Notes
Translatorâs Introduction
1. By saying that these books are original, I do not mean to deny that they are influenced by other works. TahÄfut al-FalÄsifa contains expositions of philosophersâ views and arguments and al-GhazÄlÄ«âs refutations of them. Some of al-GhazÄlÄ«âs polemics are influenced by arguments and positions advocated by other theological schools. Iáž„yÄÊŸ ÊżUlĆ«m al-DÄ«n is significantly influenced by other Sufi books, especially AbĆ« T.Älib al-MakkÄ«âs QĆ«t al-QulĆ«b (The Sustenance of the Hearts), a book that al-GhazÄlÄ« in his al-Munqidh min al-ážalÄl (The Deliverer from Error) says he has read (p. 131).
2. A áž„adÄ«th is a saying or a description of a practice attributed to the Prophet Muáž„ammad. The កadÄ«th is the corpus consisting of the sayings and the descriptions of the practices attributed to the Prophet Muáž„ammad. In other words, កadÄ«th is considered to embody the Sunna, which is the collective tradition of the Prophet Muáž„ammad. The term âHadithâ has been part of the English vocabulary since the eighteenth century. As for the token term áž„adÄ«th, it has not yet, to the best of my knowledge, entered the âofficialâ English vocabulary. However, an increasing number of translators and writers are using the Arabic term áž„adÄ«th instead of the English expression âa saying (or, a tradition) of the Prophet Muáž„ammadâ, or more cautiously, the expression âa saying (or, a tradition) attributed to the Prophet Muáž„ammadâ. The concept is sufficiently complex to warrant its own term. By using the Arabic term, one hopes that the word âhadithâ would one day enter into the English vocabulary as âHadithâ has. It should be noted, however, that some scholars are already using the term âHadithâ to refer to the corpus of áž„adÄ«ths as well as to a single áž„adÄ«th or a collection of áž„adÄ«ths.
3. The book is famously known in the English-speaking world as Deliverance from Error.
4. ÊżAbd al-KarÄ«m al-ÊżUthmÄnâs Sirat al-GhazÄlÄ« wa-AqwÄl al-MutaqaddimÄ«n fÄ«h is a compilation of the classical Arabic biographies of al-GhazÄlÄ«.
5. In some biographies, he is called AbĆ« NaáčŁr al-IsmÄÊżÄ«lÄ«.
6. The term âEsotericistsâ (al-BÄáčiniyya) is used to refer to several ShÄ«Êża sects. The most notable of these sects is a group of militant ShÄ«Êża also called al-IsmÄÊżÄ«liyya. They are called âEsotericistsâ (as well as âInstructionistsâ) because they claim that they follow the instructions of infallible hidden imams, who understand the esoteric interpretations of all QurÊŸÄnic verses.
7. I take ÊżAbd al-Raáž„mÄn BadawÄ«âs MuÊŸallafÄt al-GhazÄlÄ« to be the most authoritative of the chronicles because it is one of the latest and most complete. BadawÄ« had the benefit of studying many other chronicles before he compiled his own; he also makes extensive use of al-GhazÄlÄ«âs internal cross-references and of chronicles of some of al-GhazÄlÄ«âs works found in the historical sources. The most recent chronicle of al-GhazÄlÄ«âs works is George F. Houraniâs âA Revised Chronology of GhazÄlÄ«âs Writingsâ (1984).
8. The problem of reiteration is a legal issue in Islamic law. It concerns the validity of a divorce when a man says to his wife, âIf I divorce you three times, you will be divorced,â but then says only once, âYou are divorced.â In al-GhazÄlÄ«âs day, this was a hotly debated matter among ShÄfiÊżite scholars. Al-GhazÄlÄ« provides in this work a thorough investigation and elaboration of the relevant factors, concluding that in this case the divorce is not valid. Much later in life he returned to this issue and reversed his initial fatwa, declaring that a reiterated divorce was valid.
9. There are cross-references between the TahÄfut and the MiÊżyÄr. According to BadawÄ«, however, the references to the MiÊżyÄr are found in only some of the copies of the former workâsuggesting that al-GhazÄlÄ« added this cross-reference later, that is, after composing the latter work.
10. The book was written at the request of the ÊżAbbÄsid caliph al-Mustaáșhir bi-AllÄh to counter the propaganda of the IsmÄÊżÄ«lites.
11. Most of al-GhazÄlÄ«âs early biographers state that al-GhazÄlÄ« studied philosophy and Sufism during his years at the NiáșÄmiyya School of Nishapur. All of this is consistent with al-GhazÄlÄ«âs chronology of his studies in the Munqidh, so long as he is understood to be chronicling his careful and thorough studies of the various disciplines. Khalidi (2005, pp. xxvâxxvi) and others suggest that al-GhazÄlÄ« could not have immersed himself in all these areas of study, taught about three hundred students (as he tells us in the Munqidh), and written several books during four years only. I am not persuaded. Al-GhazÄlÄ« was a prodigious writer and reader. The fact that he wrote more than one hundred works, some of which are multivolume, in his relatively short life is a testimony to his extraordinary ability to accomplish much in little time. We may note that he did not start from scratch: he had studied Arabic, law, theology, philosophy, and Sufism before taking up his many ventures in Baghdad.
12. The work is so named because it was written in Jerusalem (al-Quds).
13. It is very likely that al-GhazÄlÄ« began writing the Iáž„yÄÊŸ during his stay in Damascus and that he completed it sometime after he wrote al-RisÄla al-Qudsiyya.
[Religious Preface]
1. âSunnaâ has been part of the English vocabulary since the eighteenth century. It designates the body of traditions attributed to the Prophet Muáž„ammad. I translate ahl al-sunna literally as the followers of the Sunna. It might be objected that this translation is biased since the ShÄ«Êża consider themselves also followers of the Sunna; it is only that these groups have different interpretations of the Sunna as well as different traditions attributed to the Prophet. Ahl al-sunna, it might be said, really refers to the adherents of Sunni orthodoxy, and thus it should be translated as such. All of this is true, but still my translation is defensible. A translation ideally should capture the intent of the authorâhis meaning, even if this meaning conflicts with historical or ideological facts. When al-GhazÄlÄ«, and other defenders of Sunni orthodoxy, use ahl al-sunna, they mean by it the followers of the prophetic tradition, that is, the followers of the Sunna. Since this is a translation of a text written by al-GhazÄlÄ« and not a commentary on it, I find it inescapable to adhere to the meanings of the terms as he understood them. He definitely would not think of ahl al-sunna as merely a group adhering to orthodoxy, but rather, true followers of the prophetic tradition. The term âorthodoxyâ itself, of course, could connote a system of religious belief that is widely held as right or as the norm. Thus being an adherent of Sunni orthodoxy could simply mean an adherent of the Sunni tradition that is widely held as the right tradition, which is not far from al-GhazÄlÄ«âs intended meaning. However, I still would argue that âorthodoxyâ could carry with it a connotation of convention, which al-GhazÄlÄ« would reject. For him what is conventional or accepted at certain time may not be consistent with the Sunna, and hence it should not be part of the belief or practice of ahl al-sunna.
2. In the original it is sharÄÊŸiÊż (laws), which is the plural of sharÄ«Êża (law). SharÄ«Êża is usually translated as religi...