INFORM ATION TO U SERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the tnicrofîlm master. UMI films the text directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be froma n y type of computer printer. The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleedthrough,margin»;, substandard and improperalignment can adversely afreet reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note wiH indicate the deletion. Oversize materials (e.g., maps, drawings, charts) are reproduced by sectioning the original, beginning at the upper left-hand comer and continuing from left to right in equal sections with small overlaps. Each original is also photographed in one exposure and is included in reduced form at the back of the book. Photogr^hs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced xerographically in this copy. Higher quality 6" x 9" black and white photographic prints are available for any photographs or illustrations appearing in this copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI directly to order. UMI A Bell & Howell Information Company 300 North ZeeD Road. Ann Ardor. Ml 48106-1346 USA 313.'761-4700 800.'521-0600 AL-GHAZZALI; A CRITICAL SYNTHESIS OF HIS PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION COMPILED FROM HIS WRITINGS AND AS REPRESENTED IN WORKS BY SHAFIQUE ALI KHAN AND ABDU AL-GHANEY ABUD DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Mohammed Said Abdu Ali ***** The Ohio State University 1995 Dissertation Committee; Approved by Prof. Gerald M. Reagan Prof, Kevin Freer Prof. Mary Leach Advisd College of Education UMI Number: 9544511 DMI Microform 9544511 Copyright 1995, by DMI Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. UMI 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, MI 48103 Copyright© by Mohammed Said Abdu Ali 1995 To my parents, my •wife, and my children for their love and patience and the joy they bring to my life 1 1 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I wish to express my sincere gratitude to Professor Gerald Reagan for the encouragement, guidance and direction he provided throughout the process and stages involved in writing this dissertation; without his help the completion of this study would not have been possible. Also, I wish to extend ray thanks and appreciation to the members of my advisory committee. Professor Kevin Freer and Professor Mary Leach for the council and encouragement they provided. Ill VITA Nov. 17, 1951 Born — Sabia, Saudi Arabia 1983 .... B.A., King Baud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia 1982-83 .... Teaching Assistant, Dept. Foundation of Education, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia 1988 . M.S., History of Education/ Philosophy of Ed, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana. Field of Study Major Field: Education IV TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ..................................... iii VITA ................................................. iv CHAPTER PAGE I INTRODUCTION AND STATEMENT OF PURPOSE . 1 Introduction ......................... 1 Statement of Purpose ............... 7 Methodology ..................... 8 Structure of the Inquiry ......... 15 II PHILOSOPHICAL FOUNDATIONS OF AL-GHAZZALI’S EDUCATIONAL THOUGHT .................. 17 Life and Times of Al-Ghazzali . 17 Al-Ghazzali's Place in History of Islam 21 Al-Ghazzali on Cause and Effect . 44 Al-Ghazzali on Nature of Man .... 46 Al-Ghazzali on Happiness ............ 47 Al-Ghazzali on Intellect ............ 48 Al-Ghazzali on the Concept of Light . 49 Summary ............................ 54 III SUMMARIES OF KHAN'S AND ABUD'S WORKS . 56 Khan ............................... 56 Abud ............................... 57 V CHAPTER PAGE A Summary of Khan's Ghazali's Philosophy of E d u c a t i o n ............ 59 A Summary of Abud's Educational Thought of Al-Ghazzali as it Appears from His Letter 'O My Son' .... 88 IV CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF KHAN'S AND ABUD'S WORKS 111 Introduction ........................ Ill K n o w l e d g e ........................ 113 E d u c a t i o n ........................ 129 Nature of Teachers and Students . 145 Teachers ......................... 145 S t u d e n t s .....................155 V SYNTHESIS, SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS & SUGGESTIONS 160 Introduction ........................ 160 Synthesis ............................ 161 K n o w l e d g e ........................ 161 E d u c a t i o n ........................ 167 Nature of Students and Teachers . 170 S t u d e n t s ..................... 170 T e a c h e r s ..................... 177 Summary and Conclusions ............ 185 Conclusions Suggestions for Future Study . 189 vx APPENDICES APPENDIX PAGE A GLOSSARY OF TERMS ........................ 191 LIST OF REFERENCES ................................. 199 vix CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION AND STATEMENT OF PURPOSE Introduction The Middle Eastern educator and writer, Al-Ghazzali, has been described as one of the most influential scholars in Islamic history. Writes MacDonald of the eleventh-century thinker; [Al-Ghazzali] was the greatest, certainly the most sympathetic figure in the history of Islam, and the only teacher after generations ever put by a Muslim on a level with the four great Imams. The equal of Augustine in philosophical and theological importance....His knowledge and grasp of the problems and objectives of philosophy were true and more vital than in any other Muslim up to his time— perhaps after it, too. Islam has not fully understood him any more than Christendom fully understood Augustine, but until long after him the horizon of Muslims was wider and the air clearer for his work (Anderson, 1990, pp. 78-79). Al-Ghazzali embodied the ideals of the Prophet Muhammad in the same way St. Francis did those of Jesus (Zepp, 1992, p. 166). According to a saying attributed to the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon Him), God will send someone to revive the faith of the Islamic community every hundred years. in the history of Islam, Al-Ghazzali is considered the reformer {mujaddid} of the eleventh century (or the fifth century A.H. on the Muslim timetable). The majority of Muslims agree that he is the eminent Muslim scholar of his period. And because he is recognized as the religious authority of his era, he is known as the Proof of Islam (hujjat al-Islam) (Sherif, 1975, p.l). (A Glossary of Terms in the APPENDIX contains additional explanations for Muslim terminology) Al-Ghazzali's influence on the development of Islam is both significant and multi-faceted. He helped to reintroduce the element of fear into the service of God. He also created a framework within which Sufism, an Islamic sect that emphasizes the religion's mystical element, attained an assured position within orthodox Islam (Stern, 1990, p.9). M'Bow (1986) reported that Al-Ghazzali's importance is not confined to the Muslim world for Al-Ghazzali was the first Arab author to be translated into Latin in Medieval Europe. Also, he was introduced to the West through his book MaQsid al-Falasifati (The Aims of the Philosophers\ (p. 4). Those who study Islamic history and concentrate particularly on the religio-intellectual life of the eleventh century will find that era parallels today's religio- intellectual life in the Muslim world — both eras have seen Islam splintered into a number of competing sects. In the eleventh century of Al-Ghazzali, the major religio- intellectual trends were those of theologians, philosophers. Bateniates, and mystics. Each of these groups claimed to follow the path of the Prophet. The theologians were Muslim scholars who attempted to defend the Islamic faith and revelation by using formal philosophical arguments that were typically borrowed from the Greeks. (Revelation refers to the Word of God as it was given to the Prophet Muhammad.) The philosophers were scholars who relied on reason as the final authority for truth; they did not accept the revelation. The Bateniates, also called Ismailiyah, were authoritative instructors who found their truths in the doctrine of the so-called infallible Imams. These Imams were considered to be divinely appointed leaders in a direct line of succession from Muhammad. The mystics claimed that they put into actual practice the commands of God; they followed the path of the Prophet Muhammad and his companions (Muslehuddin, 1974, p. 93). Al-Ghazzali once had believed that the truth must exist in one of his era's four schools of thought — or there could be no truth. Thus, he started to study and practice each of them with the purpose of sorting out the falsity from the goodness of their thoughts and practices (Al-Ghazzali, 1982c, p. 27). He ultimately concluded that the mystics were the only sect that followed the path of the Quran (Koran) and the Tradition. (The Tradition, also known in its entirety as Sunna, refers to a collection of sayings from the Prophet Muhammad.) (Al-Ghazzali, 1982c, pp. 60). In today's critical era of Islamic history, there are fundamentalists, liberals, mystics, and communists. This division of Islam into sometimes feuding sects threatens the stability of the Muslim world. Without cohesiveness, Islam may lose its spiritual meaning. According to author Shafique Ali Khan, the Muslim's