslong as he lived, he never forsaked Ghazli�s company. Withthe death of Imam-ul-Harmain in 478 A.H. Ghazali movedfrom Naishapur to Baghdad. He was now an young man of28 years. That was the time of the reign of Sultan MalikShah of Saljukhi dynasty who had entrusted all State affairsto his minister, Nizam-ul-Mulk. He was a great patron of

Imam Ghazali4

learning, besides being himself a great scholar. His court wasfilled with many enlightened souls of high repute. ImamGhazali too approached the patron and was well-received.Within no time Nizam-ul-Mulk detected the merit in Ghazali.The discourses, the debates and the discussions which werethe frequent features of the court offered him a rareopportunity to exhibit the depth of his knowledge. Very soonhis fame spread far and wide. Nizam-ul-Mulk would not finda better person for the headship of his famous centre oflearning in Baghdad. Ghazali was appointed the Director ofthe Centre at an young age of 34. This position was of suchhigh eminence that many, many elders had coveted it for long.Very soon the name and fame of Ghazali spread all over theland. Although the Abbasid Caliph, Mukhtad Billah was onthrone, effective power was in the hands of the SaljukhiVazirs. They were the real Sultans, the Caliphs being merelytitular heads. After the death of Malik Shah, his four yearchild, Mahmood came to the throne. His mother, TurkanKhan, was virtually the ruler and she insisted that in the Fridayprayer sermons, the name of her son, Mahmood, should bementioned and not of the Caliph. Having lost everythingthe Caliphs had at least retained the dignity of their name,and that was also being taken away. Such was the politicalconfusion that things were moving fast towards the debaclethat took place in 1258 under Hilaku Khan.

It was at such a time Imam Ghazali was sent to thecourt of Turkan Khan as ambassador to convince her that itwas not appropriate to ignore the name of the Caliph. Itwas a very delicate job, the failure of which would lead toserious consequences. Ghazali handled the situation verytactfully and that solved the problem, which enhanced hisimage as a wise counselor. From that time his advise wastaken in matters of political significance. In 487 A.H. CaliphMukhatadar Billah passed away and his son, Mustanzar Billahsucceeded. He was a patron of learning, and he could detect

Imam Ghazali 5

the merit hidden in Ghazali. This elevated further the positionof Ghazali in Baghdad, as he came very close to the Caliph.This was the time when sectarian differences were acting asa great divisive force in Islam. One particular sect calledBatinya or the believer in inner purity had griped the faith ofMuslims causing confusion. The Caliph asked Ghazali to setright the matter and Ghazali brought out a book,Mustanzahri, in which he clarified the issues what formedthe true faith. This was the beginning of his great scholarlycareer which culminated in his massive work on Ahya-ul-Uloom, the encyclopedic work which immortalized his name.Very soon his discourses at Nizamia College gained suchpopularity as to attract high dignitaries and nobles to hislectures, which were taken down. A scholar by name ShaikhSa�ad-bin-Faris brought out 183 of Ghazali�s lectures in twovolumes. He rose so high in the esteem of the people as toexcel even the image of the Caliph.

Ghazali reached the zenith of his name and fame notonly in the scholarly but also in the political field. He wasevery where the topic of talk. At such a time a revolutionarychange came in him. He discarded the pomp, pleasure andpower of office and suddenly left for Mecca. Like Buddhahe set out in search of higher truth. He realized worldlypower was relative, transitory and hollow, and that there wasyet another region of absolute values which would confer onman sublimity of soul. He realized more than matter, mind;more than mind, heart; more than heart, soul; and more thansoul, God were important. He realized knowledge of therelative would gift man things apparent, but beyond the flightof time and space, there was a celestial world of peace andjoy, but admission into that world of joy would be restrictedonly to those, who carried the casket of their soul in itspristine purity. Such thoughts made him a different manthereafter.

Imam Ghazali6

This change in Ghazali was a fascinating aspect of hislife. It comes under history making events of man. Had hecontinued in his pomp and power, he would have been oneamong many who had reached such peaks. But discardingworldly gains, rejecting traditionalism, giving up reason andlogic, and opting for a life of recluse was a strangephenomenon. He thought philosophy would not take mantoo far. Beyond philosophy was intuition which would revealinner reality. That requires spiritual force, not mental force.Spiritual force would make man�s heart a mirror in which Godwould be reflected. That is greater glory than worldly power.That would not suddenly descend from heaven one has topay a price for it, which was love and devotion to God. Suchthought agitated the mind of Ghazali.

A new quest arose in Ghazali, different from what hehad learned from his childhood. Communion with Godbecame the main object of his pursuit. Reflective power alonewas not be enough for this purpose. Emotional and devotionalpower too was needed, which would give man insight beyondreason. He felt theology was helpful only to the ignorant.He preferred mystical philosophy as a viable alternative. Hecame to the conclusion that seekers of truth fell into threecategories. The first were the dogmatic theologians whobased their conclusions on speculation. The second were thebathinis or those who derived their knowledge from a livingImam. He criticized this group by asking where was the needfor an Imam when the Prophet was there. The third werethe mystics or Sufis who would gain the vision of God, andthey were called intuitionists. They see the truth, whenothers imagine the truth. It was to perfect this system oftruth that he dedicated the rest of his whole life, the firststep of which was the flight from Baghdad to Mecca.

In Baghdad he felt suffocated in the midst of thetheologians, the traditionalists, the ritualists and the bathinists

Imam Ghazali 7

The sophisticated company of the so called enlightened groupswhether of Sunnis or Shias or Jews or Christians or theZorastrians together with those of a�shariyas or mu�atizalasmade him miserable as they were all on war-path with oneanother. Every one felt he alone was right and he wouldthrow mud at others. Ghazali would not understand if truthwas one, why these disputations? He would not find answersto that in the hot debating society of Baghdad. For that heneeded the place where the first revelation illumined the mind,heart and soul of Holy Prophet. In Baghdad he had made adeep study of all the logic of the Greeks, all the theology ofthe traditionalists, all the philosophy of the mu�tazalists, andall the literature of the bathinists and yet he was notsatisfied. Now he thought answers would come only fromthe intuitionists, the Sufis. In reality this was a pragmaticprogramme involving several states, stages and stations, a longprocess of penance, love, labour, hope, fear, devotion andmeditation. Where was the time for this process in courtlife, in pedagogy, in discourses, in debates and in thedisputations of all and sundry? They were all instruments totickle the fame and feed the pride of man. They were notagents to help man communicate with God.

These were the factors that forced Ghazali take hismomentous decision to go to Mecca. In 488 A.H. hesurprised all. Suddenly he left the place. For six monthssomething had been brooding in his mind. It had taken astrange turn in his behaviour. He would not talk much, hewould not eat, he would not take classes, and he would notmeet people. He decided a trip to Mecca. Authoritiesattempted to dissuade him, but he would not listen. He leftBaghdad in such a sorry state of affairs that he had over hisbody just a piece of cloth. First he went to Syria where hestarted his penance and meditation. He was a different mannow. He would go up the Umayyad mosque and shut thedoor behind him. He would be lost in his meditation. Two

Imam Ghazali8

years he spent thus in Damascus. There he met a saint,Shaikh Abu Ali Farmidi and became his disciple. FromDamascus he went to Jerusalem. It was a strange phenomenonthat made him move from Damascus. One day he went tothe famous Ameenia School. A teacher would not recognizewho he was. During the talk on some issue in order to stresshis point that teacher said, �Ghazali is of this view�. Whenhe heard his own name cited, he felt staying in the same placewould feed his ego. It was better he should quit. Then andthere he decided to leave Damascus. Staying for a few daysin Jerusalem he proceeded to Mecca for haj. He stayed forlong in Mecca. In this journey he had gone to Cairo andAlexandria. Nearly, ten years he was wandering here andthere.

One day a man spotted him in a wilderness with nothingbut a jug of water in his hands. That man had seen himearlier in Baghdad lecturing to hundreds in a class. He wasgreatly surprised at the turn of events. Ghazali reachedMecca. In Ka�aba at the place of Hazrat Ibrahim Khaleelhe took three vows. First, he would not go to the court ofany monarch. Second, he would not accept any gift fromany ruler. Third, he would not hold any discourse or debatewith any one, and that he would hold these vows until hedied. From Mecca he went again to Jerusalem, where at theplace the cradle of Jesus Christ had been once kept he recitedsuch emotional verses which made the sufi, Abul Hasan Basri,fall into ecstasy. It seems many tore their garments.

Imam Ghazali wrote his master piece, Ahya-ul-Uloomduring this journey. Thousands had listened to this workfrom his own lips in Damascus. During this long tour hewrote one more work, Qawayad-ul-Aqa�id, testaments offaiths. For over a long period, more than a decade, he wasjust roaming in different places, just as Shaikh Sa�adi had doneearlier. Man learns a good lot when he is away from home.One of the main traits of Arabs was they were great travelers.

Imam Ghazali 9

They had to go out not only for their trade and commercebut also to propagate their faith, the religious duty whichthey took very seriously. This travel helped them to becomegreat geographers as well.

After being away for more than a decade Ghazali wastempted to return home. His new experience had much todo in shaping his future programme. A radical change hadcome about in him. The orientation was now much on spiritualside. He had developed an incisive capacity to know the innertruth. He witnessed the whole world was in a flux. Religionhad lost its real meaning. Man was more after money, powerand status. The real purpose of love, goodness, harmony,service and sacrifice were more conspicuous by their absence.Ghazali observed this phenomenon everywhere. Worse still,man was twisting faith to suit his convenience. Logic andreason had come as easy tools to win their own contentions.A new disease, argumentation, had gripped man�s mind. Anew science, Ilm-ul-Kalam, the gift of the Greeks, had seizedthe imagination of the learned. This was the new touchstoneto examine even matters religious and spiritual. Its onlyoutcome was doubt, disputations and confusion. Thegreatest contribution of Ghazali was to find a remedy forthis melody.

The tour was the preparatory period for a new chapterin his life. He decided to come back to active life andtranslate into reality whatever he had thought during his longsojourn of visits abroad. He jumped again into his oldprofession of teaching and started not only shaping the futureof his generation but also leaving behind such legacy as tomake his name immortal. Fate did not spare him for long,just six years from 499 A.H when he returned, to 505 A.H.when he passed away. The credit for forcing him to resumehis old work should go to the eldest son of Nizam-ul-Mulk,who got the title of Fakhr-ul-Mulk and who was the Vazir ofthe Sultan Malik Shah. This Vazir was a great patron of

Imam Ghazali10

learning and he was successful in inducing Ghazali to assumethe headship of the reputed Dar-ul-Uloom. Things were notmoving in the right direction. This enlightened Vazir washimself assassinated at the hands of a Batinist in 500 A.H.This had such a shocking effect on Imam Ghazali that heresigned the job of the University and spent rest of his daysin isolation having a madrasa and a monastry of his own. Thiswas the time when he perfected the system of Sufi order togo down in history as the architect of that system.

Despite his decision not to be in the lime-light of thepublic, he was dragged into it. The good work he was doingin his madrasa and in the monastry was not to the taste ofthe traditionalists who got jealous of him and became rivals.There are bad characters in every age and in every country.Moreover, in his Ahya-ul-Uloom he had exposed the hypocrisyof the ritualist mullahs. All of them joined hands to carryon a campaign against him. The ruler of Khurasan at thattime was Sanjar-bin-Malik Shah. To him they petitioned thatGhazali was a heretic. Sanjar was not an educated man. Hebelieved the wrong reports and ordered his presence at hiscourt. Imam Saheb had taken a vow not to attend any court,but the summons of the Sultan could also be not ignored.He went half way upto Mashhad Raza from where he wroteto the Sultan about his vow. The Sultan decided himself togo and meet Imam Saheb. This would defeat the whole gameof the plotters. They did not want the Sultan in any case tomeet Imam Saheb. They said they would arrange a sessionof discourse where his disciples could answer all questions,and he was not to take the trouble of being present. Sanjarcame to know of the intentions of the conspirators. He senthis Vazir, Moin-ul-Mulk, to Imam Saheb. This Vazir was afan of Imam Saheb, and he took him with great dignity tothe court of Sanjar, who led him to his throne. Imam Sahebaddressed him for long what the Sultan should do to win theheart of the people. A famine was raging in the country, and

Imam Ghazali 11

his first job was to relieve the misery. Imam Saheb spokeboldly and frankly on all important aspects of the State. Hewas quite harsh on the Sultan. He said, at a time when peoplewere deep in difficulties, �your horses are decorated withgolden chains�. Then he said how wrong were the reports hehad received. He had not thrown any aspersions on ImamAbu Haneefa, which were all the figments of the imaginationof his rivals. If any one had a doubt, let him read what hehad written about him in Ahya-ul-Uloom. He was nothankering after the job of Nizamia Dar-ul-Uloom. It wasFakhr-ul-Mulk who pleaded and insisted he should accept.For twelve long years he had retreated into the life of piety,when he was forced to accept the job unwillingly.

Such was the effect of his sincere talk that Sanjar fell inlove with Imam Saheb. He ordered all scholars (Ulma) shouldmeet Imam Saheb at least once a year, and seek clarificationsfor all their doubts and problems. Imam Saheb then left theDarbar and came to the town of Toos where the peopleshowered their love and respect in a manner which even thegreatest conquerer would envy. But rivals would not keepquiet. They approached him and asked which school ofthought he belonged to. He said, �I am rationalist in thingsworldly, a devotionist in things spiritual; an intuitionist inmatters relating to Quran; and a rejectionist of those whoare the ritualist Ulema�. This did not satisfy the critics.They attacked his views expressed in Mishkat-ul-Anwar andKeemiya-e-Sa�dat. He replied in such forceful way that all ofthem were silenced.

His popularity went on increasing. The critics in a wayproved agents to lift him high in the esteem of people. Hewas invited again to Baghdad in 500 A.D. and the whole Statemachinery was used to persuade him for acceptance of thisjob. As mentioned earlier, not only the Prime MinisterFakhrul Mulk but also the Caliph, Mustanzahar Billah joinedin the effort to get him to Baghdad. A Farman was issued

Imam Ghazali12

by the Caliph which carried the signatures of all importantdignitaries requesting him to come to Baghdad and acceptthe job of the Director of the prestigious Nizamia Centre oflearning. The Vazir went to the extent of saying that thecentre would be set up at whatever place he would choose.Imam Saheb said no to all these persuasions. He wrote along letter explaining his difficulties. In reality he wanted tokeep to the vow he had taken in Ka�aba; the rest of his reasonswere all platitudes. He did not move from his home town ofToos.

Imam Saheb passed away in 505 A.H. His brother,Ahmed Ghazali, has written that his death was as strange ashis life. It was Monday morning when he got up quite haleand healthy. He performed his morning prayers and saidinvitation had come and he would be going. He ordered forthe coffin. It was brought. He kissed it and said �Lordwants to see me soon�. Saying this he stretched his legs firstinto it and then his body. Within a second he was no more.He had only daughters, four of them, and no sons, butstudents were thousands and thousands. One of them wasfrom Spain, Muhammad-bin-Tumarth. He established amighty Kingdom in Spain overthrowing Tashfin dynasty.

Thus passed away an illustrious figure of Islamic historywhose contribution to the realm of higher thought hadcertainly added to the heritage of world culture. His Ahya-ul-Uloom is a classic rightly regarded as encyclopaedia incharacter. His Mishkat-ul-Anwar is an unexcelled treatiseon the manifestations of divine attributes. His Keemiya-e-Sa�adat is the precious treasure of those principles of humanbehaviour which turn man into super-man. His Tuhfat-ul-Philosopha is that mine of critical analysis which fixes thelimitations of reason and logic. His Ayyat-ul-Wald is thathelpful message to the youth which would shape their destiny.Likewise the rest of his 75 books were all gems in their ownright indicating the fertility and brilliance of his mind.

Imam Ghazali 13

Apart from academic field we owe much to Ghazali inseveral other fields. It was he who lifted the Islamic faithfrom the confused mess of Greek reason and logic. It washe who laid the foundation of Sufi order on the bedrock oflove and devotion. It was he who furnished the moral codewhich would lead man to his destiny. It was he who paid thehighest premium to intuitive power which would enable manto communicate with God. In short Ghazali stands amongthe foremost thinkers of middle ages.

2

IMAM GHAZALIAND PHILOSOPHY

One of the major contributions of Imam Ghazali was todemolish the impact of Greek philosophy on Islamic faithand belief. Ever since the time of the Abbasid Caliph,Mamun-ur-Rashid, thinkers like Farabi, Razi, Ibn-e-Rushd,Ibn-e-Sina and others, had so westernized Islamic thoughtthat reason and logic had affected the spirit and soul of Islam.No one among the Ulemas had understood the implicationsof this problem. It was Ghazali who examined this issue indepth first in his �����Aims of Philosophy� Aims of Philosophy� Aims of Philosophy� Aims of Philosophy� Aims of Philosophy� and then again in his�Gifts of Philosophy�. �Gifts of Philosophy�. �Gifts of Philosophy�. �Gifts of Philosophy�. �Gifts of Philosophy�. He was highly critical of those whohad fallen into the trap of Greek philosophy and had becomefans of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. He warned it wouldlead to heresy, as logic was incapable of proving the existenceof God. In the guise of becoming advanced, progressive andenlightened, they would end up in the rejection of religionitself. Ghazali said philosophy would not solve the problemsof man. It would lead only to needless argumentations anddisputations. They had built up a new science called Ilm-ul-Kalam which had compounded the confusion.

Ghazali believed intuitive power is more important than

Imam Ghazali16

reason and logic. Saints, savants, sufis and prophets havebeen blessed with intuitive power, and they have been morehelpful in establishing a better social order than all the logicand reason in the world. Intuitive power confers such absolutevalues as love, devotion, service, sacrifice, kindness andcompassion that are more important for happy life than therelative values of material prosperity. Through reason andlogic a man may win a war, or gain great p0olitical authorityor social status or academic excellence, but that would nothelp establish a righteous social, moral or ethical order.Material prosperity would not give that peace of mind whichis innate in spiritual life. Ghazali is a strong advocate of thephilosophy of love. His main contribution is in the realm ofthe role love and devotion play in the mystical philosophy, aninsight beyond reason. He felt even theology was not helpfulin this sector. He thought Islamic juridical thought (fikha)was incapable of explaining the nature of God, and man�ssalvation in the next world.

Ghazali abandoned takhlid or conformity and emphasizedon individual judgement in the domain of religious thought,which is regarded by dogmatic theologians as heresy. He hasgone deep into the philosophy of love examining its natureand causes. He says there are five causes of love which willunite in the truth of God. The first is man�s love for himselfand his own permanency. Here ego or �I� is involved. Thesecond is for those who do good to you. Here the self ismore concentrated. He loves only those who help him. Thethird category is of those who do good to others, such assaints, savants, sufis and prophets. The fourth category is ofthose who love everything beautiful, not confined to anyparticular species. It is love for beauty�s sake, although itmay not confer benefit on any one. Men of vision alonecould perceive abstract beauty. The fifth and the final stageof love is the love of the absolute, the love of God, which isthe highest form of knowledge. It is this knowledge which

Imam Ghazali 17

Ghazali advocates.

He says love is a movement towards the idea of perfectbeauty, which is God, after which the soul hankers. Heargues emotional religion has its place within the structureof Islam. He deprecates hair-splitting logic and scholasticover-subtlety and calls for a religious fervour from theexperience of heart. He does not relinquish the principles ofIslamic law, but he interprets them in a way to serve as aguide for the soul to work its salvation which could be doneonly when approached in fearful longing for the love of God.

As against this approach the prevailing trend ofphilosophy in Ghazali�s tmes posed three issues. First wasthe concept of God, about whom thinkers used certain termssuch as essence, spirit or energy, which were not acceptableto traditionists, but Ghazali would not object to such terms.The second issue philosophers raised was the scientificphenomenon such as solar or lunar eclipses. Ghazali had noobjection or dispute with them on such issues also. But thethird one was the most important on which he carried on abitter campaign. They were issues which were contrary tothe faith and belief of Islam such as accountability on thelast day of judgement. He pointed out not one but twentyissues with which Islam would not agree with philosophers.

Some of the issues he proved as wrong are these. Thisuniverse has come into existence on its own. It is not createdby God. It is there from eternity and would last till eternity.Existence of God cannot be proved. Oneness of God or unityof God is not established. Ghazali said philosophy wouldlead to heresy. If God exists, he would not be aware of pettydetails such as what is going on in man�s mind. Its claim iswrong that things in nature are self-existing and self-manifest,and that there is no moving force behind them. The wholemachinery of the universe is functioning on its own withoutany hand behind it. The purpose of the creativity of the

Imam Ghazali18

universe as explained by philosophers is wrong. Philosophycannot throw any light on soul. It cannot prove soul iseternal. It does not believe in the last day of judgement.All these issues clash with the Islamic beliefs and henceGhazali opposed them vehemently.

Philosophy assumed certain things. It called certainobjects such as sun, moon, stars and planets as certaintieswhich may ever remain, which we could see. They exist andwe have to accept them. In philosophy along with existence,non-existence is also there. Socrates was not existing beforehe was born and he did not exist after he expired. He comesunder the category of possibilities. Philosophy furtherpresumes that abstractions do not exist until they appear ina body. Pink, red, white, good, bad would not be knownuntil they find a body. A rose is red, a man is good, and soon. Philosophers discussed how old was this universe, whendid it come into existence? They say it exists from eternity.Even before it assumed the present shape, there was somematter out of which it came into existence. The shape ofwindow you see now was wood before. Ghazali would notagree with such views. In Quran it is said God made thisworld. A creator is needed for things to happen. Things donot happen automatically. He would not agree abstractionsneed a medium. Goodness and kindness are concepts weunderstand without their being present in a man. In shortGhazali was of the view that philosophy could not explaineverything.

The main contribution of Ghazali was the removal ofthe confusion philosophy had created in the basic tenets ofIslam such as accountability and the oneness of God. Beforelaunching his programme of refuting the contentions ofphilosophy, he made its full study and examined all aspectsof Ilm-ul-Kalam and came to the conclusion that whateverhad come into existence in the universe was all in accordancewith a set Divine plan. He traced five stages in the

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evolutionary process. First comes some matter, solid, liquidor air. Second, some life is injected into them and they gainsenses. Third, they are gifted with ability to think. Fourththinking results in wisdom. The fifth and the last is the stageof creativity, where man understands things and buildsinstitutions. This is the stage of culture where man entersinto reformed society. Ghazali applies these stages to man.In the first stage man is mere matter from top to toe. Ababy is born; it is just flash with some organs. In the secondstage it develops senses, it sees, it hears, it cries, it responds.In the third stage it starts thinking, imitates, speaks, facultiesare developed. In the fourth and the fifth stage it becomesmore mature. God has ordained laws of nature and everythingconforms to His well-designed plan. Philosophers had somedoubts about cosmic consciousness behind all creativity inthe universe. Ghazali attempted to remove these doubts.

There were quite a few issues which came handy tophilosophers to criticize. For instance it is said in thetraditions that on the judgement day our deeds would beweighed. Philosophers questioned whether deeds wereconcrete things to be weighed in the balance. Whether deedswere written on paper was also questioned. Ashariya schoolof thought believed they were written on paper. ButMu�tazilla school disagreed and said weighing need not betaken in the literal sense. It was just evaluation andestimation through devices which man would not comprehendat present. Likewise, traditions says that Ka�aba is the housewhere God dwells. Here also one need not draw literalmeaning. Similarly, Arsh is supposed to be the throne ofGod. That does not mean God is seated there. This is justa symbolism to express the exaltedness of God. Ghazali hasthrown intensive light on such issues. Many religions areanthropomorphic. They attribute human form to God. It issaid in Torah that God wrestled with Jacob all during thenight. It was only in the morning Jacob came to know that

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he had wrestled with no other than God Himself. Islam wouldnot believe God taking any form. In Quran whereverreferences are found on God, they are all about his attributes.

In short Ghazali rescued Islam from the needless intricatedetails in to which philosophy had dragged it. That hadblurred the vision about the realities of life. The wealthyhad been lost in pleasure and the common man in traditionsand rituals. At such a time Ghazali took up the task ofreforms.

3

AHYA-UL-ULOOM

Ahya-ul-Uloom or revival of knowledge, is the master-pieceof Imam Ghazali. It is in four volume. Nothing hasinfluenced the Muslim mind so much as this work. It hasthrown light almost on every aspect of human life. A greatscholar, Mohamed Gazaruni, has gone to the extent of saying,even if all the knowledge in the world were to be destroyed,he would reconstruct it again with the help of Ahya-ul-Uloom.This work takes into account not only the moral and spirituallife of man but also social, political and cultural. Its purposeis to reform the society and make man what he ought to be.It reflects the fertility and brilliance of Ghazali�s mind, hisnobility and sublimity of soul, his rich experience of men andaffairs, and his zeal to bring about a radical change in thesociety. This work is the product of great stress on his mind.For eleven long years he had discarded his hearth and home,and was wandering from place to place. He was in search oftruth, the path to find communion with God. What he sawwas shocking to him. The Islamic society had gone utterlyon wrong path. The morals of all, whether rich or poor, highor low, learned or ignorant, holy or unholy, had fallen low.The learned were crazy for high positions. They were lost injust three domains. The first was discourse, debates anddiscussions. Second was such sermons as would please the

Imam Ghazali22

public. The third was passing decrees which would conferheresy. Reformation in this sector was the main job of ImamGhazali.

In a way this work is a reconciliation of religion andphilosophy. Both these are non-scientific subjects, abstractin thought, profound in meaning, and difficult for commonman to understand. Ghazali has made them intelligible toall. He drew the essence of both and evolved a high systemof morality. Morality, said Plato, was harmony. Morality,said Jesus, was love. Morality, said Ghazali, was reflex ofthe Divine. Ghazali�s view is very comprehensive. Since Godis the ultimate basis of all spiritual life, loyalty to God isloyalty to man�s own ideal nature. Since the purpose of bothreligion and philosophy is truth which should lead to morallife, and since there could be no better source to know highervalues than attributes of God, the attempt of Ghazali toexplain what spiritual life is, stands fully intelligible.

This work became extremely popular. It was regardedas Bible for ethics and morality. On one side Islamic divinestook it almost as a revelation from Gid, as it was totallybased on Quran and Hadith, and on the other, even in Europeit was said that if only it had been translated into French,people would have thought D�Cartes had plagiarized allthoughts of Ghazali on ethics and morality. The enlightenedcherished it as a treasure of rare gems. Even now when anyone glances it through would not resist the temptation tosay that it is a classic unsurpassed. Its each and every wordtouches and stirs soul to teach delightfully what is expectedof the vice-regent of God on earth. The reason for this greateffect is the high price Ghazali paid through his life bydeserting his home, children and office in search of truth.For eleven long years he was on tour when a lava bubbled upin his heart how best to revive the glory of Islam, how bestto know the reality of life, how best to reform the society,

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and how best to help humanity. He made a deep study of allfaiths and religions but was not satisfied with them. Heturned to Sufism and even that had been lost in needlessformalities. He took up its reformation and placed love anddevotion and inner cleansing as the first step. It needed manto shed his ego Leaving the comforts of high life of dignitariesin Baghdad, he took to jungles and forests, towns and cities,sorrows and sufferings in order to know what should be thedestiny of man. This work was written under great stress.

This work which is flooded with Quranic injunctions,Prophet�s sayings and his followers� examples and deeds,possesses five specialities. First is, its popularity. No Islamicscholar�s book has been so much in demand. It was afavourite of one and all. It has been a treasure house ofwisdom and knowledge, and a guide to spiritual life. Its mainfeature is the way in which higher thought is explained tothe common man. That is its second important quality.Philosophy is abstractions which Abu Ali Sena had made itmore complicated, but Ghazali would say no philosophy wouldbe intelligible unless explained historically. Creativity, love,justice and beauty would be appreciated better throughillustrations in which case history becomes philosophy teachingthrough examples. Wisdom is an abstraction but its meaningwould be clear if we were to know that it is the ability todistinguish between right and wrong; that it is the intelligentcontemplation of life; that it is the capacity to see all thingsin their correct perspective; and that it is the experience ofthe world which may be looked upon as a kind of text towhich reflection and knowledge would act as the commentary.It is this kind of approach that has enhanced the value ofthe work. We get an impression that Ghazali has lifted themost complex issues to the level of fiction and romance. Weread through the whole work as if we are reading a novel.No one had made profound thoughts so simple, so fascinatingand so instructive. Each idea sinks into our mind and

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conscience as if we are seeing the whole phenomenon throughour naked eyes, and we get lost in a higher region.

The third aspect of the work is its high ethics. It is acode of conduct which makes man super man. It caters toall temperaments, all avocations, all levels of humans. Somemay love the world, some may hate the world, some may taketo service, some may go for charity. Each of these wouldfeel he is right and that others should follow him. Ghazalitook notice of these variations and felt that the training ofeach of these should be in accordance with their temperament.A social being should not be asked to renounce the world,but should be taught those virtues which would do maximumgood to society such as compassion, kindness, generosity, loveand service. The great merit of this work is its psychologicalapproach.

The fourth aspect is that the entire mansion of ethicsand morality is built over the foundation of religion. Religionis the contact of man on one side and God on the other.Religion makes man a partner of God. Religion is higherknowledge that leads to communion with God. Religion makesman realize the fact that God dwells in man, which is hisconscience; if this conscience is kindled with the torch oflearning man would know the responsibility he owes to thesociety. Thus religion is the vital link between man and Godand Ghazali desired to make this link strong, deep andenduring. There is one more aspect in religion, its law, itscode of conduct, its Shariat. God ordains certain things tobe done and forbids certain other things from doing. Thiswork is a full text of all such laws. It has listed these lawsunder three categories. One is that which Quran ordains,the second related to Ahadiths and the third to Ijtehad, suitedto exigency, when neither the Quran nor the Ahadiths couldthrow light on them. Ghazali gives a simple example toexplain the point. Should we have our food squatting or on

Imam Ghazali 25

table is left to your discretion. Ghazali would say Shariathdeals fundamentals, and for the rest you frame a proper codeof conduct.

The fifth aspect of this work is its remonstrance againstmonasticism. Rejection of the world is not the purpose ofSufism. It calls for active life mainly in three areas, love anddevotion to God, service to humanity and development ofgood character. Ghazali is never for retreat or renunciation,disheartened spirit or helplessness. He divides good conductinto two categories, one active and the other passive. Activeconduct is courage, boldness, action, initiative, determination,perseverance freedom, dignity and so on. The passive conductis patience, poverty, contentment, tantamount renunciation,repentance, meditation and so on. These were the qualitieswhich the divines of the day peached to the people, butGhazali said active and passive, both were essential, both werecomplementary, and both to be blended to make goodcharacter. He never separated secular from spiritual but soblended them as to evolve a moral personality.

After tracing the five different aspects of this work, letus say something on the nature of good conduct he has inview. He says man is a bundle of two realities, one is bodyand the other is soul. Just as body has a form and shape, sotoo the soul. Just as we call a person beautiful or uglydepending upon his features, so too the soul of man wouldbe good or bad depending upon his character. It is the unseenmind or heart or conscience or soul that decides the goodnessor badness of man, and not his apparent face or body. Ghazaliwould say pay more attention to the unseen. The unseen ismore important, for the invisible mind is more precious thanvisible body; the still more invisible element, the soul, is stillhigher; and the most invisible unity, the Supreme and theSublime, is the highest and that is God. Just as nourishingfood is required for the growth of body, nourishing elements

Imam Ghazali26

such as love, devotion, service and sacrifice would be requiredto please the conscience. Bad conduct would damage thesoul, would destroy the peace and would displease the Creator.If a man is righteous and is inclined to be generous buthelpless because of poverty, even then his generosity wouldnot be affected. On the other hand if a person were tobestow lavishly to earn name and fame, he would not beregarded as righteous and generous. He is investing only fora selfish desire. Similarly, if a person controls his anger withgreat difficulty is not really a noble soul, for patience is notinnate in his nature. Ghazali traces four main sources forgood conduct. One is knowledge, the other is anger, the thirdis lust, and the fourth is justice. A harmony of all thesewould form good conduct. The one who possesses all theseis a fine gentleman. He is imperfect if any of these aremissing. The point to note here is that Ghazali has takeninto account for good conduct not only knowledge and justicebut also anger and lust. After all, human nature is not freefrom them. They too are required to a degree. Self-respectwould not stand dis-respect. Anger is inevitable, but withinlimits. Lust or sexual urge is the source for perpetuity ofhuman race, but all within limits. Ghazali has not ignoredhuman nature.

Ghazali has his own definition of wisdom. He calls theharmony of the knowledge power as wisdom. Knowledge ismere information. We have to energise knowledge to yieldpower; when this power is used judicially, it results in wisdom.Understand all things in their correct perspective. Take bothouter and inner aspects of everything. Weigh them in thebalance of your imaginative faculty. Filter them on the screenof your discursive faculty and take the net-result, the residue,which is wisdom.

Then he defines what bravery is. If harmony ofknowledge power is wisdom, the harmony of anger power isbravery. You become bold, courageous and dashing when your

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ego is hurt, when your integrity is questioned, and when yourself-respect is at stake. A hen would jump at an eagle if itschick is attacked. Men would stand up and fight if theythink they are right. They would not compromise withinjustice. They would prefer death to dishonour. This iswhat Socrates did, Imam Hussain did, and Tipu Sultan did.Imam Ghazali encourages this quality in man. If the answerto badness is goodness, what is the answer to goodness? JesusChrist said, �Offer the other cheek if you receive a slap onone�, who does this? Not even an angel. That is why Islampermits retaliation; better if you forgive, if not, retaliate justwithin law.

Ghazali has gone deep into this aspect of bravery. Hesays motivating factors for courage are self-respect, dignity,liberty, equality, fraternity, apart from certain other moralvirtues such as patience, fortitude, modesty, humility, purity,chastity and others. Greater will is needed to have moralcourage. Physical courage is soon excited, but not moralcourage. Ghazali advocates moral courage which givessatisfaction and peace to soul. Any excess of physical couragewould result in pride, hatred, anger, ego, haughtiness,arrogance, malice, and jealousy. On the other hand totalabsence of self-respect and self-dignity would also lead totwisted personality. Ghazali is a great psychologist who sayscowardice and timidity are sure recipe for humiliation. Insultis inner death to man. A man cannot swallow insult, and heshould not swallow it, for he would grow abnormal. Too muchof anything, even goodness, is too bad. If you are mercifulto rats, house will fall. If the people call a king a kind man,his reign is a failure. Asoka lost the Mauryan Empire becausehe renounced war. Absence of courts of justice wouldendanger the life of citizens. It is this x-ray of reality thathas endeared Ghazali.

Ghazali calls control of passion as chastity. This includesother virtues such as kindness, goodness, compassion,

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forgiveness, tolerance, tranquility and moderation. Whenthese virtues too exceed their limits, man loses the balance.Excess of revenge results in terrorism; excess of compassionwould result in lawlessness. Ghazali agrees with Plato thatharmony of desires, emotions and ideas alone would berequired for a just social order.

Having touched knowledge-power and anger-power,Ghazali moves to intellect-power. Man moves from data toanalysis, from analysis to synthesis, and synthesis to law. Heframes a principle which is the job of intellect, the discursivepower to draw the essence from things. With excessivefertility of mind, man would become ambitious. We havewitnessed the two world war when this phenomenon was inoperation. Here too harmony is required. With harmony ofintellect, man would be progressive, creative, inventive,enlightened, far-sighted, sober, calm and refined. When heexceeds the limits, he lands in deceit, conceit, chicanery,conspiracy, betray hypocrisy, and other blemishes. Theabsence of intellect would make him suffer from short-sightedness, foolishness, helplessness, enslavement andstupidity. Thus, Ghazali has gone to the depth of character-building programme. He has built its mansion on the solidfour pillars of knowledge, courage, chastity and intellect.

The next question Imam Saheb discusses in this work iswhether man is capable of being reformed or not. First hetakes up the views of the Greek philosophers. One school oftheir thought said man was essentially wicked; by nature heis bad, but by training he could be improved. Another schoolthought all men were not like this; some were born good,some were born bad. Yet another school thought men wereborn neither good nor bad, but training made it so. Goodcompany made them good and bad company made them bad.But Aristotle said there was nothing good or bad but thinkingmade it so. Man is born virtually with a clean slate. It isenvironment that puts dots on it. Imam Saheb agrees with

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Aristotle. Every baby born is pure, innocent, unpolluted bysin or wickedness, unstinted by any jealousy or hatred; norgifted with extraordinary sharpness of mind or fertility ofintellect. Parents, home, company, society, opportunity,education, environment and circumstances decide the destinyof man.

Here also Imam Saheb has gone deep into the matter.He says nature has gone into two types of productions. Oneis that which is perfect in creativity but beyond man�s control,such as sun, moon, stars, earth and the universe. The otheris imperfect in creativity but subject to change, for examplea seed becomes a plant, a child becomes a man. Man comesunder this second category where his morals could beimproved. But all men cannot be improved. Some areincapable and incorrigible.

The nature of some is such that they could be reformed,but difficult to do in the case of others. Again, the natureof some attributes itself is such that it would be difficult togive up, like smoking, drinking, lying, gluttoning, loafing,bragging, pride, ego and so on. Here also it is not impossibleto change given dogged determination.

Imam Saheb has suggested also the ways to change, andthey are four in number. First is seek a mentor and get hisadvice. Second, find a sincere soul from your friends andsolicit his favour to point out your mistakes. The thirdmethod is the most effective and powerful. They are yourenemies. They take a microscope to enlarge your faults, andyou ought to be thankful to them. If possible make themyour neighbours. Be in close touch with them. They wouldbe too happy to writ large what you have been doing. Therecould be no better device to know your weaknesses and short-comings than their allegations. One difficulty here is ourconscience which would not be willing to listen to ourenemies. It turns Abu Lahab, Abu-Jahal. Moreover, even

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our good qualities seem bad to our enemies, and hence whichof their polemics are sound and which hostile becomesdifficult to distinguish. Luqman learned his wisdom fromignorant. He did just the opposite of what they said, but allare not Luqmans.

The fourth method is to make our heart a mirror forthe conduct of others to reflect in it. Judge those conducts,if they are good, adopt them; if they are bad, reject them.See whether we too suffer from the same defects which arein others. Learn from the life and experience of others.Consult a man of experience, for he gives you what has costhim much, for which you give him nothing. Imam Sahebadvises us to take good care of our children. They are theassets of the societies. On their behaviour and morals woulddepend our pride. He says when the child does somethinggood, give him a hearty cheer, boost his ego, excite him toexcel others in goodness, and award him some gift, so thathe could be habituated to do good. But when he doessomething wrong advise him in private; do not publicise hisfault; gently touch his conscience; watch his conduct; you getmore disturbed than make him more disturbed. Do not repeathis faults often; do not humiliate or insult him. You mighthave done more mischief when you were young. Lastly, ImamSaheb has warned us that we should not be proud of ourwealth or power, or property or our wisdom or our knowledge.Humility should be the crown of man.

In short, Imam Saheb has given highest priority to man-making, character-building programme, so much that what theGreeks have said is merely a fraction of what he has said.He has exposed all moral weaknesses of man, and suggestedremedies for them. Very rightly he has pointed out that themost dangerous zone where man gets deceived is religion.Apparently in the name of religion he does something good,but hidden beneath his conscience lies some selfish motive.He builds a mosque out of ill-gotten money to cover his sin.He showers his wealth as zakath or charity to earn name and

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fame. His piety becomes a cloak to hide his unrighteousmotives and deeds. Ghazali is very harsh on those whoseinside is different from their outside. They exploit religionfor their selfish ends. They are more dangerous than non-believers. They think they are spending their money for agood cause, but in reality it is a waste. It could have beenput to better use like a school or hospital rather than anaddition of one more mosque to the existing so many.

Imam Saheb then tells us how to spend money. First,he says how people really spend their money. They do it inthree ways. First, they do not spend when need is great.They are misers. Second, they spend on things not needed.They are extravagant and spend thrifts. Third, they spendon things that are needed. They are generous. Imam Sahebproceeds to says there are two types of needs. One isordained by religion (Shariath), the other, by custom (Rivaj).Religious expenditure is payment of Zakath, charity (Sadqah),matrimony (mehr) and on bringing up families and children.The other expenditure is on living needs such as food, shelter,clothing, health, hygiene, safety, security and State obligations.These are all legitimate expenditures. Hoarding of wealth isprohibited in Islam, which requires both wealth and talent tobe regarded as trust from God. They are gifts of God to bespent as ordained by God.

The next point touched by Imam Saheb is how to curemoral diseases. He gives us two remedies. One is reverseprocess and the other is forward process. In the reverseprocess when you observe misers, do the opposite of whatthey do. They are stingy and niggardly. You be generousand liberal. In the forward process, observe the causes ofyour moral diseases and cure them by suitable treatment.When you diagonise those diseases you would find two ulcersexisting into your vitals. One is your anger and the other isyour greed. Be introspective and sincere to find the areaswhere they have affected you. Take immediate steps toremove them. Act fast and patiently. Imam Saheb has listed

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one by one all the moral diseases man suffers from, and hasgiven causes and curatives to each one of them. For examplewhy men get angry, jealous, and dishonest; why they loot,cheat and deceive; and why they hurt, attack and murder.He would say revenge though sweat is never successful. Hewould say ambition and greed are at the root of many crimes.Man is money-mad, position-mad, power-mad and status-madwhich prompt him to do wicked things. When these diseasesreach State level, they cause disaster. Rivers of blood wouldflow; nations are destroyed, society is terrorized; country isparalysed; and cultures and civilizations are wiped off. Manbecomes worse than beast. No tiger kills another tiger, nowolf kills another wolf, but Brutus takes his food at Caesar�stable to-night and stabs the same Ceasar next day in broadday-light. Ghazali would say look at the honey-bee, whichworks so hard to give you honey. Look at the lamp whichburns itself but gives light to you. Look at a tree whichdoes not deny shade even to the wood-cutter. Look at acow which grazes green grass only to give you white milk. Itdoes not drink its own milk but gives it all to you. Look atthe lamb, it kills itself, rather you kill it, to make a nicemeal out of it. But what is man doing to man is loot, cheat,murder and destruction. You could teach to individuals, butwho could teach to nations, to powerful nations with militarymight, financial abundance, national arrogance, and intellectualsuperiority? Imam Saheb holds not only kings, monarchs,sultans, emperors and dictators responsible for this sorry stateof affairs, but also religious bigots, fanatics andfundamentalists who are victims of taqlid or traditions. Theydo not understand the spirit and the soul of religion. Theygo by rituals and formalities. In the name of religion as muchblood is shed as for political power, economic equality andsocial justice.

The finest part of Ahya-ul-Uloom is this part where ImamSaheb invites our attention to introspection, to question

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ourselves whether we are earning our daily bread by sweat ofour brow or by exploiting others, depriving others, deceivingothers, cheating others, and looting others. If you rob Peterand pay Paul, it is no merit. The first principle is the purityof your means. Inner cleansing is essential and not scenteddress. It is in this chapter Imam Saheb has thrown light onthe fleeting pleasures of life, on the eternity of the next world,on the fundamentals of faith and belief, on the need forrighteous deeds, on the need for abstinence from forbiddendeeds and on the danger of moral disease. Like an expert hepinpoints what the diseases are; like a super specialist hesuggests what the remedies are, and like a benign philosopherhe warns what the consequences would be in case you pay noheed to them.

In short Imam Ghazali is a great teacher not only ofthe Islamic world but also of the whole humanity. He hastaught us those lessons which could shape us into perfectbeings. What he has given is enough to lift us to the heightsof maturity and sublimity. He has opened for us those flood-gates of moral and spiritual values which could lead tocommunion with God. They are the essence of Islamicteachings. They are the quintessence of knowledge andwisdom. They are the power-house to generate moral energy.He has touched mind, body and soul. He has stirred religion,politics and society. He has moved morals, manners andethics. He has taken into account past, present and future.No work could excel Ahya-ul-Uloom in the width of its vision,in the depth of its profundity, in the sublimity of its thought,and in the excellence of its expression. It is the master-piece of a master mind.

4

MISHKAT-UL-ANWAR

This is also an unique work, universally known as the mostfascinating interpretation of Divine attributes. It is basedfirst on two verses of the 24th chapter on Noor (Light) inQuran. One could well imagine if a classic could be writtenon two verses of Quran, how much of knowledge might havebeen condensed in the whole of Quran. The 35th verse ofthis chapter says �God is the light of the earth and heaven.The parable of His light is as if there is a niche, and withinit a lamp; the lamp is enclosed in glass; the glass is as it werea brilliant star, which is lit from the oil of a blessed tree, theOlive, neither of the East nor of the West, whose oil is well-nigh luminous; though fire scarce touched it, Light upon Light,God does guide whom He will to His Light�.

Hundreds and hundreds of people have thrown light onthe attributes of God in thousands and thousands of pages,but nothing could come anywhere close to the extraordinarytreatise Ghazali wrote on those attributes. His work is enoughto put a mystic into ecstasies of spiritual delight. While itsliteral meaning relates to the principle of highest absolutelight, which is God, its spiritual meaning could constitutesmost profound philosophy intelligible only to such mightymystics as Ghazali. �Light upon Light� is an endless chain ofillumination in which ordinary knowledge dissolves as if it were

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ignorance.

Ultimate Reality or God has been conceived in hisvarious attributes. Some have taken as �TRUTH� which isreflection of Reality unobstructed by any kind of prejudice;some as �BEAUTY� which is perfect in every sensi of theterm; some as �JUSTICE�, which is harmony between reasonand conscience; some as �CREATIVITY� for every atom,every blade of grass, every grain of wheat, is a gift of �God�,some as �KNOWLEDGE�, for knowledge is the source forall creativity, and so on. Likewise �LIGHT� too is animportant attribute of God which illumines the wholeuniverse. Life is light, death is darkness. Knowledge is light,ignorance is darkness.

The theory of �LIGHT� too is significant concerning thecreation of the universe and God�s knowledge of everyparticular thing. God is eternal light. This light is self-existing, self-manifest, infinite and indefinable. It has twokinds of illumination, abstract and accidental. Abstract Light,which is God, is without form or limitation. It is not anattribute of any substance. Its essence is consciousness orknowledge. When we say a man is �enlightened� we meanlight of knowledge exists in him. This �Abstract Light� isthe principle of universal intellect, and its distant ray orreflection is human intellect. The second light is accidentalor contingent light. It has form and it is capable of becomingan attribute. Man becomes an intellectual when he possesseslight of knowledge. This intellect is the reflection of theabstract �Light of God� and is contingent or dependence onit. The human soul is the highest dwelling place of �AbsoluteLight� and man�s mind is the centre of �contingent light�.

The human soul has five external and five internal senseswhich belong to the power of light. The first is the sensoryspirit which takes stock of things through the ordinary sensesof touching, seeing, hearing, smelling and feeling. The second

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is the imaginary spirit which records and presents theinformation, the retentive power which recalls when required.The third is the intelligential spirit which understands theinformation, distinguishes the real from the literal, establishesthe relations among things and explains the phenomenon inan intelligent manner. The fourth is the discursive spiritwhich deduces laws and principles out of the data furnished,eliminates the unessential, analyses the substance and framesformulae which pertain to universal. The fifth istranscendental spirit which is spiritual perception or theintelligence to know the inner science or the higher truth.

The highest place among the interpreters of the theoryof Light should be given to Imam Ghazali whose Mishkat-ul-Anwar deals with the verse of the Light. He says if we takephysical light as an ordinarily understood, it is a phenomenonor appearance, and hence liable to pass away. Open youreyes you see a table, shut your eyes table is gone. For seeingwhich is illuminative power, we need the eye, which is theperceiving instrument. But the �Eye� has many defects. Itis only the perceiving faculty or intelligence which is properlyentitled to the name of Light considered as source to enlightenmen. We see an object through eyes, but it is the mind orintellect that tells us, it is a table.

For eye to see we need one more thing, the light, for indarkness we cannot see anything. In day-time we have thebrightest lamp, the sun, to see, and in the night we lit ourown lamps. Just as physical eye needs the light of a lamp,the spiritual eye too needs a lamp, which Ghazali says isQuran. A verse of Quran says, �For we have sent unto you alight , (that is) manifest� (Sura IV, Ayath 174). The physicaleye sees by the sun and the spiritual eye by Revelation, theQuran. There is a world invisible, which is the spiritual world,far above the physical world. It is not in space, there is noquestion of space there. It is the domain of celestial realm.All the Prophets are lamps, and all the learned men are lamps,

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but the difference between them is unimaginable andincalculable. Prophets are illumined direct by celestial Lamp(Wahy) whereas philosophers, inventors and thinkers by asecondary or contingent ray of light called intellect. Prophets�light is symbolized by that fire which is called Spirits Celestial.The angels are supposed to kindle that fire. These LampsCelestial have their own grades and orders, and the highestis the one nearest to the �Ultimate Light�.

That �Ultimate Light� is God. He is the final, the real,the gracious Fountain Head of all Light. He is not the lightkindled from other lights. True light is God�s light, all otherlights are metaphorical, not real. But these metaphorical lightshave various gradations. Likewise darkness too has gradations.There is no darkness so intense as the darkness of Not-being.Ignorance is also a kind of darkness. A dark thing is called�dark� because we can not see it. It is invisible to us; itnever comes to exist for sight, though it may exist in itself.Air exists in a dark room, but we cannot see it. That whichhas no existence for others nor for itself is the very extremeof darkness. Wickedness, malice, hatred, jealousy, ignoranceand such other bad qualities should not exist for others, norshould they exist for themselves, and they are supposed tobe extreme of darkness. In contrast Light is welcome whichis �Being� which is needed. We adore light, we shudderdarkness. We kindle light, we dispel darkness. God, MostHigh, is the only Reality, as He is the only Light.

In the physical world Light is itself visible and makesother things visible. It lies behind all colours, and it isapprehended with colour. When you subject that throughprism, it splits into seven colours. Through its intense unionwith colours, it appears as light, but under refractions it isjust colour, and not light at all. Its very intensity causes itsinevitability.

The reference Ghazali draws is God is within all things;some visions perceive Him not on account of His very

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brightness. That its brightness blurs the vision, but somepossess special device to perceive Him. They are prophetsand mystics. Hallaj Mansur claimed that. Moses heard Hisvoice. Jesus imitated His creativity. Prophet Muhammadsaw Him but under hundred thousand veils. From thematerial world, the world of senses, we rist to the world ofintelligence, and from intelligence to the spiritual world. Thisspiritual world is not within the reach of one and all. It isthe world of Supernal or Celestial domain, highly complicated.Just as in the physical world it requires great skill to splitatoms, in the spiritual world too, one needs great mysticalskill to gain visibility (Baseerath). This celestial world containssupernatural Light, high and lofty. A part of that lofty lightmay be �Angels� entrusted with the task of running the entireshow of the universe. From yet another part of that DivineLight is ignited man�s mind. Various mortal spirits share thatLight.

Among the five faculties gifted to man namely the sensoryspirit, the imaginative spirit, the intelligential spirit, thediscursive spirit, and the transandental spirit, only the last ispossessed by the Prophets and the saints. They are the onewho see the unseen, who read the secret tables and statutesof the law revealed to the world. They are the one whopossess even miraculous power. All of these are Lights, forit is through them that every kind of existence is manifested,including objects of senses and intelligence.

These faculties are beautifully explained in the Quran byusing five symbols of light. They are a niche, a glass, a lamp,a tree and oil. The niche in which the lamp is kept is thesensory spirit, the lowest in the gradation of light. The glasswhich covers the shining light in the lamp is the imaginativespirit, or the retentive power which comes next in importance.The lamp itself which holds the burner of the light is theintelligential spirit. It is this spirit that gives cognizance ofdivine ideas. The tree is the ratiocinative or discursive spirit

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which begins with a single proposition, then branches intotwo, then four, and so on. It interprets the phenomenon.It draws conclusions, and it frames a law. It is the tree orthe source which produces oil for the lamp to burn. Thetree in the symbol is the olive which gives oil producingradiant illumination. Finally, the oil itself is the transcendentalspirit without which no light was possible. It is the one thatactually produces light.

Illumination can infinitely be multiplied. One lamp litsthe other lamp. Therefore, a tree like the olive, whose oilcan lit many lamps and multiply light infinitely, is entitled tobe called a �Blessed Tree� above all other trees, like fruittrees, which bear fruits that are good enough to be eaten,but not to produce light. Hence Quran calls this tree asvery special, which is to be seen neither in the east nor inthe west. The nature of that Divine Light is such that itsramifications do not permit distance or direction. It ispresent every where and yet rare and abstract, �neither ofthe East nor of the West�.

The oil is the type of transcendental prophetic spiritwhich is absolutely luminous, pure and clear. The thoughtprocess is divided into that which needs to be instructed,advised and supplied from some outer agency. Ideas are giftsof God. The link between man and God are �ideas�. Goddwells in man, manifests Himself in the form of conscience,which is kindled by the �Light� of knowledge. Allama Iqbalsays:

�Divine Spirit having manifested Himself in humannature returns back to Its own source�. Whereas all othersources of light need supply, Absolute Light needs no sourcesof supply. God is Absolute, Sublime, Supreme, Highest,Greatest and �Most radiant�. Ghazali says a spark of this�Light� can be kindled in man. There are saints whose lightshines so bright that it is independent of what angels supply.That means they move from physical phenomenon to spiritual

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phenomenon. For the human soul there is graded successionof Light and this explains the phrase in Quran �Light uponLight�. Just as there are grades in society, one is a King, theother is a servant, although both are men, in the spiritualsphere too there are grades, one is Hallaj Mansur or Ba-yazid Bustami, and the other is yet a seeker at the door-step.

Our Holy Prophet has said God is within 70,000 veilsof light, a figure used arbitrarily to convey the idea of aninfinite number of Lights. It is the perceiving faculty that isentitled to the name of light,which is the source of light.The Prophets are like these lamps and these lamps are lit bythe Celestial spirit. The Ultimate Light is the final fountain-head not kindled by any other light. The human soul, whichis the highest dwelling place of abstract light is composed ofthree main elements, intelligence, courage and passion. Theharmonizing blend of all these three results in justice, whichis one of the greatest virtues. God is just. The spiritualgoal of man is enlightenment. When light is kindled manpasses from accidental to abstract light; mystic souls directlyascend to the abstract light after they are separated fromthe body. Those souls that are partially purified hang betweenlight and darkness. Evil souls are dumped into darkness.

If this is the picture of light, there is the other side ofdarkness. Ghazali discusses both in Mishkat-ul-Anwar. Verse40 of the same Surah Noor says, �There is the depth ofdarkness in a vast deep ocean, overwhelmed with billow topedby billow, topped by dark clouds, depths of darkness, oneabove another; if a man stretches out his hand, he can hardlysee it. For any to whom God gives not light, there is nolight� (XXIV, 40). Ghazali interprets this verse saying theman who has turned away from guidance or light would beunder utter darkness. He would be darker than darkness.For darkness is neutral or negative. It leads neither one waynor the other. Its effect is known and limited, but the man

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in darkness is more dangerous. We never know what he woulddo. Just as the enlightened soul reaches the highest absolutelevel, the dark soul may sink to the lowest of the low level.His perception would be perverse; his actions would be wicked;and his conscience would be malignant. He may cause damageto the whole society, to the whole humanity. One Hilaku,one Chenghiz, one Hitler has brought limitless disaster.

The verse speaks of �vast deep ocean�. Ghazali says itis this world of mortal dangers, of evil designs, and of blindingmiseries. Wave upon wave of special passion darkens theconscience. Greed poisons the soul of man. Hatred, jealousy,malice and wickedness pull down man to the depths ofdespondency. The dark clouds above are corrupt thoughts,desires and emotions which become further veils of darkness.Ghazali says there are three classes of men who are veiledfrom God�s light, one veiled by pure darkness, second, veiledby mixed Light and darkness, and the third, veiled by PureLight. In each class there are numerous sub-divisions. Whenwe take account of all these we may well come to 70,000veils which Prophet Muhammad spoke of.

Imam Ghazali analyses pure darkness and says it is thequality of atheists. They do not believe in God at all. Theytake nature or self for God. But there are numerous varietiesof such men. One particularly mentioned by Ghazali is thesort of men who believe in Islam for selfish gain. Theyconfess with their tongue the creed of Islam urged either bygain or fear. There are others who believe simply because ofthe support they give to the opinion of their fathers. If whatthey believe will not turn them good, they would eve r be indarkness. Their patron saints who keep them in this stateof affairs are also in darkness. The leader and the led bothare culprits. But one who is not so easily misled and traceshis steps back to good, comes back from darkness to light.

Ghazali mentions yet another category of men, those

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veiled by mixed light and darkness. They may be those veiledby the darkness of senses. They may be blind; they could bereformed. They are above those who worship �self� or natureor patrons. Yet another category is of those veiled by thedarkness of their imagination. They over reach their senses.They allow their imagination to govern their ideas of God.They forget the fact that God is above the realm ofimagination. The third category of men who come undermixed light and darkness are those veiled by some divine Lightmixed with some darkness of intellect. They fall underanthropomorphism in their ideas of God. They fail to perceivethat soul is above intellect.

Those veiled by pure light are those who perceivedspiritual truth upto a certain point, but beyond that pointtheir eyes are dazzled by the Light. There is a veil betweenthem and Light. There are only a few of the few whom �thesplendour of the Countenance Sublime would consume�. Theyare the lucky one with whom God is pleased. They attainthe highest. Prophets are in that list, the chosen few. Themajesty of Divine Glory is not the privilege of many. Inorder to reach this level they are themselves shattered,annihilated and blotted out (Fana). Moses could not stand avoice from the celestial world. Mansur was put to death.The only one who came out unscathed was ProphetMuhammad. As long as mortal self exists there is no roomfor higher self in it. Getting is not possible without paying.The ONE remains, many change and pass. Ghazali concludes,�Hard, hard it is to essay the discovery of the Light Supernalthat are beyond the Veil�. How true and how appropriatefor all who seek to interpret the Light. All have to praytheir own feeble lights should not act as a veil between themand the Light Divine.

Thus Mishkat-ul-Anwar is a treatise on a single attributeof God and that is Light. It is the claim of Quran that if allthe water in the oceans were to become ink and all the wood

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in the forests were to become pens, and if one were to startwriting the attributes of God, the ink would be exhausted,the pen would be exhausted, but the attributes would yetremain to be mentioned. This is no exaggeration. Take thelatest researches on atomic energy. Whoever had thought acentury ago atoms could be split? If a tiny atom could havethat much energy, how many atoms are there in the universe,how many grains of sand are there in the beaches, how manystars are there on the horizon, how many solar systems arethere in the sky, how many galaxies, how many constellationsin the universe. Mind-boggling things are there in theuniverse, from which Ghazali picked just one single item, theLight, and wrote a full-length volume to earn world-renown.What about the rest of the atoms, the rest of the molecules,the rest of the elements and the rest of the things? Whateverman has thought of so long is only a fraction of what remainsto be thought of.

Mishkat is based on only two verses of the Quran. Thereare over 6000 verses in it. What a wonder it would be ifthe spiritual meaning of all could be revealed. This workinvites man to get enlightened. It concentrates on explainingwhat Light is, where is it located, how is it produced andwhy it is important. Ghazali has built a beautiful mansionout of this concept of Light. It is important to note whatthe opposite of Light is. It is darkness. It is the beauty ofthe Quran to throw a hint at the inner reality of all creativity.All creativity is the fusion of the opposite. The verse ofLight is followed by the verse of darkness. All things are inpair, high and low, good and bad, men and women, young andold, life and death, sweet and sour. The modern informationtechnology based on electronic stands on negative and positive.This physical phenomenon has great spiritual implications.

The theory of Light poses the problem of �Being� and�Not Being�. �Light� is �Being� the source of everything tohappen. Without sun�s light nothing would grow. But with

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�Being� take note of �Not Being� as well, which is darknessor death. Light remains, light is a blessing, light is life, lightis power, light is knowledge and light is Divine. But darknessis ignorance, darkness is misery and darkness is death.Therefore, we are advised to go for light and not for darkness.We have to go from physical light to spiritual light, from thecontingent light to abstract light, from lower light to higherlight. That is why Ghazali speaks of grades of light, oneabove the other, layer upon layer, wrapped up cover withincover, 70,000 of them, limitless of them. Ghazali invites usto higher truth, to absolute truth, to Divine Light. Once youhave it, nothing else you need.

God is the Light of the universe and earth and you get aspark out of it. The Divine Light exists in everything. Apoet says:

�A lamp is burning in the centre of an Assembly Hall,but my light is like that fire which is hidden unseenin a stone�. Strike one stone against another youget sparks. Rub hard one twig against another, youget fire. Observe a fire-fly, you will see light, Liftyour eye in a dark night up on the sky, you will finda million lamps burning. Light, Light, Light; everywhere is Light; but one needs inner eye to see. It isinsight we need. It is vision we need. It isillumination we need. Ghazali has illumined ourheart in Mishkat-ul-Anwar.

5

ONENESS(WAHDANIYAT)

Imam Ghazali has bestowed his very serious thought ononeness in the universe. That is the quality of God. That isthe sum and substance of Islam. That is the central idea ofSufism. Quran is full of it. Ahadith are replete on its stress.In a way the whole Universe is governed by the principle ofoneness. A million cells in a human body go to make a singleentity called man. A million roots, leaves and twigs go tomake a single tree. A million stars, galaxies and constellationsgo to make a single universe. Oneness is the law, oneness isthe principle, oneness is strength, oneness is unity and onenessis God. Ghazal has made this the subject of his deep study.

No religion clarified the concept of the oneness of Godas Islam did. The very definition of Islam is that it is anexperiment in pure monotheism unsupported by any of thesymbolisms or forms of appeal to the emotions of the commonman. The first revolutionary principle of Islam is the unityor oneness of God, and the second principle is the unity ofman. That was not the new principle, for all Prophets, eversince Adam preached that principle. Ghazali has writ largethis principle. God is Absolute, no equal to Him, no rival toHim. He is there from eternity, He will ever be there until

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eternity. There is no limit to His power, His authority. Heis the Creator. He is all-knowing. God means �Being�,�Creating�, �Revealing�, �Reality�, �Manifestation� and�Reintegration�. In Islam God as such is envisaged, not asHe manifests Himself in the universe, but as what He actuallyis, what His nature is, what He creates, and what He reveals.That is the difference between Islam and other faiths Ghazalihas brought out. Others have regarded His manifestations,His nature, His creativity and His attributes as God, Ghazalimakes a distinction between the two. God is presenteverywhere. He breathed His soul in man. He is closer toman than man�s own jugular vein. He dwells in man only inthis metaphorical sense and not in the real sense. Christianitymade Jesus God, but not Islam. Islamic theology is all fullof the unique oneness of God.

Ghazali would trace man�s relations with God in termsof three main attributes of God, namely rububiya or theprocess of careful nourishment leading to the fullestdevelopment, rahma or mercy sustaining this development,and adla or justice maintaining the balance or equilibrium inlife. Taqdir or pre-determinism is nothing but theassignment of a role conditioned by certain limitations in itsgrowth. Reason helps man in understanding the environmentaround and intuition or brain wave guides man on a higherplane in his spiritual and ethical life. The process of creativityhas behind it the value of beauty in bringing about everythingin perfect harmony and fullness. Observe nature you willnot find anywhere any fault. Everything is made so attractiveand so beautiful giving each the necessary colour or light orshade or shape or rhythm or other attributes. Ghazali hasexplained the phenomenon of nature or God�s creativity inthe light of his intellectual excellence as also the depth of hisspiritual force.

Science says this universe has come into existencethrough the process of evolution. Ghazali says it was the

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will of God that brought this into existence. It was notevolution but devolution that was responsible. Quran is veryemphatic on this issue. If God wills a phenomenon, it is justenough for Him to wish, and it comes into existence.Whatever is there in the universe, whether big or small, goodor bad, man or woman, knowledge or ignorance, war or peace,are all in accordance with Divine Design. Not even a leafwould fall from a tree without His knowledge. Not even anant is denied its right to work, to move and store its foodfor the rainy day. Even man can not excel the industry of anant, the calmness of a duck, the fidelity of a dog, thegentleness of a cat, the swiftness of a horse and patience ofa donkey. Who could change green grass into milk in thebelly of a cow? Who could convert a drop of mist into apearl inside a shell? Who could turn the food we eat intoblood, into energy and into intellect? Can we count God�smercy or creativity or love, or knowledge or light?

Therefore, Ghazali wants us to believe in God�s power.God�s majesty, God�s creativity, and God�s mercy. Nothingwould happen without His wish. He does what He wants.None can defeat His intentions or purpose. Nothing canhappen without His pleasure. In His pleasure lies our peace.He is all knowing, all seeing, all hearing without the mind,eyes or ears we know of. We have to believe He orders, wehave to obey. He does not send written notice; we have toread from the happenings, for He has taught us how toobserve, how to infer and how to discern, Moses understoodHis message, prophet Muhammad understood His message;all Prophets have understood His message. Any wise mancan understand His message. Faith and belief demandwhatever exists is His creation. He is the maker and thedoer. He is the Master and the Judge. He is omnipotent,omnipresent. He is Supreme and Sublime. He is perfectand profound. Whatever exists in the universe is His gift,His creation. Ghazali wants us to have faith in such broad

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comprehensive, overall functioning of Divine Power.

Ghazali wants us to believe in ten important aspects ofGod. They are: (1) He exists, (2) He has no beginning, (3) Hehas no ending, (4) He is not the essence of anything, (5) Heis not the body or matter of anything; (6) He has no direction,(7) He has no dimension, (8) He has no space, (9) He doesnot stay at any particular place, (10) He is all alone, and wewill have a glance of Him on the last day of judgement. Insupport of these principles Ghazali has profusely quoted fromQuran besides presenting many rational arguments. Hisrational arguments are: (1) There could be no greatersupporting evidence than Quran. (2) When God has saidsomething, it is the last word. (3) It stands to reason therewas nothing before the creativity of the universe except God,for there should be some one to create it. (4) He would everbe there in future, for there is no end to His existence. (5)He is the first, His is the last, He is apparent, and He ishidden. (6) He is not the essence drawn from any substance.He is above time and space. (7) He has no shape, no form,no body. He is pure abstraction, pure energy, pure light. (8)He has no dimensions, no height, no length, no depth, nowidth. He is pure cosmic consciousness. (9) He possessesknowledge, power, initiative, will, and creative force. (10) Heis present everywhere. For convenience sake we say He ison Arsh or throne. This should not be taken literally. It isa metaphorical term for common man. He is All by Himself,no equal, no rival.

Having discussed the existence of God, Ghazali proceedsto analyse God�s attributes. Here also he has listed tenprinciples. (1) God�s majesty and power prevails over everything.Perfection is the nature of His work. Observe the universe,how vast, how big, how wonderful everything is. There is noflaw anywhere in anything. Observe a blade of grass or agrain of wheat, how He makes all the potentialities of theearth together with those of the sky help them to grow.Observe how a baby is developed in a womb. Would you not

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be wonder� struct at the dexterity of the Master? (2) Godis all knowing. There is no limit to His knowledge. Heknows what is happening at the floor of the ocean or up onthe sky in Saturn or Jupitar or Mars or Mercury or Venusor Pluto. (3) God has not gone to sleep. He is very muchawake. His cosmic sense controls everything. He is theUltimate Reality very much present everywhere. (4) His Willis Supreme. His wish happens. The moment He thinks ofsomething and wants that to happen, it happens. He doeswhat He wants. (5) God listens to everything, sees everything.He knows what is going on in our mind and in our conscience,what we think, what we feel, what we do. He takes note ofeverything. None can escape from His glare. We may hideour intentions from others, we cannot hide them from God.(6) God speaks, but there is no sound, no voice, no words,no language. His message is quite different. It is a brainwave. We suddenly know from where it is coming. Prophetsunderstand this message. Saints, sages, Sufis, thinkers, poetsand philosophers understand this message. The glory of allgreat men has been the gift of God. He puts such love in amother that she undergoes a hell and yet loves the baby.Who has taught a new-born baby to suck? (7) God�s messageis eternal. It is full of meaning, full of wisdom, there is adeep design in all He does. (8) He is in full control ofeverything including His own power which is used justly, aptly,fully and freely. (9) His intentions, His will, His ideas andHis deeds are irrevocable. None can alter, modify or reverseor cancel His intentions. (10) His knowledge has made Himenlightened, His life has given Him eternity, His power hasmade Him omnipotent, and His Will has made Him Self-Master.

Imam Saheb�s discussion on God centres on threeprinciples, His entity, His attributes and His creativity. Herealso Ghazali presents ten principles: (1) Whatever exists inthe universe is all His creativity. They are the products of

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His Will and His deeds. (2) He is also the motivator ofman�s deeds. The subject and object both are from God. Ifman does good, it is all because of God�s mercy. If man doesbad, that is also God�s desire. Here we may understndd goodthings being God�s blessings, what about bad things? HereGhazali explains God granted man the power to think as alsothe power to do. He gave man free-will to choose eithergood or bad. He taught man a lesson if you were to do goodyou would be rewarded; if you were to do bad, you would bepunished. Having warned man again and again, if good isignored and bad is chosen, it is not God�s but man�s fault.But to do bad things also, man needs God�s help. A thiefcannot steal unless God makes him know the technique. Inthat sense all deeds emanate from God. (3) God is in fullcommand of every thing, and yet He permits man to do whathe wants giving him a long rope until the last day of judgementfor presenting the account. His patience has no limits. Hedoes not punish soon after the crime is committed. He givesscope for reform, for repentance and for rectification. Thisis also His mercy. (4) God is merciful, beneficent andgracious. He makes man His partner in creativity. If Godcreated mud and sand, man made a beautiful glass out of it.If God created darkness in the night, man dispelled thatdarkness by lighting a lamp. If God created a jungle, manchanged that into a park. (5) It is upto God to ordain mansuch things which man cannot do. He tested man, but manfailed. He ordered Adam not to touch the forbidden fruit,still man could not resist the temptation. God ordained manto live in peace, amity and harmony. Man proved incapableof doing so. Even then God has not forsaken man. (7) It iswithin the power of God to punish man for his past sin orfor the sin man is likely to commit in future. For the sins offather the sons suffer. (8) It is upto God to do what Hepleases. He makes the crowns of Kings tumble down, andHe makes the ditch-diggers sit on thrones. Indian History

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has witnessed a series of Sultans who were all slaves. It isnot necessary God should do what man thinks rational. Waysof God could be mysterious. Sometimes the Exalted Courtis capricious. We do not know why Socrates was made todrink the cup of hemlock, why Jesus was ordered crucification,and why Imam Hussain was so brutally killed. (8) It isobligatory on the part of man to obey God. God expectsman should recognize He and He alone as the Creator, asthe Sustainer, as the Protectator and as the Supreme andSublime Lord. (9) God in His wisdom had sent Prophets toguide man. They were as much needed for humanity asdoctors are needed for patients. (10) God sent ProphetMuhammad as the last of the Prophets. He gifted himmiracles, the most wonderful being his ascension to heavento have a communion with God.

Ghazali says every act of God is just and fair. Eventhose that seem apparently strange have a deep designultimately for the good. The destruction of Baghdad byHilaku Khan was followed by the acceptance of Islam by theMongols and the establishment of the Ottoman Empire. Theblind Milton became a great poet. Joseph who was sold inthe market became the ruler of Egypt. The assassination ofCaesar resulted in the rise of the Roman Empire. The burningof boats by Tariq-bin-Zayyad gifted the Umayyads a mightykingdom in Spain. A lad of 17 Muhammad Bin Qasimconquered the whole of Sind. History abounds in exampleswhere God�s blessings were showered in an imperceptible way.

If a scholar were to complain why he is denied wealth,and why the ignorant and the foolish are rich, he should knowif God had gifted both knowledge and wealth on the scholar,the ignorant, who too is a creature of God, would havecomplained why he was denied both. �I should have got atleast one thing, either honour or wealth�. Some one askedHazrat Ali why wise people were poor. He got the replythat wisdom came under more precious wealth. God givesevery body something, and not every thing to every body. A

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poor labourer sleeps like a log on stone, and the King rollson a bed of roses without sleep. He is afraid any time hemay be attacked. If a beautiful lady were to feel bad thatshe does not have any jewellery, she should know God hasgifted her that which is an attribute of God. What isjewellery before beauty? Jewellery would not wash off an uglyface. In Divine dispensation some get beauty, some getjewellery. The indispensable condition for happiness is notto have something we badly need. The urge to secure themissing thing would motivate man to that love and labourwhich becomes the source of happiness.

Imam Ghazali quotes an instance of a Prophet Davidwho felt proud of the piety of the clan of David. He thoughtno night was free when he and his family were not deep inprayers. This claim displeased God, and David had to regretfor his pride. What Ghazali intends to say is that God wouldnot spare even prophets if they chose a wrong path. Ourown Prophet Muhammad was warned when he did notimmediately attend to the query of a blind man. God�s justiceis ever on force.

Thus Ghazali has thrown intensive light on the attributesof God. Very rightly he says through rububiya quality,everything comes into existence. This is the first evolutionaryprocess when with His wish things happen automatically.Nourishment, sustenance and development also come underthe wake of this category. From birth to death man is takencare of things reach the logical limits under this quality. Godhas fixed the fate of everything. It is nothing but cause andeffect theory. Do good you will be rewarded, do bad you willbe punished. A fixed law is imposed which is called Taqdir.But God in His mercy permitted man to change even hisfate through his resourcefulness, which is called Tadbir.Allama Iqbal�s well-known verse is:

�Lift your inner potentials so high that before fixing your

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destiny, God Himself would ask you, tell me what is youropinion�. This tadbir or resourcefulness is given a technicalterm called Hidayat which is the highest gift of God. Thereare gradations. First comes knowledge or information, abovethat is skill or technology, above that is wisdom andunderstanding, and above all these is God�s Hidayat orTaufique which means God�s guidance to do the right thing.With this Hidayat, Mose�s staff turns into snake, Jesus couldrevive a dead body, Abraham could come out of the fireunscathed. Soloman could fly in the air. Prophet Muhammadcould split the moon. But such miracles were given only toProphets, but others too were given such power as to changehistory. A powerful speech made Babar turn defeat intovictory.

Ghazali has said much on God�s quality of grace and love(rahama). It is the source of all creativity. God�s lovepervades the whole universe. Not on humans alone but onall living beings God has showered so much of love thatanimals protect their young ones at the risk of their life. Ahelpless hen attacks a powerful eagle when it attempts tocatch its chick. It is the Divine purpose that this attributeof love should reign supreme in the whole universe, as noother quality is so beneficent to living beings. God�s relationwith man is linked with this quality. Likewise, Ghazali haspaid attention to the attribute of justice which maintainsbalance in the universe. Lawlessness and chaos would prevailif justice does not assert to maintain order. Safety andsecurity, peace and progress, law and order, all would dependupon the degree of justice that exists in the society. As forthe justice for the actions of man, good or bad, God is verymeticulous. Quran says every bit of good deeds, every bit ofbad would be taken into account, and would be weighed in abalance and rewarded or punished accordingly. For bad deedsno more than what is due would be accorded, but for gooddeeds God in His mercy, grace and love would accord many

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more fold than what is his due. It is not necessary justice tobe done soon after the deed. God has limitless patience.Sometimes He would not judge a person until the last day ofjudgement. Many wicked fellows having committed crimesmay escape from this world, but they would surely be bookedon the accounting day. Quran mentions this fact again andagain. The creation of hell is only for that purpose. Helland heaven very much figure in the Quran. This world is apreparatory ground or an examination hall whose results willbe flashed only on that day. That would be a terrible daywhen whole humanity would be brought back to life. Godwould sit in judgement. Records of the deeds would bepresented and judgements would be passed which would bejust and fair. Sufficient warnings have been given throughProphets of this inexhorable law that no one could escapefrom that Day and that in man�s own interest he should taketo good deeds and avoid bad deeds.

In short Ghazali has covered all aspects of the attributesof God. Our entire theology rotates round God. Ghazalispent his whole life attempting to kindle the light of God inman�s heart. Tauhid or belief in God is the first principle ofIslam. God would forgive every sin but not shirk orassociating others with His creativity, with His mercy, withHis knowledge, with His power and with His attributes. Thisis the major difference between Islam and other faiths Anysymbolism or any form of appeal other than pure concept isnot permissible in Islam. Ghazali�s profound analysis has madecrystal clear what God means. It is His uniqueness, Hisoneness that is important. In Mishkat Ghazali hadconcentrated just on one attribute of God, namely Light, butin Ahya-ul-Uloom, He took pains to throw intensive light onall aspects of His attributes.

6

SUFISM

Imam Ghazali was the architect of Sufism. He was the firstperson who perfected this system. He built its differentcomponents. He exposed its reality. He stressed its necessity.He showed its difference from theology. In Sufism actionleads to knowledge, whereas in theology knowledge leads toaction. In Sufism one has to first earn the pleasure of God;in theology one has to learn first. In Sufism it is only aftersuch actions as repentance, abstinence, meditation, love, fear,hope, longing, contemplation and renunciation, one gainshigher knowledge called gnosis. In theology one would notbegin with such actions. In Sufism one has to first renouncethe world, give up all mundane business of life and concentrateonly on love of God.

What is Sufism? Sufism is the mystical side of Islam.It is the purification of the heart from the recurrence ofbaser temptations. Its purpose is to make one adhere tospiritual values, to ascend by means of Divine knowledge, tobe occupied with that which is eternally the best, and to givewise counsel to all faithfully to seek the truth. It is anattempt to gain personal experience of God, to be incommunion with God. It is built upon the principle thatordinary means of knowledge through senses would confer onlywhat is relative and not the Absolute. As God is Absolute

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we cannot know anything about His qualities except throughintuition and revelation.

It is possible to know the Absolute because God dwellsin man, which is his conscience, and when this conscience iskindled with higher knowledge, and not relative knowledge,we would know the higher truth or the Reality. The humansoul is a part of Divinity, and returns to the same sourceafter death. Relative knowledge or reason is of value only inscience, but beyond reason is intuition which gives man asimpler, a more direct and more adequate knowledge of theAbsolute Truth or Ultimate Reality. Intuition is possiblethrough an intense devotion to God. Sufism �s a highlycomplex phenomenon based on a system of thought and actionwhich demands passionate love of God and sincere service toman. Love of God, love of man and purity of heart are itsthree main principles. Sufis attach great emphasis on thelove of God, and their only concern is to be lost in the loveof God. They believe that the whole universe is merely amirror of God, and that all which is beautiful is just a ray ofGod. They say God makes you die to yourself so that youmay be alive in God. They hold that if men wish to drawnear God, they must seek Him in the hearts of men. Theirrecord of service to man is admirable. They provided valuablesocial service, propagated Islam among masses, comforted andconsoled those who had fallen low.

Imam Ghazali devoted a full volume, the Fourth volumefor the discussion of various aspects of Sufism, which we willkeep it for the last chapter of this work. Here we will analyseonly the general theory of Sufism. The Sufis pay less attentionto formal and ritual side of Islam and more to its spiritualside. The outcome was a science of pious self-examination,abstract speculation and a rigid discipline. It gained latersuch names as mysticism, inner science and teaching of theworking of the heart. The Sufis got busy enquiring into the

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realities and creations of this universe and became morereflective. Some of the questions that agitated their mindswere the nature of the soul, the nature of knowledge, therelation between man and God, and the relations betweenman and man. They asked questions about the origin of theuniverse. They began to meditate on these problems. Theylistened to music and poetry attentively, and they would fallinto ecstasy which they believed was a direct contact withGod.

According to Sufism the process of ascent or spiritualperfection involves five stages. In the first stage man has tocompletely surrender himself to the Will of God. This isthe stage of obedience or ta�at, in which through asceticpractices, he has to overcome the baser temptations. Hehas to conquer ignorance, pride, envy, anger anduncharitableness. It is very essential that the lower self shoulddie in order that the higher self may live in God.

In the second stage a Sufi would act according to thecommands of God or Shariath. He has to acquire faith,observe cleanliness, pray five times a day and fast regularly.This is the stage of good actions, when he must serve others,relieve their misery, help humanity, develop patience in himselfand acquire moral personality. Here he has to carry on allthe injunctions of Quran, do what is required and he abstainfrom doing what is prohibited.

The third stage is called ta�rikhat where the techniqueor methodology of moving towards spiritual life is acquired.This is a phase of training where the disciple is subject togreat stress for actually entering into penance. Here he hasto develop trust, the treasure of Sufism; enthusiasm, whichis the vehicle; longing which is the companion; knowledgewhich is the armour; intellect which is the foundation,penance, which is the profession; prayer which is the solace;patience which is the dress; and determination, which is the

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food. Besides these he has to acquire such other qualities aslove, hope, fear, poverty, intimacy, nearness to God,tranquility, contemplation, renunciation, abstinence andcertainty. This is certainly a stage of rigorous training. Herehe has to completely disengage from worldly cares and purifyhimself of all evil desires.

The fourth stage is the stage of higher knowledge calledgnosis (Ilm-e-irfan). In this stage logical reasoning isdiscarded; spiritual knowledge is attained. Here a Sufi woulddeclare with Abul Hasan Kirkhani, �I do not say heaven andhell do not exist, but I say that they are nothing to me,because God created them both, and there is no room forany created object in the place where I am.� That means hehas reached the stage of knowing the inner realities, theprocesses of creativity the causes and conditions of thingswhich is much higher than mere existence of things. SirAlexander Fleming who thought of anti-biotics is moreimportant than the medical practitioner who uses the anti-biotics.

The fifth or the last stage called Hakhikhat is the higheststage which reveals the Reality. It is the stage of completeunity with Divinity. It is the transformation of the whole ofman, his will, his intellect and his emotions into a State inwhich an unitive condition with reality is attained. In thisstage the mystic passes away from the self and lives in theessential unity with God. He crosses the domain of attributesand enters into that of essence and becomes the perfect manor Insan-e-Kamil. Law and religion loses their meaning inthis stage and he exclaims with Hallaj Mansur, �I am God. Iam He whom I love, and He whom I live is I … I becomethat which I love, and that which I love becomes mine. Weare two spirits in one body, to see me is to see Him, and tosee Him is to see me.� This doctrine which is pronouncedby Mansur emphasizes the unitive life according to which God

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manifests Himself on earth in His saints and in the suprememystical souls. He permits them a temporary union withHim. This is the stage of perfection where a man iscompletely absorbed in God.

The several stages of Sufism can be illustrated with anexample given by a Sufi himself. A Sufi asked a disciple, �Goand strike each of the three men you see sitting there�. Hewent and struck the first. The man jumped up and returnedthe blow. This is the stage of law or shariat which permitsretaliation of the blow. He struck the second; the man madea motion to rise, clinched his fists, but restrained himself.This is the stage of tarikhat or the way to become perfect.He struck the third, and the man took no notice. This wasthe final stage of hakhikhat or truth, where the Sufi is solost in the love of God that he does not feel any pain.

When a Sufi passes through the stages required undertarikhat he reaches the goal of enlightenment. He will haveby then gone through five other different types of experience.The first is the stage of �I� which is the feeling of personality.The second is the stage of complete absorption in self, whenyou see nothing else in the world except to cry �Thou artnot�. The third is the stage of reaction, when you realize, �Iam not�. This is the stage of realization of one�s ownlimitations. The fourth is the further elevation in the thoughtprocess when you completely resign yourself to God and say,�Thou art�. The fifth is the highest stage, the ideal, the fullrealization of the goal and total absorption in the higher selfwhen you cry, �I am not and thou are not� or cosmicconsciousness or annihilation of distinction between thesubject and the object.

It was Imam Ghazali who contributed much insystematizing and perfecting the Sufi techniques. He rejectedthe teachings of the traditionalists and propagated the thoughtthat the only true source of knowledge was ecstasy and

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intuition. He made the direct realization of �inner light�(Baseerath) the proof of religion. According to him intuitiveknowledge is inherent in all great religions. The approachand communion with Ultimate Reality are the essentialpreliminaries to true devotion. The ascension of the ProphetMuhammad, Mi�raj, is the communion of the finite with theInfinite. God speaks to the hearts of men and imparts Hisknowledge to the chosen few who have the intense passion oflove for God. God says, �I am not so much on the earthand heaven as in the hearts of my faithful servants�. Thisled to transcendentalism which would permit mysticalperceptions to those who adopt the right techniques ofreligious experience. The auditory and visual powers wouldundergo a radical transformation to hear and see phenomenonwhich would be beyond the scope of mortal functions of thehuman organs. Every disciple should have a teacher, whosebusiness would be to interpret the strange experiences of thestudent.

The entire mystical thought is based on the theory thatthere is a divine spark in man, who is not conscious of it. Itrequires rigorous training or technique to comprehend its fullimplications. Mystical endeavour is the generation of lightfrom the soul and the return to its source. The liberationprocess was made quite elaborate and placed in a contextwhich was different from traditional theology. The basis ofmysticism appears to be philosophy and non-Quranic systems,for the type of dance, music and ecstasy practiced by theSufis are no where described in the Quran. It is only throughindirect inference that sanction is obtained for disregardingthe strict injunctions of traditional practices of Islam. TheSufis would argue in order to know God, it is not enough togo along the path the world took in its genesis, for man issupreme of creations. Therefore he should not be contentwith being a normal or a natural man, but he should try toreach the stage of �Perfect Man�. This is possible only

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through the inner purification.

In Mishkat Ghazali had equated God with Absolute Lightand �not-being� with darkness. One more great SufiShahabuddin Suharwardy (d.1191) arranged everything else inbetween light and darkness according to a scale of steadilydiminishing light and steadily encroaching shadow. Besidesthis cosmic radiance pouring out from a single source therewas also a second radiance or illumination by means of whichthe already existing level of light lit each other spiritually inmanifold ways. This is only a distant ray from the AbsoluteLight, yet from the same source and of the same nature.Properties of light would not vary from light to light. It isonly the question of degree and gradation. Thissupplementary light has a spark in man which is his intelligenceor the reflective power of God. This superior radianceprompts man to resist the attractions of the material worldand avoid a fall into a lower state, into the body of an animal,from which there would be no further hope of escape. Unlessthe distant ray of this Absolute light is fully lit, man runsthe risk of having it extinguished which would result in hisrelegation to lower level of creation, where he would beperpetually in darkness. Not only Ghazali andSuharwardy have added new ideas to Sufism, but MuhiyuddinIbn-al-Arabi (d.1240) too contributed much to the thoughtprocess. He substituted for the monism of light a monismof being in which all phenomena are nothing but amanifestation of being, which is one with God. In bothsystems, mysticisms occupies the ground between the abstractknowledge and concrete experience of the Ultimate Unity,whether in the form of light or being. Ibn-al-Arabi�s theoryled to great controversy, as it had the scope to mislead people.Akbar adopted it as the corner stone of his Din-e-Ilahi withvery dangerous results. It was all because of the wrongreading of Ibn-al-Arabi�s philosophy.

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Another significant change that was brought about in Sufithought in course of time was the veneration of ProphetMuhammad. With the growth of Sufism in Islam, ProphetMuhammad was placed on a higher pedestal. Love of theprophet became a part of the love of God. Love of theProphet was supposed to lighten the burden fulfilling religiousduties. It increased the prospect of his intercession on thelast judgement, It was accepted that prophethood was at farhigher level than sainthood, and hence the Prophet came tobe greatly venerated. A tendency developed to objectifyabstractions, when the Prophet became the instrument to seethe light of God. He was regarded as the door leading toGod, and in order next only to God. An attempt was madenot only to contact God but also to contact the Prophet.The mystic�s ultimate longing was to have the vision of theProphet, not only in dreams, not only after death, but alsoawake and in life. Medina competed with Mecca. Prophet�sbirth-day was celebrated with great pomp and ritual. TheShias were foremost in this respect, who went one stepfurther to add Hazrat Ali, a third entity along with theProphet and God.

In course of time different orders were established, fourof them are important, namely Qadiriya, Chishtia,Naqshbandia and Suharwardiya. Shaikh Abdul Qadir Jeelani(d.1166), the founder of Qadiriya order is considered to beSaint of the Saints. Moin-ud-din Chishti of Herat was thefounder of the Chishti order who played a major role in India.In these orders some emphasized Zikr, remembrance of God,and others Sam�a or listening to music, and some others Wajd,or ecstasy. Jalaluddin Rumi (d.1273) advocated dancing tointensify the effect of music. Shams-e-Tabriz was the teacherof Rumi. Some orders demonstrated miracles which the Sufisacquired. They drank poison, stabbed themselves, enteredoven and threw themselves from heights in order to showthe power of God working in them.

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Having traced the development of Sufism through theages, we have to note a few more practices which are essentialaspects of Sufism. Besides the states, stages and stations,which are different steps to spiritual knowledge, a Sufi hasto pass through four types of light relating to zikr orremembrance of God. They are known as Nasuti, Malkooti,Jabrooti and Lahooti. In Nasuti he gives up all basertemptations. He rejects all created things. He is just lostin the love of God and attempts to enter into a celestialworld of abstractions. In Malkooti he is on the path toknow God. His mind is filled with the majesty of God whichhe starts giving expression through his lips. Nothing but Godis in his soul and conscience. In Jabrooti the search for Godstarts. He is on the move to find God. It is a long journey.He persists in his efforts. In Lahooti he finds himself in stillhigher plane. This is a domain of not thinking of God but offeeling of God. Reality is revealed. It is nearness to God.Man loses himself in God.

It is this zikr or remembrance of God that is the mostvital aspect of the practice. It is being done in four differentways. It is called one stroke, two strokes, three strokes andfour strokes. It is all about the intensity with which you dozikr. In zikr you reach a stage where God is every where, inevery direction, the whole universe is filled with His Light.Nothing but He you see. When David would startremembering God, birds and hills and dales would all beshaken, and they too would join in tune with his songs. Inthe second stroke of zikr, not merely the lips but the breathtoo would start the zikr. Every inhaling sounded the zikrand every exhaling did as well. This zikr was nothing butAllah-u, the assertion of the existence of God. The wholebody would reverberate Allah-hu. In the third and fourthstrokes too this zikr is intensified.

After zikhr we have shughul, the action, the involvement,and the performance. Zikr is verbal, but shughul is concerete.

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There are different types of shughuls, mainly four, Sultan-un-Naseera, Sultan-un-Mahmooda, Sultan-un-Zakkar andShughul-e-Sarmadi. All these are conceiving God in variousforms of His majesty, His dimensions of power, His graceand His magnificence.

The third step after zikr and shughul is maraqiba,meditation and contemplation. Here Quranic verses arerepeated and their meaning would be well-digested. Here the,internee gets lost in the love of God. He would not be awareof anything of this world. The most popular verses of Quranthat are repeated are: Allahu-noor-us-sama-vati wal-urd (Godis the light of the heaven and earth). Nahnu-akhrabu ilayhi-min-habl-al-warid (I am closer to you than your own jugularvein), and Kullu-man-alaiha-fan-o-yabkha-wajahu-rabbuka zul-jalali-wal-ikram (everything is subject to destruction, the onlything that would remain would be the esteemed and noblevisage of your Lord).

After zikr, shughul and maraqiba comes the stage of Fanaor getting lost. Here five grades are mentioned of Fana ordestruction. First is the destruction of selfish desires.Removal of malice or wickedness from within is the first step.The second step is the removal of desires for good things oflife, comfort, wealth, power, glory and others. The thirddegree of removal is the baser elements of heart andconscience. Purity of heart, mind and soul, all three shouldbe attempted. The fourth is the removal of the fear of death.The fifth is the longing for death. A love would be developedto pass away, to live for ever in the love of God.

This philosophy of Fana is paramount in Sufism. Onehas to lose something to gain something. The quality of gainwould depend upon the price you pay for it. In case youwant to buy stone, the cost would not be as high as that forgold. When you are bargaining for the highest, the mostSublime, the most Supreme, naturally price you have to pay

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will be highest. There is nothing higher in you than yourown life, and you are giving it away to buy sometime stillhigher.

In this philosophy there is one more point to note.Passing away into God is the last and the final stage. Beforethat you have to destroy several other hurdles. First youhave to destroy the bad things within you, hatred, malice,jealousy, anger, greed, envy and so on. Secondly, you have todestroy your desire for material things, wealth, property andother comforts. Thirdly, you have to destroy your ego, yourpride, your desire to earn name and fame, honour and glory.Fourthly, you have to rid yourself with everything of this worldincluding your hearth and home, rest and sleep, comforts andconveniences and do those rigorous exercises prescribed underzikr, shughul and marakhiba. When you do all these, thereremains only one thing with you, and that is your soul. Offerthat also on a platter to God and say, �please accept thishumble token of mine, and bless me with a ray of your Light�.Mortal soul becomes immortal when mortality is cast awayfrom the soul. First step for eternity is death. Love of deathtakes away the fear of death. Immortality becomes a lovinggame.

With zikr, shughul, marakhiba and fana, comes Tauhid,the positive aspect in asserting the certainty of God. Tauhidhas its own branches, Tauhid-e-Afa�ali (practical type ofoneness), Tauhid-e-Sifati (qualitative type of oneness). Thencome the Lathayaf or the refinements which are six in number.They are Lateef-ai-Khalbi (refinement of heart), Lateef-ai-Roohi, (refinement of soul), Lateef-ai-Nafsi (refinement ofself). Lateef-ai-Si�rri (refinement of secrecy), Lateef-ai-Khafi,(hidden refinement) and Lateef-ai-Makhfi (confidentialrefinement). Divine refinements are incalculable, yet manattempts to develop at least a few of them.

What we call penance is a combination of enlightened

zikr, exciting shughul, exhilarating murakhiba, fascinatinglatayaf and exhaustive Asma (names of God). Those who arein this business are called Ghous, Qutub, Akhyar, Authad,Abdal and Auliya. All these are saints who are belowprophets, and the totality of these are called Salayheen. Theirintense devotion to God and hard penance earn them thishigh position. Every Muslim possesses the light of Islamicfaith, but it should be kindled with the torch of spiritual life.It is all covered by worldly desires. He has to first washthem off. The soap of repentance removes the dust. Therobe of zikr and fikr (thought) adds to beauty. The scent ofconcentration and involvement lends to fragrance. The Lightof Tauhid illumines the soul.

Tauhid has four branches, Tauhid-e-Shariyat (theologicalunity), Tauhid-e-Tareekhat (technical unity), Tauhid-e-Marifat(Unity of gnosis) and Tauhid-e-Hakheekat (Unity of Reality).In theological unity, one asserts the certainty of God. He isfrom eternity and there would be no end of His entity. Heis alive by His own Life; He is audible by His own power ofhearing; He is visible by His own power of seeing; He iscommunicative by his own power of speech. This is externaltauhid. In Tauhid-e-Tareekhath one has to sink the conceptof God in mind and conscience, which has three grades,Tauhid-e-Afa�ali, Tauhid-e-Sifathi and Tauhid-e-zathi. In thefirst grade, one observes the phenomenon which the scientistdoes to-day. In the second grade one has to understand theattributes of God for which gnosis or higher knowledge isrequired. The third stage is still higher where one gets theglimpses of reality. Here thinking, feeling, knowing andunderstanding are all involved. Here the seeker reaches aplace of celestial importance called Aljam�a-wal-Jam�a (oceansof oceans). The seeker here gets lost in love of God.

Last comes the stage of Hakheekhath. This is the stageof total absorption, mingling of the soul, union in the realsense. The drop of water joins the ocean. There are nine

grades here. Martab-ai-Nafsi, (position of the self), Martab-ai-Afakhi (Position of the universe), Martab-ai-Asmayee(position of the names), Martab-ai-Sifathi (position of thequalities), Martab-ai-shivanathi (position of the visibility),Martab-ai-Shuhudi (position of the witness), Martab-ai-Wujudi(position of existence), Martab-ai-Sheeli (position of certainty)and Martab-ai-Tanzeehi (position of tranquility). In Nafsiman�s intellect is lost in light. The seeker calls out �Anal-Haque� (I am God). In Afakhi, God seems to be the light ofthe heaven and earth. In Asmayee, the seeker is lost in thenames of God. In Sifathi he is deep in understanding theattributes of God. All his sense are filled with the light ofGod. In Sheeli, everything appears to assert the certainty ofGod. In Shivanathi every creativity seem to be for a purpose.In Shuhudi every element bears evidence to the existence ofGod. In Wujudi every existing thing seems to have a sparkof divinity, and in Tanzihi the seeker reaches the goal. Hereneither sorrow nor suffering, neither pleasure nor pain, neitherlife nor death, neither time nor space, neither knowledge norwisdom, neither body nor soul, nothing remains. Everythingbecomes a part of God�s Light and Love. Here one realizesthe meaning of �Mun-arafa-nafsahu, fakhad-arafa-Rabbahu�(He who understood his own self understood the Creator).

Thus Sufism is a very complicated process. Hereimmortality is gained through mortality, where one has toknow what is wahdath (oneness), Ahdiyath (singleness) andWahdiyath (remarkable singularity). In Ahdiyath one has tohave faith in unseen things. Unseen or invisible things aremore valuable. The mind that is invisible is more valuablethan body that is visible. The soul that is still more invisibleis still more valuable than mind. God who is the most invisibleis the most valuable of all the things in the universe.Wahdath refers to the essence of oneness. Wahdiyath refersto the exhaustive, comprehensive and complicated nature ofoneness. All these three concepts of the unity of God are

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eternal. Man is a bubble on the ocean of life. When thebubble bursts it becomes a part of ocean Bursting of bubblesis the example given to understand the process of Sufism.

Sufism is based on two main principles, one is love ofGod and the other is self-realisation of man. Allama Iqbalcalls this Khudi. His entire philosophy centres round thisconcept which is nothing but spiritual and intuitive power.Quran invites love of God and development of the self. AllamaIqbal says:

�The Supreme Self having manifested Itself in man�snature returns back to Its own�. Quran does not keep thefunctioning of the universe away from the spiritual life ofman. On the other hand it makes it a part of his being.One Sufi has said that the mentions of such words in Quranas Sadikheen, Mukhliseen, Khayeefeen, Abideen, Sabireen,Mukharibeen refer only to the Sufis. A Hadith states, �Godhas said that any one who intensively seeks my nearness, Istart loving him so much that I become his ears with whichhe listens, his eyes with which he sees, his hands with whichhe holds, and his feet with which he walks�. Prophet�scompanions such as Abu-Zar-Ghaffari, Salman Farsi, HazratBilal, Ammar, Suhaib got the status of Saints and Sufis. Theywere not concerned with worldly affairs. Night and day theywere engaged in prayers. They did not have a family. Evenif they married, they would come out of the conjugalrelations.

Sufis lived only for God�s sake. They regarded this loveas the final evolutionary process of mankind. To live forGod was a revolutionary concept. Their every deed becamesacred. They would say one who loves God would always bein the company of God. He would feel as if he is seeingGod. When he is in such a mood he becomes incapable ofdoing anything bad. The love of God would make him thinkno distinction between gold and stone. Greed would not

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poison his soul. Love of God passes through the hearts ofmen. He starts loving and serving man. On the last day ofjudgement God would ask man, �I was hungry, I was thirsty,I was sick; you did not take care of me.� Man would ssay,�Oh! My Lord how can you be hungry, thirsty and sick whenyou are the Guardian, the Protector the Sustainer of all life?�God would say, �Do you not remember that so and so washungry, thirsty and sick; you did not take care of him. Ifyou had fed him, quenched his thirst and helped him in hissickness, you would have found me near him.�

In Sufism tha�at (obedience) is very essential. It is oftwo types, obligatory and optional. Obligatory is compulsorysuch as prayers five times a day, fasting, Haj pilgrimage,payment of zakat. service to humanity, compassion, kindness,charity. God would be more pleased by man�s service tosociety. Sufis believed in both types of ta�ath. They thoughtthis world would not be worth living if bad were to be returnedwith bad. In that case there would be mere thistles andthorns. They say God has gifted us two things, a self inclinedtowards desire and a heart inclined towards goodness. Whenself causes mischief, remove it with the goodness of yourheart. The answer of harshness with the Sufis is kindness.They would pray even for the wicked. Ghazali�s advice islove those who hurt you.

Sufism is a code of good conduct. Social service is notmerely helping the needy but also to promote good and preventevil. It needs moral courage, time, energy and ability whichis the work of reform. Sufis have done this job exceedinglywell. They did something else also. They showed the spiritualpath which was higher knowledge. At a time when Islam hadgone deep into political and military affairs, they pulled upthe authorities to spiritual path. Its main purpose was toshape the moral personality, to instill fear of God, to exciteservice to man and to spread the message of love.

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It was Imam Ghazali who perfected this system. Many,many of the features described above owe to his creativegenius. He injected a new spirit into it. He made it a fineart of inner purity, nobler thoughts, sacred deeds, higherflights where the mortal being gained the experience ofcommunion with God. It was he who made man a superman,a Perfect Man. It was he who shaped the destiny of man.It was he who linked man with God. He would ever figurein history as one who transformed man into a moral being.

7

KNOWLEDGE

Imam Ghazali has written so much in Ahya-ul-Uloom aboutacquisition of knowledge that it could by itself form a bigvolume. Very rightly he says knowledge is light, knowledge islife, knowledge is power and knowledge is Divine. God haschosen knowledge as the most powerful instrument to guidehumanity. The wealth of a nation or an individual isdetermined by the superior mind that nation or individualpossesses, and this superiority comes through knowledge.That is why they say the destiny of a nation is made in theclassroom, and the architect of that destiny is a good teacher.Ghazali himself was a good teacher, and a good teacher isone on whose life-volume is inscribed not �Knowledge�, but�Love�. He loves the books, loves the students, loves hiswork and loves the whole universe. It is his philosophy oflove that lifted knowledge also sky-high. One has toremember the first revelation to Holy Prophet was �Iqra� orread. On the very first day of man�s creation God taughtthrough His attributes the name, nature and property of allthings in the universe. When this lesson was forgotten, manwas reminded again in the very first revelation about readingand writing. Prophet Muhammad was illiterate, but Godenlightened him so much that his sayings come next only toQuran in importance. It seems the very purpose of Islamwas to enlighten humanity with Knowledge.

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We could appreciate Imam Ghazali�s interest inknowledge when we know the very first chapter of Ahya-ul-Uloom is on knowledge. He has stressed its importance byciting several verses of Quran as also of many wise men.Hazrat Ali has said knowledge is more valuable than wealth.It is knowledge that protects wealth. Knowledge is masterand wealth is its servant. Wealth decreases if you spend it;knowledge increases if you spend it. Men may die butknowledge never dies. Men of learning would ever live inhistory. Abul Aswad says kings rule over people, knowledgerules over kings. Hazrat Ibn-e-Abbas said Solomon was askedto choose one gift among the three, wealth, kingdom andknowledge. He chose knowledge, and the other two followedautomatically. Abdulla Bin Mubarak regarded only the learnedas human beings, for the only thing that distinguishes manfrom animals is knowledge. Fattah of Mosul has saidknowledge is food for head and heart. A man who isunfortunate enough not to have knowledge would be a sickperson with death as his destiny. Hazrat Hasan Basri hassaid that the ink of a scholar was more sacred than the bloodof a martyr. Hazrat Umar has said honour not based onknowledge would end up in humiliation.

Wise men have said two men are unfortunate. One ishe who has knowledge but is not aware of its value. Theother is he who knows its value, but will not acquire it.Hazrat Abu-ul-Dardad says he is not wise who does not regardknowledge as more important than jehad. Rightly some wisemen have said knowledge is the light-house of wisdom. HazratMa�az-bin-Jabal has said knowledge is the companion inloneliness, co-traveler in a journey, a guide in faith and belief,a light in the darkness of adversity, a wise counsel inprosperity, an adviser to the friends and a sword to the foes.It is an illuminated tower in the heaven. As a leader it is incommand of everything, and all have to follow on its footsteps. Imam Ghazali says man has three types of desires.

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First is wealth and property with which man meets with allhis needs. The second is good deed with which man insureshis well-being in the next world. Third is his health and safetywithout which he would not be happy, knowledge comes underthis third category. It is more important than any of thesethree, for it brings him credit both in this world and thenext. Since knowledge is an attribute of God its value cannotbe exaggerated.

Imam Ghazali has thrown intensive light on knowledgein his magnum Opus, Ahya-ul-Uloom. The very meaning ofthe work is rekindling the corpus of knowledge. He haswritten seven chapters on it. The first is on its value; thesecond, on its reality; the third, on its varieties; the fourth,on that which is controversial; the fifth, on instructions tostudents; the sixth, on that which brings misery; and theseventh, on wisdom.

First Chapter:

The first chapter is devoted to the importance ofknowledge. It is discussed in the light of what Quran says,what Prophet Muhammad has said, what the companions havesaid, and what their followers have said. Here attention isfocused on value of knowledge based on reason, value ofseveral branches of knowledge, value of knowledge for dailybusiness of life, and its value for good life on this earth andthe next. He says one has to forget honour withoutknowledge. One needs just three meals to survive, but forgood life every second, every moment, every where and onevery occasion we need knowledge. How much knowledge isthere in seeing, ask an ophthalmologist; how a seed sproutsand becomes a tree to bear fruits and flowers, ask a botanist;how the stars twinkle on the sky, ask an astronomer.

Ghazali says man adopts four professions in life. Theyare agriculture, handicraft, trade and service. Agriculture isthe most important job which provides food for existence.Ghazali lays great stress on it. In handicraft or industry, he

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holds weaving as very important, for next to food dress isessential. Third, he pays attention to construction activity,for you need a house to live. Knowledge is the source for allthese professions. Then comes political leadership. State isan important institution. Administration needs skill andknowledge. A knowledgeable wise king or leader keeps thepeople happy and prosperous. This area is vital as it dealswith relations between man and man. Corporate life needswise leadership. If they are not wise whole society wouldsuffer.

Ghazali has discussed State-craft. He says there are fourgrades of political leaders. Those at the top are prophets.Whether Joseph or David or Soloman or ProphetMuhammad, they had established the Kingdom of God onearth. The second grade is of the Orthodox caliphate whenHazrat Umar set an example of an ideal State. The thirdcategory would be a theocracy where religious divines wouldhold the reign of power. They are aware of the laws ordainedin Shariath. The fourth type is of the wise worldly scholarswho use their reason to run the administration. In the endof this chapter Ghazali says that State is the best where notthe human but Divine Law is in operation, where God isSupreme, and where His laws prevail. Knowledge invites manto reflect on the wonders of God�s creativity. It makes himthink how everything in the universe functions so smoothlyand efficiently. Man has to learn a lot from nature how onething is so organically connected with the other. Theregularity, order, system, harmony and balance that exist innature would be a mighty text for man to read, understandand follow. Everything God has created is so perfect, andeverything man does is not so perfect. For thousands of yearsman is attempting to establish a good form of government,and experimented with several forms such as aristocracy,oligarchy, monarchy, timocracy, democracy, dictatorship andso on, and each of them failed. The only golden example

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that exists is the short duration of the orthodox caliphate.Ghazali advocates the kingdom of God on earth. The heartof a scholar reflects the glory of God. He should be put incharge of State affairs where he would help the needy, hewould promote good, he would remove bad and he would bejust and fair to one and all. Ghazali regards knowledge asthe prayer of the soul, purity of heart and nearness to God.

Second Chapter:

This is about the reality and certainty of the value ofknowledge. What sort of knowledge is really useful is thesubject matter of this chapter. There is not much unanimityof scholars on this. The rationalists hold reason and logicalone should decide this issue. They think utility must be atthe root. The Sufis think mystical knowledge is supreme.Intuition and revelation alone would give us real knowledge.Reason and logic would dwell only on relative knowledge.Beyond that is Absolute Knowledge which takes man to higherregions and that is real knowledge. The jurists have theirown views. They think laws, principles, rules, regulationsframed after due deliberations form the bed-rock of all usefulknowledge. They feel jurisprudence (fikha) furnishes thefoundation for all knowledge. Those who are proficient inQuran and Hadith think nothing but God�s words andProphet�s sayings could form the basis of all real knowledge.They are traditionalists and hold fast to the sacred texts.Thus there were different schools of thought each one ofthem asserting their own superiority.

Having discussed these views Imam Ghazali proceeds toexpress his own views. He says in reality knowledge has twobranches. One is that which deals with man and the physicalworld, which you may call nature. The other is that whichdeals with God and the celestial world. What is obligatoryfor every Muslim is the knowledge of nature, the physical

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world, the relations between man and man, the rights andduties, the ways and means to be happy in this world andalso in the next world. It is not within the reach of everyone to enter into the sphere of higher knowledge, the spiritualknowledge which needs intuition. He keeps this knowledgeas optional, as the domain of saints and Sufis.

Ghazali throws some more light on the first category ofknowledge which every Muslim should possess. Here hedivides this knowledge into three branches � faith, action andinaction. Faith or belief in God is the first principle. Tauhidis the seed of all knowledge. Azan is the first sound thatfalls into the ears of a Muslim baby. The first tenet of Islamis Kalam-ai-Shahadat. Then comes the area of action, whichis Salat or prayer. What you believe must be shown in action.If you believe in God, you must obey God. Obedience istranslated into action of prayers five times a day, fasting thirtydays in a year, paying the zakat as prescribed by law,performing the haj (pilgrimage) if you could afford, and doingall things ordained and abstaining from doing all thingsprohibited. Ghazali speaks of the third aspect, inaction, inthe sense that it is not necessary for a blind person to knowwhat a man of sight is prohibited from seeing; it is notnecessary for a deaf person to know what a man of hearing isprohibited from hearing. Wine, woman, gambling, usury, porkare all things whose use or knowledge is kept away from theMuslims. Likewise, he is to cut like poison jealousy, hatred,anger, envy, falsehood and other abuses.

Ghazali divides the obligatory knowledge into twobranches, theological (Sha�rayee) and non-theological (GhairSha�rayee). The first branch has reached us through prophets.They are faith, belief, prophethood, prayers, jurisprudence,Ahadith and so on. The non-theological branch of knowledgecomes to us through our own reason and logic. They arearithmetic, medicine, physics, chemistry, astronomy, biologyand so on. These secular branch is further divided into three

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parts, (1) Desirable, (2) undesirable and (3) not so undesirable.He lists desirable knowledge as medicine, mathematics,chemistry, history, geography, literature and others. Here hemakes further distinction and says that some branches areabsolutely essential such as hygiene, mathematics withoutwhich neither you could be healthy, nor you could carry ondaily business of life. He adds it is not needed every oneshould be a physician or a mathematician. It is enough ifevery one knows the basic requirements of good health andbasic elements of calculations. In secular or non-theologicalbranches of knowledge, Ghazali has declared such branchesundesirable as sorcery or magic, perfidy, deceit and so on.Among such subjects which are neither compulsory norprohibited come fiction, philosophy and humanities.

Imam Ghazali speaks of fundamental sources ofknowledge which he says are four, Quran, Ahadith (Sayingsof the prophet) Asar-e-Suhaba (examples of the companions)and Ijma-e-Ummat (consensus of the faithfuls). Religiousstudies included grammar and lexicon, Learning of Arabiclanguage was compulsory. Commentaries of Quran also cameunder this category along with Ahadith and fikha(jurisprudence). Jurists were highly respected, and they wereincluded among Islamic scholars. They would be experts ofpublic affairs as well. Religion and Politics both came undertheir jurisdiction. A jurist could pass a decree on three areas,on Islamic faith, on Islamic duties like namaz or roza, andon what is legal and what is illegal (Halal and Haram).

Ilm-e-Makashifa (Spiritual Studies)

Ghazali makes a distinction of theological and secular studiesfrom spiritual studies which he calls as Ilm-e-Makashifa. Thisrelates to higher knowledge within the exclusive purview ofSiddikheen (truthful), Saliheen (righteous) and Mukharabeen(confidants). Mukhashifa is the name given to a particulartype of light. Here the purification of heart is involved. Itis related to spiritual studies where deep light is thrown on

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the attributes of God particularly of truth, beauty, justice,knowledge, love, light and creativity. Other subjects likeintuition, revelation, hell, heaven, ascension, accountability,prophethood and sainthood are also discussed. Ghazali laysgreat stress on these subjects and sketched them soexhaustively as if he was a personal witness to these. Herehe brings all aspects of mystical thought from penance andcontemplation to certainty and tranquility. Only when baserelements are completely removed from mind and conscience,higher thoughts could find a place in it.

Ghazali says it is necessary to acknowledge the greatnessof the Divines. A shepherd, Shaeeban had become proficientin spiritual affairs, Imam Shafi would go and sit like a studentbefore him. He would consult Shaeeban on several issues.People were surprised and asked the Imam why it was so.He replied �what you do not know, he knows�. Imam Ghazalisays he who becomes a Sufi after gaining knowledge wouldreach the goal. He who wants to be a sufi before gainingknowledge would be highly dangerous. Imam Saheb regardedonly five jurists as very prominent. They are Imam AbuHaneefa, Imam Shafi, Imam Malik, Imam Ahmed Hanbal andImam Safyan Suri. They possessed five specialities. Each ofthem was pious, righteous, proficient in the knowledge ofaccountability, expert in dealing with the matters of this world,and seekers of God�s pleasure through their knowledge.

Third Chapter:

The third chapter deals with those branches of knowledgewhich people think are useful. Some studies are dangerousas well. Imam Saheb gives a fascinating example of dangerousstudies. A person came to a physician and said he was veryanxious to have a child, but his wife was barren. Thephysician held her pulse and examined the woman, and saidshe would die in forty days. There could be no cure for her

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disease. The woman got highly perturbed. Life becamemiserable. She gave up her food and meals. Forty days werepassed. She did not die. The man reported the matter tothe physician, who said, �I knew she would not die. Nowyou go and sleep with her. You would get a child�. Thehusband was surprised and asked how come? The physiciansaid the woman had too much of fat. There was no otherway to remove that fat except the scare he caused. Shebecame lean with the fear of death. This was the only curativefor her. Thus, the knowledge of certain affairs is alsodangerous.

In this chapter Ghazali discusses five different studies.They are jurisprudence (fikha), information (ilm), oneness ofGod (Tauhid), biography (tazkira) and government (hukumat).Fikha deals with different decrees, for which very deepknowledge of law would be required. In Islamic studies, fikhagains high priority. In early days of Islam fikha was associatedwith accountability of the last day of judgement. Fikha dealswith faith (Iman). Imam Ghazali equates fikha with fahamor understanding.

Imam Saheb discusses Ilm or knowledge. This term wasfirst associated with the knowledge of God, his nature, hisattributes, his creativity and his relations with the universe.When Hazrat Omar died, Abdulla Bin Masood said, with hisdeath nine-tenth of knowledge had disappeared. A scholarwas known in those days as one who was aware of God�snature, creativity and attributes.

The third concept discussed is Tauhid which relates tothe belief that everything that happens is only from God.When Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddique fell ill, people said we wouldcall a physician. Abu Bakr said God was the greatestphysician and he would cure him. It is rightly said, whileGod cures the disease, a physician would merely amuses thefancy. Tauhid is an essence of God�s quality. Man should

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trace the source of all things to God. He should remove allintermediaries in between. Make God the centre of allcreativity, all happenings.

The fourth concept is Tazkira, which is from zikr oraccount. History is nothing but biography of great men. Lifeof all great men reminds us to make our own life sublime. Amodel would be needed to shape our life on better lines. Nomodel could be better than the model of ProphetMuhammad�s life. Ghazali would ask every Muslim to makeit a model and an ideal.

The fifth concept is Hikmat or wisdom. Wisdom is theintelligent contemplation of life. Wisdom is different frommental sharpness. Wisdom is the ability to distinguish theright from wrong. It is the capacity to see all things purelyas objects of understanding. It is the experience of the worldwhich may be looked upon as a text, for which reflection andknowledge would act as the commentary.

Fourth Chapter:

The fourth chapter deals with controversial studies. In Islamichistory a situation arose when political power fell into wronghands. In order to rectify the excesses the necessity wasthere for scholars to point out what is right and what iswrong. This needed great moral courage. A body of scholarstook up this cause. They made discourse and debates theinstruments to thrash out the truth. This causedcontroversies. Scholars thought this was their legitimatefield. They did not think polemics was mixed in it. The riseof different schools owes its origin to such a fluid situation.Each school had a ray of truth; it thought it knew the wholeof truth. With immense expansion of Islam over threecontinents, and with mixing and mingling of several differenttypes of cultures, the cross fertilization caused hybrid ideasto grow which were different from pure, original and natural

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ideas of the Prophet�s days.

Strange ideas crossed the mind for controversies. Ghazaligives an example. If a person were to give up Namaz inpreference to weaving of cloth, thinking he was doing a betterjob as the Namazi has to cover his body, he was not doingthe right thing. Greek logic was penetrating the Muslim mind.Strange arguments were generating new studies, which wereall mental exercises not helpful to progressive thought. Thesedebates and discourses were even on the increase. They hada few defects as well. It excited rivalry. It caused jealousy.It promoted ego. It made one think he alone was right.Every one wanted to win and overpower others. It was anunhealthy competition. Ilm-ul-Kalam was steadily raising itshead. Imam Ghazali has listed as many as ten drawbacks ofthis tendency of controversial debates. (1) Eny (2) Pride, (3)Jealousy, (4) Allegations, (5) Self-righteousness, (6) Suspicion,(7) Ego, (8) Hostility, (9) Confrontation, and (10) Hypocrisy.

Fifth Chapter:

This chapter deals with the rights and duties both of theteacher and the taught. The duties of the students are toomany. Here we may mention just ten of them. (1) A studenthas to give up bad habits. He must observe cleanliness.Acquiring knowledge is worshipful act where purity of heartis essential. Heart is the place where God dwells, angels visitand hence it should be like a clean mirror. If it were to bepolluted by lust, greed, anger, envy, hatred and jealousy, howcould angels visit such a place?

(2) He should devote entire time for studies. He shouldbe less involved in other distractions. (3) He should be humbleand obedient. He must respect the teacher (4) He shouldnot ask impertinent questions. He should not lend ears tocontroversial subjects. For example, he should not think moreof hell or heaven, punishment or rewards and get disturbed,

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(5) He must cover all basic subjects; an elementary knowledgeof all essential disciplines would be helpful. (6) He must becareful about the choice of his speciality. He must not hastilyjump up at some subject. He would have to regret all hislife later. Only after due consideration, knowing his own likesand aptitudes, he must enter into new fields, (7) Until hegains some mastery over the chosen subject, he should notrush for a new subject. (8) He has to first know the value,importance of the different subjects he studies. Acquiringknowledge should not be a mere mechanical process, it shouldbe an area of great liking, great delight, great interest andgreat involvement. (9) In the beginning itself he should bementally and physically prepared to learn something, to dohard work, and not be satisfied with anything but the best.(10) He should work to the logical end, not give up in themiddle. He should feel thrill in the job; he must love workand he must love books.

A teacher too would have certain rights and duties. (1)He should be kind and considerate towards the students. Heshould treat them as if they are his own children. (2) Hisown knowledge should be of right type. He should not misleador misguide the students. (3) He should not spare any effortsin teaching and training the boys. It is his full involvementthat matters most. (4) He should have an eye on the strongand weak points of the students. He should point out theirmistakes, but not chastise them. Any harsh treatment wouldhave adverse effect. (5) He must encourage in their progress,in their efforts to move up, in their asking searching questions,and in any of the creative, imaginative and resourcefuldirection. He must clear all their doubts. He mustunderstand their psychology. He should build their moralpersonality. (6) He should know the methods of pedagogy.Teaching also is an art and he should be proficient in it. If aboy is dull he should not be told �I am not going to teachyou this, because you will not understand�. That will hurt

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him. He would think he was denied something precious. (7)He should be a role model to the students in every thing, inbehaviour, in regularity, in decency, in knowledge, morals,manners and discipline. (8) His deeds must conform to hisprecepts. It seems Ghazali had well understood thepsychology, methodology and philosophy of education. It isstrange how at that distant age he had so many modern ideas.

Sixth Chapter:

This chapter deals with harmful effects of certain studies.We could appreciate better this chapter if we keep in mindmodern weapons of warfare. Besides, Ghazali has discussedthe role of misguided scholars whom he calls �Ulema-e-Su�.Hazrat Umar had once said that he suspected great dangerto the community from the misguided scholars. People askedhim who were those misguided scholars. He said, those whosaid one thing and did another. They were hypocrats. HasanBasri warned that one ought to be careful against those whoused the pearls of knowledge and wisdom as fools do withtheir wealth, Imam Ghazali has listed twelve types of suchmisguided scholars.

(1) Those who use knowledge to meet their worldlydemands. They sell it to make money. (2) Those who saysomething and do something different. (3) Those who aremore busy on thoughts of dissensions. Their mind would beengaged in wrong channels. Their studies result incontroversies and confrontations. (4) Those who are moreinterested in pomp and pleasure, in comforts and enjoyment,and in show and display. (5) Those who are close toauthorities, to the centre of power, with nobles and dignitariesand are anxious for position and power. (6) Those who arehasty in declaring decrees of heresy. Two dangerous trendshave been pointed out for the downfall of Muslims, one istakhld (traditionalism) and the other is takfeer (decrees of

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heresy). (7) Those who do not move in gaining higher orspiritual knowledge. Since such knowledge needs love anddevotion, service and sacrifice, they run away from thissector. Meditation and contemplation never becomes theirhabit. (8) They never move towards certainty. Knowledgerequires thorough study, going to the depth of the problemand find the truth. They remain on shore content with thesurf of the problem. They do not dive deep to the bottomof the ocean to find the pearls. One starts with doubt, butprobes deeper and deeper until he finds the reality. Hardefforts are called for in the pursuit of knowledge. Thosewho do not meet this condition remain on the periphery ofknowledge. (9) Those who are not modest and humble. Egoand pride seizes their personality. Knowledge is a bottomless ocean. No one can claim he knows all. The more youknow the more remains to be known. That is why they sayignorance is sometimes a bliss. (10) Those who waste theirtime in silly affairs. They miss the wood in counting thetrees. They are impatient and restless souls. (11) Those whorely more on books and authorities. They do not develop asense of conviction by the personal investigation of a problem.They easily believe what others say. (12) They do not hesitateto indulge in forbidden areas of studies. Technically they arecalled Bid�at, that which would touch heresy.

Seventh Chapter:

This deals with wisdom. Intellect is the source for wisdom.Knowledge stands in the same relation with intellect as fruitswould stand with tree, light would stand with sun, and sightwould stand with eyes. Experience is the essence of intellect.Education is all a process of reviving experiences,reconstructing experiences, finding new meaning intoexperiences, and finding new directions to those experiences.Hazrat Umar has said leadership is nothing but right use ofintellect. Intellect is the yard stick to measure the greatness

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of a man. Intellect depends upon four things. (1) Intellectdistinguishes man from animals. It develops man�s thoughts.Ideas rule the world, and ideas are the gift of intellect. Thelink between man and God are ideas, the product of intellect.All potentialities of man would depend upon intellect. (2)Intellect helps us to know the relation among things. Allthings are relative. It is intellect that defines the relations.A tree has numerous parts from roots to flowers. How oneis complementary to the other would be determined byintellect. So is the case with human body how the limitlesscells and parts help one another to give life to man would beknown through reflective power of intellect. So is the caseof man and God where the intellect takes us to higher regionsof creativity. (3) That intellect which is helpful to us to earnour daily bread, our trade, commerce, farming, craft orservice. Not only economic activity but also social, political,cultural would all be defined by intellect. All progress anddevelopment of man would depend upon the type of intellectone possesses. One becomes Socrates and the other a ditchdigger. All men are gifted with the same physical senses butintellect varies from person to person. Some possessaristocracy of intellect, sublimity of thought and wonderfulideas, creative, imaginative and dynamic, and others sufferfrom poverty of ideas and intellect. (4) That intellect whichis supreme in detecting the consequences of deeds. Someare so sharp that they would at once reach the bottom ofthe problem. They would understand all its implications.Gazing at the stars Abraham recognized the Creator of theuniverse. The fall of an apple from a tree made Newtonknow the gravitation laws. In the bath room Archimedesdiscovered the laws of displacement. Some are born genius.Some learn by experience. Some learn by studies. Some learnby suffering. Some do not learn at all. They are like stonewhich does not absorb water. They remain fools for ever.

Thus Ghazali has made an exhaustive survey of

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knowledge. He has not left any area unexplored. We couldappreciate his methodology. He is as if offering us a power-point presentation. Every thing is so systematic, so numerical,so methodical and so beautifully analysed. He has pickedthe pearls of wisdom sweeping the floor of oceans. He hasdeclared knowledge as the greatest gift of God to man. Hehas surveyed all sacred texts including Quran and Ahadith.He has noted all great men from Prophets to Saints and Sufis.He has touched all studies from science to philosophy, fromtheology to jurisprudence, from physical to spiritual branchof knowledge. He has lifted knowledge to a degree whereman becomes a partner of God.

8

ETHICS AND MORALITY

Reformation of man is the main aim of Imam Ghazali. Itcould be done only through injecting in him sterling character.One has to first know what constitutes sterling character.Imam Saheb has built a mansion of philosophy on this subject.It is all highly complex. It centres round man�s attitudesand feelings, ideas and emotions, values and virtues, mannersand morals, actions and deeds, and faith and belief. Beautyof character is the trait of the prophets and saints, sages andsavants. When Bibi Ayesha was asked what was Islam, shesaid, beauty of character. It is the labour of love of all noblesouls. It pleases God. It confers happiness, peace and joy.It is an essential part of all great religious, all profoundphilosophy, and all ethics and morality. It is rightly said ifwealth is lost, nothing is lost, if health is lost, something islost, if character is lost everything is lost.

Imam Ghazali has discussed various aspects of characterbuilding programme, such as what is good character, what isits importance, what have wise people said about it, how is itto be developed, what are bad characters, how are they to becured and several such other related issues. Luqman isregarded as one of the wisest men in history. His son askedhim which was the finest quality in man. Luqman said, faithin God. The son asked if two such qualities were required,

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what would they be? He said, faith and wealth. The sonasked for the third quality, and was told, faith, wealth andchastity. He asked again for the fourth quality and got thereply, faith, wealth, chastity and good character. The sonpersisted and demanded the fifth quality. He was told faith,wealth, chastity, good quality and generosity. The son wantedsomething more and asked for the sixth quality. Luqman said,if any one were to have these five qualities, he would be afine gentleman, he would need no more. God would be pleasedwith him. He would be a darling of the people. He wouldbe free from the hands of a devil. Hasan Basri said a badcharacter would suffer hell on this earth. Ans-bin-Malik saideven if a man is not pious, his good character would beenough for his redemption. God sees the deeds. But a badcharacter, even if he is a very pious man, would go to thebottom of a hell. Yahya-bin-Ma�az has said good charactercarries the treasure of good living. Bad character is like abroken earthen vessel, which could neither be repaired norturned into mud. It would ever remain a broken piece.Faisal-bin-Ayyaz has said that he would prefer a good characterheretic to a bad character pious person. Four qualities,according to Junaid Bagdadi, lift man to a higher degree ofhonour. They are knowledge, hospitality, generosity andcharming manners. They form the core of Islamic faith. Theyare the essence of Sufism. One who is saturated in goodcharacter would shape a better Sufi. Hazrat Umar has said,greet people with pleasant manners, and be not concernedwith their deeds. They are responsible only to God. HazratAbdulla Bin Abbas says the foundation of Islam is laid onthe beauty of character.

Ghazali takes up the question of the beauty of characteror charming manners (Khush-Khalkhi). Hasan Basri definesit as refinement, pleasantness, gentleness, courtesy, kindnessand grace. He is generous, hospitable, never hurts the feelingsof any one, always in good cheer, affable and amicable. Some

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wise guy regards it as a quality to be very close to people,yet far. sober, patient, gentle, humane and kind. He wouldnot take revenge from any one. He would be gracious evento his foe. He would pray for his forgiveness. Hazrat Alihas said good character means three things, seek the good,avoid the bad and be gentle and graceful to the family.

Imam Ghazali has analysed the meaning of Khush-Khalkhi (Pleasant manners). Two words are involved here,Khush (Pleasant) and Khalkh (Creativity) where not only theappearance is good but also the behaviour . Man is made upof both body and soul. There must be goodness in both.Goodness or badness would depend on his inner conscienceand not on outer facial expressions. There are four issuesinvolved here, (1) Actions are good or bad, (2) Control overgood or bad, (3) Knowledge of their goodness or badness, (4)Choice of goodness or badness.

Goodness is a concept. It is not a saleable commodity.It should not be equated with deeds. A man could begenerous by nature. He may not show it in action as he hasnothing to offer. His inability to exhibit his generosity neednot stand in the way of his innate generosity. Another personby nature may be stingy, but to show off and earn fame hemay be lavish in charity. He cannot be characterized asgenerous. Therefore the nature of generosity need not beassociated either with action or intention. It is based on thegifted potentiality. A man is good or bad by virtue of hisnature. His pretensions would not decide the quality of hischaracter.

Beauty of character which is unseen is more importantthan facial beauty. Imam Saheb has mentioned four importantaspects of this inner beauty. They are power of knowledge,power of anger, power of passion and power of justice. Aharmony of these would constitute beauty of character. Powerof knowledge would enable man to distinguish between true

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and false, right and wrong, good and bad and so on. Whenthis power attains a high degree, a man gains great wisdom.Wisdom is the fruit of good character. Wisdom is theinstrument to rise higher and higher to heights of greatculture. The power of anger and passion should remain underthe control of knowledge and wisdom. They are subordinatefaculties which should obey the command of superiorfaculties. Wisdom is the adviser to man which should rein inmore excitable faculties of anger and passion. They too areneeded without which man cannot be a rounded personality.Power of justice is the enforcing authority. It is the agencyto implement the decisions of the intellect, the motivatingfactor and also the harmonizing factor. Many a time angeris such an inflammatory force that it ignores the advice ofthe intellect but a man of character understands the situationand would not go beyond limits. About passion Ghazaliillustrates the point that it is like a horse on which a mangoes hunting. The horse is trained for the purpose, and yetit may go out of control. It is at that time judicial powercomes to the rescue and keeps the horse under control, orelse the hunter himself would be the target of hunt.

One who possesses all these four forces in correctproportion is balanced personality and his character is well-formed. If there is disproportion of any of these forces hewould be imbalanced in the areas of deficiency. All men maynot have all the four in correct proportion. Bravery orcourage is the name given where the power of anger is incorrect proportion. Chastity is the name given where thepower of passion is under control. If anger exceeds the limits,it is a dangerous zone of excitability. If it is absent, he is acoward. If passion exceeds the limits, he is called lustful. Ifit is absent, he is impotent. Right proportion of both angerand passion constitutes nobility. Courage and chastity bothare required. Deficiency of either or both would lead toabnormality. Any absence or shortage of judicious power

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would lead to oppression. Disorder would prevail; chaos wouldreign; safety and security would be in danger. Lawlessnesswould bring misery to the whole society. Likewise, absenceor excess of knowledge too is not without its adverse effects.If right proportion of knowledge is called wisdom, its absencewould be called ignorance. Any excess would lead toaggression, and any shortage, to foolishness. Discretion isthe word given to right proportion.

Ghazali takes up wisdom and analyses its implications.It is an attitude of the �self�. It is the discursive power ofman. It is the right use of intellect, the power of judgement,of foresight, of insight, of understanding, of analyzing, ofsynthesizing and of framing a law and principle. It is thecrowning glory of man. Wisdom is a great gift of God. Withit man reaches not only moon but also God. All desires,emotions, ideas and ideals would owe their origin andfunctioning to wisdom. It shapes the destiny of man. Allfour forces discussed above are under its control. Wisdomis the mansion built over these four pillars. Qualities thatare generated from wisdom are planning, organizing, deciding,implementing, directing, controlling and monitoring any goodproposal. It sows creative ideas, it generates them, itnourishes them, it sustains, and it makes them yield fruitsand flowers. Wisdom makes man inventive, innovative,imaginative, and dynamic. It brings up to surface the innerpotentialities of man.

Excess of wisdom too is not desirable. Man becomescunning and crafty. He attempts to dominate over others.Man needs compassion and not cleverness. If there is shortageof wisdom, immaturity and inexperience would seize him. Hewould be a parasite on others. False pride, self-complacency,fickle-mindedness, timidity, indifference and such other defectswould be home in his personality. There is a little differencebetween false pride and madness. With false pride he becomes

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a fool conceiving a desirable thing but lacking in ability toget it. In madness a man would think of undesirable thingsand does that which he should not do.

Bravery has a few good qualities to confer. They arecourage, compassion, humility, modesty, patience, fortitude,equanimity, dignity, decency, decorum and discipline. Itsabsence or shortage would result in humiliation, diffidence,timidity, hesitancy and fear. Chastity would yield certainvirtues. They are generosity, patience, perseverance,forgiveness, sobriety, sincerity, integrity, equilibrium,tranquility, far-sightedness, tolerance, humanism, maturity andnobility. Its absence or shortage would result in greed, lust,passion, envy, jealousy, shame, extravagance, flattery, hypocrisyand treachery.

Ghazali says none could match Prophet Muhammad inhaving all these four qualities in right proportion. He couldbe role model for all. We find variations in persons of laterdays. One who possesses these virtues would be fit to rule acountry. The one who is denied of these is a curse on society.Faith in the certainty of God and His Prophet too wouldcome under good character. That is the summit of wisdom,for if you are not aware of your own Creator, that would beheight of ignorance. Which ungrateful son would notrecognize his mother or father? Father and mother too wouldhelp a man upto a point, and they would not be there untilhis death to help him, but God who gave us life sustains ourlife, nourishes and cherishes it, not only from birth to deathbut even beyond. Ghazali says highest wisdomwisdomwisdomwisdomwisdom is faith in thecertainty of God. Spending God given wealth for a goodcause is generositygenerositygenerositygenerositygenerosity. Controlling passion is brabrabrabrabraverververververyyyyy.Suppressing angerangerangerangeranger is sobriety. Harmony is the key-word inthe use of all these forces. With harmony cosmos take place;with disharmony chaos take place. Excess or shortage of bothwill disturb the balance. Observe the balance or harmony in

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nature. Just imagine what will happen to this earth, even ifa slightest change were to take place in its gravitational force.

Ghazali proceeds to discuss perfection in things. Hedivides all creativity into two parts � perfect and imperfect.Perfect are those where not an iota of deficiency occurs.Could any one point out any deficiency in what Godhascreated? Could we say the same thing about what mandoes? Look at the universe, the sun, the moon, the stars,and even the human body and the different organs whichfunction so smoothly, so efficiently, and with such regularity.Along with perfect things there are imperfect things as well.A seed, although perfect in itself, is imperfect in its purpose.It is neither a fruit nor a tree. It has to go through a fewmore processes before it becomes a tree and bears fruit, butit has all the potentialities to become that. Likewise theforces of anger and passion are also like seeds that need tobe well utilized before they serve their purpose. They areuseful weapons but one should know when to use them andagainst whom. A sword in the hands of a child is dangerous,for he does not know when and how to use it. Control ofpassion is most difficult job particularly at a time ofyouthood.

Ghazali says anger develops normally from the age ofseven years. Then comes up the discretionary power. Manpasses through four phases. First phase is clean slate. He isnot yet aware what is good, what is bad. The bottle is empty.It is easy to train him. He needs a teacher, a guide. Hewould be receptive to change. In the second phase man knowswhat is good, what is bad. But he is not inclined towardsgood. Bad is always tempting to him. All bad forces wouldbe working within him. This is a delicate phase when manstands at the cross roads. One wrong step would bedangerous. Here reformation is possible, but more difficultthan in the first phase. The third phase is that where man is

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reconciled to bad. Knowing it is bad, he is yet inclinedtowards it. Reformation of such a person is still moredifficult. There is no hope he would change. He getshabituated towards bad, and habits die hard. The fourth phaseis still worse. Here the person is not merely himself bad butmakes others too bad. He is infectious. He wants to seeothers too in the same colour. He wants to popularize evil.He becomes an axis of evil, and feels happy and proud inextending his circle. He becomes the ring leader of high waymen. History is not wanting in such persons who have causedhavoc on earth. Such persons are at the apex of evil, andtheir reformation is impossible. The classical example of suchpeople Quran gives is those of the days of Prophet Looth.In these four phases, the first case is of ignorance, the secondis of ignorance and misguidance, the third is of ignorance,misguidance and mischief, and the fourth is of ignorance,misguidance, mischief and conspiracy.

Ghazali has treated the subject of anger and passion alittle more in detail. It is unnatural to remove the impact ofthese two forces. Theology does not intend to do away withit. Passion is needed to do anything with zeal and enthusiasm.If a man does not have passion for food or does not relish it,he would die. If passion is not there in man for woman,human race would go extinct. If passion is not there in manto resist aggression, the strong would dominate the weak. Itis not the intention of nature to destroy these forces. It isonly to rein in, to avoid its extremes and to bring abouthealthy happy, peaceful and progressive change. Too muchof anything is too bad. Excess of passion would dissipateman. Excess of anger would make him mad. Self-control isneeded at such times.

Ghazali mentions the case of children. God created everychild pure and innocent. It is the environment that changesthem. By nature human baby is truthful, brave, honest and

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good. It is what you make of him. Good parental care,timely attention, helpful training and right education wouldmake them bright citizens. In the absence of such trainingchildren are likely to go astray. They become abnormal. Toomuch of love would also spoil them. It is the time and carewhich the parents give to the children that are more crucialthan the comforts they provide. Children imitate the elders.Good examples should be set before them. In France if achild wants to be a painter, he is taken to Louvre Museumand made to sit in front of the painting of Mona Liza todraw inspiration. The role of mother is crucial in the trainingof child. It is her lap that is the first school. The trainingof a child starts much before the birth of the child. Thethoughts, feelings, desires, emotions and imagination of themother while the child is still in her womb go a long way onthe psychology of the baby yet to be born. Ghazali hasbestowed a good lot of thought on the training of the children.A man is what his company is.

Ghazali says the curative for ignorance is education,generosity for miserliness, humility for pride, self-control forpassion, and hospitality for greed. He advocates piety andfear of God for removal of many of the human abuses. Wherewill is there in man, he could surely change for the better.

Ghazali then proceeds to teach us how to detect ourown defects. He mentions three methods. First is to seek aguide, a teacher, a guru, who knows the disciple. His adviceis sought, listened to very carefully and implemented veryfaithfully. This is the case of a saint with his disciple, or ateacher with his students, or a commoner with a philosopher.The second is to find a friend, a sincere good guy who couldact as preceptor. He could be frank and candid in pointingout the short-comings, wise and prudent in suggesting theremedies. It is difficult to find such companions, and yetthose who are promising would greatly be benefited by suchfriends. The third method is of observation how others

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behave, how others have reached great heights, study theirprinciple and learn them. Ghazali says every Muslim is amirror to another Muslim. When the small Sura, Asar wasrevealed, no Muslim would pass by another without remindinghim of truth (Haque) and patience (Sabr). Some one askedLuqman who taught him wisdom. He said, the ignorantpeople. He observed their short comings and rectified themin his own conduct. Jesus Christ has also said that he wasdispleased with the conduct of the wicked, and rejected themas ulcers of society. But all and sundry would not be able tolearn through this third method.

Ghazali advocates three things to suppress passion. Theyare eat less, talk less and sleep less. All these three areessential. Eating less would prevent lust. Sleeping lessstrengthens will power. Talking less would avoidunpleasantness. Loose talk would lead to mischief. Talkativepersons become bore. There is no need to waste one�s owntime and of others. Ghazali says man has three enemies,this world, satan and selfish desires. Piety protects man fromthis world. Good deeds protect man from the devil or Satan.Patience and gratitude protect man from selfish desires. Itis better to keep man away from greed and lust. Desireshave no limits. Suppressing them needs moral courage.

Ghazali says there are four types of people on earth. (1)Some are busy in prayers to God. They are righteous men.(2) Some are lost in worldly affairs. They are doomed. (3)Some balance both this and the next world, but in heart theyhave the fear of God. They escape from the hell fire. (4)Some are interested both in this and the next world but theygive priority to this world. Such people would be consignedto hell for a longer period.

Ghazali says a Muslim is thoughtful and fearful of doingwrong, but a hypocrat is greedy and avaricious. A Muslimpins hope only on God and turns away from every one else,but a hypocrat is fearful of every one except God. A Muslim

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will not bargain his faith and belief and will not hesitate tosacrifice his life and property, but a hypocrat sacrifices hisfaith and belief at the altar of wealth and property. A Muslimis remorseful even after doing good, but a hypocrat rejoiceseven after committing a sin. A Muslim prefers privacy andpoverty, but a hypocrat revels in exciting company. A Muslimsows a seed of goodness and yet is fearful of God, but ahypocrat does not sow any seed of goodness at all. A Muslimreforms the society but a hypocrat sows the seeds ofdissensions. Ghazali draws this distinction between the twoand exhorts all Muslims to be true Muslims. His main purposeis to bring about a healthy change in the society.

In the end Ghazali furnishes ten points indicative of goodcharacter. They are: (1) Ability to reduce the effect ofopposition, (2) be just and fair to one and all; (3) avoid takingrevenge; (4) cut malice and wickedness; (5) accept apology; (6)be critical of your own thoughts and deeds and try to beintrospective; (7) have an eye on your own shortcomings; (8)be pleasant to every one whether young or old; (9) talk gentlyto high and low; and (10) control passion and anger. Ghazaliwants us to be very careful against three weaknesses of man,about what we eat, about what we talk and about the sex.Human frailties push more towards these three temptations.One starts loving the fleeting pleasures of life. He developsa taste for power, position, wealth and honour. This ignitespride, envy, greed and jealousy, and a man goes deeper anddeeper into a quagmire.

In short Ghazali has presented us a beautiful analysis ofcharacter building programme. He has drawn the essencefrom several sources, from the word of God, from the life ofthe Prophet and from the experience of the wise. He haschurned all this in the crucible of his fertile mind, scanned iton the screen of his rich experience and took the best thatcame out of it. The result is a scintillating treatise on moralpersonality. Ever so many thinkers have exercised their mind

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on this subject but none can excel him in profundity,originality and the vastness of the canvas he has covered. Thevery method of analysis he has adopted is at once unique.The fund of knowledge he has poured is substantial. Thetreatment of every aspect he touched is so convincing, sological and so exhaustive. He has shown us self-control, goodintentions, creative ideas, high ideals, ceaseless efforts andstrong determination go a long way in building fine character.He has stressed more on the inner qualities of man such assincerity, integrity, industry, creativity, truthfulness, love,service and sacrifice. He has indicated the shortcomings ofman and has suggested means how to cure them. He seemsto be an expert on this subject. Ethics and morality demanddeep reflections. They happen to be the sum and substanceof all creeds, the core of the teachings of all prophets, saintsand Sufis, and the subject of attention of all great thinkersand philosophers. In the case of Ghazali it is the fruit of hislabour of love of eleven long years wandering from place toplace. No wonder, he ducked the pearls of wisdom he hadcollected in the crown of character and conduct he hadconceived.

9

REFORMATION OF A SALIK(SEEKER OF TRUTH)

Imam Ghazali has devoted his entire fourth volume of Ahya-ul-Uloom for the reformation of man through Sufi system ofhigh values. He has divided them into ten chapters. Theyare (1) Repentance. (2) Patience. (3) Meditation. (4) Trust. (5)Longing. (6) Certainty. (7) Renunciation. (8) Contemplation.(9) Hope and fear, (10) Life after death. All these are differentaspects of Sufism through which he has perfected the system.This is the path to higher truth, to spiritual life. Here hehas intensified the search for Higher Reality. He has shownthe way for Perfect Man, the goal of man, which is throughpurification of heart, devotion and love of God, and serviceto man.

On Repentance:

The first step is repentance. One should seek forgiveness ofGod for the sins one commits. God alone would cover ourshortcomings. Adam was forgiven only after repentance. Toerr is human, but to persist in it is to follow the devil.Jalaluddin Rumi would say, �Come back, come back who everyou may be, come back; a non-believer, an idol worshipper oran atheist, come back; this abode is not a place of despair,

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come back; even if you have broken your vow a hundredtimes�.

Repentance means three things, Knowledge, Intentionand Speedy measure. Knowledge makes a man aware of theimplications of the sin. It keeps a man away from God. Itresults in regrets and regrets in humiliation. Secondlyintention is needed to enter into repentance. One shouldresolve to come out of the sin. The third step is action.Man takes the speedy measure to confess he has committedwrong and seeks the forgiveness of God. God is all mercifuland forgiving. Sincere appeal to Him has the possibility ofgood effect. Repentance is the only way to wash off sins. Itis necessary for every one. We never know which act ofours has displeased God. Repentance excites humility andsincere desire to give up the wrong path. It gives man asense of relief and satisfaction. It means one has rejectedthe wrong path, one has given up committing a sin. Sin meansdisobeying God, incurring the displeasure of God.

Ghazali says there are four motivating factors thatprompt persons to commit sins. First is overlooking spiritualvalues. Here man�s pride reaches great heights. He thinkssuperior to all others and does undesirable things. Pharaohwent to the extent of saying, �Ana-rabbakum-al-A�la� �I amthe greatest creator of you all�. Ego seizes the man. Itleads to many serious sins. The second factor is the elementof Iblis or Satan. It leads to hatred, jealousy, pride, envy,deceits, malice, scheming, conspiracy and other evils. Thethird motivating factor is the animal instinct in man such asgreed, passion, lust, adultery, theft. The fourth factor isthe human nature where some are haughty, aggressive, short-tempered. They resort to harm others, kill others and lootothers. They become angry, revengeful, deceitful andoppressive.

Ghazali has analysed sin in yet another way. There are

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some sins which man commits against God, and some otherwhich he commits against man. In other words he violatesrights of God and rights of man. Among the rights of Godare included the religious obligations of prayers, fasting, zakatand other duties ordained in theology (Shariath). Here aperson fails to discharge his religious duties. Among the rightsof man are included such of the duties as are related to agood social order. Murder, adultery, theft, aggression,cheating, looting and such other acts come under thiscategory. Ghazali makes yet another division of sins � bigand small sins. Small sins are such as missing a prayer, butbig sins are serious. They are of three types. (1) Not to havefaith or belief in God; this is heresy. No sin is greater thanthis sin. Secondly, causing harm to individuals, killing otherscomes next to heresy. Thirdly, such sins as stealing theproperty also comes under big sins, but in grade it is lowerthan the other two. But small sins could turn into big sinsin certain circumstances. If a person persists in committingsmall sins, if he thinks they do not matter, if he feels pleasurein committing such deeds, if he publicizes such deeds, hewould be converting small sins into big sins.

Ghazali has put repenters in four groups. (1) Those whorepent their sins and never repeat them until they die. Theywould never even imagine of committing them again. (2) Thosewho repent and give up big sins, but they are not carefulabout small sins which they commit unknowingly. (3) Thosewho repent and keep away from sins for a time reverting backagain to the old position. (4) Those on whom repentance hasno effect. Ghazali divides mankind into three categories;those who are tempted by human frailties. (1) Those who doharm to their own soul. (2) Those who are moderate in thisrespect. They who realize their faults and try to change. (3)Those who are never inclined towards wrong. It is not intheir nature to go astray.

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On Patience:

The second chapter of this volume is on patience and gratitudewhich Ghazali thinks are of high value. He says they are apart of Iman or faith; one part of man is patience and theother is gratitude. They are derived from the attributes ofGod, from Suboor and Shukoor. Iman is the first principlefor nearness to God. God is highly merciful on those whopossess patience. The quality of patience occurs more thanseventy times in Quran. Numerous Ahadith too mention thisquality. Prophet Muhammad has said patience constituteshalf of Iman (faith). It ensures a high place in paradise. Heis a Momin who is grateful in prosperity, patient in adversity,and contented in whatever situation he is in. Ghazali saysthere are two types of patience. One is to bear the sufferingswith patience. The other is to reflect deeply and bear withpatience the fact that things prohibited by God have greatmeaning. For example however attractive wine, gambling,usury and other prohibited things may seem to one, not totouch them is a great virtue that comes under higher patience.

Patience is an essential part of Sufism. It is connectedto all aspects of Sufi order, abstinence, renunciation,contemplation, love, fear, longing and determination. HazratAli has said Iman is based on four pillars. They are certainty,patience, justice and jihad (ceaseless efforts). Patience is toIman what head is to body. Patience is the passport to theseekers of truth (Salikeen). Ghazali says Deen (path to God)is a triangle of three sides, one is spirituality or higherknowledge; the second is the state of equilibrium, a state inwhich spirituality is sustained; and the third is the area ofdeeds. Not merely thought but actions too are required towin the pleasure of God. Knowledge or gnosis is basic whichleads to equilibrium, and equilibrium or state of mind leadsto deeds. Ghazali gives an example, gnosis is tree, equilibriumor situations of mind are like the branches and actions are

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the fruits. Iman also comes under spiritual knowledge.Patience too is related to this knowledge and equilibrium.

Patience is a feature of human behaviour. Animals andangels are deprived of this quality. Animals are deniedbecause of their sex instinct, and angels because of theirrighteousness. Man is given sex instinct and also the powerto control it, which is called patience. That is why patienceforms half of Iman, and certainty being the other half. Manpasses through two state of mind, one is that where all histhoughts centre round doing good to earn happiness in thisworld and bliss in the next. The other is that where histhoughts bring him losses and damages in both the worlds.If he bears the situations cheerfully we say he has patience.There are two types of patience. One is to bear body pain,injury, illness and other physical sufferings. The other is tobear mental worry, poverty, adversity, death of some one nearand dear, urge for sexual hunger, control of anger. Patiencein adversity is called self-control, patience in battle field iscalled bravery. Patience in anger is called sobriety. Patiencein bearing the unforeseen events is called fortitude. Manshould adopt patience at all times and in all circumstances.Jesus Christ preached his followers, love your enemy; blessthem that curse you; do good to them that hate you; andpray for those that persecute you; Do not retaliate a blow; ifsome one slaps on your one cheek, offer the other one also.If some one drags you for one mile, be willing to go alongwith him for two more miles. This is the peak of patience.

The highest degree of patience is that where; a man keepsconcealed all his worries. Not to reveal any of the hardships,losses, miseries and difficulties is the crown of patience. Theone who has given illness would also remove illness. He isthe one to cure and restore health, while God cures thedisease, the physician merely amuses the fancy. To bearsufferings is not an easy job. It becomes easy with knowledgeand patience. Knowledge involves three actions. (1) Do not

seek name and fame, position and status. Make humility andmodesty your traits. (2) Control your desires. Prefer simplicityand sincerity. (3) Be gentle, kind, compassionate and forgiving.

On Gratitude; (Shukr)

Gratitude has a high place in character formation processes.If patience is half of Iman (faith), the other half is gratitude.We must be grateful to God for everything we have. Shouldwe not be thankful to Him for making us a man, making ushale, healthy and happy and for giving us knowledge, skill andwisdom? The seekrs of truth (Salikeen) value highly thisquality of Sufism. Gratitude is a product of profoundknowledge. It recognizes the gifts of God to man. The mindfeels the bliss. Happiness is the name given to this bliss.Gratitude is not merely a concept but an action as well, whenwe show it through different parts of our body. We praylifting our hands. We utter our gratitude through tongue.We physically move to a house of worship to offer our thanks.We go on pilgrimage to remember God. All good things arefrom God and we humbly submit and surrender ourselves toHis Will. In spiritual life the first step is a grateful heart.The second is to recognize His unity and oneness. The thirdis to acknowledge His creativity, the Light of the earth andheaven, and Master of the whole universe. The more wereflect on the universe, the more grateful we ought to be forthe wonders of the world. He made man supreme in theuniverse. None is equal to man. God has gifted everythingin the universe to man. When man expresses his gratitudeto God, he earns the pleasure of God. Ghazali says God isten times more merciful for every single recitation of �SubhanAllah� (Allah be praised), twenty times more merciful for asingle recitation of �La-ilaha-illallah� (There is no God butGod), and thirty times more merciful for a single recitationof �Al-hamdulhillah� (all glory, all praise to God). Assertionof the unity of God would be needed to remove heresy.

In gratitude not merely the action of remembering Godthat is crucial but also the certainty and state of mind, whereman with all sincerity of soul feels how merciful and beneficialGod is. It is called Khuzu-o-Khushu (involvement andconcentration), and Ijze-Bandagi (humility and modesty). Thisis also gratefulness. Gifts of God ought to be acknowlegedfrom mind, body and soul. One cannot sufficiently thankGod. It is impossible to do so. Who could count His gracesconferred on man? This feeling of the helplessness of manthat he is incapable of thanking Him sufficiently is appreciatedby God. It amounts to being grateful to God by not doinganything except feeling.

Faith in the oneness of God is by itself a kind ofgratefulness. Iman pleases God. Ghazali says according tothis theory of monotheism, the Creator and the created comeso close as to establish their common identity. A drop joinsthe ocean. A spark has the quality of the flame. It is Godthat breathed His soul into man. Acknowledging He and Healone did this brings the creature closer to the Creator.Reality is none but God is eternal existence. God is kindand merciful on man. He loves His master-piece who is man,and expects gratitude in return. Ghazali explains this throughan example. An author works hard on his work and produceshis master-piece. Naturally he feels happy and proud. If afather loves his child, it is because he is a part and parcel ofhis self. So is the case with God. Every thing in the universeis His own creativity. When everything is so good and soperfect, and when everything is given to man, should he notbe grateful to God? God in His mercy is so loving thatirrespective of man�s acknowledgement of all the gifts, Godcontinues to shower on man His choicest blessings, health,happiness, peace, prosperity, wealth and honour. The Sufishave gone deep into this area of thankfulness to God. Theysay even if you give away your life in the name of God, it isjust nothing, for you gave away what did not belong to you.

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It had been given to you by some one, and if you return itback, what is great about it?

Ghazali raises a further point. One would not sufficientlythank God, unless one knows what pleases God. God is notjust in need of your life. He wants you to wonder at Hiscreativity, at His beauty, at His knowledge, at His Love, atHis justice, at His mercy and graces. Submitting to the Willof God, and surrendering ourselves fully and freely to Hiscommands would be a way to please God and that would bea way of thanks giving. God wants us to appreciate Hiswisdom in all creativity, for nothing exists in this universewithout some meaning, some utility in it.

Ghazali says this wisdom has two aspects, one is apparentand the other is hidden. Apparent things are obvious to ussuch as sun, moon, stars, hills, dales, rivers, forests, flora andfauna. He made night and day with a purpose. You work inthe day time and you rest in the night time. Ask the valueof rest or sleep to a sick man. The hidden wisdom iswonderful. He puts musk in the belly of a deer. He makesthe green grass the cow grazes to-day into white milktomorrow. He makes the tiny bees turn the nector of rosesinto sweet honey. He makes the food you eat to-day turninto energy to-morrow, and turn the energy into intellect dayafter to-morrow. This intellect or wisdom remains unseen,and yet so powerful as to make man a partner of God. Shouldwe not be grateful to God? Just think of the wisdom giftedto man that he turns a piece of paper into currency notes,or a credit card, that could buy anything in the market. Inearlier days it was gold and silver that had that value. Nowa code number could transfer any amount of money fromone corner of the world to another in a matter of seconds.Should we not be thankful to God for this gift of wisdom toman?

Ghazali says one of the ways to thank God is to offer

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our daily prayers, five times a day. There is yet another waywhereby we express our gratitude to God. It is toacknowledge five different types of gifts conferred on man.(1) Those gifts such as knowledge, skill, wisdom, beauty, healthwhich are beneficial both for this and the next world. (2) Thosegifts like wealth, property, position, power which have anelement of both good and bad. (3) Those gifts through whichyou gain tranquility, peace, solace, higher knowledge and earnthe pleasure of God. (4) those that tickle your fancy, thefleeting pleasures of life, your interest in sports, hunting,shooting, riding and other entertainments. Some love goodfood, some love good books and some love good looks. (5)Those gifts which confer lasting benefits like the taste forknowledge, inventions, innovations, creativity, art, music,philosophy and higher knowledge leading to communion withGod.

Ghazali mentions gifts connected with both mind andheart. If those five mentioned above were related to mind,he adds four more related to heart. They are, (1) That heartwhich loves nothing in this world except God. (2) That heartwhich has not tasted the love of God. He is not aware whatit is. He is lost merely in the love of wealth, power, positionand status (3) That heart which is in love of God butsometimes love of the world drags him from that path. Herides on two horses. (4) That heart which is purely human.Spirituality has not touched it. He is like a communist whoseethics is materialism.

Ghazali says God�s greatest gift to man is intellecttogether with those five senses which act as agents of intellect.It is wisdom that is the greatest gift together with intentionsto do good, ability to transform thoughts into deeds, powerto take decisions, monitor or check on what he does and soon. If these are the gifts connected with intellect, thoseconnected with soul are still higher. Man�s intellect is notever-lasting, but soul is immortal. If intellect is a quality ofGod, soul is part of God Himself. It is His breath that

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helps us in our breathing. It is His gift of heart that sustainslife. If man�s mind loses its balance he is yet alive, but heart-failure means death. Should we not be thankful for this pumpwhich works without oil or repair or service until we die?Law of nature is such nothing exists for its own sake.Everything is for everything else. The lamp burns itself butgives light to others. A tree does not deny shade even tothe wood-cutter. Secondly, there is change every where.Change is the law and constancy is death. But God in Hiswisdom made both change and changelessness useful to man.A seed is turned into a plant and gives fruits and flowers. Achild becomes a man and plays a vital role. The change ofseasons bring summer, winter, autumn and spring, each withits own characteristic variety. But in nature there ischangelessness also. The gentleness of a cat, the fidelity of adog, the industry of an ant, the calmness of a duck, thepatience of a camel, the swiftness of a deer, the sharpness ofan eagle, the fragrance of a rose are all changeless. Man toois expected to be human, but he becomes inhuman. Ghazalisays we cannot count the gifts of God. The question is whyare we not grateful to God? He says it is because God hasgiven us too much liberty. He gave us free-will which wemisuse. He did not chain us in the rigid laws of nature, justas he had done everything else in the universe.

On Fear and Joy:

Fear and joy too play an important part in search of highertruth. Man gains ascendancy in spiritual life through thesetwo qualities. Ghazali says these are two powerful instrumentswith which we could meet the challenge of our destiny. Thefear of God abstains us from doing wrong. Accomplishmentof anything fills the heart with joy. Fear is that whichtroubles the heart; joy is that which pleases the heart.Ghazali has analysed the features of both fear and joy. Joycomes when something surprisingly good happens. Suddenlyyou get an unexpected award, you feel happy. The technical

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term for such joy is Rija. Things taken for granted do notbring Rija. Sun rise or Sun-set are not factors of Rija. Theyare routine, but at a draught time the rainfall is rija, andfamine is fear. Fear and joy are two sides of the same coin.One side of the season that brings down pour is joy and theother side which conceals draught is fear.

Ghazali says this world is the farming yard of the nextworld. What we sow here, we reap there. He says our hearttoo is a farm land. Here we sow the seed of Iman (faith).He alone would reap the harvest who sows the seed.Obedience of law, performing our duties would all be likedoing the required farming operations. Ghazali says if yousow the seed of Iman in your heart, water it through yourprayers, keep it away from the thorns and thistles of evil,then you would surely reap the fruit of joy on the last day ofjudgement. This joy requires a high price to be paid in thisworld. The price is righteous deeds at all times in allcircumstances. One has to struggle to gain the bliss of Rija.

Ghazali says actions motivated by Rija are far better thanthose motivated by fear. Rija excites love. No one need bedespaired of God�s blessings. Two parties need Rija. Onebeing disappointed has abandoned prayers, and the other,being filled in fear is engaged in prayers. Thse two are inextremes. Ghazali says time has come when need is greatfor fear and not for rija. Rija comes from two sources, oneby trust, and the other by traditions. In the first case, byhope, faith and trust man would always be looking forwardto something positive. It is an ffirmative mood in man whenhe is hopeful of things turning out bright. In the secondcase belief in the traditions, hearsay and forebodings bringrija to a distressed heart.

Just as rija, fear too passes through three phases,knowledge, mood and action. Knowledge helps man knowthe cause for fear. A man who criticizes a king knows he is

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in for trouble. His body begins to shiver. The intensity offear would make him think of a remedy, but there shouldalso be a limit to this intensity. Fear occurs because of theexpectations of something bad. There are two types ofbadness. One is bad by its own nature, like the hell-fire.The other is bad because of the result of something else,such as the thought of the hell-fire. A few people becomemiserable thinking they may die before repenting for the sinsA few people do repentance and yet are afraid they may breakthe vow. A few fear they may not remain constant in piety,a few fear for passion instinet, a few fear of pride for God�sgifts. Yet fear of God is necessary for that is the instrumentto gain the glimps of God. Fear is a check against evil. Fearopens the door of alertness, carefulness, intensive thinkingand feeling. Both in fear and rija one should not exceed thelimits.

Fears fall into two categories. One is that where man isafraid of God�s punishment, and the second is the fear ofGod�s entity. Men in search of higher knowledge are victimsof this kind of fear. They are afraid God knows every secret.He is aware even of our thoughts and feelings and this makesthem miserable. They think every one is in the grip of God.Thus fear and rija play an important role not only in buildinggood character but also in gaining higher knowledge.

On Piety and Poverty: (Zuhd and Fakhr)

Sufism places great stress on piety, penance, poverty,meditation, contemplation, renunciation and abstinence.Ghazali says unless a man renounces the world, he would notbe a seeker of God. There are two ways of renunciation.One is where man renounces the society. He becomes arecluse. This is called Fakhr (Poverty). The other is whereman renounces the world. He retreats into a shell of hisown. This is called zuhad (penance). In Fakhr man denies

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himself the necessities of life. Ghazali says except God everyone is a Fakheer in this world. Every one is in need of Hisgrace; every one is a beggar, beggar for life, beggar for food,shelter and clothing, beggar for safety, security and health,beggar for knowledge, skill and wisdom, and beggar for everylittle thing. When a man is ill, he begs for health; likewisein every state of his life. Without sight we would have beenblind, without hearing, deaf; without limbs, lame. With allour science and technology we cannot make a blade of grass,a grain of wheat, a drop of water unless God gives us thosethings.

Therefore, it is God who meets all requirements of man.Man passes through five moods in poverty. (1) In prosperitywhen man gains more property he becomes unhappy. He feelsuneasy with material wealth. His heart is in love of God andthis addition of wealth seems to intrude in his love of God.He hesitates to accept this addition. He attempts to escapefrom this embarrassment, and avoid the evil effects of materialgoods. This mood is called zuhad Ipiety). (2) In the secondcase the love of wealth is not so much as to make a manhappy when he gains something, nor its hate so much as tomake him unhappy, when he gains something. In the firstcase, wealth has no attraction at all. In the second caseman is neutral; his mood remains constant with or withoutthe addition of wealth. He would be willing even to discardwealth, if his heart so desires. This mood is called Razi(Willing). (3) In the third case, he likes the addition of wealth.It gives him a bit of joy In his heart there is love for wealth,but this love is not excessive, and he does not exert for itsaddition. This mood is called Khanay (contentment). (4) Inthe fourth case he does not demand wealth nor does he findin his heart any love for wealth, but he exerts his utmost toadd wealth. This mood is called Hirth (Greed). (5) In thefifth case man is in dire need of something. He badly needshelp. He is as much in want as a hungry man for bread.This mood is called Muztir (helplessness). Thus zuhad, Razi,

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Khannay, Hirth and Muztir are moods which manifestthemselves in different phases of poverty.

Among these five moods the best is zuhd or piety. Acombination of the first and the last are ideal situations.Above these five moods, there is one more mood which isstill higher, which is called Istisghna (Indifference). Hereeither the presence or absence of wealth makes no differenceto man. He neither loves wealth nor hates it. He is neitherhappy at its gan nor unhappy at its loss. He neither respectsthe rich nor under estimates the poor. This mood is calledAyesha mood. Hazrat Bibi Ayesha holds a high place amongUmmahat-ul-Muslameen (mothers of Muslims). She haddeveloped this mood. It is said she once got a thousanddirhams. She distributed them all among the needy. Hermaid said you could have bought at least a pound of meatfor us to break the fast. Bibi Ayesha said, �If only you hadreminded me of that in time, I could have done it� Thepoint to note here is that Bibi Ayesha was not unwilling tobuy meat. The combination of human and divine is an idealsituation. Man is not an angel; he is superior to angel, wherehe has the will either to do go or bad. Those who do goodby choice knowing it is good are zahids.

Zuhd (Piety) has high place in Sufism. They reach thelevel of Abrars (high dignitaries) where as the Mustaghnis(impervious to wealth) reach still higher position of Mokhar� rabeen (companions of God). Moses asked God who wasvery dear to God among men. He got the reply every needyfakir is my friend. Ghazali says greed is the opposite ofcontentment. He is rich who regards wealth and water asequal. In other words wealth in his eyes has only that muchvalue which meets the urgent need of man. Water has valueas it quenches the thirst of man. If wealth is incapable ofmeeting the basic demands of man, and gets locked up in atreasury what is the good?

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Ghazali says excess wealth disturbs the quality of Iman.Man becomes greedy. It is the heart that makes a man rich,not wealth. Wealth is an impediment in the path ofknowledge. Those bereft of wealth are fakirs, who possesscertain apparent and certain hidden virtues. His hiddenquality is that he is happy in his condition where he is deprivedeven of basic necessities. He feels it is the will of God thathe has nothing on his body except bare clothes, and nothingin his bowl except a piece of bread. His apparent quality isthat he does not extend his palm before any one. Whensome one gives him something, he bears in mind three points.(1) What it is that is given? He may accept bread but notgold. (2) What is the purpose with which it is given? Is itjust to please the fakir or please God or a human feeling forthe needy, or a show to earn name as a generous person orzakat or khairat or a gift. (3) What is the purpose in receivingalms? Is it to meet the basic human needs or acquire moneyor encourage laziness or make it a profession. Ghazali saysthere are three types of fakirs. (1) One who does not ask. Ifsomething is given, he does not accept it. He is high in thelist of recluses. (2) One who does not ask, but if somethingis given, he accepts it. His grade is second. (3) One whoasks and when given accepts it. He is in the third categoryof Sadiqeen (righteous).

On Zuhd (Piety)

Zuhd (piety) comes under the category of Salekeens (seekersof truth). Here also there are three phases, knowledge, moodand action. By mood one means a state of mind and heartwhere man loves nothing except God. He values nothingexcept God. He would not aspire after even paradise. He iscalled Zahed-e-Muthlaq (Absolutely pious person). It is saidworldly desires got disappointed when they touched ImamAbu Haneefa. He could command the whole world, yet heignored it. Zuhd is not generosity, it is penance. Gifting

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your wealth to others is also not Zuhd. Zuhd is just thatwhere you regard this world as insignificant and reject it.Zuhad has three branches, (1) Penance of the self; (2)Indifference towards things that are attractive; (3) Loving themost precious element. The first case is the lowest whereyou reject a thing which you love it. In the heart you likewealth, and yet you force your nature not to go after it.Penance is required to curb your desire. The second is higherwhere a man gives up this world willingly in preference to abetter position in the next world. Here the willing withdrawalis involved. The third is the highest of all where his mind,conscience and soul decide the path of penance. This worldis nothing in his eyes.

Ghazali says six things are required in this world for aman to live. They are food, shelter, dress, family, wealth andother essential needs. A family member earns, goes abouthere and there for ordinary business of life, leads the life ofa common man, he is worldly wise, far, far away from Zuhd.Zuhd needs three conditions. (1) Compulsory, optional anddoubtful. It is obligatory on the part of a Zahid not to goanywhere near the forbidden things. In the optional orpermissible things he is allowed to indulge. He could eatand drink and sleep. In the third category he is not surewhat are permissible and what are prohibited things.Discarding wealth is not penance. He ought to feel sad atthe wealth. Although immersed in wealth, power and position,yet he discards them; that is Zuhd. He would feel happywithout any of the comforts of life. He has just one thought,that is love of God. Zuhd has three features. (1) Servicejust to please God and not for any reward; (2) A fearlessmind, free and frank; and (3) Commanding respect and regardalthough a recluse. Ghazali says if a Zahid were to be hungryeven for three days, his faith in God would not in any way beaffected, for God has locked up all good in one room andhas given its key to the Zahid.

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On Tauhid and Tawakkul(Oneness and Contentment)

Tauhid and Tawakkul are related. Faith in the unity andoneness of God results in that equanimity of mind where youneed nothing to be at peace. Tawakkul is a state of mindwhich comes in the area of Iman or complete surrender tothe Will of God. It is also one of the important attributesof a Sufi, the seeker of truth, who needs several equipmentsto cover his journey. Here also this particular attribute ofTawakkul conforms to the three basic principles which Ghazaliapplies to all aspects of Sufism, namely Ilm (knowledge), Hall(mood) and Amal (action). Ilm is basic, Amal is instrument,and Hall is the result. Here Tawakkul is the result or fruitof labour. Ghazali explains Tauhid has four grades. Thefirst is outer cover as if the external protective part of afruit; the second is the inner layer of this protective wall;the third is the Kernal; and the fourth is the essenxce ofthat Kernal, the gist, the juice. Take the example of analmond fruit and examine its different layers what sort offormation it is made up of. It has two outer layers, then thewhite kernel and finally its oil. Ghazali applies this structureto Tauhid. In the first phase the faithful asserts the certaintyof God through the words, La-ilaha-illalah, (there is no Godbut God). In the second he bears witness to this unity ofGod. In the third he sees everywhere only the light of God.Every thing in the universe appears to him as a reflection ofGod. In the fourth phase he is lost in the love of God.This is the final stage where Reality is revealed to him.

It is not enough to recite the oneness of God throughtongue. It would be like the hard outer-shell of the almondfruit. The concept of God should sink into the mind, heartand conscience of man. The Sufis pay great attention to thifact through their meditation and contemplation. Tawakkulis like the third layer of the fruit where the inner core coversthe kernel. Here resistance to untrue things would be

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required. Evil forces work to mislead man disturbing faith inGod. Reason would say, why do you believe in unseen God?If you are farming, have faith in rains; if you are sailing in aboat, have faith in wind. All such thoughts bring man toheresy.

Ghazali gives an interesting example to explain themeaning of Tauhid. A seeker of truth, Salik, asked a whitesheet of paper why was its face black which was white before.The paper said, �Why do you ask me, ask the ink�. The inkreplied, �Who do you ask me, ask the pen�. The pen said,�Why do you ask me, ask the hand�. The hand said, �Whydo you ask me, ask the intention of the man�. The intentionsaid, �Why do you ask me, ask the intellect�. Intellect said,�Why do you ask me, ask knowledge�. Finally, knowledgesaid, �why do you ask me, ask God�. Thus the ultimate sourceis God.

This shows the limitations of every source that leads toReality. Even knowledge says, �I am just an impression whichcomes into existence through pen�. To know Reality onehas to cover the journey of three spheres. First is thematerial world of paper, ink, pen and hand. Second is theabstract sphere of intention and intellect, and the third ofthe Reality. Ghazali has given different names to thesespheres. First is Alam-e-Mulk-o-Shahdat (ink, pen, paper, andhand); the second is Alam-e-Malkoot (intention and intellect);and the third id Alam-e-Jabroot (the realm of Reality).

The seeker of higher truth would at first be puzzled bycertain facts. About God we believe He is the FIRST andHe is the LAST; He is apparent, He is concealed. These arecontradictions. How can the First becomes Last, and howcan the apparent remain unseen. But Ghazali says this relatesto relative things that are created, but the Ultimate Realitywhich is Absolute is not subject to this general rule. In manbody is apparent but soul is concealed. Both are realities

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which no one can deny. Both are the results of God�screativity. What is true of the body, much more true is theReality of God. To those who depend only on reason, Godis unseen, but to the spiritualists who have intuitive power,God is seen. One needs not the physical eye to see God butthe intuitive vision of the soul.

Imam Ghazali says both God and man are creative. Godmade the night, man made the lamp that dispelled darkness.God made mud and sand, man made glass out of it. Godmade a forest, man turned that into a garden. God has giftedman intellect which is a highly creative force. There are onlytwo creative forces in the world, one God above, and theother, man below. We say an executioner executed a man.Man took away the life of a man. Here not one, but threeforces are at work. First, the executioner who did the job,the second is his master who gave the orders, or else he hasno power to execute without an authority. The third forceis the element of Divinity, that is God. Without the Will ofGod nothing could happen. God created nature. Intentionpreceded nature, and knowledge preceded intention.

On Tawakkul (Contentment)

Tawakkul is derived from Wakalat. Vakil is one who standson our behalf. He represents us. He does our job. Wetrust the vakil or advocate. Vakil has four qualities in him.(1) He has the ability to present the case, (2) He knows law.He is proficient in his field. (3) He discharges his duties andrealizes his responsibility. (4) He hopes to win the case. Thisis the case of one who relies on God. He surrenders fullyto God. He depends entirely on God. God knows fully wellall about man. His grace pervades over everything. Relianceon Him alone would solve all problems. Our own efforts orwisdom or ability would not work. Faith in God�sparamountcy is the first principle of Tawakkul.

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There are three grades in Tawakkul. First is to dependentirely on God. Just as we entrust our case to a lawyer, wehave to do the same with God. Second is a higher grade.Here the relation is not like that of a lawyer and a client butlike that of a mother and a child. Here the intensity ofinterest is much higher. Mother bears all sufferings of thechild. The third is the highest degree where trust is in God.They say God�s love to man is seventy times more than thatof mother. It is God who gives everything. Mother broughtus into existence, but who gave us life, the body, the mind,the soul? Whether we ask or not, God provides us everything.Unless the baby cries even mother would not feed the baby.But God is so merciful that He would not deny us anythingeven if we rebel His authority.

Imam Ghazali illustrates the importance of Tawakkulthrough an instance from the period of Hazrat Umar. Hewas traveling towards Syria along with a few companions. Hegot the news that the epidemic of plague had seized the Stateof Syria. A section of the companions were not in favour ofentering into the country, and the other group was in itsfavour. Both groups consulted Hazrat Umar. Hazrat Umargave an example. If a choice is there before a shepherd totake his flock either to a valley which is very green or to avalley which is very dry, he would naturally take it to thegreen valley, although either of his decision was with God�spleasure. When God has given us the discretionary powernot to enter the dangerous zone knowingly it might harmyou, why should you take such a decision? Hazrat AbdulRahman Bin Auf stated a hadith which dissuaded people fromvisiting epidemic zones. If you are already in such a zone,do not attempt to run away from there. The party of thecompanion did not proceed towards Syria. Thus Ghazali saysTawakkul does not stand in the way of taking suitabledecisions in cases of exigency.

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On Love (Muhabbat)

Love is the central quality in Sufism. Love is the source ofall life and the moving energy of all creativity. All religions,all ethics and morality rotate round this concept. All otherattributes whether repentance, patience, penance, gratitudeand contentment seem secondary and subordinate to love.Love is an attitude of mind, feeling and will which is strong,deep and enduring. It is the hunger of the human soul forDivine Beauty. Love is the motivating factor for all goodthings to happen. Love is an emotional factor, a kind ofintense attraction towards that which we like best. Love ofGod is a part of Iman (faith). A person came to ProphetMuhammad and said he loved the Prophet. Prophet said, beprepared for poverty. He said he loved God. Prophet saidbe prepared for hardships. Some one saw a man sleeping onice, and asked him whether he did not feel cold. He said theheat of the love of God had kept him warm. In order toknow the reality of love one should know the nature of love.There are three phases in love. The first phase is of pleasure.One feels immensely happy. One would come closer to thebeloved. Intense love is called Ishq. In the second phase hefeels the pain of separation. In the third phase intimacyreaches the climax.

Love has varieties. Man starts loving his own self. Forits sake he loves others also. Every living being loves its ownself first. Life is dear to man. He loves it so much thateven on death bed he expects to live a little longer. He hatesdeath. He loves wealth, because it provides him comforts.He loves his children, because they may be of help to him inhis oldage. He loves his sons because they will be hissuccessors, and would perpetuate his clan. He regards themas a part of his body. The second cqause for love is thebenefit or advantage a man gets from others. Man lovesthose who do good to him. He becomes grateful which is a

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kind of love towards the benefactor. He hates those who dowrong to him which is the opposite of love. In the thirdcase the nature of things excites love in man. The fragranceof rose makes man love roses. We like or love certain dishes.The quality of a person, may be his art or painting or musicor service would prompt us to love him. This is higher love.Things of beauty ignite love. We love all beautiful things.Beauty is an attribute of God Truth is beauty, beauty istruth. That is all one needs to know. In the fourth casebeauty as such is the cause of love. Here beauty becomes anabstraction.

Beauty of a man is not in his colour, or shape orproportion. The physical features of a man do not constitutebeauty. Beauty is that where every conceivable goodness isconcentrated, including knowledge, skill, wisdom, kindness,compassion, creativity, virtues and values. Beauty need notbe confined to human beings. It could be a beautiful morning,a beautiful city, beautiful building, Taj Mahal, Niagra Falls,Himalayan range of mountains or Ganges. Good charactercould also be classified under beauty. Qualities of head andheart could come under this category. The man whopossesses these would also be an object of love. We lovegreat men, may be Attar or Rumi or Razi or Shibli or ImamHaneefa or Hazrat Ali or Hazrat Umar. We have not seenthem. They are not alive and yet we love them. It is allbecause of their intrinsic value. We love those great menbecause they had those sterling virtues which touched Divineattributes. We find a shortage of those values to-day.

Ghazali says if we love those who have served humanity,how much more should we love God whose blessings we cannotcount. He is the ONE to whom we owe everything, ourexistence itself. He made us human being. He gave uswisdom and knowledge. He placed everything of the universeat our disposal. How can we count His attributes. His

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qualities, His graces, His kindnesses and His mercies on us?Even if the mighty oceans were to be turned into ink to writeHis attributes, the ink would be exhausted, but not theattributes. Hence, one cannot imagine how much we oughtto love him. He alone deserves to be loved.

Secondly, Ghazali says, we ought to love ProphetMuhammad. In loving the Prophet, we would be loving God,who loved him so much. His position is highest among thehumans, among the Prophets, and among everything that iscreated. Thus there are five causes of love, and all thosecauses are associated with the entity of God. First is love ofthe self. For its goodness, purity, longevity, value and virtuewe have to love God. Secondly, we have to love ourbenefactor. Who else could be our Benefactor other thanGod? Thirdly, we have to love God for His graces at alltimes in all circumstances. He is the one who fulfills all ourneeds. Fourthly, he is the source for all beauty, which is writso large in everything of the universe. We could observethat beauty with our physical eye and that also with our innervision. Only saints and Sufis could appreciate God�s beautythrough their inner vision. The fifth cause is the abstractnature of God�s attributes, such as compassion, mercy,knowledge, light, justice, creativity, beauty and so on. Godhas shared these attributes with man, and made him knowtheir value and put them in practice. Truth is an importantattribute of God and He admonished man to adopt it.Likewise, love, knowledge, justice, creativity are all Hisattributes which were ignited in man. Love of God is thecorner stone of Sufism.

On Longing and Intimacy (Shauq and Uns)

Longing, intimacy and fear are emblems of love. Longing(Shauq) is the desire that emerges in the heart to know Godand love God. Intimacy is the intense desire to have somethingwhich is missing. What pleases the heart is intimacy. When

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this pleasure reaches the peak, man becomes supremely happy.Shauq or longing is the exciting factor which pushes towardsintimacy. Those who reach the level of intimacy with Godprefer privacy. They are annoyed in a crowd. They cut themeeting and mingling with people. They are lost in theirprayers. They get the solace and the joy only when they arein link with God.

Along with longing and intimacy there is the factor ofReza (willingness) associated with love. Man should be willingto accept everything God does. Man should be reconciledto every situation of life. If God puts him in misery, inpoverty, in hunger, in thirst, in want of everything needed forlife, even then he should not complain or grieve. Completeacceptance of the Will of God is Reza. He should not feelbad in any situation. This is not easy for a common man.On slightest injury or misery we become miserable. Again,man becomes conscious of his difficulties. But a Sufi greetsthem as welcome challenges. Not an iota of complain will bethere on his lips. On the other hand he invites such situationsto prove his devotion to God. Consciously he greets thedifficulties, and cheerfully he bears them, much against humannature. This situation is the same as a patient who goes tooperation theatre. He regards the Surgeon as a benefactorwho is storing his health. Same thing is true of a Salik whothanks God for testing his devotion. If any mishap takesplace in a journey, a man of God would think it may be ablessing in disguise. Misfortunes or good fortunes, nothingdisturbs the equanimity of a Salik.

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ON INTENTION, INTEGRITYAND SINCERITY

(NIYAT, IKHLAS AND SIDQ)

Ghazali says without knowledge and action it is not possibleto earn the pleasure of God, and action without goodintentions would be wasteful endeavour. Again intentionswithout integrity would be hypocrisy, a false show, an evil.Again integrity without sincerity and truthfulness would becunningness and cleverness. A man of good intentions shouldhave integrity and truthfulness. A man who does not knowwhat truthfulness is, how can he be true to his own self? Hewould be deceiving himself. Every one must obey God. Forthis the first condition is his good intentions. When youstand for Namaz, the intention or inclination is to performprayers. Likewise, for doing anything in the world, you startwith your intention, inclination, aim or purpose. It is a stateof mind and heart governed by knowledge and action. Mereintention to do, not knowing how to do it, and not actuallydoing it, would have no meaning. Knowledge comes first,and then action. Every action passes through three steps.They are knowledge, intention and ability, all three areimportant. Intention comes first. It is repeated in Quran,when God intends something, He orders and it happens.Nature is the servant of intention. When man intends to dosomething, God puts so much energy, strength and ability inhim that he performs the deed.

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Ghazali mentions four types of intentions, pure intention(Niyat-e-Khalis), Partnership intention, (Niyat-e-Rifakhat,)Cooperative intention (Niyat-e-Musharikath) and Helpfulintention (Niyat-e-Mu�avinath). In pure intention personalinitiative is at work. It is an instinctive impulse. When awild animal attacks you, suddenly the instinctive impulseprompts you to run away. A sixth sense comes into play andman does the needful. He would not take a moment to think.Impulsive spontaneity motivates him to run. The second ispartnership initiative. One individual cannot do the job. Heneeds the assistance of some one. He cannot lift a heavyload. He takes the help of some one. A man is in need ofsome money. He borrows it from some one.

The third is cooperative intention. Here not even twopersons could do the job. It needs the joint effort of many.The modern corporate concerns are the best example. Thefourth is helpful assistance where a helpless man seek thehelp of some one. Prophet Muhammad has said that thegood intentions of a Muslim are far better than his gooddeeds.

Intention is a concealed sentiment, which is not knownto any one except God. Unseen charity is higher than opencharity. It is the intention to earn the pleasure of God, andnot of people, that brings greater credit. Intention isimportant because it takes man to the logical limits of action.Action would soon be over, the moment you finish the job,but intention is perpetual. It is ever present in the mind. Anoble soul would ever be thinking of doing noble deeds. Theeffect of intention is more solid than the effect of action. Ifyou help a man in need, the money you give him would soonbe spent, but the good deed you did would ever be presentin his mind. Man has power both over intention and action,but the motivating factor for action is intention, and hencemore desirable. There are varieties of action, such asmovement, good deeds, bad deeds, thought process, prayerand so on.

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Integrity also plays an important part not only incharacter building programme but also in Sufism. Man wouldbe free of bad thoughts only when sincerity, purity andintegrity exist in his mind. Integrity and purity mean nopollution of any sort in the mind, heart and conscience. Aman who is not sincere in faith is likely to go astray. Hewould enter into the domain of non-belief. Ikhlas or purityrequires man should be free from all abuses.

Truthfulness or Sidq is also an important aspect in seekinghigher knowledge. One who possess four qualities would beon right path to seek God. They are Sidq (truthfulness),Haya (chastity), Husn-e-Khalkh, (beauty of character) andShukr (thankfulness). Sidq has six implications. (1) Truthfulin talk, (2) Truthful in intentions, (3) Truthful indetermination, (4 Truthful in action, (5) constancy indetermination, (6) Truthful in faith. He must always speakthe truth. What he says decides hs character and hence hemust be very careful in his speech. One who guards hisspeech would be respected. He should not utter a lie.Secondly, his intentions must be pure, helpful and good. Inevery deed man must know God is a witness. Thirdly, hemust be truthful in what he resolved, what he determinesand what he decides. In case he resolves that he would giveaway half in charity, if God were to bestow wealth, he mustcarry out this resolve. Fourthly, he must be firm and constantin his resolve. To-day he makes up his mind and tomorrowif he breaks it, it would result in utter confusion. Fifthly,there should be no variation in what he says and what hedoes. He must be sincere and truthful in action. Lastly, heshould be sincere in all matters concerning faith and religion,in his penance, in his contemplation, in his repentance, in hislove of God, in his longing and intimacy towards God.

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ON INTROSPECTIONAND ACCOUNTBILITY

(MARAKHIBA AND MAHASIBA)

When you reflect deeply on your deeds you becomeintrospective which is called Marakhiba. Taking account ofour deeds is called Mahasiba. One should have an eye onwhat we do. We must control our desires and passions.Self is wreckless. It leads into wrong channels. It sows theseeds of dissensions. In the path of seeking higher truth(slook) one ought to be every time conscious of what hethinks, what he feels and what he does. Marakhiba andMahasiba are called the politics of knowledge and action.Politics is the art of managing power. Knwoedge and actionare powers or abilities which should be channelised in rightdirection. This should be checked again and again, for manis a bundle of frailties likely to go off the mark. Murakhibais self-checking. Imam Ghazali gives an example to illustratethe point. A Sufi had a young boy among his disciples. Heloved him immensely. Others got jealous of him. Theyenquired the cause for this special favour. The Sufi insteadof saying anything gave each of them a bird to take itsomewhere and cut it unseen by any one. He gave the boyalso a bird. All his disciples took the birds, killed itsomewhere and brought the dead ones. The boy brought thebird alive. They asked, why? He said there was no place inthe whole world where God would not be seeing cutting thethroat of the bird. All disciples acknowledged the superiorityof the boy�s intellect and his power of Marakhiba

Marakhiba is a technique with the Sufis where higherknowledge or gnosis is gained. The heart undergoes a change.The art of Marakhiba differs with different grades among theseekers of higher knowledge. One group is called Salikeen,

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another Siddikheen, and yet another Mukharabeen. Salikeensare seekers of knowledge. Siddikheens are seekrs of truth.Mukharabeens are seekers of the company. Each one ofthese groups adopt their own technique of introspection orMarakhiba. Variation is only how they evaluate themselves,how they search their own soul, and what remedies they thinkof in case they find any short-coming. Here the feeling partis more involved than thinking part. The aim is to illuminethe heart with the light of God.

Ghazali says a man finds himself in either of the threesituations. He is either in virtue or in vice or in a neutralposition, doing neither good nor bad. Introspection varies inall these three situations. In the first case of obedience andvirtue, introspection to be done with all sincerity, as if he isbefore God. In the second case of man being involved inbad habits, repentance would be introspection. He shouldfeel sorry for his actions. He should resolve to abstain fromthem. He should pay Kaffara or redemption fee for them.In the third case, he should seek God�s guidance to be virtuousin life.

Apart from Marakhiba there is Mahasiba as well. Oneis knowing what man is doing and the other is counting whatman has been doing. We have to keep a record of our deeds.We have to reflect on what we have been doing every minuteof our life, walking, talking, sitting, resting and doing. Desiresprompt man towards wrong channels. We should keep trackof those desires. Greed, lust, anger, jealousy, envy, hatredseem attractive. One has to analyse what forces are workingwithin man which would destroy his soul.

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ON REFLECTION AND STRATAGEM

(FIKR ANDTADDABUR)

A hadith says that reflections for a few moments are farbetter than payers for a full year. Reflection is the key tothe treasury of Divine Light. It is the main source for insight.It is the instrument to gain higher knowledge and march onthe path of spiritual life. Reflection means illumination ofheart through nobler thoughts. Reflections add to all thethree branches of spiritual life, namely knowledge, mood andactions (Ilm, Hall and Amal). But its speciality is to enhanceknowledge. Reflection is a thought process which generatesidea, ideals and dreams. When knowledge enters the soul, itgets excited, and this excitement will have an impact onactions.

Ghazali says reflection (fikr) is far better than recitation(zikr). Fikr guides towards goodness. It is the discretionarypower that makes a distinction between right and wrong,prevents man from greed and anger, and goads man towardsgood. It helps in other processes of Sufi training such ascontemplation, meditation, introspection, determination andso on. Ghazali mentions five degrees in reflection. First is,it illumines the heart with higher knowledge. Secondly, itreveals the meaning of that knowledge. Thirdly, it gifts manthe fruit of knowledge. Fourthly, it transforms man with thatknowledge. Fifthly, it enables the changed personality toachieve the goal. Ghazali gives an example, when a stone isstruck on iron, a spark comes out, it removes darkness, itgives light. Reflection is like that spark where one is able tosee. It is related to both physical and spiritual spheres.

Ghazali says, that reflection is the best which is divertedto know the wonders of God�s creativity. It can be

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channelised in two ways. One way is to know the attributesof God, the nature and the value of those attributes. Onlythe Siddikheens (seekers of truth) could undertake this task.The other way is to reflect on the creativity of God, thewonders of this universe that are apparent. Here one wouldbe amazed to know the functioning of this universe, itsplanets, its galaxies, its constellations, and the wonders evenon this earth, its mineral resources, forest resources, waterresources, human resources and so on. The more you reflectthe more you appreciate God�s creativity.

On Death and Beyond the Realm of Death (Mouth AurMa-ba�ad-ul-Mouth)

This is the last chapter in the discussion on the processesof Sufism. One has to remember death very often. Man ismortal. One day he has to go. The more often he remembersthis reality, the better it is for him. The certainty of deathmust be inscribed on heart. One has to remember the dayof accountability (Ma�ad) as well. This should always be keptin mind. Love of the world stands in the way of the fear ofdeath. Many people think this life is the only reality andthere is nothing beyond. They do not believe in the last dayof judgement when every one would be called upon to giveaccount of his deeds. Some people say death makes the soulextinct. There will be no award or reward. Some say souldoes not die. It is not destroyed after death and it is thesoul that is subject to either reward or punishment. Bodywill cease to exist. It will not take the present form or shape.Imam Ghazali says all these thoughts are wrong.

According to Ghazali death is the other name of a changeman undergoes. The soul remains after its separation fromthe body. It suffers pain or enjoys pleasure depending uponthe records of action. Soul would not have any effect anymore on the body. After death a Momin would experiencethe grace of God to such an extent that this world would

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seem just a tiny piece. He would gain the bliss of the paradise.He would have the vision of God. It would be the rarest ofthe rare, greatest of the great source of joy. Nothing wouldbe more precious in the heaven than the vision of God.

In the end of his master-piece Ghazali prays almightyGod that God will not treat him in the manner he deserves,but with such love, grace, mercy and affection that are Hisknown attributes.

Thus Ahya-ul-Uloom is an unique work. It seems to bethe life-blood of a master mind. It is a treasure of knowledgeboth temporal and spiritual. It is the essence of the Islamicteachings. It has immensely enhanced the level of Islamicthought raising it to the heights of the rich heritage ofmankind. In ethics and morality it is encyclopaedia in contentsand character. It was Ghazali who perfected the system ofSufism. He has thrown intensive light on every aspect ofspiritual life. From the initial stage of repentance to thefinal stage of death and beyond, he has analysed the processesthat would turn the mortal soul into immortal. Ghazali wouldever be remembered as the architect of a system that litsthe light of Divine knowledge in man�s mind.

10

POLITICAL REFORMS

Imam Ghazali has not ignored any aspect of life from hisreview for improvement. After discussing spiritual matters,ethics, morality, knowledge and processes for characterformation, he has analysed factors for a good political system.The rise of Islam had witnessed revolutionary changes in threemajor areas of man�s life, religion and faith where the unityof God and unity of man played a vital role; a new socialorder based on equality and brother-hood, solidarity andfreedom; and a political system where the ideal was theKingdom of God on earth. Although it was for a shortduration, the experiment of Orthodox caliphate, particularlyunder Hazrat Umar, was really an utopia objectified. Theworld has never seen either before or after a political orderwhich conformed to the ideal conceived in Plato�s RepublicRepublicRepublicRepublicRepublic.This system broke up soon after the caliphate of Hazrat Ali,when the Umayyads reverted to personal dynastic rule. Bythe time of Ghazali the Islamic political system had undergonesuch a radical change that it seemed a model either of Romanor Persian Empire. Ghazali would not like such a system.He took up the cause of political reforms as well, and haswritten enough on that subject. He was successful to a greatdegree in this sector as well. One of his students, MohmedBin Abdulla Toomrath from Spain was so well trained in

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political craft that he went back to his country and laid thefoundation of a State on the basis of the concepts he hadlearned from Imam Ghazali.

Ghazali lived during the times of political upheaval.Power had shifted from the hands of Abbasid Caliphs to theSaljuk Turks. Shah Saljukhi was the Sultan of Khurasan atthis time. He was a just and far-sighted ruler. He died in485 A.H and a struggle for succession arose. The weakestpoint in the Islamic political system since the time of HazratAli was the absence of a well-defined law of succession. Thatwas the bane of Islamic political system in its entire history.It was Muawiyah who sowed the seeds of dissension whichpersists to this day. Shah Saljukhi had three sons and theystarted internecine warfare, which went on for long causingmuch bloodshed. When all this was taking place, the religiousdivines were simply witnessing the drama, but Imam Ghazaliwould not keep quiet. He began to reflect deeply how bestto arrest the disorder. He went to the court of Baghdad tosuggest the ways and means to establish order. The Saljuknobles and dignitaries listened attentively to his suggestions.Imam Saheb wrote extensively on the problems of State, theneed for immediate reforms almost in every sector ofadministration. He discusses exhaustively the powers of theSultan, of the Vazirs, of the heads of Departments, theirresponsibilities and duties, the right ways of collecting taxes,the legitimate areas of expenditure, Wakf properties, theirmanagement, jizya, inheritance and all other issues connectedwith public administration.

Imam Saheb dwelt at length on the existing situationand compared things with what existed in the past. He saidHazrat Abu Bakr Siddique would not draw more than rupeesfifty for his personal use from the treasury. In contrast SultanSanjar had not only bestowed a big jagir to a favourite slaveof his own but also had given seven lakhs of gold ashrafis.Ghazali quoted profusely from the history of orthodox

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caliphate to bring home the necessity for political change.He said Hazrat Ulmar was distributing money to the needyfrom the Bait-ul-Mal, when a little daughter of his own camerunning, picked up a coin and ran. Hazrat Umar too ranafter her. She just put the coin in her mouth. Hazrat Umaropened her mouth and took out the coin and deposited it inthe treasury. Not only this but from several other suchinstances Imam Saheb desired to teach that the root of theproblem was the absence of liberty. People do not have thefreedom to point out the defects in the system; they are notallowed even to open their mouth. He thought the need ofthe hour was to protest against the misrule, to point outwhat was wrong, and prevent further decline and downfall.Imam Saheb took up the case of explaining what the rightsand duties of the Sultans were, as also of the public.

Ghazali has done this job exceedingly well. He pointedout a few essential facts. He said even scholars and divineshad become paid servants of the Sultan. They had lost theliberty to say what they saw. They had become sycophants.They were indulging in the life of ease and comfort. Thisshould stop. It was improper and harmful. He wrote. theSultan was collecting illegal taxes. He has no right to collectanything more than what Shariat or law had permitted. Theway Jizya was collected was utterly wrong. It was all inimitation of harsh and aggressive rulers. Imam Saheb saidthat the court of the Sultan had become a centre of sin,where people had to prostrate (Sijda) which is not permissible.One had to kiss the hand of the Sultan, pray for his goodhealth and longevity of life, which were all prohibited acts.

It was not easy to implement such thoughts. Vestedinterests opposed reforms at every stage. Courtiers arguedthat it had been a practice for long for the Sultans topatronize men of art and letters who attended the darbars.Imam Saheb quoted an instance of the Umayad Caliph,Hisham-bin-Abdul Malik. He went for Haj and desired a

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saint, Tawoos-yamini, to be present. Yamini came and satbeside him. Hisham was displeased and said, �Why thisdisrespect, you neither wished me as Amir-ul-Momin norkissed my hand�. Yemini said, Hazrat Ali had permittedkissing the hands of only two, either of wife or of a child,�You are neither. As for addressing you as Amir-ul-Mominin,all Muslims do not regard you as Amir-ul-Mominin. As fortitles, in Quran even the Prophets are mentioned just by theirnames like Dawood, Sulaiman, Musa and Isa. One of Kafirs(non-believers) adopt titles�. Ghazali quoted another instance.When Caliph Mansur went for Haj piligrimage he met thefamous Sufi, Sufiyan Suri, and sought some advice from theSufi. Suri said, �Fear God, you have filled the whole worldwith your oppression�. Mansur sought some more advice.Suri said, �You are to-day in power because of the servicesand sacrifices of Ansars and Mahajirins, and their familiesare dying in hunger.� Mansur sought some more advice. Surisaid, �When Umar performed Haj, he would not spend morethan ten Dirhams, and you are carrying such a lot of moneythat even animals could not bear their load�. Ghazali furtherwrites that once Sulaiman Abdul Malik asked a saint, AbuHazim, why people were afraid of death. He got the reply,it was because �You are a lover of this world, and you haveignored the other world. Therefore, you are afraid of goingthere�.

What Ghazali wanted to convey from these instanceswas that the greatest jehad of this world was to say franklyto the ruler what one felt true. One has to raise a voice ofprotest against wrong. A Hadith also says Jehad is that whereyou unhesitatingly say what is right before a ruler irrespectiveof the fear of punishment he might inflict on you. Ghazaliwent one step further. He did not merely point out to thepeople what they should do but wrote powerful instructionsto the Sultans and brought them to their notice. What hesent to Mohamed bin Malik Shah, who was the elder brother

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of Sanjar, a powerful Sultan, was almost a volume filled withinstructions as to what the ruler should do and should notdo. He called this work Nasihat-ul-Mulook.

In this book Ghazali has first explained the Islamictenets, essentials of faith and belief (Iman) which fall intotwo branches, duties towards God, such as prayers, fasts, zakatand haj, and duties towards society, where justice, service,help, and all other civic responsibilities are involved. Ghazalihas gone to the extent of saying that God may forgive youfor not doing duties due to God, but he would not forgiveyou if you fail to do what you owe to the society. Ghazalithen invited the attention of Mohamed Bin Malik Shah tofour points. (1) Let him regard the rule of the kingdom as agreat responsibility. It is such an obligatory duty where anydeviation would result in heavy punishment on the last dayof judgement. Hazrat Umar would so much shedder thateven if a lamb was not taken good care of, he would beanswerable to God on that day. If a Caliph of the order ofHazrat Umar would feel so much, what about others whowould not even know what was happening in their owncountry?

Secondly, even if the ruler was not harsh on his people,his subordinates and all other government servants might beunjust, harsh and corrupt. One should guard against theiroppression. Their deeds would also go into the account ofthe rulers. Ghazali went to the extent of admonishing thisSultans, that �If you are crazy of good food, you are an animal;if you are fond of velvet and Kimkhab dress, you are a womanin man�s guise; if you are a victim of hot temper, you are abeast of a jungle�. Such harsh words to the Sultan would besaid only by one who was on Himalayan peak in moral fervour.

Thirdly, the Sultan should regard himself as one amongthe common folk. He should know how he would feel ifothers treated him n the same manner as he did to them.

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That ruler is a traitor and usurper who thinks it right todomineer over the weak and seize their wealth. Fourthly,every ruler should know, obey, observe and implement thelaws laid down in Islamic jurisprudence. Ghazali profuselyquoted instances from orthodox caliphate, and urged therulers to make them their role model.

Imam Ghazali�s efforts did not go waste. In 501 A.H.Mohamed Shah followed Ghazali�s instructions and withdrewall taxes which were un-Islamic. Ghazali sent his instructionsnot only to Sultan Mohamed Shah but also to other highofficers with a note to be careful in their decisions. In oneof the letters he wrote, it was difficult to be just right,correct, honest and fair in administration, but that wasneeded. Truth seems bitter to the people, but that was thepride of Muslims in the past and it should be revived again.

With great courage he intensified his pressure on theSultans to be good to the subjects. He thought this pressurewas not proper if it led to break down of law and order; orelse it was an act of great service to the society, and theduty of every reflective person. Great men of the past haddone this job even at the risk of their own life. Where thereis no danger to one�s life or property, it was an obligation onthe part of every enlightened person to speak out boldly andfearlessly. It was a tradition in the past that even if a personlost his life in speaking the truth, he would regard it as awelcome measure, for he would then be a martyr.

Ghazali has given us a few more examples of such moralcourage. Hajjaj-bin-Yusuff asked a righteous man, AlithZayyath, what he thought of Hajjaj. Alith said, �You are anenemy of God�. Hajjaj killed him in a brutal manner. Alithdid not utter a word in protest of this punishment. Harun-al-Rashid and Safyan Suri, the great saint, were close friendsfrom their childhood. When Harun became the Caliph hedesired to see Suri. He did not go to meet the Caliph. Harun

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wrote to him, �God had linked all Muslims in a bond ofbrotherhood. Many of my friends came to greet me, butyou did not come. I would have come myself, but the dignityof my office prevents me from doing so. Hence, please docome and meet me.� Sufyan Suri threw away that paper.He did not even touch it saying, �I would not touch thatwhich had been touched by an oppressor�. On the back ofthat letter he wrote, �You are seated on a throne. You wearvelvet and Kimkhab dress. You keep a sentry on your door.Your staff indulge in wine, but they punish others who taketo wine. They commit adultery, and punish others whocommit this crime. They steal the property of others, andthey cut the hands of those that steal. For all this you shouldbe first punished and then your subordinates. Harun,remember that day will also come when your hands and feetwill be tied, your entire staff would be behind you, and youwould be leading them all towards the hell. I have done ajob in warning you, and I have fulfilled my duty as a friend.You please need not write to me any more letters.�

This stinging letter did not excite any anger in Harun.He was only surprised. His eyes became wet and for long hewas shedding tears. Harun�s caliphate has gone down inhistory as the golden era of Abbasid Caliphate. He did notfeel bad at the admonition. He reformed himself. Such wasthe courage of our saints and Sufis who would not care themost powerful ruler of the time. Ghazali has given usnumerous examples of such boldness and courage.

Ghazali observed the chaotic conditions of the politicalsystem, which had gone rotten from top to bottom. Hethought the best thing to do was to establish a model Statewhich would be an example for others to follow. It shouldbe based entirely on Islamic principles. When his work,Ahya=ul-Uloom, was published, Spain was under the rule of ashort-sighted and intolerant Sultan, Ali bin Yusuff. Heordered this book to be burnt in public. When Ghazali cameto know of this he felt very bad. Fortunately some one from

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Spain, Mohamed Bin Abdulla Toomrath, was his student atthis time. He was from a royal family. Imam Saheb trainedhim well in all political craft and pumped up his spirit tobring about a change. Accordingly he goes to Spain and laysthe foundation of a State based on principles taught by ImamGhazali. Before sending him there Imam Saheb thoroughlychecked his abilities, enquired how he would collect therequired resources, men, money and material, and was satisfiedwith his answers. This was the man who goes to Spain andestablishes a new dynasty called, Mohidin. This dynasty wasin power for quite long. It implemented all the ideas of ImamGhazali. Toomrath removed all the abuses of the system.He did not himself assume power but made a very ableperson, Abdul Momin, sit on the throne, who carried out allreforms which Imam Saheb had conceived. Thus, even inthe political sector Imam Saheb was successful not only inpreaching an ideal state but also creating one as a model.

Ghazali laid down certain principles before accepting giftsfrom the Sultans. One had to remember three things. (1)Find out the source from where the Sultan got this wealth.(2) Check whether the person who got this gift was deservingof this gift or not. (3) Whether the amount or quantity ofgift he got was too high or too low or just proper. There isbalance in everything. The Sultan should not misuse hisdiscretionary powers. Ghazali discussed the issue how muchmoney the ruler could appropriate for his personal use. Hehas shown four grades. First, not to take anything from theState treasury. The orthodox caliphs have set an example inthis direction. Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddique returned back theamount he had drawn from Bait-ul-Mal. Secondly, it ispermissible for people to receive grants or gifts from therulers, but one was to first check the justness of that gift,whether it had been acquired legally or not. Thirdly, whatwas received as a gift from the king, if spent on the needy, itwould be most appropriate. Fourthly, the wealth received

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was spent on the self.

Ghazali has discussed matters relating to thecompanionship of the rulers. Pomp and show are theweaknesses of the rulers All of them desired to have adazzling court, a group of sycophants, a band of scholars, atroupe of dancers, musicians, entertainers, a gang of nobles,artists, thinkers and theologians. The greatness of a kingwas judged by the grandeur of his court. Imam Saheb statedthree types of courts, (1) that which is condemned inShariyath. Hazrat Hazeefa said Kings courts were nests ofconspiracy. They breed fitna or mischief. It is veryundesirable place to go. The mansions of nobles were housesof profligacy. (2) When the Sultan or King himself comes toyour door, you may meet him, you can greet him. Do notask any favours from him. (3) It is better to cut theircompany, not to see their faces. Keep them at a distance.Regard them as necessary evil. Do not indulge in theirflattery. Do not hesitate to raise your voice against theirbad actions.

Thus Ghazali has thrown intensive light on several issuesrelated to politics. He knew the importance of thisinstitution and wanted it to play its legitimate role. Masteris one who is the servant of all. Great responsibilities werethere on his shoulders. His rights and duties had beenelaborated in the Islamic jurisprudence. An ideal example asa role model in the form of orthodox caliphate existed inhistory.

Imam Ghazali brought all this to the notice of the rulers.He did not hesitate to speak out forcefully. With all powerat his command he criticized the rulers of the day, pointedout their short-comings, and urged them to reform themselves.He rejected their favours, called them illegal, wrote extensivelyon political behaviour, warned the monarchs, addressed thempersonally, and declared it was crime to separate religion from

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politics. In the end he was able even to establish a model inSpain.

Finally, we may ask a question what do we learn fromImam Ghazali. He taught us one should set one�s eye onwisdom and truth and not on wealth and power. He taughtus one who gives oneself wholly to truth and beauty wouldbecome a part of that truth and beauty. He taught usgoodness of mind and goodness of character alone would shapethe destiny of man. He taught us there was no security anywhere in life, but there was opportunity everywhere. Grabthe opportunity with both hands. He taught us thoughtshould not lack the heat of the desires, nor the desires, theglow of thoughts. He taught us ideas, ideals and dreams alonewould not perish; regard love, labour and imagination as agentsof success. He taught us things that are Godly would conferon you real victory. He taught us only the imagination ofthe pure sees the truth. He taught us the best witness togod�s truth are those who show its light in their life. Hetaught us happy people are those who are thankful to Godfor life�s responsibilities, and they are not after awards orrewards. None had taught so much, so well, to so many insuch a short life of just 53 years. Ghazali�s life is a saga ofgreat achievements in several walks of life, social, spiritual,moral, mental, political and religious, that have enriched theheritage of mankind. His life is a full-blown rose, each velvetpetal of which recalls the fragrance of several aspects of hismighty mind.