Al-Ghazali (1058-1111 CE) was a Persian Muslim theologian, jurist, philosopher, and mystic. Known for his critique of philosophers in Tahafut al-Falasifah (The Incoherence of the Philosophers), he emphasized revelation over reason. His seminal work, Ihya’ Ulum al-Din (The Revival of the Religious Sciences), integrated Sufi mysticism with orthodox Islam, highlighting the spiritual aspects of practice. Al-Ghazali significantly influenced Islamic education through the Nizamiya schools and had a profound spiritual journey, leaving and returning to academia with renewed insights. His legacy endures in both Islamic and Western intellectual traditions.
Top 10 Quotes by Al-Ghazali
1. “Desires make slaves out of kings and patience makes kings out of slaves.”
— Al-Ghazali
2. “Knowledge without action is wastefulness and action without knowledge is foolishness.”
— Al-Ghazali
3. “To get what you love, you must first be patient with what you hate.”
— Al-Ghazali
4. “Declare your jihad on thirteen enemies you cannot see -egoism, arrogance, conceit, selfishness, greed, lust, intolerance, anger, lying, cheating, gossiping and slandering. If you can master and destroy them, then you will be read to fight the enemy you can see.”
— Al-Ghazali
5. “Do not allow your heart to take pleasure with the praises of people, nor be saddened by their condemnation.”
— Al-Ghazali
6. “Those who look for seashells will find seashells; those who open them will find pearls.”
— Al-Ghazali
7. “Never have I dealt with anything more difficult than my own soul, which sometimes helps me and sometimes opposes me.”
— Al-Ghazali
8. “Knowledge exists potentially in the human soul like the seed in the soil; by learning the potential becomes actual.”
— Al-Ghazali
9. “The hypocrite looks for faults; the believer looks for excuses.”
— Al-Ghazali
10. “You must convince your heart that whatever Allah has decreed is most appropriate and most beneficial for you.”
— Al-Ghazali
