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<b>al-Ghazali</b> (ٱلْغَزَّالِيُّ) was a Persian Islamic scholar | <b>al-Ghazali</b> (ٱلْغَزَّالِيُّ) was a Persian Islamic scholar and one of the most prominent philosophers, Ash'arite theologians, Shafi'i jurists, and mystics of [[Sunni]] Islam. He is widely considered a mujaddid (one of the centennial revivers of Islam predicted by [[Muhammad]]), and he enjoys immense authority in the Sunni Islamic tradition. His ''magnum opus'' was the ''Iḥyā’ ‘ulūm ad-dīn'' ("The Revival of the Religious Sciences"), through which he advanced the "spiritual sciences" as central to Islam. He is equally well known for his ''Tahāfut al-Falāsifa'' ("Incoherence of the Philosophers"), in which he critiqued Aristotelianism in particular and philosophy more generally.<ref><nowiki>https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2016/entries/al-ghazali/</nowiki></ref> | ||
==Life== | ==Life== | ||
Ghazali famously studied with al-Juwayni, considered the greatest scholar of his time<ref>Griffel, Frank (2009). ''Al-Ghazālī's Philosophical Theology''. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN <bdi>9780195331622</bdi>.</ref>, in Nishapur | Ghazali famously studied with al-Juwayni, considered the greatest scholar of his time<ref>Griffel, Frank (2009). ''Al-Ghazālī's Philosophical Theology''. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN <bdi>9780195331622</bdi>.</ref>, in Nishapur. He went on to join the court of Nizam al-Mulk, who was a vizier of the Seljuk sultans, in 1085. His success as a scholar and resulting prominence led to his appointment at the prestigious Nizamiyya madrasa in Baghdad in 1091. | ||
After four years at the Madrassa, Ghazali, experiencing spiritual crisis | After four years at the Madrassa, al-Ghazali, experiencing a spiritual crisis and verging on atheism, abandoned his madrasa post and adopted an ascetic lifestyle, while telling his family and employers that he was "going on Hajj." Having made financial arrangements for his family, however, al-Ghazali would disappear indefinitely. | ||
During this period of his life, starting in 1095, Ghazali focused on spiritual development exclusively and abstained from scholarly work for at least a year. By 1096, however, Ghazali was publishing once again, though he continued to avoid working as a teacher at state-funded schools. | During this period of his life, starting in 1095, Ghazali focused on spiritual development exclusively and abstained from scholarly work for at least a year. By 1096, however, Ghazali was publishing once again, though he continued to avoid working as a teacher at state-funded schools. | ||
Pressure from the grand vizier would | Pressure from the grand vizier would eventually bring him back to work at the Nizamiyya by 1106. He died in the year 1111.<ref>Ibid.</ref> | ||
==Al-Ghazali's views on women== | ==Al-Ghazali's views on women== | ||
He wrote the following rules about women: | He wrote the following rules about women: | ||
*She should stay at home and | *She should stay at home and focus on domestic housework. | ||
*She can go out only in emergencies. | *She can go out only in emergencies. | ||
*She must not be well-informed nor must she be communicative with her neighbors | *She must not be well-informed nor must she be communicative with her neighbors; she should only visit them when absolutely necessary. | ||
*She should take care of her husband | *She should take care of her husband, respect him in his presence and his absence, and seek to satisfy him in everything. | ||
*She must not leave her house without his permission and if given his permission she must leave secretly. | *She must not leave her house without his permission, and if given his permission, she must leave secretly. She should put on old clothes and take deserted streets and alleys, avoid markets, and make sure that a stranger does not hear her voice or her footsteps, nor smell her or recognize her. | ||
*She must not speak to a friend of her husband even in need. | *She must not speak to a friend of her husband even in need. | ||
*Her sole worry should be her “al bud” (reproductive organs) her home | *Her sole worry should be her “al-bud” (reproductive organs), her home, her prayers, and her fasting. | ||
*If a friend of her husband calls when her husband is absent she must not open the door nor reply to him in order to safeguard her “al | *If a friend of her husband calls when her husband is absent, she must not open the door, nor reply to him, in order to safeguard her “al-bud.” | ||
*She should accept what her husband gives her as sufficient | *She should accept what her husband gives her as sufficient. | ||
*She should be clean and ready to satisfy her husband’s sexual needs at any moment.<ref>''The Revival of the Religious Sciences'' Al Ghazzali</ref> | *She should be clean and ready to satisfy her husband’s sexual needs at any moment.<ref>''The Revival of the Religious Sciences'' Al Ghazzali</ref> | ||
He | He wrote: “It is a fact that all the trials, misfortunes and woes which befall men come from women." | ||
He | He also wrote: “When Eve ate the fruit which Allah had forbidden to her from the tree in Paradise, the Lord, be He praised, cursed women with eighteen punishments": | ||
* | *menstruation | ||
* | *childbirth | ||
* | *separation from mother and father and marriage to a stranger | ||
* | *pregnancy | ||
*not having control over her own person | *not having control over her own person | ||
*a lesser share in inheritance | *a lesser share in inheritance | ||
*her liability to be divorced and inability to divorce | *her liability to be divorced and inability to divorce | ||
* | *it being lawful for men to have four wives, but for a woman to have only one husband | ||
*the fact that she must stay secluded in the house | *the fact that she must stay secluded in the house | ||
*the fact that she must keep her head covered inside the house | *the fact that she must keep her head covered inside the house | ||
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*disqualification for leadership and judgeship | *disqualification for leadership and judgeship | ||
*the fact that merit has one thousand components, only one of which is attributable to women while 999 are attributable to men | *the fact that merit has one thousand components, only one of which is attributable to women while 999 are attributable to men | ||
*the fact that if women are profligate, they will be given twice as much torment as the rest of the community | *the fact that if women are profligate, they will be given twice as much torment as the rest of the community on Resurrection Day | ||
*the fact that if their husbands die, they must observe a waiting period of four months and ten days before remarrying<ref>''Counsel for Kings''. Al Ghazzali.</ref> | *the fact that if their husbands die, they must observe a waiting period of four months and ten days before remarrying<ref>''Counsel for Kings''. Al Ghazzali.</ref> | ||
*the fact that if their husbands divorce them, they must observe a waiting period of three months or three menstrual periods before remarrying | *the fact that if their husbands divorce them, they must observe a waiting period of three months or three menstrual periods before remarrying | ||
The following quotes | The following quotes further illustrate his views on women:{{Quote||Marriage is a form of slavery. The woman is man’s slave and her duty therefore is absolute obedience to the husband in all that he asks of her person. A woman, who at the moment of death enjoys the full approval of her husband, will find her place in Paradise.}} | ||
{{Quote||Do not add evil to unhappiness. (Muhammad and Caliph Umar Ibn al-Khattab commanded you to) Prevent women from learning to write, adopt positions opposite those of women. There is great virtue in such opposition}} | {{Quote||Do not add evil to unhappiness. (Muhammad and Caliph Umar Ibn al-Khattab commanded you to) Prevent women from learning to write, adopt positions opposite those of women. There is great virtue in such opposition}} | ||