Overview

Abu Hamid Muhammad al-Ghazālī (1058–1111) was one of the most influential philosophers of the classical Islamic period, with his intellectual innovations spanning the fields of theology, logic, and law. Despite this, contemporary assessments of Ghazālī often present him as hostile to rationality, and a guardian of dogma and orthodoxy. This study provides an innovative reassessment of Ghazālī's legacy, offering a compelling depiction of a reformer in his own time with increasing relevance to the issues gripping multicultural and globalized societies today. Ali Mirsepassi and Tadd Graham Fernée closely study Ghazālī's major Persian-language text Kīmīyā-e saʿādat (The Alchemy of Happiness) and its scholarly reception, alongside his lesser-read works, arguing that Ghazālī shared a message of reform, and critique of Abbasid institutions. Ghazālī's critical stance is revealed as both pragmatic and cosmopolitan in its recognition of autonomy from religion in many aspects of life, and in the value placed upon scientific contribution.

Full Product Details

9781009538169

Table of Contents

Reviews

Author Information

Ali Mirsepassi is the Albert Gallatin Research Excellence Professor of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies, New York University. He is co-editor of The Global Middle East, a book series published by Cambridge. Recent publications include The Loneliest Revolution: A Memoir of Solidarity and Struggle in Iran (2023), The Discovery of Iran: Taghi Arani, a Radical Cosmopolitan (2022) and Iran's Quiet Revolution: The Downfall of the Pahlavi State (Cambridge, 2019). Tadd Graham Fernée is a lecturer in legal methodology and institutions at Tours University, France. Fernée is author of Enlightenment and Violence (2014) and Beyond the Circle of Violence and Progress (2023), and co-author of Islam, Democracy and Cosmopolitanism (2014).

Tab Content 6

Countries Available