The Village Preacher

Imām al-Ghazālī more than anyone else. We have already
quoted him at length regarding human psychology.

The godly man is wise, courageous and temperate in the
noblest sense of the words and in the highest degree. He
engages in worship, prayers, fasting, alms-giving and similar
acts, but his duties to God do not exclude his duties to family,
relatives, friends, neighbours, subjects and society as a whole.
He must earn his livelihood by strictly honest means. He must
cultivate the best manners for all occasions, namely, he should
know how to carry himself best at the table, in society, while
traveling, and at the gathering of godly people, and avoid
causing the slightest pain to his fellowmen on any account. The
Prophet should be his ideal and his inspiration throughout his
life.25

5.3.1 Outline of the Outward Actions and the Inner Vices and
Virtues

Al-Ghazālī has clearly outlined two planes of action. One is the
outward plane (al-ẓāhir) and the other is the inward plane (al-
bāṭin). The outward plane consists of the following actions
which must be carried out in a proper and thorough manner:

(1) Ṣalāh (ritual prayer); (2) zakāh (alms-giving); (3)
ṣawm (fasting); (4) ḥajj (pilgrimage); (5) recitation of the

25 Umaruddin, The Ethical Philosophy…, 182.
115

Qur’ān; (6) dhikru’Llāh (remembrance of Allāh); (7)
seeking honest livelihood; (8) fulfilling the rights of
fellow Muslims and observing etiquettes in one’s dealings
with them; (9) commanding right and forbidding evil;
and (10) following the Sunnah of the Prophet (Allāh bless
him and grant him peace).26

On the inside plane, there are good qualities called al-munjiyāt
(redeeming qualities) or faḍā’il (virtues); and the bad ones
called al-muhlikāt (destructive qualities) or radhā’il (vices). In
his book al-Arbaʿīn fī uṣūl al-dīn, al-Ghazā lī outlines ten
character traits under each one of these. They are as follows:

Radhā’il or vices:

(1) sharah al-ṭaʿām (gluttony); (2) sharah al-kalām
(excessive talking); (3) ghaḍab (anger); (4) ḥasad
(jealousy); (5) bukhl wa ḥubb al-māl (miserliness and
avarice); (6) raʿūnah wa ḥubb al-jāh (frivolity and love of
position / power); (7) ḥubb al-dunyā (love of the world);
(8) kibr (arrogance); (9) ʿujb (self-adulation / conceit);
and (10) riyā’ (hypocrisy / dissimulation).27

Fadhā’il or virtues:

(1) tawbah (repentance); (2) khawf (fear); (3) zuhd
(abstinence/renunciation); (4) ṣabr (patience); (5) shukr

26 Abū Ḥāmid al-Ghazālī, Kitāb al-Arba‘īn fī ‘Ulūm al-Dīn (Damascus: Dār al-
Qalam, 2003), 296-297.
27 Ibid., 297-299.

116

(thankfulness); (6) ikhlāṣ wa al-ṣidq (sincerity and
truthfulness); (7) tawakkul (trust); (8) maḥabbah (love);
(9) riḍā bi al-qaḍā’ (contentment with fate); and (10)
dhikr al-mawt (remembrance of death).28

It should be known that the reprehensible traits are
many, but they all can be categorized under the previously
mentioned. It is not enough to free oneself of a few of them
because whatever is left dominating upon oneself will cause
other traits to return and dominate. This is because all of these
are interconnected. Complete spiritual health cannot be had by
removing some of the diseases. Rather, all the diseases need to
be removed to achieve perfection. Just as physical beauty is not
attained through beauty of some parts of the body, but requires
the whole body to be beautified. Similarly, spiritual beauty
requires that the whole outward (al-ẓāhir) and the inward (al-
bāṭin) planes be spiritually cleansed of these diseases. The
Prophet (Allāh blesses him and grants him peace) said: “The
heaviest thing which shall be weighed in the Scale is Good
Character.”29 He also said: “I was sent to perfect good
character/morals.”30 On another occasion, he said: “The best of
believers is the one best in character.”31

28 Ibid., 300-302.
29 Sunan Tirmidhī and Sunan Abī Dāwūd.
30 Muwattā’ of Mālik and Musnad of Aḥmad.
31 Sunan Tirmidhī, Sunan Nāsā‘ī and Sunan Abī Dāwūd.

117

5.3.2 The Required: Justly Balanced and Moderation

Just as the outward appearance has aspects such as the eye, the
nose, the mouth and the cheek; and the outward appearance
will not be considered beautiful unless all of these are beautiful.
Similarly, the internal aspect or the spiritual domain has
certain aspects which need to be made beautiful. To reiterate,
these are four: the faculty of knowledge, the faculty of ghaḍab
(anger), the faculty of shahwah (appetite), and the faculty of
ʿadl (justice or maintaining proper balance) between the other
faculties. Thus, when these four are maintained in their proper
places, good character is achieved.

The beauty of the faculty of knowledge is its ability to
differentiate between truth and falsehood in creed as well as in
speech and between good and bad actions. When this faculty
develops this power, it achieves the fruit of ḥikmah (wisdom).
Allāh, the Exalted says in the Qur’ān,

‫ي ْؤتِي ا ْل ِح ْك َمةَ َمن يَ َشاء َو َمن ي ْؤ َت ا ْل ِح ْك َمةَ َف َق ْد أوتِ َي َخ ْيرا َكثِيرا َو َما يَذَّ َّكر إِ َّلا أولوا‬
‫ا ْْلَ ْل َبا ِب ۝‬

“Whoever is granted wisdom, he indeed is given a great
good and none remember but people of understanding”
(Qur’ān, 2: 269).

The beauty of the faculties of ghaḍab and of shahwah is
that they should remain restrained within the bounds of the
Sharīʿah. The beauty of the faculty of ‘adl lies in restraining the

118

faculties of ghaḍab and shahwah, under the instructions of the
dīn and reason. Thus, the intellect has the job of an advisor and
the faculty of ʿadl is the executor of the commands of the
intellect. When the faculty of ghaḍab is in excess, it leads to
recklessness, arrogance, self-adulation and aggression. On the
other hand, its scarcity leads to cowardice, meanness and
disgracefulness. When in its proportionately well-balanced
state, it is called shajāʿah (bravery). Then, it entails the traits of
graciousness, nobility, forbearance, steadfastness and
gracefulness. When the faculty of shahwah is in excess, it leads
to gluttony, greed, ostentation, sycophancy, jealousy and
madness. When it is scarce, it leads to sloth, weakness and
laziness. When this shahwah is proportionately well balanced,
it is referred to as ʿiffah (temperance/chastity). This leads to
modesty, generosity, patience, forgiveness, contentment, piety
and helpfulness. When the intellect is in excess, it leads to
cunningness and fraud. When it is scarce, it leads to stupidity
and foolishness. When it is proportionately well balanced, it
leads to sharpness of mind, and brilliance and smartness.

Thus, the essence of it all is al-wasaṭ, in the sense of
justice, virtue and that which is proportionately well balanced,

119

for indeed the best of matters are the just, the virtuous and the
proportionately well-balanced ones32.

5.3.3 Struggling Against the Nafs

The way to achieve this is mujāhadah (struggling), that is, to
constantly strive against the bad traits until they are eventually
removed. In the beginning one has to force oneself to do the
opposite of the vices. Initially, the nafs will resist because the
nafs is in its lowest state, that of al-nafs al-ammārah (the
commanding self). In this state, the nafs commands one to
engage in vices and fulfilling the desires of the nafs. Thus,
shahwah and ghaḍab command man. After some time, through
persistent effort this will change into al-nafs al-lawwāmah (the
reproaching self). Now, man has become conscious of his faults
and feels bad every time he does something bad. With
continuous effort and help from Allāh, this will finally change
into al-nafs al-muṭma’innah (the peaceful self). In this state,
man will be at ease with himself and God.

In other words, we could also say that the path is as al-
Ghazā lī explains:

‘Ilm  ‘Amal  Ḥāl
Knowledge  Action  State

32 The preceding material has been gleaned from Imam Ghazālī ’s al-Arba‘īn
(‫)خ ري الأمور أوسطها‬.

120

Oblivious to its Ghazā lian origin, the world today popularly
sees it as: “Cogito, Facio, Fio” (you think, you do, you become).
First, one acquires knowledge of good actions. Then one acts
upon it repeatedly until it becomes second nature. In other
words, one does not have to force oneself to do it – knowing,
doing, becoming. This is called ḥāl (state) or malakah33
(habitus).

6. THE PLIGHT OF THE MODERN MAN

The modern man is a man in denial of himself. He is so focused
on the outside world that he is unable to see the inside world.
Thus, his own self becomes unknown to him. Paradoxically, he
is so obsessed with himself that he is essentially a slave of his
own ego. Man confines himself to the limits of his nafs and is
unable to benefit from the higher possibilities, which his rūḥ
can achieve. Obsession with the physical world and over-
emphasis upon the empirical have made him blind to his true
nature. Thus, we find him falling to the depths of beastliness
except that in his beastliness, he is more lethal than any animal
could ever hope to be. Rising crime rates accompanied by
growing social problems such as broken families, illegitimate
children, stress, and spiritual hollowness have reduced human
existence to the animal level.

33 It could also be defined as ‫كيفية راسخة يف النفس‬.
121

Modern man’s problems are no longer the normal
tensions associated with human existence. His situation has
deteriorated so much that even children are affected by it:
young boys emulating TV and movies by going on shooting
sprees,34 the changed relationship between parents and
children, students and teachers, etc. The ādāb (proper
etiquette) which is supposed to characterize human existence
has all, but disappeared. Man is no longer respectful to God, to
his fellow humans and to the environment around him. Neither
is he respectful to himself! The results, of course, are
devastating. Man’s reformulation of himself as a completely
free creature with full power over the world has meant
destruction of the environment to an unprecedented scale. The
theomorphic nature with which he was endowed and which
should be used to ascend to heights of perfection instead
results in nature itself becoming mutilated. He is no longer
khalīfat Allāh (God’s vicegerent), but khalīfat al-shayṭān
(Satan’s deputy).35

In the case of the Muslim, who has been affected by
modernism to various degrees, the problem is even more acute.
The Muslim is torn between the timeless truths of his own

34 Consider the spate of high school and college shootings taking place in
Western countries.
35 Seyyed Hossein Nasr, Islam and the Plight of Modern Man (Cambridge, UK:
Islamic Texts Society, 2002), 35.

122

religion and the glitter and wisdom of modern Western
“civilization.” Thus, he finds himself confused and unsure of his
own destiny.

7. THE ISLAMIC SOLUTION

It is in this situation that the need for an Islamic understanding
of the human self becomes all the more important. No one
knows the creature better than its Creator. And the One and
Only True Creator, who is also the Sustainer, has been
constantly providing us with the guidelines that are needed to
lead our lives in peace and harmony. Qur’ān, the last and
unchanged message and Prophet Muḥammad (Allāh blesses
him and grants him peace), the last messenger of Allāh—it is to
these that we must turn.

8. CONCLUSION

We have attempted to present the human personality as
understood in the light of Islam. Referring much to the works of
al-Imām al-Ghazā li,̄ we have highlighted the fact that man is
composed of body and spirit, and that his spiritual side affects
the development of the human personality – positively or
negatively. The summit of a perfect human personality is good
character which can only be achieved if man comes to know of
himself. Knowing one’s self is the key to knowing God and
knowing God leads one to desire to approximate His attributes
while remaining human (takhalluq bi Akhlāq Allāh). Prophet

123

Muḥammad (Allāh blesses him and grants him peace) was a
perfect embodiment of that. Thus, we have argued that the path
to perfection lies in approximating as closely as possible the
personality of the Perfect Man, Prophet Muḥammad (Allāh
blesses him and grants him peace).

Finally, we have highlighted the significance of human
psychology as put forth by al-Ghazālī , as the key to the
dilemma, which confronts modern man, viz. spiritual
hollowness, mental instability and psychological dysfunction,
as the foundation of all maladies. We have argued that the
salvation of the contemporary man lies in acknowledging his
spiritual side and then developing it in the light of Islamic
teachings. Allāhu a‘lam.

124

REFERENCES

Abdullah, Abdul Lateef. “Toward a Concept of Islamic Personality.”
Crescent Life. Retrieved March 24, 2008.
http://www.crescentlife.com/articles/Islamic%20psych/concept_
of_Islamic_personality.htm

Al-Ghazālī , Abū Ḥāmid. (2003). Kitāb al-Arbaʿīn fī Uṣūl al-Dīn [The Book of
Forty Regarding the Foundations of Religion]. Damascus: Dār al-
Qalam.

______. Iḥyā ʿUlūm al-Dīn [Revival of the Religious Sciences]. Beirut: Dār al-
Kutub al-ʿIlmiyyah, n.d.

______. (1997). The Alchemy of Happiness. (C. Field, Trans.). New Delhi:
Islamic Book Service.

______. (1992). Al-Maqṣad al-Asnā fī Sharḥ Asmā’ Allāh al-Ḥusnā [The
Sublime Aim, a Commentary on the Beautiful Names of God]. (D.
Burrel and N. Daher, Trans.). Cambridge, UK: Islamic Texts Society.

Nasr, Seyyed Hossein. (2002). Islam and the Plight of Modern Man.
Cambridge, UK: Islamic Texts Society.

Skellie, Walter J. (1938). The Religious Psychology of al-Ghazali: A
Translation of His Book of the Ihya on the Explanation of the Wonder
of the Heart with Introduction and Notes. Ann Arbor, MI: University
Microfilms International.

Umaruddin, M. (1982). The Ethical Philosophy of al-Ghazali. Lahore: Sh.
Muḥammad Ashraf.

125

THE NATURE AND SIGNIFICANCE
OF THE ĀDAMIC MAN IN THE CONTEXT OF
THE CONTEMPORARY VIEW OF HUMAN IDENTITY


Gary Dargan1

1 Paper submited for “The Qur’ān and Sunnah: Foundations of Islamic
Personality, Society and Culture”, no date. (Ed.)

126

1. INTRODUCTION

“What is Man that thou art mindful of him?”2 The Biblical psalm
that this quotation came from praises God for the blessings He
has bestowed on man. For the writer who might have been the
Prophet David, this was a rhetorical question answered in the
body of the psalm. Removed from its original context, this
question symbolises the identity crisis of the contemporary
man living in a world removed from a spiritual backdrop.

This removal was accomplished by man’s own hand. By
misusing his God-given rational faculty and concentrating on a
rational knowledge of things material, he closed the eye of his
heart to the spiritual knowledge of God. Contemporary man has
removed God from the centre of his’s existence and placed
himself at this locus. The result is an internal and external
tension between the God-centred Ādamic man of Islam and the
self-centred man of today. This has also created an
intermediate, “bipolar” man who looks for spiritual answers
with the rational eye of the mind while the spiritual eye of his
heart remains blind. This bipolar man has not only destructive
conflicts within himself, but also much more physically
destructive conflicts with others.

2 King James Bible. Psalm 8:4 (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1984),
346.

127

These conflicts were predicted by the angels when God
announced he would create Man, but God with His limitless
knowledge, knew that man, with the capacity that He endowed,
was able to resolve these.3 This journey to confusion is along a
repeatedly travelled path. This essay will follow that path and
chart a return.

2. BEGINNING WITH ĀDAM

There is a traditional Irish response to a stranger asking for
directions: it is, “If I were you, I wouldn’t be starting from here”.
The current situation is not a crime scene where detectives and
forensic technicians start at the scene of the crime and work
their way back to recreate the event. Like the apocryphal
Irishman, we remove ourselves to a familiar setting and begin
with the Ādamic man.

God announced His intention to create Ādam as His
vicegerent on earth in the following:

‫َو ِإ ْذ قَا َل َربُّ َك ِل ْل َملاَ ِئ َك ِة إِنِهي َجا ِع ٌل ِفي اْلَ ْر ِض َخ ِلي َفة قَالواْ أَتَ ْجعَل فِي َها َمن ي ْف ِسد‬
‫فِي َها َو َي ْس ِفك ال ِده َماء َو َن ْحن ن َس ِبهح بِ َح ْم ِد َك َون َق ِدهس َل َك َقا َل إِ ِنهي أَ ْع َلم َما لاَ تَ ْع َلمو َن‬

‫۝‬

“Behold thy Lord said to the angels: "I will create a
vicegerent on earth." They said "Wilt thou place therein
one who will make mischief therein and shed blood? Whilst

3 Q. 2: 30, 38 and 3: 110. (‘Abdullah Yūsuf ‘Alī, The Meaning of the Holy
Qur’ān (Maryland, U.S.A.: Amana Corporation, 1999)).
128

we do celebrate Thy praises and glorify Thy holy (name)?"
He said: "I know what ye know not”” (Q. 2: 30).

There are four significant points here: Firstly, it was God’s
intention that Ādam live his life on earth carrying a burden or
responsibility, that is to play the role of a vicegerent. Secondly,
the angels recognised man’s innate capacity for evil and
questioned God’s wisdom in creating him. Thirdly, the angels
recognised that they were only capable of obedience to God by
praising and glorifying Him. They lacked Ādam’s capacity for
evil or choice. Finally, there is God’s reply indicating the
knowledge of His own intentions that the angels were not
aware of. God then imparted knowledge to Ādam:

‫َو َعلَّ َم آدَ َم اْلَ ْس َماء كلَّ َها ث َّم َع َر َضه ْم َعلَى ا ْل َملاَئِ َك ِة فَ َقا َل أَنبِئو ِني ِبأَ ْس َماء َهـؤلاء‬
‫ِإن كنت ْم َصا ِدقِي َن ۝‬

“And He taught Ādam the nature of all things; then He
placed them before the angels and said: "Tell Me the
nature of these if ye are right”" (Q. 2: 31).

Of course the angels could not tell God the nature of
things and when Ādam was able to, God reminded them again
that He knew what they did not know. God created Ādam from
the earth as befits someone destined for a role on the earth as
God’s vicegerent:

‫َوإِ ْذ َقا َل َربُّ َك ِل ْل َملاَئِ َك ِة إِ ِنهي َخا ِل ٌق بَ َشرا ِهمن َص ْل َصال ِهم ْن َح َمإ َّم ْسنون ۝ فَإِذَا‬
‫َس َّو ْيته َونَ َف ْخت ِفي ِه ِمن ُّرو ِحي َف َقعواْ َله َسا ِج ِدي َن ۝‬

129

“Behold! thy Lord said to the angels: "I am about to create
man from sounding clay from mud moulded into shape;
"When I have fashioned him (in due proportion) and
breathed into him of My spirit fall ye down in obeisance
unto him”” (Q. 15: 28–29).

While the ‘animal’ body of man was created from the clay of the
earth, his intellect and other paradisiacal attributes come from
the spirit breathed into him by God.4 That all humans have this
earthly and paradisiacal attributes is confirmed in the process
of human reproduction mentioned in the Qur’ān, Sūrah 32:

‫الَّ ِذي أَ ْح َس َن ك َّل َش ْيء َخلَقَه َو َبدَأَ َخ ْل َق ا ْل ِإن َسا ِن ِمن ِطين ۝ ث َّم َج َع َل نَ ْس َله ِمن‬
‫س َلا َلة ِهمن َّماء َّم ِهين ۝ ث َّم َس َّواه َو َنفَ َخ فِي ِه ِمن ُّرو ِح ِه َو َج َع َل َلكم ال َّس ْم َع َوا ْْلَ ْب َصا َر‬

‫َوا ْْلَ ْف ِئدَةَ َق ِليلا َّما تَ ْشكرو َن ۝‬
“He Who has made everything which He has created most
Good. He began the creation of man with (nothing more
than) clay. And made his progeny from a quintessence of
the nature of a fluid despised: But He fashioned him in due
proportion and breathed into him something of His spirit.
And He gave you (the faculties of) hearing and sight and
feeling (and understanding): little thanks do ye give!” (Q.
32: 7–9).

4 Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas, The Nature of Man and the Psychology of
the Human Soul, a Brief outline and a Framework for an Islamic Psychology
and Epistemology (Kuala Lumpur: International Institute of Islamic Thought
and Civilization, 1990), 1–2.
130

There is more to man’s faculties than the five senses. God
gave Ādam the gift of language so that he could learn the names
of things and transmit that knowledge firstly, to the angels and
later, to his descendants. However, there is more to knowledge
than what is perceived by the five senses that is processed by
man’s intellect (‘aql). There is also a spiritual understanding
with the eye of the heart (qalb)5 by which the rational soul
knows God.6 In Ādam, we see a man of Paradise in possession of
the faculties to both live on his intended place of abode, the
earth, and to know his Creator. God ‘seems’ to be taking a risk
with Ādam. He has given him free will in order to carry out the
duties of vicegerent, yet Ādam’s free will is the very thing that
will take him to his intended place on earth.

Following the demonstration to the angels, Allāh orders
the Angels to bow down in obedience:

‫َو ِإ ْذ ق ْل َنا ِل ْل َملاَ ِئ َك ِة ا ْسجدواْ ْلدَ َم َف َس َجدواْ ِإلاَّ إِ ْب ِلي َس أَبَى َوا ْستَ ْك َب َر َو َكا َن ِم َن ا ْل َكافِ ِري َن‬
‫۝‬

“And behold We said to the angels: "Bow down to Ādam";
and they bowed down not so Iblīs he refused and was
haughty he was of those who reject Faith” (Q. 2: 34).

5 Aisha Bewley, Glossary of Islamic Terms (London: Ta-Ha Publishers Ltd.
1998), 220
6 Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas, Prolegomena to the Metaphysics of

Islam, An Exposition of the Fundamental Elements of the Worldview of Islam
(Lahore, Pakistan: Suhail Academy, 2001), 71

131

‫َو ِإ ْذ ق ْلنَا ِل ْل َم َلا ِئ َك ِة ا ْسجدوا ِْلدَ َم َف َس َجدوا ِإ َّلا ِإ ْب ِلي َس َكا َن ِم َن ا ْل ِج ِهن َففَ َس َق َع ْن أَ ْم ِر‬
‫َربِه ِه أَفَتَتَّ ِخذونَه َوذ ِهريَّتَه أَ ْو ِليَاء ِمن دو ِني َوه ْم َلك ْم َعد ٌّو بِئْ َس ِلل َّظا ِل ِمي َن َبدَلا ۝‬

“Behold! We said to the angels "Bow down to Ādam": they
bowed down except Iblīs. He was one of the Jinns and he
broke the Command of his Lord. Will ye then take him and
his progeny as protectors rather than Me? And they are
enemies to you! Evil would be the exchange for the
wrongdoers!” (Q. 18: 50).

Iblīs, in his pride and arrogance, disobeys God and is
banished, but promises to waylay Ādam and his kin until the
Day of Judgement, and the scene is set for Ādam and Eve to be
sent to their intended destination:

‫قَا َل َل ْم أَكن ِهْلَ ْسجدَ ِلبَ َشر َخلَ ْقتَه ِمن َص ْل َصال ِهم ْن َح َمإ َّم ْسنون ۝ قَا َل َفا ْخر ْج‬
‫ِم ْن َها َفإِنَّ َك َر ِجي ٌم ۝ َوإِ َّن َع َل ْي َك اللَّ ْع َنةَ ِإ َلى يَ ْو ِم ال ِدهي ِن ۝ َقا َل َر ه ِب فَأَن ِظ ْر ِني ِإ َلى‬
‫يَ ْو ِم ي ْبعَثو َن ۝ قَا َل َفإِنَّ َك ِم َن ا ْلمن َظ ِري َن ۝ ِإ َلى َيو ِم ا ْل َو ْق ِت ا ْل َم ْعلو ِم ۝ قَا َل َر ه ِب‬
‫ِب َمآ أَ ْغ َو ْيتَنِي ْل َز ِيهنَ َّن َله ْم ِفي اْلَ ْر ِض َوْل ْغ ِويَنَّه ْم أَ ْج َم ِعي َن ۝ إِلاَّ ِعبَادَ َك ِم ْنهم‬
‫ا ْلم ْخ َل ِصي َن ۝ قَا َل َهذَا ِص َرا ٌط َعلَ َّي م ْستَ ِقي ٌم ۝ إِ َّن ِع َبا ِدي لَ ْي َس َل َك َعلَ ْي ِه ْم س ْل َطا ٌن‬

‫إِلاَّ َم ِن اتَّ َب َع َك ِم َن ا ْل َغا ِوي َن ۝‬
(Iblīs) said: "I am not one to prostrate myself to man
whom thou didst create from sounding clay from mud
moulded into shape." (Allāh) said: "Then get thee out from
here; for thou art rejected accursed. "And the Curse shall
be on thee till the Day of Judgment." (Iblīs) said: "O my
Lord! Give me then respite till the Day the (dead) are
raised." (Allāh) said: "Respite is granted thee till the Day

132

of the Time Appointed." (Iblīs) said: "O my Lord! because
Thou hast put me in the wrong I will make (wrong) fair-
seeming to them on the earth and I will put them all in the
wrong "Except Thy servants among them sincere and
purified (by Thy grace)." (Allāh) said: "This (Way of My
sincere servants) is indeed a Way that leads straight to
Me. "For over My servants no authority shalt thou have
except such as put themselves in the wrong and follow
thee" (Q. 15: 33 – 42).

It does not take Iblīs long to carry out his promise and cause
Ādam and Eve to fall from God’s grace and be sent down from
their high position. They are promised guidance from God and
a chance to return to their paradisiac state at a later date.

‫َوق ْلنَا َيا آدَم ا ْسك ْن أَن َت َو َز ْوج َك ا ْل َجنَّةَ َوكلاَ ِم ْن َها َر َغدا َح ْيث ِشئْت َما َولاَ تَ ْق َر َبا‬
‫َهـ ِذ ِه ال َّش َج َرةَ فَتَكونَا ِم َن ا ْل َّظا ِل ِمي َن ۝ فَأَ َزلَّه َما ال َّش ْي َطان َع ْن َها َفأَ ْخ َر َجه َما ِم َّما َكا َنا‬
‫فِي ِه َوق ْل َنا ا ْهبِطواْ بَ ْعضك ْم ِل َب ْعض َعد ٌّو َو َلك ْم فِي اْلَ ْر ِض م ْستَ َق ٌّر َو َمتَا ٌع إِلَى ِحين‬
ْ‫۝ َفتَلَقَّى آدَم ِمن َّر ِبه ِه َك ِل َمات َفتَا َب َع َل ْي ِه إِنَّه ه َو التَّ َّواب ال َّر ِحيم ۝ ق ْل َنا ا ْه ِبطوا‬
‫ِم ْن َها َج ِميعا َفإِ َّما َيأْ ِتيَنَّكم ِهمنِهي هدى َف َمن تَبِ َع هدَا َي َفلاَ َخ ْو ٌف َعلَ ْي ِه ْم َولاَ ه ْم‬
‫َي ْح َزنو َن ۝ َوالَّ ِذي َن َكفَرواْ َو َكذَّبواْ ِبآيَاتِنَا أو َلـ ِئ َك أَ ْص َحاب النَّا ِر ه ْم فِي َها َخا ِلدو َن‬

‫۝‬

“We said: "O Ādam! dwell thou and thy wife in the garden
and eat of the bountiful things therein as (where and
when) ye will but approach not this tree or ye run into
harm and transgression." Then did Satan make them slip
from the (garden) and get them out of the state (of
felicity) in which they had been. We said: "Get ye down all
(ye people) with enmity between yourselves. On earth will

133

be your dwelling place and your means of livelihood for a
time." Then learnt Ādam from his Lord words of
inspiration and his Lord turned toward him; for He is Oft-
Returning Most Merciful. We said: "Get ye down all from
here; and if as is sure there comes to you guidance from
Me" whosoever follows My guidance on them shall be no
fear nor shall they grieve. "But those who reject Faith and
belie Our Signs they shall be Companions of the Fire; they
shall abide therein”" (Q. 2: 35 – 39).

Ādam’s family now dwells on earth each carrying the
burden of the vicegerency. Each with the capacity to do what is
needed and return to God’s Grace and the will to choose
otherwise.

‫لاَ ي َك ِلهف ّل هلا َن ْفسا ِإلاَّ و ْسعَ َها َل َها َما َك َسبَ ْت َو َعلَ ْي َها َما ا ْكتَ َس َب ْت َربَّ َنا لاَ ت َؤا ِخ ْذنَا إِن‬
‫نَّ ِسي َنا أَ ْو أَ ْخ َطأْنَا َربَّنَا َولاَ تَ ْح ِم ْل َع َل ْي َنا إِ ْصرا َك َما َح َم ْلتَه َعلَى الَّ ِذي َن ِمن قَ ْب ِلنَا َربَّنَا‬
‫َولاَ ت َح ِهم ْلنَا َما لاَ َطا َقةَ لَنَا بِ ِه َوا ْعف َعنَّا َوا ْغ ِف ْر لَنَا َوا ْر َح ْمنَآ أَن َت َم ْولاَنَا فَانص ْرنَا‬

‫َع َلى ا ْلقَ ْو ِم ا ْل َكا ِف ِري َن ۝‬
“On no soul doth Allāh place a burden greater than it can
bear. It gets every good that it earns and it suffers every ill
that it earns. (Pray): "Our Lord! Condemn us not if we
forget or fall into error; our Lord! Lay not on us a burden
like that which Thou didst lay on those before us; Our Lord!
Lay not on us a burden greater than we have strength to
bear. Blot out our sins and grant us forgiveness. Have
mercy on us. Thou art our Protector; help us against those
who stand against faith”” (Q. 2: 286).

134

God has promised to send guidance by way of inspiration. Each
of us has that eye of the heart that is specially tuned to
communication with God. We achieve this by approaching God
in a state of humility, obedience, submissiveness and self-
abasement not with the hardened heart and stubborn refusal
shown by Iblīs whose pride led to his downfall.7

God has repeatedly fulfilled his promise of guidance by
sending Prophets, but to those whose hearts were hardened
and only heard the whispers of Satan, the Qur’ān informs:

‫لاَ ي َك ِلهف ّل هلا َن ْفسا ِإلاَّ و ْسعَ َها لَ َها َما َك َس َب ْت َو َع َل ْي َها َما ا ْكتَ َس َب ْت َربَّنَا لاَ ت َؤا ِخ ْذنَا إِن‬
‫نَّ ِسينَا أَ ْو أَ ْخ َطأْنَا َربَّ َنا َولاَ تَ ْح ِم ْل َعلَ ْي َنا إِ ْصرا َك َما َح َم ْلتَه َعلَى الَّ ِذي َن ِمن قَ ْب ِلنَا َربَّنَا‬
‫َولاَ ت َح ِهم ْلنَا َما لاَ َطاقَةَ َلنَا بِ ِه َوا ْعف َعنَّا َوا ْغ ِف ْر لَنَا َوا ْر َح ْم َنآ أَن َت َم ْولاَ َنا فَانص ْرنَا‬

‫َع َلى ا ْل َق ْو ِم ا ْل َكا ِف ِري َن ۝‬
“Before thee We sent (Apostles) to many nations and We
afflicted the nations with suffering and adversity that they
might learn humility. When the suffering reached them
from Us why then did they not learn humility? On the
contrary their hearts became hardened and Satan made
their (sinful) acts seem alluring to them” (Q. 2: 286).

‫أَ َف َمن َش َر َح ّل َّلا َص ْد َره ِل ْْ ِل ْس َلا ِم فَه َو َع َلى نور ِهمن َّربِه ِه فَ َو ْي ٌل ِله ْلقَا ِس َي ِة قلوبهم ِهمن‬
‫ِذ ْك ِر ّل َّلاِ أ ْو َل ِئ َك ِفي َض َلال م ِبين ۝‬

7 Toshihiko Izutsu, God and Man in the Qur’ān, Semantics of the Qur’ānic
Weltanschauung (Kuala Lumpur: Islamic Book Trust, 2002), 217
135

“Is one whose heart Allāh has opened to Islam so that he
has received enlightenment from Allāh (no better than one
hard-hearted)? Woe to those whose hearts are hardened
against celebrating the praises of Allāh! They are
manifestly wandering (in error)!” (Q. 39: 22).

Izutsu (2002:85) cites a pre-Islamic Arab poem to
demonstrate by way of analogy how the heart can perceive
guidance from the unseen. The poem describes a bull pursued
by a hunter, that he can hear but cannot see:

He tries to discern with his eyes what is hidden in the
invisible (i.e. in a place which he is unable to see
through), compressing tight his eyelids, and his eyesight
confirms what his ears have heard.8

By closing his eyes to shut out the distraction from his sight, the
bull’s hearing projects a visual image of the hidden hunter. Just
as the bull is aware of the hunter, man needs to be aware of
God and shut out the distraction of the world, so, the eye of the
heart can receive inspiration. This process is a two-way
communication between man and God. Man prays to God and
receives inspiration from Him.9 It’s at its most intense when
man is in great need. It is only here that the exchange takes on
some degree of unpretentiousness but even then, this is only
temporary:

8 Izutsu, God and Man in the Qur’ān…, 85
9 Ibid., 208

136

‫َو ِإذَا َم َّس ال ِإن َسا َن ال ُّض ُّر دَ َعا َنا ِل َجنبِ ِه أَ ْو قَا ِعدا أَ ْو قَآئِما َفلَ َّما َك َش ْف َنا َع ْنه ض َّره َم َّر‬
‫َكأَن لَّ ْم يَدْعنَا إِ َلى ض هر َّم َّسه َكذَ ِل َك ز ِيه َن ِل ْلم ْس ِرفِي َن َما َكانواْ يَ ْع َملو َن ۝‬

“When trouble toucheth a man he crieth unto Us (in all
postures) lying down on his side or sitting or standing.
But when We have solved his trouble he passeth on his
way as if he had never cried to Us for a trouble that
touched him! Thus do the deeds of transgressors seem fair
in their eyes!” (Q. 10: 12).

While inspiration in the form of guidance or revelation is
known as waḥy, there is another form of inspiration, the
misguidance of whispering or waswasah:10

‫َف َو ْس َو َس لَه َما ال َّش ْي َطان ِلي ْب ِد َي َله َما َما وو ِر َي َع ْنه َما ِمن َس ْو َءاتِ ِه َما َوقَا َل َما‬
‫َن َهاك َما َربُّك َما َع ْن َهـ ِذ ِه ال َّش َج َر ِة إِلاَّ أَن تَكو َنا َملَ َك ْي ِن أَ ْو تَكو َنا ِم َن ا ْل َخا ِل ِدي َن ۝‬

“Then began Satan to whisper suggestions to them
bringing openly before their minds all their shame that
was hidden from them (before): he said "Your Lord only
forbade you this tree lest ye should become angels or such
beings as live forever”” (Q. 7: 20).

. ‫ ِإ َل ِه النَّا ِس ۝ ِمن َش ِهر ا ْل َو ْس َوا ِس ا ْل َخنَّا ِس‬. ‫ق ْل أَعوذ ِب َر ه ِب النَّا ِس ۝ َم ِل ِك النَّا ِس‬
‫ ِم َن ا ْل ِجنَّ ِة َو النَّا ِس ۝‬. ‫الَّ ِذي ي َو ْس ِوس فِي صدو ِر النَّا ِس‬

“Say: I seek refuge with the Lord and Cherisher of
Mankind, The King (or Ruler) of Mankind, The God of
Mankind. From the mischief of the Whisperer (of Evil) who
withdraws (after his whisper). (The same) who whispers

10 Izutsu, God and Man in the Qur’ān…, 177.
137

into the hearts of mankind. Among Jinns and among Men”
(Q. 114:1-6).

Even the soul can whisper to the heart:

‫َولَ َق ْد َخلَ ْقنَا ا ْل ِإن َسا َن َونَ ْع َلم َما ت َو ْس ِوس ِب ِه نَ ْفسه َو َن ْحن أَ ْق َرب إِلَ ْي ِه ِم ْن َح ْب ِل ا ْل َو ِري ِد ۝‬

“It was We who created man and We know what dark
suggestions his soul makes to him: for We are nearer to
him than (his) jugular vein” (Q. 50: 16).

God understands what is in the hearts of men even if
their own denial of Him seals their hearts to His message. If we
allow our earthly senses to rule and seal off the heart by which
the two-way communication occurs, we only hear the whispers.
When inspiration is sent to us we can accept it or reject it. God’s
promise of guidance has always been fulfilled. He has sent a
series of Prophets to remind people of God and call them back
to the straight path after they have strayed from it.

‫َش َر َع لَكم ِهم َن ال ِدهي ِن َما َو َّصى بِ ِه نوحا َوالَّ ِذي أَ ْو َح ْينَا إِلَ ْي َك َو َما َو َّص ْينَا بِ ِه إِ ْب َرا ِهي َم‬
‫َومو َسى َو ِعي َسى أَ ْن أَقِيموا ال ِدهي َن َو َلا تَتَفَ َّرقوا ِفي ِه َكب َر َعلَى ا ْلم ْش ِر ِكي َن َما‬

‫تَ ْدعوه ْم ِإلَ ْي ِه ّل َّلا يَ ْجتَ ِبي إِ َل ْي ِه َمن َي َشاء َويَ ْه ِدي ِإلَ ْي ِه َمن ي ِنيب ۝‬
“The same religion has He established for you as that which
He enjoined on Noah--the which We have sent by
inspiration to thee--and that which We enjoined on
Abraham Moses and Jesus: Namely that ye should remain
steadfast in Religion and make no divisions therein: to
those who worship other things than Allāh hard is the

138

(way) to which thou callest them. Allāh chooses to Himself
those whom He pleases and guides to Himself those who
turn (to Him)” (Q. 42: 13).

Fig. 1 The way in which guidance from God is processed by man and the
effect of the heart on its acceptance.

With God’s guidance comes a warning. The Prophets and
guidance have come to man repeatedly, and repeatedly he has
turned away from it:

139

‫ه َو الَّ ِذي َخلَ َقكم ِهمن ِطين ث َّم قَ َضى أَ َجلا َوأَ َج ٌل ُّمسمى ِعندَه ث َّم أَنت ْم تَ ْمتَرو َن ۝ َوه َو‬
‫ّل هلا ِفي ال َّس َما َوا ِت َو ِفي اْلَ ْر ِض يَ ْع َلم ِس َّرك ْم َو َجه َرك ْم َويَ ْعلَم َما تَ ْك ِسبو َن ۝ َو َما‬
‫تَأْتِي ِهم ِهم ْن آ َية ِهم ْن آيَا ِت َر ِبه ِه ْم إِلاَّ َكانواْ َع ْن َها م ْع ِر ِضي َن ۝ َفقَ ْد َكذَّبواْ بِا ْل َح هِق َل َّما‬
‫َجاءه ْم َف َس ْو َف َيأْتِي ِه ْم أَنبَاء َما َكانواْ بِ ِه َي ْستَ ْه ِزؤو َن ۝ أَلَ ْم يَ َر ْواْ َك ْم أَ ْهلَ ْكنَا ِمن َق ْب ِل ِهم‬
‫ِهمن َق ْرن َّم َّكنَّاه ْم فِي اْلَ ْر ِض َما لَ ْم ن َم ِهكن لَّك ْم َوأَ ْر َس ْل َنا ال َّس َماء َع َل ْي ِهم ِهم ْد َرارا َو َج َع ْلنَا‬

‫اْلَ ْن َها َر تَ ْج ِري ِمن تَ ْح ِت ِه ْم فَأَ ْه َل ْكنَاهم بِذنو ِب ِه ْم َوأَ ْن َشأْنَا ِمن بَ ْع ِد ِه ْم قَ ْرنا آ َخ ِري َن ۝‬
“He it is who created you from clay and then decreed a
stated term (for you). And there is in His presence another
determined term; yet ye doubt within yourselves! And He is
Allāh in the heavens and on earth. He knoweth what ye
hide and what ye reveal and He knoweth the (recompense)
which ye earn (by your deeds).But never did a single one of
the Signs of their Lord reach them but they turned away
therefrom. And now they reject the truth when it reaches
them: but soon shall they learn the reality of what they used
to mock at. See they not how many of those before them We
did destroy? Generations We had established on the earth
in strength such as We have not given to you for whom We
poured out rain from the skies in abundance and gave
(fertile) streams flowing beneath their (feet): yet for their
sins We destroyed them and raised in their wake fresh
generations (to succeed them)” (Q. 6: 2 – 6).

‫يَا َح ْس َرة َع َلى ا ْل ِع َبا ِد َما يَأْتِي ِهم ِهمن َّرسول ِإلاَّ َكانوا بِ ِه يَ ْستَ ْه ِزؤون ۝ أَ َل ْم َي َر ْوا َك ْم‬
‫أَ ْه َل ْكنَا قَ ْبلَهم ِهم ْن ا ْلقرو ِن أَنَّه ْم ِإ َل ْي ِه ْم لاَ يَ ْر ِجعو َن ۝‬

“Ah! Alas for (My) servants! There comes not an apostle to
them but they mock Him! See they not how many
generations before them We destroyed? Not to them will

140

they return: But each one of them all will be brought before
Us (for judgment)” (Q. 36: 30 – 32).

There is an immediacy to these words which is striking. God is
speaking as though that return for judgement is just around the
corner. Little wonder then God reveals in the Qur’ān:

…‫…ا ْليَ ْو َم أَ ْك َم ْلت َلك ْم ِدي َنك ْم َوأَتْ َم ْمت َع َل ْيك ْم ِن ْع َمتِي َو َر ِضيت لَكم ال ِإ ْسلاَ َم ِدينا‬
“…This day have I perfected your religion for you,
completed my favour upon you and have chosen for you
Islam as your religion...” (Q. 5: 3).

There are no more Prophets to come and in the
contemporary man, we have a man who has sealed the eye of
his heart and no longer hears God’s guidance. He surrounds
himself with the whispers of Satan which have become a
crescendo, and he follows his own desires at the expense of
himself, his fellow man and the earth, which he has been given
responsibility for.

3. THE PATH TO CONTEMPORARY MAN

Given the fact that the nature of contemporary man is strongly
influenced by the now nominally Christian West, the Prophet
Jesus seems a logical, if inappropriate, starting point. As has
been shown, God warns us in the Qur’ān that He has repeatedly
sent Prophets to warn and to bring His Message that He is the
One. He has also repeatedly warned us that the message has
been ignored, denied or corrupted.

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In the Old Testament, we see Moses saying the following;
“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD.”11 This
statement known as the Shema is the central prayer in Judaism.
When Jesus is confronted by a secretary of the Pharisee’s and
asked which is the most important commandment, his reply
was; “…The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The
Lord our God is one Lord.”12 Jesus was very clear that he was
there to restore Mosaic Law and the teachings of the Prophets;
“Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I
am not come to destroy, but to fulfill.”13

If we ask again our apocryphal Irishman, he would tell us
to start instead at the apostle Paul. Paul was the Roman Jew
who tried to spread the message brought by Jesus beyond its
intended boundaries:14

And they are informed of thee, that thou teachest all the
Jews which are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses,
saying that they ought not to circumcise [their] children,
neither to walk after the customs.

11 King James Bible. Deuteronomy 6:4. (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers,
1984).
12 Ibid., Mark 12: 29.
13 Ibid., Matthew 5: 17
14 King James Bible. Acts 21: 21.

142

In trying to make it acceptable to Rome, Paul Hellenised
Christianity by introducing Greek ideas, which were familiar to
the Romans. Rather than Jesus’ call to One God, he fused Jesus
and the Holy Spirit (the Angel Gabriel in Muslim belief) with
God. This is impossible to comprehend and the tripartite
complexity became a source of confusion and actually opened
the gates to atheism.15

Jesus of course is cleared of all this by his words as
repeated in the Holy Qur’ān:

‫لَ َق ْد َك َف َر الَّ ِذي َن قَالواْ إِ َّن ّل هلاَ ه َو ا ْل َم ِسيح ا ْبن َم ْريَ َم َوقَا َل ا ْل َم ِسيح َيا بَنِي إِس َرائِي َل‬
‫اعبُ ُدوا ّل هلاَ َربِهي َو َربَّ ُكم إِنَّه َمن ي ْش ِر ْك بِال هِلِ َفقَ ْد َح َّر َم ّل هلا َعلَي ِه ا ْل َجنَّةَ َو َمأْ َواه النَّار‬
َّ‫َو َما ِلل َّظا ِل ِمي َن ِم ْن أَن َصار ۝ لَّقَ ْد َكفَ َر الَّ ِذي َن قَالواْ ِإ َّن ّل هلاَ ثَا ِلث ثَلاَثَة َو َما ِم ْن إِلَـه إِلا‬

‫إِ َلـهٌ َوا ِحدٌ َو ِإن لَّ ْم يَنتَهواْ َع َّما َيقولو َن َل َي َم َّس َّن الَّ ِذي َن َك َفرواْ ِم ْنه ْم َعذَا ٌب أَ ِلي ٌم ۝‬
“They do blaspheme who say: "Allāh is Christ the son of
Mary." But said Christ: "O children of Israel! Worship
Allāh my Lord and your Lord." Whoever joins other gods
with Allāh, Allāh will forbid him the garden and the Fire
will be his abode. There will for the wrong-doers be no one
to help. They do blaspheme who say: Allāh is one of three in
a Trinity: for there is no god except One Allāh. If they desist
not from their word (of blasphemy) verily a grievous

15 Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas, Islam and Secularism (Lahore Pakistan:
Suhail Academy, Carvan Press, 1978), 6.

143

penalty will befall the blasphemers among them” (Q. 5: 72
– 73).16

Jesus is clearly an Ādamic man:

‫ِإ َّن َمثَ َل ِعي َسى ِعندَ ّل هلاِ َك َمثَ ِل آدَ َم َخلَ َقه ِمن ت َراب ث َّم قَا َل َله كن َف َيكون ۝‬
“This similitude of Jesus before Allāh is as that of Ādam: He
created him from dust then said to him: "Be" and he was”
(Q. 3: 59).

This confusion eventually resulted in Christian philosophers
such as William of Ockham suggesting that it cast doubt on the
existence of God.17 A step further was taken by the natural
philosopher, Francis Bacon. Writing in the early 17th century,
Bacon proposed that the mind was not a blank slate or tabula
rasa. Rather its ability to observe and reason was clouded by
preconceived ideas, which he termed as the “idols of the mind”.
Once the mind was cleared of the idols, empirical observations
could lead reason to the truth.18 While Bacon distinguishes
between the idols of the human mind and the idols of the
Divine Mind, the door was open to purging the mind of God’s
presence.

16 (Emphasis mine).
17 Al-Attas, Islam and Secularism, 10.
18 Klein, Juergen.Francis Baconin, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy,
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/francis-bacon/, (accessed 12 April, 2011).

144

Some sixty years before Francis Bacon introduced his
“idols”, Nicolai Copernicus published De Revolutionibus Orbium
Coelestium, which placed the sun at the centre of the solar
system. At about the same time Bacon was writing, Galileo
Galilei fell afoul of the Catholic Inquisition for supporting
Copernicus’ heliocentric views. Copernicus had wisely delayed
publication of his work until his death. The church merely
refused to endorse it rather than take action against it. It was
this growing conflict between a dogmatic church and an
ascending science that eventually saw religion pushed into the
background. What is considered the final blow on the science
front came with the publication of Charles Darwin’s On the
Origin of Species in 1859. With a naturalistic explanation for life
in its magnificent diversity, many saw God, the Creator, as
being sent off from the playing field. The debate, however, is
ongoing and vigorous. The second and much earlier damage
was completed by philosophers such as Kant who finally
established the unknown ability of God and of other
metaphysical concepts about reality and truth.19

The Qur’ān relates the story of the tribe of fishermen who
were tested by God. Tempted by an absence of fish on the days
before and after the Sabbath and an abundance on the day of
the Sabbath, the tribe thought it had found a way around the

19 Al-Attas, Islam and Secularism, 11.
145

law against working on the Sabbath. They cast their nets before
the Sabbath started and retrieved them afterwards:

‫واَ ْسأَ ْله ْم َع ِن ا ْلقَ ْريَ ِة الَّ ِتي َكا َن ْت َحا ِض َرةَ ا ْل َب ْح ِر ِإ ْذ َي ْعدو َن ِفي ال َّس ْب ِت ِإ ْذ تَأْتِي ِه ْم‬
‫ِحيتَانه ْم يَ ْو َم َس ْبتِ ِه ْم ش َّرعا َويَ ْو َم لاَ َي ْس ِبتو َن لاَ تَأْتِي ِه ْم َكذَ ِل َك َن ْبلوهم ِب َما َكانوا َي ْفسقو َن‬
ْ‫۝ َو ِإذَ َقالَ ْت أ َّمةٌ ِهم ْنه ْم ِل َم تَ ِعظو َن َق ْوما ّل هلا م ْه ِلكه ْم أَ ْو م َع ِذهبه ْم َعذَابا َش ِديدا قَالوا‬
‫َم ْع ِذ َرة إِلَى َربِهك ْم َولَعَلَّه ْم يَتَّقو َن ۝ فَلَ َّما َنسواْ َما ذ ِهكرواْ بِ ِه أَن َج ْينَا الَّ ِذي َن يَ ْن َه ْو َن َع ِن‬
‫ال ُّسو ِء َوأَ َخ ْذنَا الَّ ِذي َن َظ َلمواْ بِعَذَاب َبئِيس ِب َما َكانواْ َي ْفسقو َن ۝ َف َل َّما َعتَ ْواْ َعن َّما‬

‫نهواْ َع ْنه ق ْل َنا لَه ْم كونواْ ِق َردَة َخا ِسئِي َن ۝‬
“Ask them concerning the town standing close by the sea.
Behold! They transgressed in the matter of the Sabbath.
For on the day of their Sabbath their fish did come to them
openly holding up their heads but on the day they had no
Sabbath they came not: thus did We make a trial of them
for they were given to transgression. When some of them
said: "why do ye preach to a people whom Allāh will destroy
or visit with a terrible punishment?" Said the preachers:
"to discharge our duty to your Lord and perchance they
may fear him." When they disregarded the warnings that
had been given them We rescued those who forbade evil;
but We visited the wrong-doers with a grievous punishment
because they were given to transgression. When in their
insolence they transgressed (all) prohibition We said to
them: "Be ye apes despised and rejected”” (Q. 7: 163 – 166).

According to Muhammed Asad, both al-Zamaksharī and al-Rāzī
regarded the last verse as metaphorical, “as Apes despicable”

146

and only their hearts were transformed.20 This is more in
keeping with the modern usage of ape-like to describe the
behaviour of people who let their animal passions overrule
their reason.

With philosophers such as Nietzsche decreeing the
“death of God” and Kant, abolishing metaphysical thinking, the
heart of contemporary man was closed, and he became deaf to
the guidance of God. Contemporary man was left as an infant
with only his animal and rational mind to guide him. This is the
process of secularization as described by Al-Attas.21 Man and
Nature are separated from God. There is no sacral legitimacy or
constraint to political authority and values are no longer
sacred. With no sacred yard-stick everything becomes relative
and man is free to invent his own rules. Misguided by his
rational mind, the infant mankind has invented his own
cultural rules on a shifting and ever evolving foundation. This
Age of Reason, also known as the Enlightenment, saw the
development of competing social ideas ranging from liberalism
through capitalism, Marxism and eventually Communism and
Nazism. It was an age of revolution with both the American
Revolution and the French Revolution dispensing with control
by a monarchy whose legitimacy was buttressed by the Church.

20 Muhammad Asad. Note 133 to 7:116, The Message of The Qur’ān
(Gibraltar, Dar Al-Andalus, 1980).
21 Al-Attas, Islam and Secularism, 17 – 18.

147

Both were replaced with a nominally democratic system with
representatives elected by the people. All of these different
social ideas competed with each other with none of them
bringing about truly constructive results. The oppression of
Communism and Nazism are obvious, but Capitalism with its
focus on the individual does not help the poor in society. Even
democracy with its claims of universality and equality has been
subverted to allow the powerful to control and oppress the
weak.

Accompanying all this has been the erosion of the
individual who is often denied basic rights and freedoms.
Institutions such as marriage and family have been degraded
because everything is relative. Where marriage and family
were once aimed at cementing the relationship between
husband and wife and providing a foundation for raising
children, it has been subverted to other ends. Not only do we
have Ādam and Eve as a family, but Ādam and Steve or Eve and
Eva who enjoy the same status because everything is relative.
Value and virtue is not defined by closeness of relationship to
God and his guidance. It is defined and valued by desire and the
marketplace. Instead of children being raised to love and
respect others, they are indoctrinated as consumers and their
habits are set by the electronic nanny television and hand-held
electronics. Violence is no longer inferred or sanitised. It is
recreated in detailed wide screen glory in the cinemas and

148

explicit electronic games train the players to hunt and kill and
inflict horrors on their fellow humans as their minds become
conditioned to this behaviour.

In the Islamic world, science was a part of belief. Muslims
sought understanding of the natural world in order to fulfil
their role as vicegerent and to properly practice their faith. God
directed Abraham to the heavens to provide proof of His
existence and Muslim scientists studied the heavens to
determine prayer times and directions and to set their
calendar:

‫َو َكذَ ِل َك ن ِري إِ ْب َرا ِهي َم َم َلكو َت ال َّس َما َوا ِت َواْلَ ْر ِض َو ِل َيكو َن ِم َن ا ْلموقِ ِني َن ۝ فَ َل َّما‬
‫َج َّن َع َل ْي ِه اللَّ ْيل َرأَى َك ْو َكبا قَا َل َهـذَا َربِهي َفلَ َّما أَفَ َل َقا َل لا أ ِح ُّب اْلفِ ِلي َن ۝ َف َل َّما‬
‫َرأَى ا ْلقَ َم َر بَا ِزغا قَا َل َهـذَا َربِهي َف َل َّما أَفَ َل قَا َل لَئِن لَّ ْم يَ ْه ِد ِني َربِهي ْلكونَ َّن ِم َن ا ْل َق ْو ِم‬
‫ال َّضا ِلهي َن ۝ َفلَ َّما َرأَى ال َّش ْم َس بَا ِز َغة قَا َل َهـذَا َربِهي َهـذَآ أَ ْك َبر َف َل َّما أَ َفلَ ْت قَا َل يَا‬
‫َق ْو ِم ِإنِهي َب ِري ٌء ِهم َّما ت ْش ِركو َن ۝ ِإنِهي َو َّج ْهت َو ْج ِه َي ِللَّ ِذي َف َط َر ال َّس َما َوا ِت‬
‫َواْلَ ْر َض َحنِيفا َو َما أَنَاْ ِم َن ا ْلم ْش ِر ِكي َن ۝‬

“So also did We show Abraham the power and the laws of
the heavens and the earth that he might (with
understanding) have certitude. When the night
covered him over he saw a star: he said: "this is my Lord."
But when it set he said: "I love not those that set." When he

saw the moon rising in splendour He said: "This is my
Lord." but when the moon set he said: "Unless my Lord
guide me I shall surely be among those who go astray."
When he saw the sun rising in splendour he said: "This is
my Lord; this is the greatest (of all)." But when the sun set

149

he said: "O my people! I am (now) free from your (guilt) of
giving partners to Allāh. "For me I have set my face firmly
and truly toward Him Who created the heavens and the
earth, and never shall I give partners to Allāh”” (Q. 6:75 –
79).

Today science and technology has been applied to good and
evil. We have seen enormous advances in medicine and our
ability to fight diseases, but along with these have come the
perpetual mechanistic war against symptoms and drug abuse.
Industrialised forestry has seen forests vanish at an
unprecedented rate depriving our planet of the lungs it needs
to regulate greenhouse gases. At the same time this has
deprived many native groups of their homes and livelihood and
brought about the mass extinction of plants and animals. If our
increased industrialisation and deforestation is not enough for
a planet, the infant man unrestrained by nothing, but the fear of
his own annihilation has the nuclear capacity to destroy
humanity several times over. There is a Prophetic Ḥadīth
narrated by Abū Hurairah that under one wing of a fly is a
disease and under the other is its cure. Science is like that fly –
it has the potential to do harm or good. It is fitting at this
juncture, to reflect on a Ḥadīth narrated by Abū Sa‘īd al-Khudrī,
in which the Prophet has said:

You will follow the ways of those nations who were before
you, span by span and cubit by cubit (i.e., inch by inch) so

150

much so that even if they entered a hole of a mastigure
(lizard), you would follow them.22

Muslims, in their awe of the West and its achievements,
have followed contemporary man down that hole. In adopting
Western science and technology, they have also adopted
Western culture and opened their doors to secularism.23 By
adopting the culture, they have adopted the same blindness of
the heart to God’s guidance. The philosopher, Kant, rejected
Farncis Bacon’s idea of clearing the mind. He knew that
experience and the environment shaped man’s thinking.
Bacon’s idols are still present. The Ādamic man is now lost and
worshipping Bacon’s idol of the market place, a place from
which God has been excluded.

4. BACK TO THE STRAIGHT PATH

The call for a return to a “true” Islam is a call to one founded on
the Qur’ān and the Sunnah. This is often a call to remain in the
contemporary mindset by trying to find evidence for its
approval in the Qur’ān. Perhaps the most obvious of these is the
attempt to reconcile the Qur’ān with contemporary science.
Doing this risks forcing an interpretation on the Qur’ān which
is unsustainable and overlooks the possibility of doubt in

22 Sahih al-Bukhari Hadith: 9.422.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/49586228/Sahih-Al-Bukhari-Volume-9-
Muhammad-Bin-Ismael-Al-Bukhari-102 (accessed 13 April, 2011).
23 Al-Attas, Islam and Secularism, 113.

151

modern science. Other attempts have seen a Universal Islamic
Declaration of Human Rights in response to the Declaration of
Human Rights.24 Perhaps the strangest of all has been an
attempt to reconcile the concept of Humanism with Islam.25
While these are in themselves noble ventures, these are secular
ideologies used to validate Islam.

For Tariq Ramadan this limiting of the focus of
contemporary Islamic Studies to the secular sciences means
statements relating to Islam and modernity lacks real
substance.26 This risks perpetuating the same problems as the
above, albeit through a veneer of Islamic acceptability. Rather,
the Qur’ān represents an absolute word that has meaning
beyond the immediacy of historical events. The first jurists of
Islam recognised an absolute ruling in the circumstances of
revelation, but derived general principles, which were
incorporated in the shariah. The Qur’ān validates itself and in
turn validates the Sunnah. The Qur’ān and Sunnah hence is the
yardstick against which secular modernity is judged.

24 Islamic Council London. Universal Declaration of Islamic Human Rights.
(Chennai, India: Islamic Foundation Trust, 2001).
25 Boisard, Marcel, A. Humanism in Islam. (Kuala Lumpur: Islamic Book Trust,

2003).
26 Tariq Ramadan. Islam, the West and the Challenges of Modernity (Leicester,
UK: The Islamic Foundation, 2001). 12 – 13.

152

Al-Attas reduces our contemporary dilemma to a single
cause which he calls the loss of adāb.27 By this he means a loss
of discipline of the body, mind and soul. This in turn means a
loss of knowing of one’s relationship to the self, the society and
the Muslim community. It also means people no longer
recognise their spiritual, intellectual and physical capacities.
The result is a deepening cycle of confusion and injustice. In
order to restore contemporary man to his Ādamic state, we
need a return of adāb. This means lifting the veil that has been
placed over the eye of the heart so that God’s guidance can once
again give man direction. In this regard, the Qur’ān offers both
a message of hope and a warning:

‫َر ه ِب َه ْب ِلي ح ْكما َوأَ ْل ِح ْقنِي ِبال َّصا ِل ِحي َن ۝ َوا ْج َعل ِلهي ِل َسا َن ِص ْدق ِفي ا ْْل ِخ ِري َن‬
‫۝ َوا ْجعَ ْلنِي ِمن َو َرثَ ِة َجنَّ ِة النَّ ِعي ِم ۝ َوا ْغ ِف ْر ِْلَ ِبي إِنَّه َكا َن ِم َن ال َّضا ِلهي َن ۝ َو َلا‬

‫ت ْخ ِزنِي يَ ْو َم ي ْبعَثو َن ۝يَ ْو َم َلا يَنفَع َما ٌل َو َلا بَنو َن ۝ إِ َّلا َم ْن أَتَى ّل َّلاَ ِب َق ْلب َس ِليم‬
‫۝‬

“O my Lord! bestow wisdom on me and join me with the
righteous; "Grant me honorable mention on the tongue of
truth among the latest (generations); "Make me one of the
inheritors of the Garden of Bliss; "Forgive my father for that
he is among those astray; "And let me not be in disgrace on
the Day when (men) will be raised up. The Day whereon
neither wealth nor sons will avail "But only he (will
prosper) that brings to Allāh a sound heart” (Q. 26: 83 –
89).

27 Al-Attas, Islam and Secularism, 105 – 109.
153

This is a prayer of Prophet Abraham asking God for wisdom and
guidance and the opportunity to approach Him on the Day of
Judgement with a sound heart. It is not, however, a one way
bargain. We are expected to do our part:

َ‫َيا أَيُّ َها الَّ ِذي َن آ َمنواْ ا ْستَ ِجيبواْ ِل هِلِ َو ِلل َّرسو ِل ِإذَا دَ َعاكم ِل َما ي ْح ِييك ْم َوا ْعلَمواْ أَ َّن ّل هلا‬
‫يَحول بَ ْي َن ا ْل َم ْر ِء َو َق ْل ِب ِه َوأَنَّه إِ َل ْي ِه ت ْح َشرو َن ۝‬

“O ye who believe! Give your response to Allāh and His
apostle when He calleth you to that which will give you life;
and know that Allāh cometh in between a man and his
heart and that it is He to whom Ye shall (all) be gathered”
(Q. 8: 24).

The Qur’ān is also The Book of Admonition and speaks of those
whose hearts remain closed. One example is the people of Hūd:

‫َو َلقَ ْد َم َّكنَّاه ْم ِفي َما إِن َّم َّكنَّاك ْم ِفي ِه َو َج َع ْلنَا لَه ْم َس ْمعا َوأَ ْب َصارا َوأَ ْفئِدَة فَ َما أَ ْغ َنى‬
ِ‫َع ْنه ْم َس ْمعه ْم َو َلا أَ ْب َصاره ْم َو َلا أَ ْف ِئدَتهم ِهمن َش ْيء ِإ ْذ َكانوا يَ ْج َحدو َن بِآ َيا ِت ّل َّلا‬

‫َو َحا َق بِ ِهم َّما َكانوا ِب ِه يَ ْستَ ْه ِزؤون ۝‬
“And We had firmly established them in a (prosperity and)
power which We have not given to you (ye Quraish!) and We
had endowed them with (faculties of) hearing seeing heart and
intellect: but of no profit to them were their (faculties of)
hearing sight and heart and intellect when they went on
rejecting the Signs of Allāh; and they were (completely)
encircled by that which they used to mock at!” (Q. 46: 26).

154

The Quraysh ignored this and were defeated, but if ignorance
remains till the Last Day, the hearts will remain veiled from the
light and it will be too late.

‫إِذَا تتْلَى َعلَ ْي ِه آيَات َنا َقا َل أَ َسا ِطير ا ْْلَ َّو ِلي َن ۝ َكلَّا َب ْل َرا َن َعلَى قلوبِ ِهم َّما َكانوا‬
‫يَ ْك ِسبو َن ۝ َكلَّا إِنَّه ْم َعن َّر ِبه ِه ْم يَ ْو َمئِذ لَّ َم ْحجوبو َن ۝‬

“When Our Signs are rehearsed to him he says "Tales of
the Ancients!" By no means! But on their hearts is the stain
of the (ill) which they do! Verily from (the Light of) their
Lord that Day will they be veiled” (Q. 83: 13 – 15).

No matter which road we travel, we all arrive at the one fork in
the road where we have to turn to our Final Destination. We
can be like the allegorical Irishman who is geographically and
spiritually lost or we can open the eye of our heart and follow
the guidance God promised Ādam and his kin. The choice is
ours. "To Allāh we belong and to Him is our return."28

28 Q. 2: 156.

155

REFERENCES

‘Alī, ‘Abdullah Yūsuf. (1999). The Meaning of the Holy Qur’ān. Maryland,
U.S.A.: Amana Corporation.

Bewley, Aisha. (1998). Glossary of Islamic Terms. London: Ta-Ha
Publishers Ltd.

Boisard, Marcel, A. (2003). Humanism in Islam. Kuala Lumpur: Islamic
Book Trust.

Islamic Council London (2001).Universal Declaration of Islamic Human
Rights. Chennai, India: Islamic Foundation Trust.

Izutsu, Toshihiko. (2002). God and Man in theQur’ān, Semantics of the
Qur’ānicWeltanschauung. Kulal Lumpur: Islamic Book Trust.

Klein, Juergen. Francis Bacon in,StanfordEncyclopedia of Philosophy.
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/francis-bacon/ Retrieved April
12, 2011.

King James Bible. (1984). Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers.
Muhammad Asad. (1980). The Message of The Qur’ān. Gibraltar, Dar Al-

Andalus, 1980.
Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas. (1990).The Nature of Man and the

Psychology of the Human Soul, a Brief outline and a Framework for
an Islamic Psychology and Epistemology. Kuala Lumpur:
International Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilization.
Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas. (2001). Prolegomena to the Metaphysics
of Islam, AnExposition of the Fundamental Elements of the
Worldview of Islam. Lahore, Pakistan: Suhail Academy.
Ramadan, Tariq. (2001). Islam, the West and the Challenges of Modernity.
Leicester, UK: The Islamic Foundation.

156

CONTRIBUTIONS OF IMAM AL-GHAZĀLĪ TO
THE ISLAMIC SPIRITUAL ETHICS:

TOWARDS PURIFICATION OF THE SOUL


Fadzillah A. Rahim 1

1 Submitted for “Spiritual Ethics and Morality of Muslim Scholars”, no date.
(Ed.)

157

In the Name of Allāh, Most Merciful, Most Beneficent.
Religion is easy, but anyone who exerts himself too much in
religious devotions will get overcome by it; so you should
just act rightly, and keep to the mean, and be of good
cheer, and ask for Allāh's help morning, evening, and a
part of the night.2

1. INTRODUCTION

Al-Ghazālī3 was an astounding figure upon whom the Almighty
Creator bestowed exceptional understanding in every branch
of knowledge. After he rose to the peak of scholastic fame, he
retreated to search for Truth. Salazar4 portrays al-Ghazālī in his
short film as a man constantly thinking about his intention and
persistently questioning the events that were unfolding in
society during his time. In his autobiography, al-Ghazālī
described his innate nature of pursuing true meaning behind
every occurrence.

From my early youth, since I attained the age of puberty
before I was twenty, until the present time when I am
over fifty, I have ever recklessly launched out into the

2 Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, Vol 1, Book 2, No. 38.
3 Born in Born in Tus, Khurasan in 450 H and given name is Abū Ḥamīd
Muḥammad bin Muḥammad bin Aḥmad al-Ghazālī, however widely known
as al-Ghazzālī, or al-Ghazālī.
4 Ovidio Salazar, Alchemist of Happiness, 2004,
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FyDOVC4BuIU> (accessed May 29,
2012).

158

midst of these ocean depths, I have ever bravely
embarked on this open sea, throwing aside all craven
caution; I have poked into every dark recess, I have made
an assault on every problem, I have plunged into every
abyss, I have scrutinized the creed of every sect, I have
tried to lay bare the inmost doctrines of every
community. All this have I done that I might distinguish
between true and false, between sound tradition and
heretical innovation.5

Al-Ghazālī lost his father at a very young age. A family friend
was given the responsibility of taking care of al-Ghazā lī and his
brother, Aḥmad, and to provide for their education.6 Following
his early education at Tus, al-Ghazālī travelled to Jurjān and
Nishapur in search of knowledge.7 After the passing away of his
teacher al-Juwaynῑ8 in Nishapur, al-Ghazā lī went to al-
Muaskar9 and was eventually appointed by Niẓām al-Mulk as a

5 W. Montgomery Watt, Deliverance from Error, (London: George Allen and
Unwin, 1951). The Deliverance from Error of the Arabic al-Munqidh min al-
Ḍalāl is widely known as al-Ghazālī’s autobiography.
6 Adil Za’bub, trans. Osman Haji Khalid, Al-Imam Al-Ghazālī dan Metodologi
Kajiannya (Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 1993), 4.
7 Mustafa Abu Sway, Al-Ghazzaliyy: A Study in Islamic Epistemology (Kuala
Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 1996), 17.
8 Ibid., 18
9 Al–Mu’askar is a camp where scholars meet and debate their ideas. This
camp was NiÐām al-Mulk’s (the vizier famous for emphasizing on religious
education and building madrassas) court and here al-Ghazālī earned the

159

teacher in Niẓāmiyah of Baghdad. Here he rose to fame. During
his tenure at the Niẓāmiyah, he was surrounded by excellent
students. Mustafa Abu Sway writes that al-Ghazā lī lectured
even the heads of the Ḥanbalī school of jurisprudence.10

This position won him prestige, wealth and respect[ ]
that even princes, kings and viziers could not match.11

As a person who had mastered the different branches of
knowledge, he lectured confidently and wrote numerous books
on subjects he felt strongly about. His observations of the
groups that were propagating different ideas into the society
led him to criticize them in his writings.12 He even boldly
voiced out the unjust practices of the rulers.

However, the most important event that occurred during
his attachment with the Niẓāmiyah of Baghdad is the doubts he
had about his own intention and about the validity of the
knowledge he had learnt. Mustafa Abu Sway describes it as a

respect of his contemporaries and eventually was offered a position from
the famous vizier himself.
10 Abu Sway, Al-Ghazzaliyy..., 19.
11 Ibid.
12 Ibid., 7-12. Under the sub title al-Ghazālī and the Sects of the Time,
Mustafa summarizes the conflicts between the sects during the time of al-
Ghazālī. He also brought up the issue on whether al-Ghazālī is a Sunnī or
Shi‘ī. The author elaborates more on the activities of the Bāṭinites. Also refer
to page 17of Watt’s translation of al-Munqidh min al- Ḍalāl about the
Bāṭinites.

160

spiritual crisis. On the crisis he was experiencing, al-Ghazā lī
wrote in his autobiography,

[...] I was continuously tossed about between the
attractions of worldly desires and the impulses towards
eternal life. In that month (Rajab 488 A.H.) the matter
ceased to be one of choice and became one of
compulsion. God caused my tongue to dry up so that I
was prevented from lecturing.... This impediment in
speech produced grief in my heart, and at the same time
my power to digest and assimilate food and drink was
impaired; I could hardly swallow or digest a single
mouthful of food. My powers became so weakened that
the doctors gave up all hope of successful treatment.13

As mentioned earlier, the doubts were also about the
knowledge that he had accumulated throughout his life. His
investigative personality prompted him to question “the nature
of things as they really are.”14 He continued that he had merely
taken in the knowledge of men, but as he later scrutinized it, he
found that the knowledge did not direct him towards the Truth.
In al-Munqidh min al-Ḍalāl, al-Ghazā lī writes that with God’s
guidance, he was able to recover from the confusion of the
sense-perception and intellectual-judgement doubt he had.15

13 Al-Ghazālī, Deliverance from Error, (trans. Montgomery Watt), (London:
George Allen and Unwin, 1951), 19.

14 Ibid., 3.
15 Watt, trans., Deliverance from Error, 9.

161

Then, he proceeded to look into the other branches of
knowledge, which he classified as originating from

1) The Theologians,
2) The Philosophers,
3) The Ṣūfīs.

This paper looks at the path of the Ṣūfīs and al-Ghazāli’̄ s
contribution to Islamic spiritual ethics from the Ṣūfī
perspective, including ‘the soul’ for al-Ghazā lī as mentioned in
the third quarter of Iḥyā’ ‘Ulūm al-Dīn,16 and one of the virtues
that contributes to the purification of the soul. The objective of
purifying the soul is to gain closeness to Allāh, The Almighty
Creator, which, according to Muḥammad Abul Quasem, is the
spiritual ethics of al-Ghazā li.̄ 17

2. THE ṢŪFĪ PATH: TOWARDS ATTAINING DHAWQ
The works of Abū Ṭālib al-Makkī, al-Hārith al-Muhāsibī, the
stories of al-Junayd, al-Shiblī and Abū Yazīd al-Bisṭāmī on the
path of the Ṣūfīs had strongly influenced al-Ghazāli.̄ 18 He read

16 Al-Ghazālī, Imam Al-Ghazālī’s Ihya’ Ulum –id-Din, trans. Fazlul Karim (New
Delhi: Islamic Book Services), 3-50. According to Muhammad Abul Quasem
the Iḥyā’ is divided into four quarters and each quarter is sub-divided into
ten books. The subject on soul is found in Book 22 entitled On Disciplining
the Soul.

17 Muhammad Abul Quasem, Ethics of Al-Ghazali: A Composite Ethics of Islam
(New York: Caravan Books, 1978).

18 Ibid., 18.
162

the works of the above scholars before choosing to embark on
the same path. In al-Ghazā li’̄ s autobiography, he acknowledged
that the path of the Ṣūfīs or the mystics is a mixture of both the
intellectual and the practical. In the midst of his spiritual crisis,
al-Ghazā lī realized that the intention of seeking fame and
recognition was slowly emerging in him. He immediately knew
he had to leave his luxurious life. However, the thought of
renouncing worldly life changed his mind. As a result, he
suffered from a speech impediment and became weak, without
the ability to take in food or drink:

God caused an impediment to chain my tongue and
prevented me from lecturing...Thereupon, perceiving my
impotence and having altogether lost my power of
choice, I sought refuge with God most High... He
answered me.... He made it easy for me to turn away from
position and wealth, from children and friends. I openly
professed that I had resolved to set out for Mecca, while
privately I made arrangements to travel to Syria.19

While in Syria, he went into seclusion and busied himself with
“purifying his soul, improving his character and cleansing his
heart by the constant recollection of God.20 During this phase of
his life, he applied the religious practices from the writings of
his intellectual predecessors, into his daily life. In his

19 Ibid., 19.
20 Ibid., 20.

163

autobiography, he discussed the theory of the Ṣūfī way of living,
that is,the renunciation of the world completely:

I knew that the complete mystic ‘way’ includes both
intellectual belief and practical activities; the latter
consists in getting rid of the obstacles in the self and in
stripping off its base characteristics and vicious morals,
so that the heart may attain to freedom from what is not
God and to constant recollection of Him.21

Al-Ghazālī observed that the Ṣūfīs were not consumed by
the material world, but dedicated their life solely to attaining
closeness to God The Almighty. The reason he chose to walk in
the path of the Ṣūfīs was that he realized that they were the
ones closest to the Truth. He mentioned:

...I learnt with certainty that it is above all the mystics
who walk on the road of God; their life is the best life,
their method the soundest method, their character the
purest character... 22

He noticed that the Ṣūfīs practiced the knowledge they
possessed and this practice brought them closer to The
Almighty God. Every action of the Ṣūfīs reminded themselves of
the Creator.23 The Ṣūfīs did not leave God to the religious
practices only, but remembered Him every second of the hour,

21 Ibid., 17.
22 Ibid., 20.
23 Ibid., 21.

164