SUFI STORIES #15. IMAM AL GHAZALI vs THE PHILOSOPHERS ON TRUTH & MIRACLES
I had intended to share some of the miracles performed by or involving Imam Al Ghazali (May Allah sanctify his soul). But I realized that it would be better to discuss the subject of miracles first, something which we all take for granted, but was investigated thoroughly by him. Then we will appreciate the miracles more.
So the actual description of his miracles will have to wait till the next article.
Imam Al Ghazali, like many other theologians, had major differences with the Muslim philosophers. It was the nature of Imam Al Ghazali that when he investigated any branch of knowledge, he would gain as much expertise in the subject and not just comment from the periphery. Thus when he focused on philosophy, he became one of the most prominent philosophers of all time (not just among Muslims), and even now, his ideas and arguments are still being discussed and debated among modern-day philosophers, though many may disagree with him.
He created a major schism by severely criticizing some of the most renowned Muslim philosophers, past and contemporaneous, the most prominent of these being the polymaths Al Farabi (872-950, May Allah sanctify his soul) and Ibn Sina (Avicenna 980-1037, May Allah sanctify his soul).
Abu Nasr Al Farabi was a philosopher and jurist who excelled in the fields of political philosophy, metaphysics, ethics and logic. He was also a scientist, cosmologist, mathematician and music theorist. He is regarded as the founder of Islamic philosophy. He was often called “The Second Teacher”, The First Teacher being Aristotle.
Ibn Sina (Abū ʿAlī al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAbdillāh ibn al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī ibn Sīnā) was a supreme genius of exoteric knowledge. He was a Persian physician, astronomer, thinker, philosopher, writer, and the prince of the Islamic Golden Age. He was most famous for his contribution to modern medicine. His book, The Canon of Medicine, was a 5-volume encyclopedia which was used as a reference for European medical schools for over 6 centuries (11th to 17th centuries)!
In simple words, Imam Al Ghazali concluded that the philosophers talk much, going round in circles around the Truth/Reality, but never actually reaching the centrepoint (where the Truth/Reality lies). His opinion is further affirmed after he investigated the Sufis and discovered that the Sufis know the Truth because the Truth is revealed to them by Almighty God Himself, whereas the philosophers think they have arrived at the Truth through their intelligence, logic and reasoning.
Imam Al Ghazali once said: “Only the Sufis know the Truth, because their knowledge is completed by their experience”.
In his “Incoherence of The Philosophers” (Tahafut al-Falasifah) he heavily critized some of the Muslim philosophers and rejected their views about many issues, 20 of which he dissected in this book. So severe was his criticism that on some of the issues, he opined that Ibn Sina was irreligious (kufr/deviant).
To be fair to Al Farabi and Ibn Sina, who were criticized for their views which Imam Al Ghazali concluded were religiously wrong or heretical, they were already dead when Imam Al Ghazali criticized their views, and so they could not respond.
However, another great Muslim philosopher and polymath, Ibn Rusd (Averroes 1126-1198, May Allah sanctify his soul) did respond, directly rebutting Imam Al Ghazali in his “Incoherence of The Incoherence” (Tahafut al-Tahafut). Unfortunately, Imam Al Ghazali was long dead and could not reply. Although Ibn Rusd is acknowledged by many as the most influential Muslim philosopher, it is generally accepted that he failed to stop Imam Al Ghazali’s influence on Islamic philosophy.
I am neither a scholar nor a philosopher to comment on the merits of their views and arguments. My interest is on their views and arguments about causality and miracles, since I am writing about miracles involving Imam Al Ghazali and many other Sufis (in many of my SUFI STORIES).
Some philosophers and logicians argued that miracles are not possible. This goes against our religious teachings (Islam and many others) as our scriptures describe many miracles performed by the prophets and others. Hence Imam Al Ghazali was vehement in his criticism of such ideas that deny miracles.
The difference between those philosophers who argued about the nature and possibility (or impossibility) of miracles and Imam Al Ghazali is that the latter actually experienced many miracles himself. Thus he was in a position to comment and criticize with certainty those views which contradicted his experience. That was why he said you will know the Truth about a subject if your knowledge is completed by your experience (of that subject).
Let me give an example – an “expert” on durians, who has studied everything about the durian, described its taste (from his extensive reading & research) in 10 pages, but has never actually tasted any durian, is like the philosopher who argues over the possibility (or impossibility) of miracles without having experienced any miracle himself. In other words, he does not really know what he is talking about!
Imam Al Ghazali was debating with such philosophers in the matter of miracles.
This is often the situation with the Sufis who not only experience miracles, but are also in contact with and are instructed by the prophets and angels, yet the non-Sufis accuse their practices to be deviant, and their claims to be nonsensical. These non-Sufis are making pronouncements on something they know little about.
GOD & MIRACLES
A miracle is said to happen when an event defies all known physical laws, and departs from what is expected. This is only possible with direct Divine intervention against the physical laws that He had established. In contrast, the natural state is that which follows the natural laws, with predictable outcomes, and there is a causal order where events follow one another in an intelligible manner.
Those who do not believe in miracles maintain that there is a rational explanation for every unusual (miraculous) event, only that we may have not found the explanation yet. Science still cannot explain everything, not because there are no explanations, but because scientific knowledge is not yet complete (and will never be).
We all enjoy magic shows, and often wonder what magical powers the magicians have. More often than not, there is nothing magical at all, except that the magicians managed to fool us. The magic tricks are just mere illusions. Once you discover the trick behind the magic (ie. the explanation to the magic/miracle) you realize that nothing beyond the ordinary had happened, ie. there is no such thing as “real magic” except in movies. Likewise, those who disbelieve in miracles believe that there are perfectly logical explanations behind their occurrence, ie. there are no such thing as “real miracles”!
This position is untenable to us who believe in God’s omnipotence – that He can do anything beyond the physical laws that He established at the creation of this physical universe (I expect that there are different laws for the spiritual universe), ie. that God can and did (or allowed some people to) perform miracles, and continues to do so. Imam Al Ghazali made much effort in trying to prove the possibility of miracles, and disprove the opposite position.
Miraculous powers are granted to godly people (prophets, saints and the righteous) and to bad people (warlocks, witches, sorcerers etc.). They know who they are. The good will use these powers for the benefit of the people and in doing so, please God further, while the bad will use their powers for selfish gains and incur God’s wrath even more.
The good are granted miracles as a sign of their proximity to God; to further strengthen their faith; and to assist them in their missions. God has His reasons and His plans for granting Satan and his followers supernatural powers too – without these powers it is difficult for them to threaten, entice and trick us, but the good will always triumph over the evil.
Since Imam Al Ghazali himself had experienced many miracles, he therefore found it a duty to correct the misconception of those who disbelieved in miracles. That is an onerous task, because unless a person experiences miracles himself, the likelihood of believing is unpredictable despite all kinds of reasoning, explanations and arguments.
Consider belief in God. Two of the most brilliant scientists of the modern era, the late Stephen Hawking and Richard Dawkins, do not believe in God. Yet, there are many equally brilliant people who are believers. That means intelligence, logic and reasoning do not necessarily determine whether you will decide one way or another.
For Muslims, we are reminded in the Qur’an that it is God who guides us to believe (or otherwise), not our intelligence or logical thinking. However, once guided, then our intelligence will help us better understand what God is trying to teach us.
“….Allah guides those whom He wills and He knows best those who receive guidance.” (Qur’an 28:56)
Contrast this with what Stephen Hawking said in a video interview: “We are self-evolving organisms that do not need a God for us to exist”.
In the next article I will finally share the miracles of Imam Al Ghazali, many of which are not generally known.
In the meantime I leave you with these quotes, dedicated to the philosophers out there:
“An art, which has an aim to achieve the beauty is called a philosophy, or in the absolute sense it is named wisdom.” (Al Farabi)
“Philosophy is the art of keeping one’s face straight while discussing things one does not understand, because once we start understanding something, it immediately becomes a subject of science.” (Alex Taller)
Salam/Peace to all. See you at my next SUFI STORIES!
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