Ghazālī's Epistemology
A Critical Study of Doubt and Certainty
Nabil Yasien Mohamed
- English
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Ghazālī's Epistemology
A Critical Study of Doubt and Certainty
Nabil Yasien Mohamed
About This Book
Focusing on Ab? ??mid al-Ghaz?l? (d. 1111) – one of the foremost scholars and authorities in the Muslim world who is central to the Islamic intellectual tradition – this book embarks on a study of doubt ( shakk ) and certainty ( yaq?n ) in his epistemology.
The book looks at Ghaz?l?'s attitude to philosophical demonstration and Sufism as a means to certainty. In early scholarship surrounding Ghaz?l?, he has often been blamed as the one who single-handedly offered the death-blow to philosophy in the Muslim world. In much of contemporary scholarship, Ghaz?l? is understood to prefer philosophy as the ultimate means to certainty, granting Sufism a secondary status. Hence, much of previous scholarship has either focused on Ghaz?l? as a Sufi or as a philosopher; this book takes a parallel approach, and acknowledges each discipline in its right place. It analyses Ghaz?l?'s approach to acquiring certainty, his methodological scepticism, his foundationalism, his attitude to authoritative instruction ( ta?lim ), and the place of philosophical demonstration and Sufism in his epistemology.
Offering a systematic and comprehensive approach to Ghaz?l?'s epistemology, this book is a valuable resource for scholars of Islamic philosophy and Sufism in particular, and for educated readers of Islamic studies in general.