194. Thoughts of Al-Ghazali. Part three

We were discussing Sufism ( mysticism)

 

 

He knew that piety and restraint from passion is necessary, but it was also required to devote with total ardor to God. This could only be achieved by avoiding fame and fortune and fleeing from attachments. He reflected on his intentions on his public teachings, and saw that it was not directed purely to God, but more towards fame and prestige. He realized that he had to give up his post and leave Bagdad.

An intense period of vacillation ensued. One day he would firmly resolve to leave Bagdad and next day cancel his decision. Worldly desires and path towards God were pulling him in opposite directions. This lasted for six months

God intervened!

A lock was put on his tongue. He could not speak a single world. He also became sad. His appetite and digestion went away. There was great weakening of his powers.

‘In powerlessness I had recourse to God. I was answered by Him’

‘He made it easy for my heart to turn away from fame, family, children and associates’. He announced that he was leaving for Mecca (for Hajj?). Although in actuality he was going to Syria. This was a precaution from schemes of trouble makers.

 

“I departed from Bagdad after I had distributed what wealth I had, laying by only the amount needed for my support and the sustenance of my children…… I resided in Damascus for nearly two years. My only occupation was seclusion, spiritual exercise to purify my soul…..cleansing my heart for the remembrance of God, in the way I had learned from the writing of sufis…..mounting to the minaret of a mosque for the whole day and shutting myself in……Then I travelled from Damascus to Jerusalem, where I would go daily into the Dome of the Rock and shut myself in.”

An inner urge guided him to go to Mecca and Medina and perform Hajj. Which he did.

He had to come back to his native land for certain important matters. But he maintained solitude. He tried to keep his heart empty for remembrance of God. But worldly concerns and needs made it impossible to fully achieve this state. He had blessed ecstasy only intermittently. He remained in this condition for ten years.

Things impossible to enumerate were disclosed to him.

Many Islamic mystics like Shahab ( blog 32,94. Also see note 4 below) have considered mysticism inferior to Shariat. But not Ghazali:

 

“ this much I shall mention, that profit may be derived from it: I know with certainty that the sufis are those that uniquely follow the way to God, their mode of life is the best of all, their way the most direct of ways , and their ethics the purest.”

“…….all their (sufis) motions are learned from the light of the niche of prophecy. And beyond the light of prophecy there is no light on earth from which illumination can be obtained.”

“From the very beginning of the Way revelations and visions start…. so that , even when awake, the sufis see the angels and the spirits of the prophets and hear voices coming from them……eventually to states beyond the narrow range of words”

He wanted to come out of seclusion to reform others. He had found out that the faith of some men was weak. He wanted to guide them aright and to deliver them from peril.

He was on the horns of a dilemma: seclusion and devote all the time to God or to come out of religious retirement and guide others by lectures and books.

God intervened!

Sultan ordered him to return to Nishapur and face the threat of this tepidity in Muslims. Thus the decision was taken out of his hands. In addition to that, certain Godly men had many recurrent dreams attesting that this move of his would be a source of good and a right procedure, and it had been decreed by God ……

He was uniquely qualified for this task due to his encyclopedic knowledge of Islam, and philosophy and being an authentic sufi. He wrote many books.

Avicenna (Ibn Sina, born 980 A.D.) and Averroes (Ibn Rushd, born 1126 A.D.) are the two most famous Muslim Philosophers of Middle Ages. In philosophy, they both followed Aristotle (Pupil of Plato, born in 384 B.C.), and not Plato. Ghazali exposed, what he thought, were the weaknesses in the arguments of both of them, and also that of Al Farabi (born 870? A.D.). He wrote a book called Destruction of the philosophers. Averroes replied by a book Destruction of the Destruction.

 

He followed Shariat and his mysticism was traditional Islamic mysticism. He advocated orthodox religious views. He did not bring anything new.

 

This mote considers him a great man, because when the time for sacrifice came he rose to the occasion and sacrificed, by quitting the world, for God. He realized God without any teacher. Books were his teacher. This mote also has no guide; books have been my guide. But I did not realize God, because I did not possess the courage to leave world.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

 (1) ‘AL-Ghazali’s path to Sufism, his deliverance from error’. “Al-Munqidh min al-Dalal”. Translated from the Arabic by Mccarthy. Prefaced by Burrell. Introduction by Graham

(2) ‘Kashaful- Mehjoob’ by Daata Gunj Bakhash

 (3) My source in writings about Descartes and Plato is the book, “A history of Western Philosophy” by Bertrand Russell

(1)   From my blog 94:“I am simply amazed that how Mr. Shahab considered it inferior to shariat. The bliss of God’s touch on one’s face is ineffable. Words cannot describe it. One touch is greater than thousand ritualistic prostrations. All great saints, like St Teresa of Avilla, and Sri Ramakrishna have said the same thing.”

 

193. Thoughts of Al-Ghazali. Part two

 

We were discussing sense-data

 

What if the dream state was real and ordinary state was unreal like a dream?

He had heard that Sufis could attain states which were different from normal wakefulness and sleep.  There was a hadith,  “Men are asleep: then after they die they awake.” And will be told, according to Quran, ‘But We have removed from you your veil and today your sight is keen’ (50:21-22)

Ghazali struggled for two months with this dilemma. On one side was the surety of sense-data and self-evident truths and on the other side arguments against them which made one doubt them. He could not surmount this impasse.

Then, God in His great mercy guided him and illumination came to him.

 

At this point, this mote wants to digress and want to site two pertinent examples of two great philosophers.

Remember Ghazali doubting the sense-data. Descartes(born 1596 A.D.) is considered the founder of modern philosophy (3). He went through the same thought process in 17^th century which Ghazali had gone through earlier, namely to doubt everything (Cartesian doubt). He said to himself, ‘here, I am sitting in my armchair by the fire place. But I have imagined myself sitting like this while I was in bed. I have had hallucinations and dreams which appeared real to me, but were false. However, although sense-data can be doubted but geometrical and arithmetical realities are certain’. As he further reflected on this point he came to question mathematical beliefs also. He considered, ‘what if a powerful demon or God was misleading me. God would not do such a thing but an evil demon might. He could make me believe in things where none were present’

“there remains, however, something that I cannot doubt. No demon, however cunning, could deceive me if I did not exist. I may have no body: this might be an illusion. But thought is different.”

‘I cannot think unless I exist.’

“ I think therefore I am”

This phrase has become immortal over centuries!

It was his first truth, which he could accept without scruple.

 

Plato, ( born 428-7 B.C.) discussed what is real and what is an illusion in his famous simile of the cave.

 

“Behold! Human being living in an underground den, which has a mouth open towards light……., and have their legs and necks chained so that they cannot move, and can only see before them……Above and behind them a fire is blazing at a distance, and between the fire and prisoners there is a raised way……there is a wall in front. Between the wall and themselves there is nothing; all that they see are shadows of themselves, and objects behind them, cast on the wall by the light of the fire behind them. Inevitably they regard these shadows as real, and have no notion of the objects to which they are due. At last some man succeeds in escaping from the cave to the light of the sun, for the first time he sees real things, and becomes aware that he had hitherto been deceived by shadows.”

If he is a philosopher he goes back to the cave to tell others that are looking at shadows. Nobody believes him.

 

Philosophy. Next Ghazali turned his attention to philosophy. “God, most high, gave me an insight in the farthest reaches of philosophy in less than two years.”There were three main divisions:

1.       Most ancient philosophers: they did not believe in God. They alleged that the world had existed from eternity as it is, and not by reason of a Maker. Modern scientist and philosophers, like Einstein and Bertrand Russell, would fall in this category, except their belief in Darwin’s theory of evolution.

2.       Second category were the naturalists. They believed in God, but did not believe in afterlife. This mote, as a young man, belonged to this group.

3.       Third group of philosophers believed in a Creator, and afterlife. Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle belonged to this category. This mote, a secular humanist and novice mystic, belongs to this group. They differed from devout religious in several aspects. Ghazali noted twenty differences from ordinary Muslims, especially three questions, and wrote a book (The incoherence )to refute their beliefs. In general, the philosophers of his time, were unbelievers in religion, they were innovators, and practiced mathematical and physical sciences. They also followed logic and syllogism.

Ghazali spent a lot of energy and effort in discussing these topics in his spiritual autobiography. This mote has no intention of doing it because it is unnecessary and outdated for present times. Suffice is to say that Ghazali was satisfied.

Sufism. Finally he planned to learn the way of sufis. It took him eleven years. First he read many books written by great mystics. It soon became evident to him that theoretical knowledge is not sufficient, he had to practice mysticism. Just like knowing the definition of drunkenness is different than actually being drunk.

 

To be continued

 

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

 

(1)‘AL-Ghazali’s path to Sufism, his deliverance from error’. “Al-Munqidh min al-Dalal”. Translated from the Arabic by Mccarthy. Prefaced by Burrell. Introduction by  Graham

(2) ‘Kashaf ul- Mehjoob’ by Daata Gunj Bakhash

(1)    My source in writings about Descartes and Plato is the book, “ A history of Western Philosophy” by Bertrand Russell

 

192. Thoughts of Al-Ghazali. Part one

Ghazali( born 1058 A.D.) was a mystic philosopher, like Saint Augustine ( born 354 A.D.). One is struck by his questioning mind. We are fortunate that he wrote an account of some of his thoughts. Although he wrote many books, some encyclopedic, but I am concerned only with his spiritual autobiography ‘al-Munqidh min al-Dalal’(‘Deliverance from Error’) (1). Why? Because it is an autobiography, and I try to write almost exclusively from autobiographies or from biographies written by mystic’s contemporaries, because mystics don’t lie. St. Augustine wrote his autobiography (‘Confessions’) in fourth century. There is a gap of seven centuries, till Ghazali and Daata Gunj Bakhash ( born 1010 A.D.)(2) wrote their respective autobiographies in 11th century.

In the beginning of his book Ghazali states that he was born with an inquisitive and questioning mind. He questioned the assumption that the religion that he practiced^___Islam, was the only true religion. Why did he question this general belief? Because he made the observation that the children follow their parent’s religion. Infants born to Christian parents become Christians, and the children born to Jews, as they grow up, embrace Judaism, and babies born to Muslim parents stick to Islam. Therefore, he argued, that Islam, Christianity, and Judaism were not inherently superior to one another; rather it all depended upon blind chance^____ where  one was born and brought up, factors beyond one’s control.

He also came upon a hadith (saying  of Holy Prophet^PBUH ) that “each infant is born with a natural fitra ( inclination)” (Towards a particular religion? ). Then probably his parents make him Muslim, Christian or Jew ( this mote’s addition). What is this mysterious fitra? From where did it originate? And most crucially why is it different from one another in infants born to different religious parentage? Ghazali never discusses it in his autobiography.

Two points must be mentioned here by this mote. Almost nine hundred years had to pass before DNA was discovered. An infant’s genes (made of DNA and they determine one’s hereditary traits) are derived from his parents; half from his father and half from his mother. Ghazali had no way of knowing it. This is the mysterious fitra, derived from one’s parents.

Second point is that almost all modern Muslim scholars now believe that everybody is born as Muslim: whether his parents were Hindus, Christian, Jews or atheists, whether he was born in Alaska, Europe or Russia, and whether he was born recently or three thousand years ago^___ before the Holy Prophet Muhammad ^PBUH. Thus, everybody has a Muslim fitra.

At any rate, Ghazali decided to find out that how much of religion was based upon blindly following parents and teachers , and how much on other factors ( inherent superiority of one religion over others, fitra, etc)

Since from the same primary observation Ghazali also realized that the truth (I am using truth as a loose term, what I mean is the path chosen by God) of a religion cannot be ascertained from the arguments, logic and practices of various religions, because every person accepts those arguments which support that person’s particular religion (he/she is conditioned like Pavlov’s dogs) and rejects those which support another religion. There is an inherent appeal to followers of one religion with a practice or belief, whereas the same practice is abhorrent to the votaries of another religion. For instance, according to Muslims, to worship a statue of a diety/god (idolatry) is the highest sin that a human can commit (making  a statue equal to God ), but this worship is carried out by over one billion Hindus.

Therefore, Ghazali realized that he cannot just be content with Revealed knowledge (revealed by God and stored in religious scriptures) but will have to search other sources of knowledge. He came upon three main sources and several minor sources:

(1)    Sense-data. Nowadays we would have called it Science

(2)    Philosophy

(3)    Sufism

 

Sense-data .All knowledge in the world (except revealed knowledge) is received through senses. One sees one’s mother’s face, sun, bird, flower, and water, indeed everything by one’s eyes. One hears ticking of clock, song, voice of a friend, indeed everything through one’s ears. Same is true for taste, smell and touch; there are sensory organs for them. What if the information provided by senses is wrong, then the knowledge would be wrong. Can it happen? Ghazali thought about it. He made a protracted effort to doubt sense-data. He took the example of stars. They look small like a dinar (a coin) but there were clear geometrical proofs that they were bigger than the earth. Our senses led us astray. One could furnish similar examples about all senses.

However there was another kind of data; self-evident truths. An example of self-evident truth would be that ten is bigger than three. If a man converts stone into gold and a stick into snake, in front of us, but proclaims that three is bigger than ten, we would not believe him, despite his miracle.

Ghazali doubted sense-data but he could not doubt rational data of self-evident truth.  One day his mind spoke up, “what assurances have you that your reliance on rational data is not like your reliance on sense-data?.....”

“Don’t you see that when you are asleep you believe certain things and imagine certain circumstances and believe they are fixed and lasting and entertain no doubt about their status? Then you wake up and know all your imagining and beliefs were groundless and unsubstantial”

 

To be continued

 

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

 

(1)    ‘AL-Ghazali’s path to Sufism, his deliverance from error’. “Al-Munqidh min al-Dalal”. Translated from the Arabic by Mccarthy. Prefaced by Burrell. Introduction by  Graham

(2)    ‘Kashaful- Mehjoob’ by Daata Gunj Bakhash

 

 

 

 

192. Thoughts of Al-Ghazali. Part one

Ghazali( born 1058 A.D.) was a mystic philosopher, like Saint Augustine ( born 354 A.D.). One is struck by his questioning mind. We are fortunate that he wrote an account of some of his thoughts. Although he wrote many books, some encyclopedic, but I am concerned only with his spiritual autobiography ‘al-Munqidh min al-Dalal’(‘Deliverance from Error’) (1). Why? Because it is an autobiography, and I try to write almost exclusively from autobiographies or from biographies written by mystic’s contemporaries, because mystics don’t lie. St. Augustine wrote his autobiography (‘Confessions’) in fourth century. There is a gap of seven centuries, till Ghazali and Daata Gunj Bakhash ( born 1010 A.D.)(2) wrote their respective autobiographies in 11th century.

In the beginning of his book Ghazali states that he was born with an inquisitive and questioning mind. He questioned the assumption that the religion that he practiced^___Islam, was the only true religion. Why did he question this general belief? Because he made the observation that the children follow their parent’s religion. Infants born to Christian parents become Christians, and the children born to Jews, as they grow up, embrace Judaism, and babies born to Muslim parents stick to Islam. Therefore, he argued, that Islam, Christianity, and Judaism were not inherently superior to one another; rather it all depended upon blind chance^____ where  one was born and brought up, factors beyond one’s control.

He also came upon a hadith (saying  of Holy Prophet^PBUH ) that “each infant is born with a natural fitra ( inclination)” (Towards a particular religion? ). Then probably his parents make him Muslim, Christian or Jew ( this mote’s addition). What is this mysterious fitra? From where did it originate? And most crucially why is it different from one another in infants born to different religious parentage? Ghazali never discusses it in his autobiography.

Two points must be mentioned here by this mote. Almost nine hundred years had to pass before DNA was discovered. An infant’s genes (made of DNA and they determine one’s hereditary traits) are derived from his parents; half from his father and half from his mother. Ghazali had no way of knowing it. This is the mysterious fitra, derived from one’s parents.

Second point is that almost all modern Muslim scholars now believe that everybody is born as Muslim: whether his parents were Hindus, Christian, Jews or atheists, whether he was born in Alaska, Europe or Russia, and whether he was born recently or three thousand years ago^___ before the Holy Prophet Muhammad ^PBUH. Thus, everybody has a Muslim fitra.

At any rate, Ghazali decided to find out that how much of religion was based upon blindly following parents and teachers , and how much on other factors ( inherent superiority of one religion over others, fitra, etc)

Since from the same primary observation Ghazali also realized that the truth (I am using truth as a loose term, what I mean is the path chosen by God) of a religion cannot be ascertained from the arguments, logic and practices of various religions, because every person accepts those arguments which support that person’s particular religion (he/she is conditioned like Pavlov’s dogs) and rejects those which support another religion. There is an inherent appeal to followers of one religion with a practice or belief, whereas the same practice is abhorrent to the votaries of another religion. For instance, according to Muslims, to worship a statue of a diety/god (idolatry) is the highest sin that a human can commit (making  a statue equal to God ), but this worship is carried out by over one billion Hindus.

Therefore, Ghazali realized that he cannot just be content with Revealed knowledge (revealed by God and stored in religious scriptures) but will have to search other sources of knowledge. He came upon three main sources and several minor sources:

(1)    Sense-data. Nowadays we would have called it Science

(2)    Philosophy

(3)    Sufism

 

Sense-data .All knowledge in the world (except revealed knowledge) is received through senses. One sees one’s mother’s face, sun, bird, flower, and water, indeed everything by one’s eyes. One hears ticking of clock, song, voice of a friend, indeed everything through one’s ears. Same is true for taste, smell and touch; there are sensory organs for them. What if the information provided by senses is wrong, then the knowledge would be wrong. Can it happen? Ghazali thought about it. He made a protracted effort to doubt sense-data. He took the example of stars. They look small like a dinar (a coin) but there were clear geometrical proofs that they were bigger than the earth. Our senses led us astray. One could furnish similar examples about all senses.

However there was another kind of data; self-evident truths. An example of self-evident truth would be that ten is bigger than three. If a man converts stone into gold and a stick into snake, in front of us, but proclaims that three is bigger than ten, we would not believe him, despite his miracle.

Ghazali doubted sense-data but he could not doubt rational data of self-evident truth.  One day his mind spoke up, “what assurances have you that your reliance on rational data is not like your reliance on sense-data?.....”

“Don’t you see that when you are asleep you believe certain things and imagine certain circumstances and believe they are fixed and lasting and entertain no doubt about their status? Then you wake up and know all your imagining and beliefs were groundless and unsubstantial”

 

To be continued

 

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

 

(1)    ‘AL-Ghazali’s path to Sufism, his deliverance from error’. “Al-Munqidh min al-Dalal”. Translated from the Arabic by Mccarthy. Prefaced by Burrell. Introduction by  Graham

(2)    ‘Kashaful- Mehjoob’ by Daata Gunj Bakhash