Perception of al-Ghazali in Andalusia

Abstract

The main aim of this article is to propound the perception of Ghazali in Andalusia. Ghazali was an important scholar who wrote works in many fields from theology (kalam) to philosophy and from fiqh to Sufism in Islamic world. Meanwhile, Ghazali was a grand authority in eastern Islamic world, so the position of Ghazali in Andalusia has aroused interest. Ghazali had almost a central position in Andalusian world of thought which was shaped on the relationship in the aspects of fiqh, tasawwuf and politics. In this study, we try to propound how the Andalusian evaluated Ghazali according to knowledge in the books of Andalusian philosophers, Sufis, faqihs and historians. In addition, this study makes an effort to present how Ghazali was perceived in Andalusia from different point of views, to fil the gap in this topic and to propound the Andalusian perception of al-Ghazali in an integrative way. I believe that this study which will probe in sociological and political aspects of philosophy and knowledge that have attracted attention recently, will contribute a lot to the preparation of other future works about Andalusian thought.