Tehran – The book’s Persian translation of “Islamic thought-inspired knowledge: Al-Gazari’s theory of mystical cognition and its foundation in Abikenya” is written by Alexander Traeger.
Samaneh Feyzi and Ahmad Yazdi translated the book, and Qoqnoos Publishing House published it on 336 pages, Ilna reported.
It is customary to see Muslim theologian Abu Hamid al-Ghazali (1058-1111) as a fierce critic of philosophy, and has rejected it in favour of Islamic mysticism (Sufism), and has been subject to increased scrutiny in recent years.
Originally published in 2012, the book claims that Al-Ghazali is one of the greatest propagators of philosophy in medieval Islam.
The author provides new evidence that Al-Ghazali appreciates philosophy in his theory of mystical cognition and eschatology, and in these two areas even embraced the philosophical teachings he ostensibly criticised.
Through a detailed discussion of over 80 important texts (more research is being done throughout the book), the authors show how Al-Ghazali’s understanding of “mystical cognition” is patterned after the philosophy of Avicenna (980-1037).
Despite the obvious criticism, Al Ghazali claimed that he never rejected Abikenya’s philosophy, and that his mysticism itself is based on the teachings of Avisenna, the book offers a clear and systematic presentation of Al Ghazali’s “philosophical mysticism.”
Challenging the general assumptions about one of the biggest Muslim theologians of all time, this is an important reference for scholars and amateurs interested in the relationship between Islamic theology, philosophy and mysticism.
Al-Ghazali was a Muslim scholar and was Polymas. He is known as one of the most prominent and influential bishops, legal theorists, muftis, philosophers, theologians, logicians and mystics in Islamic history.
Al-Ghazali’s works were highly praised by his contemporaries, and he was awarded the honorable title, “Proof of Islam” (ḥujjatal-Islām).
Many of Al-Ghazali’s works came from his spiritual crisis after being appointed head of Nizamiya University in Baghdad.
He believed that the spiritual tradition of Islamic has become a mutian and that the spiritual science taught by the first generation of Muslims had been forgotten. This belief led him to write his Magnum Opus, entitled “Resurrection of Religious Science.” Among his other works, “The Philosopher’s Contradiction” is a landmark of the history of philosophical, in order to promote criticism of Aristotle’s science developed in 14th century Europe.
Alexander Trager is an assistant professor of religion studies at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Canada. His research focuses on Islamic theology, Arabic philosophy, and Syrian and Arabian Christianity, with an emphasis on the transmission of theological and mystical ideas from the late ancient period to early Islam.
SS/SAB