The Theological and Mystical position of Imam Abu Hamid Al-Ghazali

Abstract

Imam Abu Hamid al-Ghazali is considered one of the most Islamic personalities whose star shone in the sciences of philosophy, theology and Sufism, and this is due to the encyclopedic mentality that Imam al-Ghazali had, and the many roles he played. Imam al-Ghazali had passed a condition of uncertainty, but this doubt was systematic, which had led him to deep belief and certainty in God through the path of Sufism. This path does not considered a temporary or accidental state that he took in a state of weakness or uncertainty, but rather it is a return to a foundation in which he was raised, because his father was a Sufi and studied at the hands of a sheikh Sophia and a master of a Sufi approach, and after the mixing of Sufi approach with many extraneous methods emanating from Platonic, Indian, pagan, Persian and other ideas that contradicted Islamic thought, Imam Al-Ghazali tried to adhere to the Sharia, and rid the Sufi faith of the impurities and extraneous ideas that clung to it, especially the idea of incarnation and ​​union. Imam Al-Ghazali was Sunni in sect and Ash'ari in creed, so we find that his Sufism was imbued with this approach that does not neglect the Book of Quran and the Sunnah, so he was a supporter and founder of Sufism in the Islamic environment.