Islam and Rationality

The Impact of al-Ghazālī. Papers collected on his 900th

Anniversary. Vol. 2
Edited by Frank Griffel, Yale University

· October 2015
· ISBN: 9789004306950
· Hardback ( xx, 364 pp., 3 illus.)
· List price: €135.- / $175.-
· Language: English
· Islamic Philosophy, Theology and
Science. Texts and Studies, 98
· Imprint: BRILL
Subject
Middle East and Islamic Studies › Philosophy,
Theology & Science
Middle East and Islamic Studies › Mysticism &
Sufism
Middle East and Islamic Studies › Religion
Philosophy › Medieval Philosophy
Middle East and Islamic Studies › Manuscripts
& Printing
E-Book
booksandjournals.brillonline.com
Al-Ghazālī (d. 505/1111) is one of the most influential thinkers of Islam. There is hardly a
genre of Islamic literature where he is not regarded as a major authority. Islamic Law,
Sufism, ethics, philosophy, and theology are all deeply shaped by him. Yet in the past
thirty years, the field of Ghazālī-studies has been shaken by the realization that
Avicenna (Ibn Sīnā, d. 428/1037) and other philosophers had a strong influence on him.
Now, after the 900th anniversary at his death, the field emerges stronger than ever. This
second volume of Islam and Rationality: The Impact of al-Ghazālī brings together twelve
leading experts on al-Ghazālī who write about his thought and the impact it had on later
Muslim thinkers.
Contributors are: Anna Ayşe Akasoy, Ahmed El Shamsy, Kenneth Garden, Frank Griffel,
Jules Janssens, Damien Janos, Taneli Kukkonen, Stephen Ogden, M. Sait Özervarlı,
Martin Riexinger, Ulrich Rudolph, and Ayman Shihadeh.
READERSHIP:
Readers interested in Islamic theology and Arabic philosophy, readers interested in
religious rationalism.
For more information see http://www.brill.com/products/book/islam-and-rationality-0

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 iii

Islam and Rationality

The Impact of al-Ghazālī. Papers Collected
on His 900th Anniversary. Vol. 2

Edited by

Frank Grifffel

LEIDEN | BOSTON
 Contents
Contents v

Contents

Preface vii
List of Figures and Tables xvi
List of Contributors xvii
Keys and Conventions xx

Part I
Al-Ghazālī’s Works and His Thought

1 Al-Ghazālī on Error 3
Taneli Kukkonen

2 Al-Ghazālī’s Concept of Philosophy 32

Ulrich Rudolph

3 Problems in al-Ghazālī’s Perfect World

Objections and Counter-Objections to His Best Possible World
Thesis 54
Stephen R. Ogden

4 Al-Ghazālī’s Teleology and the Galenic Tradition

Reading The Wisdom in God’s Creations (al-Ḥikma fī makhlūqāt
Allah) 90
Ahmed El Shamsy

5 Al-Ghazālī and Kalām

The Conundrum of His Body-Soul Dualism 113
Ayman Shihadeh

6 Al-Ghazālī’s Veil Section

Comparative Religion before Religionswissenschaft? 142
Anna Ayşe Akasoy

7 Is There an Autograph of al-Ghazālī in MS Yale, Landberg 318? 168

Frank Grifffel
 vi Contents

Part II
Al-Ghazālī’s Influence

8 Intuition, Intellection, and Mystical Knowledge

Delineating Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī’s Cognitive Theories 189
Damien Janos

9 Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī’s Use of al-Ghazālī’s Mishkāt in His Commentary

on the Light Verse (Q 24:35) 229
Jules Janssens

10 Ottoman Perceptions of al-Ghazālī’s Works and Discussions on His

Historical Role in Its Late Period 253
M. Sait Özervarlı

11 Al-Ghazālī’s “Demarcation of Science”

A Commonplace Apology in the Muslim Reception of Modern Science—
and Its Limitations 283
Martin Riexinger

12 The Revival of the Religious Sciences in the Twenty-First Century

Suʿād al-Ḥakīm’s Adaptation of al-Ghazālī’s Revival 310
Kenneth Garden

Indices

General Index of Names and Subjects 335

Index of Passages in Works by al-Ghazālī 340
Index of Verses in the Qurʾan 344

Contents
Contents
Preface
Frank Grifffel
List of Figures and Tables xvi
List of Contributors
Keys and Conventions
Part 1 1
Al-Ghazālī’s Works and His Thought
Chapter 1
Al-Ghazālī on Error 3
Taneli Kukkonen
Chapter 2
Al-Ghazālī’s Concept of Philosophy 32
Ulrich Rudolph
Chapter 3
Problems in al-Ghazālī’s Perfect World 54
Objections and Counter-Objections to His Best Possible World Thesis 54
Stephen R. Ogden
Chapter 4
Al-Ghazālī’s Teleology and the Galenic Tradition 90
Reading The Wisdom in God’s Creations (al-Ḥikma fī makhlūqāt Allah) 90
Ahmed El Shamsy
Chapter 5
Al-Ghazālī and Kalām 113
The Conundrum of His Body-Soul Dualism 113
Ayman Shihadeh
Chapter 6
Al-Ghazālī’s Veil Section 142
Comparative Religion before Religionswissenschaft? 142
Anna Ayşe Akasoy
Chapter 7
Is There an Autograph of al-Ghazālī in MS Yale, Landberg 318? 168
Frank Grifffel
Part 2 187
Al-Ghazālī’s Influence
Chapter 8
Intuition, Intellection, and Mystical Knowledge 189
Delineating Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī’s Cognitive Theories 189
Damien Janos
Chapter 9
Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī’s Use of al-Ghazālī’s Mishkāt in His Commentary on the Light Verse (Q 24:35) 229
Jules Janssens
Chapter 10
Ottoman Perceptions of al-Ghazālī’s Works and Discussions on His Historical Role in Its Late Period 253
M. Sait Özervarlı
Chapter 11
Al-Ghazālī’s “Demarcation of Science” 283
A Commonplace Apology in the Muslim Reception of Modern Science—
and Its Limitations 283
Martin Riexinger
Chapter 12
The Revival of the Religious Sciences in the Twenty-First Century 310
Suʿād al-Ḥakīm’s Adaptation of al-Ghazālī’s Revival 310
Kenneth Garden
Indices
General Index of Names and Subjects
Index of Passages in Works by al-Ghazālī
Index of Verses in the Qurʾan