Ghazālī and the Perils of Interpretation

In his book, Al-Ghazali and the Ash c arite School, Richard Frank argues that al-Ghazālī was critical of traditional Ash c arite theology and that his own theological views were greatly influenced by philosophical cosmologies and notions of causal determinism. Frank also argues that al-Ghazali chose to conceal his real theological views by manipulating language, and by deliberately using a traditional religious idiom to introduce his own unconventional ideas. However, it rather appears that there is, in the various writings of al-Ghazālī, a consistent ideological and epistemological commitment to traditional Ash c arism. In particular, al-Ghazālī was committed to the general Ash c arite objective of securing an authoritative role for the rational faculties against the Bātiniyya who reject this authority, while at the same time avoiding the subordination of scriptural authority to human reason. The ambivalence or possible ambiguity in al-Ghazali's writings is a result of his systematic attempt to reconcile intertwined and at times conflicting epistemologies and systems of knowledge

Epistemology · Interpretation (philosophy) · Linguistics · History · Islamic Studies and History · Islamic Thought and Society Studies · Medieval and Classical Philosophy · Philosophy

• Terminological Drift and the Reordering of Knowledge from Al-Ghazali’s Perspective

  Open Access•Ahmad Faizuddin Ramli, Zulkiflee Haron et al.•Australian Journal of Islamic…•2026

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• Basic Principles of al-Ghazālī’s Method of Exegesis

  Open Access•Takyettin KARAKAYA•Ilahiyat Studies•2023

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