Ghazali

Mohammad ibn Mohammad Ghazali, known as Imam Mohammad Ghazali and titled Hujjat al-Islam, was born in 450 AH in Tus and died in the same region in 505 AH. He was a Shafi'i jurist, an Ash'ari theologian, a critic of philosophy, a Sufi, and one of the most influential thinkers in the Islamic world. His brother, Ahmad Ghazali, was also a significant figure in Sufism.

Ghazali studied in his youth in Gorgan and then Nishapur, and was a distinguished student of Imam al-Haramayn al-Juwayni. After gaining scholarly renown, he went to Baghdad at the invitation of Khwaja Nizam al-Mulk and taught at the Nizamiyya Madrasa. A few years later, he experienced an intellectual and spiritual crisis, abandoned formal teaching, and turned to travel and seclusion. During this period, he went to Damascus, Jerusalem, the Hejaz, and then Tus, and wrote a significant portion of his famous works. In his final years, he returned to teaching at the Nizamiyya of Nishapur for a time, and then passed away in his khanqah in Tus.

Ghazali was influential in several main areas: Shafi'i jurisprudence, Ash'ari theology, criticism of Peripatetic philosophy, logic, ethics, Sufism, and religious education. On one hand, with his book Tahafut al-Falasifa (The Incoherence of the Philosophers), he critiqued philosophers such as al-Farabi and Ibn Sina, and on the other hand, with Ihya' 'Ulum al-Din (The Revival of the Religious Sciences), he sought to forge a link between Sharia, ethics, and Sufi conduct.

Ghazali's importance lies in the fact that he holds a high position in both the jurisprudential and theological tradition of Sunni Islam and is considered a pivotal figure in the history of Islamic Sufism and ethics. His Persian works also hold an important place in Persian religious and mystical prose.