AL-GHAZALI & THE CONTEMPORARY AGE
Chapter Three
(Copyright © P.A.W. Greenland 2000 – 2006)
‘The
Spirituality of Abu Hamid Muhammad al-Ghazali (1058-1111CE).
An examination of al-Ghazali’s
writing and teaching and its relevance for the Islamic Community in the
contemporary world’.
The Zahir and Batin Realities of Islam
This chapter continues to
discuss Ghazali’s
spirituality, again with special reference to his reconciliation of Sunni
orthodoxy with Sufism, but through his comprehension of the zahir
and batin realities of Islam. Its aims are
twofold. First, that through his spirituality Ghazali
was able to instruct Muslims in appreciating both in the inner and outer
aspects of devotion. Second, and following on from the first
aim, Ghazali brought to his teaching the benefits of
understanding zahir and batin from his experiential life as a wandering
Sufi.
‘Worship in Islam, denoted by the Arabic word "Ibadah" is a much wider concept than in other
religions (1)’
and essentially for this reason Ghazali thoroughly
examined the five principal ways or pillars (Arkan),
of Muslim devotion. In Ihya he also emphasized
the paramount importance taught by orthodox Sunni Muslim theologians for
adherence to the Shari’a, because only by the Holy Law’s
strict observance can a Muslim thus claim to be in harmony with the divine will
of God (Allah). Further the root origin of both the words Sunni
and Shari’a
also mean a straight way or literally translated, ‘the beaten path’ (2).
This chapter’s primary text is Inner
Dimensions of Islamic Worship, an abridgement of The First Quarter of Ihya (Books 4 to 7). The translator Muhtar Holland, in his introduction and selected extracts,
explains Ghazali’s
devotional teaching by direct reference to the five ways of Arkan,
which are: profession of faith (Shahada), the
prayer ritual (Salat), almsgiving (Zakat), fasting during Ramadan (Sawm), and the pilgrimage to
‘The Outer (al-Zahir)’ and ‘The Inner (al-Batin [and the]) need for
a greater understanding of the inner dimensions of Islamic worship is acutely
felt, not only by a host of potential Muslims but also by many who have lived
their lives as members of the Islamic community (3).
In Ihya
Ghazali explains Muslim worship as incorporating the
totality of a believer’s
life and experiences. The Christian belief, in most of its traditions, for an
earthly forgiveness of sins does not apply within Islam because Muslims believe
that peoples’ deeds, both good and bad, are
carried throughout their lives for a final judgement after death.
Ghazali felt that through a zahir regard and observance of each of the five
devotional Pillars a Muslim could ascend to a batin
knowledge of himself and God. Ghazali’s zahir view
of the Pillars also relates to a belief in Tariqa,
or the upward ascent and esoteric path to a union with Ultimate Reality. But
his conception of Sufism was not simply that it was the cultivation of ecstatic
states. Ghazali believed instead that the holistic
knowledge of oneself, which comes from both outer and inner knowledge, was a
preparation for the life to come starting with the Last Judgement.
Holland’s
understanding from Ihya of the first pillar (Shahadah) is it being, ‘the basic and formal structure of worship which enables a Muslim to
transform his entire life into an act of worship (4)’.
(The) stunning spectacle of row upon row of worshippers
bowing and prostrating themselves in perfect unison.... (is the same as)
general seekers of Truth (who) can never be satisfied with outer forms alone
(because) Muhammad ... declared ‘Actions are valued according to
intentions (5)’.
Ghazali,
When you hear the call ... given by the Muezzin, let
yourself feel the terror of the Summons on Resurrection Day. But review your
heart now to bring you good news on the Day of Judgement. That is why the
Prophet ... used to say, ‘Comfort us, Bilal!’ For Bilal was the Muezzin and Prayer was
the joy and comfort of the Messenger (6).
Khurram Murad (7)
related the place of heart together with allusions to the zahir
and the batin, and the living of modern life,
within precepts which were identified by Ghazali:
‘Except he who comes to God with a
heart, pure and whole’, says the Qur'an,
no one shall receive the Inheritance of the
Ghazali advised Muslims not to forget to
purify the inner self ‘with repentance and remorse (9).
His reason, again eschatological based, was that worshippers must remember that
past sins should not be repeated. Ghazali especially
exhorts Muslims to follow the example of The Prophet who when standing to face
towards the Qibla (or Ka'ba
[the Holy Stone in
When a man stands up to pray, directing his desire, his
face and his heart towards God, he will come out of that Prayer as on the day
his mother gave him birth (10).
Muslims in prayer during
the second pillar (Salat) must turn both
external face and inner heart to God, and Ghazali
commented that the example of The Prophet and traditions ‘help to prove that the fundamental elements in ritual Prayer are
humility and conscious awareness (11)’. To Ghazali merely
going through the motions of Salat is
meaningless for the heart. It has no value because God knows that solely an
outer recitation of prayers is nothing because for all Muslims ‘intention’ (riya
or riyan) is essential (cf. Chapter Four).
Rather Ghazali teaches that by a strict regard for zahir and batin ‘we pray for (God’s)
gracious help and guidance (12)’.
Ghazali additionally advanced inner
reasons for each of the postures during ritual prayer, which are: standing,
bowing, prostration, and salutation. Each outer, or physical, posture brings
about a greater realization and awareness of God with unique characteristics.
For example he wrote of bowing that it elaborated an inner submission to God
because:
(You) renew your submissiveness and humility, striving to
refine your inner feelings through a fresh awareness of your own impotence and
insignificance before the mind and grandeur of your Lord (12A).
In an explanation for
prostration during salat part of Ghazali’s
answer, ‘for of dust you were created and to dust you shall
return (13)’, also contains a meaning familiar
to both Jews and Christians by it is similarity to Ecclesiastes 3.20, ‘all are from dust, and all turn to dust again (14)’. Prostration for Muslims in its outward physical act is the lowest
form of submission. But Ghazali felt that as an inner
dimension of prayer it was the highest position that a person can be in before
God because:
(You) are bringing the most precious part of your body,
namely your face, down to meet the most lowly of all
things: the dust of the earth.... You are restoring the branch to its root, for
of dust you were created and to dust you shall return (15).
Ghazali argued that the fourth posture of
salutation, which is derived from the Arabic word salaam, meaning
farewell, represents an inner thanks to God for allowing a person to worship
Him. He wrote, ‘(feel) a sense of gratitude to
God...for having enabled you to complete this act of worship (16)’. Again Ghazali in trying to give a batin reason is expressing his eschatological
view of devotions, because the worshipper ‘may not live (long enough) to see
another (act of worship) like it (17)’ and could instead be facing the Last
Judgement.
The third pillar of
Almsgiving (Zakat) is intended for Muslims
with sufficient means to ritually give a fixed amount of their total wealth
each year to the poor and for community projects (18).
Almsgiving’s
root interpretation from Arabic (sadaqa or rukn) means ‘support’ and a conceivable batin
interpretation, according to Ghazali, is that zakat supports inner purification and development.
Starting with Ghazali's advice for ablutions during Shahadah, zakat may
be seen to form part of the progression towards incorporation with Ultimate Reality
within Islamic worship. Ghazali wrote of zakat that it was a way to test the love of God:
Now, worldly goods are an object of love in everybody’s
eyes, being the means by which they enjoy the benefits of this world; because
of them they become attached to life and shy away from death, even though death
leads to meeting the Beloved. The truth of our claim to love God is therefore
put to the test, and we are asked to give up the wealth which is the darling
apple of our eye. That is why God...said: ‘God has bought from the believers
their persons and their goods,
Also:
The righteous among the rich will enter
Ghazali wrote more in Ihya
about almsgiving and its inner benefits than on any other way of Arkan. As it is a spiritual duty to be performed by the
actual giving of worldly goods, it is argued that Ghazali
felt the inner meaning of zakat needed a
greater degree of clarification. Further zakat
is not just spontaneous philanthropy but a tithe. It can also be used to spread
Islam and from Ghazali’s
Sufi period when he had first given away everything he owed, and made himself instead dependent on charitable giving, he was well
qualified to comment on the inner and outer uses of almsgiving.
In minutely going through
many of Islam’s
basic tenets Ghazali was able to show the place of zakat in worship. These include: the elimination of
miserliness which is one of the faith’s deadly sins, paying zakat
at the proper time, thinking little of what is given otherwise the giver
inwardly invites into the heart sanctimonious pride, and the need to give secretly
to save the giver from a charge of hypocrisy, although open giving on rare
occasions sets a good example for others to emulate.
Ghazali further gave in Ihya two other inner benefits of zakat
apart from life in
Not to make offering from the best one has is to be guilty
of bad manners, since it means that one is keeping the best for oneself, for
one's servant, or for one’s
family, and so preferring others over God.... To treat a guest in this fashion,
offering him the worst food in the house would be sure to annoy him (22).
This explanation also
bears a similarity to the Christian Gospel and Jesus’ words and acts about the value of earthly possessions and on giving.
The Christian interpretation of giving the best to God has the closest
connection to Ghazali’s
view of batin in St. John’s
Gospel, which Ghazali had studied in detail and
afterwards wrote a refutation. John 2.1-11 describes the wedding at
Ghazali was not greatly concerned about
the outward or physical element of the fourth pillar fasting (Sawm), although he would have been aware that
fasting with proper intention remained an important discipline. Ghazali instead put inner fasting into one grade, which he
called ‘ordinary (23)’. This included abstinence
from food, drink, and sexual intercourse. But in general Ghazali
expressed a definite dislike of all the ordinary forms of sawm
asking, ‘what benefit is derived from the Fast if (during
the night) one consumes as much as one would usually take during day and night
combined? (24)’.
To Ghazali’s
mind this form of sawm was not worship in its
purest sense and dimension. In addition to the Islamic sin of backbiting Ghazali wrote of sawm that
four additional outward actions break a Fast, which are:
lying, scandalmongering, perjury, and a lustful gaze
(25).
Instead of the outer, Ghazali primarily concentrated his discussion on the Fast’s
inner meaning. First batin and zahir are graphically contrasted in a quotation from
the Sunna where two women are said by Muhammad
to have been engaged in the sin of backbiting. Ghazali
quoted it in Ihya to reinforce his
teaching because the Prophet had said that fasting is a shield for the ummah (26), and whoever engaged in zahir backbiting broke the Fast by destroying its batin shield or protection. In the Sunna teaching the unlawful meat which is vomited
metaphorically illustrates the women’s’ heretical words:
Two women were fasting during the time of God’s
Messenger.... They were so fatigued towards the end of the day, from hunger and
thirst that they were on the verge of collapsing. They therefore sent a message
to (Muhammad)...requesting permission to break their Fast. In response, the
Prophet...sent them a bowl and said: ‘Tell them to vomit into it what
they have eaten’. One of them vomited and half
filled the bowl with fresh blood and tender meat, while the other brought up
the same so they filled it between them. The onlookers were astonished. The
Prophet...said: ‘These two women have been Fasting
from what God made lawful to them, and they have broken their Fast on what
God...made unlawful to them. They sat together and indulged in backbiting, and
here is the flesh of the people they maligned’ (27).
Second, Ghazali regarded the highest form of inner sawm as ‘Extra-special Fasting’. He also thought that there was a middle grade called ‘special’ or ‘keeping the
head and all other organs free from sin (28)’. Such forms of Fasting
are similar to zakat because they portray the
worship of God by a heartfelt love:
Extra-special Fasting means fasting of the heart from
unworthy concerns and worldly thoughts, in total disregard of God.... This kind
of Fast is broken by thinking of anything other than God...and the Hereafter;
it is broken by thinking of worldly matters, except for those conducive to
religious ends.... To this third degree belong the Prophets, the true saints
and the intimates of God. It does not lend itself to detailed examination in words,
as its true nature is better revealed in action. It consists in utmost
dedication to God...to the neglect of everything other than God...It is bound
up with the significance of His words: ‘Say Allah! then
leave them to their idle prattling (al-An’am, 6:91)’ (29).
The special batin appeal of sawm
lays in its trust to worship God in secret. ‘The
Prophet...once said ‘(the) Fast is a trust, so let each
of you keep this trust! (30)’.
Ghazali took the extremes of true and false and
public and private sawm to explain how to
perform it in a manner pleasing to God within the batin
trust that He allows to humankind.
The observance of all of
The Five Pillars reaches its zenith during the observance of the fifth pillar (Hajj).
Hajj is not solely the physical pilgrimage to visit the House of God (Ka’ba),
which is thought by Muslims to have been built by Abraham four thousand years
ago and to be the most holy place on earth. But Hajj was also seen by Ghazali to incorporate the totality of all the inner
meanings of Arkan, each one playing a
distinctive role in both The Pilgrimage’s preparation and fulfillment.
For most Muslims Hajj
is a once in a lifetime event in obedience to God’s words, ‘Pilgrimage to the House is a duty mankind owes God; for anyone who can
find a way to do so (Qur’an 3.97)’. Hajj reaches its
climax in the ceremony of encircling, touching, and kissing the Ka’ba,
which is also the highest form of Salat. At
the sacred stone a creedal Shahadah is made:
Laibbaik, Allahumma Laibbaik (Doubly at Your service, O God,
Doubly at Your service) (31).
For the poorest pilgrims
money from zakat may pay for the pilgrimage
and in turn the givers of alms are inwardly blessed because they have enabled
others to perform the Hajj. Most pilgrims, though not all women, wear
the simple robes of unsewn white cloth (ihram)
to eliminate any distinction in rank or wealth. Pilgrims also travel together
as equals by the cheapest methods of transport and with much physical exertion,
so making their giving to God to be another form of fasting. Ghazali wrote of Hajj:
(It) is...the worship of a lifetime, the seal of
consummation, the completion of surrender and the perfection of religion. It
was during the Pilgrimage that God...sent down his revelation, ‘today I have perfected your religion for you, and completed My grace upon you, and approved Islam as your religion – al-Ma’idah,
5:3’ (32).
Ghazali also regarded in Ihya the settlement of Arafat, which is about
fifteen kilometres from
One of those saintly people endowed with spiritual insight
mentioned that Iblis...appeared to him at
Arafat in human form. He was thin, jaundiced, tearful and stooping. When asked
the reason...he said: ‘the fact the Pilgrims have set out
towards God alone and not for doing business – I say they
have God alone as their destination and that makes me unhappy (34)’.
Second, Arafat during the
Hajj was where God disclosed to Muhammad the words recorded above by al-Ma’idah
on the perfection and approval of Islam. Ghazali
wished to explain in Ihya why pilgrims present
in Arafat on the Day of Congregation, or attending the Friday Salat, should be rewarded by being forgiven (35).
They stand for several hours pleading for God’s forgiveness and are
additionally clothed as if in their shroud as a reminder of death and the Day
of Judgement. Ghazali did not describe the exact
nature of the forgiveness but in view of the Islamic belief for weighing good
against bad, at the Judgement, a supposition can be argued that he was thinking
of a batin forgiveness, or credit for good,
after a believer’s
death.
Another reason for
advancing exactly what Ghazali meant by a Muslim
forgiveness may be seen in part of the ceremony while being at the Ka’ba.
Pilgrims offer the sacrifice of animals to God, following Abraham’s example. Just as He was
willing to sacrifice Ishmael in submission to God’s will, so ‘Muslims demonstrate their own willingness to sacrifice their lives and
their property for the sake of God (36)’. Also a sincere and
deeply pious offering up of a purchased animal to God is a zahir
act of tremendous devotional significance.
Muhammad had promised God
that 600,000 pilgrims a year would visit the Ka’ba (37) as evidence of
the external and ongoing strength of Islam, but Ghazali's
teaching on devotion itself reached a batin
and zahir eschatological height when he wrote:
The Black Stone of the Ka’ba, ‘a ruby of Paradise’. It will be raised on the Day of
Resurrection with a pair of eyes and a tongue with which to speak, for all who
have touched it with truth and sincerity (38).
Ghazali’s
words convey a profound apocalyptic sense of final expectation. There is a
suggestion in them of all people being ultimately judged on their zahir and batin qualities, and all who have touched the Ka’ba will be admitted to
Ghazali’s
apocalyptic comments lead into the second subject of this chapter, which is
that Sufism (tasawwuf) ‘has the primary sense of a mystical way or path (39)’. Ghazali
through his wide knowledge both of Muslim theology and the Shari’a in addition to
Sufism was able to appreciate that for the few Tariqa
led to a fuller discovery of the inner dimension of Islam, or ‘the Science of the Heart (40)’. In other words they ceased to be ordinary
people living in the outer dimension but had discovered an inner reality of
life.
I have argued (cf.
Chapter Two) that Ghazali was not a mystic but
instead a great teacher and able to influence Muslims who eventually became
mystics. Ghazali had the gift to blend orthodox Sunni
teaching with Sufism from his personal observations of tasawwuf
practices by living with, and learning from, Sufis who truly were mystics but
could not easily able to communicate their mystical experiences or had
discovered within themselves an inner vibrancy. Ghazali
by being able to understand the depth of Islamic mysticism together with his
knowledge of its orthodox practices, created a unique method of devotional
teaching. He was able to reason the cause for this change in people who had in
fact, loosely speaking, become mystics because:
‘The higher one ascends a mountain,
the farther one sees’ (Ghazali
states). Thus, a man who witnesses the awakening of his inner resources also
witnesses within himself, by a gift of direct awareness, the true meaning of
religious truths that he had earlier accepted on premises of faith. It is this
process that is capable of securing the spiritual development of man.
Spirituality has no other meaning and it has no other content apart from this
link that man has with this process of realising the truth of the revealed Word
of God (41).
In summary, Ghazali’s
devotional spirituality with its batin and zahir dimensions has two cardinal elements. First, a reconciliation of the ummah
with God. Ghazali taught that the nature of
God could only be fully realised by Tariqa.
But as the majority of people are not mystics he advised all members of the ummah by ukhuwwa to
engage in a loving intercourse of their hearts with the Creator. In this way
the ultimate goal for the observance of Arkan
is a complete and entire submission (Islam) of the Muslim community to
God.
Second, Ghazali argued that humans must regard God as existing on a
plane that is beyond the realm of human knowledge and comprehension. I have
already explained that Ghazali tried but failed to
explain this complex subject (cf. Chapter Two). Arguably the nearest he came to
being able to define the second plane was through his observation of the effect
on other Sufis who had experienced the existence of the Beatific Vision (fana’). During his Sufi period Ghazali would have been very familiar with Sufism’s
extreme expression to induce fana’ such as the ecstatic acts of whirling forms of dancing or trances. But
he could only reason by logic that fana’ was the incorporation with Ultimate Reality by mystics who had, it is
argued, reached out and ascended to a higher plane of spiritual existence.
Finally, Ghazali was a prophetic intellectual who spoke to his peers
in terms of the highest thoughts of his time (i.e. the appreciation of the
existence of fana’). This appraisal is argued to be accurate. Ghazali
tried to show or prophesy in Ihya that the batin dimension is timeless or non-historical,
especially the relevance of the teachings of the Sunna.
Further these same themes and thoughts can apply to Islam in any age. Chapter
Four next discusses and argues their effects on the problems of the
contemporary age.
Notes
41. Brohi,
Allahbaksh K., Nasr, Seyyed Hossein, ed., Islamic
Spirituality I: Foundations, (Routledge & Kegan Paul, London, 1987, pp.22-23).
(The Winchester Al-Ghazali Site was originally called ‘Peter
Greenland’s Web Site’ published
on BT Internet in 1999)