Réimpression : 2012, 2017

Bibliogr. p. 145-150. Index

The Seljuqs -- The "Schools" of Law -- The Notion of Kalam -- The Mu'tazili Factor -- Ash'ari and the Three Brothers -- Philosophy (Falsafa) -- The Isma'ilis -- Sufism -- 1. The RISE TO RENOWN -- A Child of Khorasan -- The Stages of his Career -- Early Studies: Sufi Masters and Theologians -- Juwayni The Patronage of the Powerful -- Ghazali at Court -- The Temptations of Prestige -- 2. DEVOTION TO THE LAW -- Ghazali's Contributions to Law -- The Example of Analogy (qiyas) -- The Indolence of the Learned -- Shafi'i: the Beloved Model -- Fidelity to the Law -- 3. The DOUBLE-EDGED DISCIPLINE: GHAZALI AND THEOLOGY -- Theology vs Philosophy -- Against a "Religion of Donkeys" -- Ghazali the Theologian -- The Dogmatic Manual al-Iqtisad fi'l-i'tiqad -- Ghazali's Mode of Argument in "The Just Balance" -- The Shadow of Ibn Sina -- A Human Accent -- Ghazali on Divine Names -- The Absence of Insight as Insight -- A Manual for Meditation -- Ghazali's Attitude towards Kalam -- 4. The POISON OF PHILOSOPHY AND ITS ANTIDOTE -- Did Ghazali Destroy Philosophy in Islam? -- The Seductiveness of System -- The Exposition of Philosophy: the Maqasid al-Falasifa -- The Attack: Tahafut al-Falasifa -- 5. CRISIS AND RECOVERY -- The Breakdown of 1095 -- Sickness and Health -- Al-Munqidh min al-Dalal ("The Deliverer from Error") -- Scepticism and Ghazali: His Early Crisis -- The Significance of Dream -- The Four Ways -- The Decisive Break and the Departure from Baghdad -- Baghdad, the "Nest of Darkness" -- The Role of Ahmad Ghazali -- 6. The REVIVAL OF ISLAM -- The Character of the Ihya' -- The Architecture of the Ihya' -- CONCLUSION:KNOWLEDGE IN ACTION -- The Return to Teaching -- Death and Posthumous Career -- Bibliography -- Index.

This fascinating work profiles Abu Hamid al-Ghazali (1058-1111), the foremost Islamic scholar and mystic of the medieval period. Attracting the patronage of the vizier Nizam al-Mulk early in his career, he was appointed head of the Nizamiyyah College at Baghdad, and attracted audiences from across the Islamic world, who sought his teachings on Islamic philosophy and jurisprudence. Eventually renouncing his position due to a spiritual crisis, he went into self-imposed exile, during which he wrote the Sufi masterpiece, Revival of the Sciences of Religion. Concise and lucid, this is a stimulating introduction to the great man's life and work