| This study examines the life and thought of Ah&dotbelow;mad al-Ghazālī, a S&dotbelow;ūfī Shaykh of the late fifth and early sixth Islamic centuries. Many Persian and Arabic treatises have been incorrectly attributed to Ah&dotbelow;mad al-Ghazālī and the historical literature abounds with conflicting accounts of his life and thought. The first chapter endeavors to ascertain the authenticity of the works attributed to him. It then identifies the dominant ideological trends in the biographical literature and how they have changed over time. Having distilled the biographical information in chapter one, chapter two reconstructs the life and times of Ah&dotbelow;mad al-Ghazālī in the early Saljūq period. This biography demonstrates that he attained a high degree of proficiency in several of the Islamic sciences, but that throughout his life Ah&dotbelow;mad al-Ghazālī's central focus was Sufism. Chapter three reconstructs the elements of his spiritual practice from discussions within his writings and sermons and some of the more elaborate treatments of his spiritual descendants. Chapters four and five turn from the life and practice of Ah&dotbelow;mad al-Ghazālī to his central teachings, especially his understanding of love (`ishq). A survey of the textual precedents reveals that teachings similar to those found in Ah&dotbelow;mad al-Ghazālī's most famous treatise, the Sawānih&dotbelow;, are alluded to in previous writings, but never fully expressed. Chapter five examines the form and content of Ah&dotbelow;mad al-Ghazālī's teachings. It first discusses his understanding of the relativity of language and then examines his manner of citing from Qur'ān, h&dotbelow;adīth , poetry and love stories. The last half of the chapter is devoted to a close reading of the teachings on love in the Sawānih&dotbelow;. It begins by considering the central terms for Ah&dotbelow;mad al-Ghazālī's discussion of love, `ishq, rūh&dotbelow; (spirit), qalb (heart) and beauty (h&dotbelow;usn ). Then it examines the stages of spiritual wayfaring whereby the heart is brought to complete maturity until it is immersed in the ocean of love. |
