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A Common Vision: John Cassian and al-

Ghazali's Correlative Conceptions of
the Spiritual Life
a
Brock Bingaman
a
Loyola University , Chicago, USA
Published online: 15 Oct 2010.

To cite this article: Brock Bingaman (2009) A Common Vision: John Cassian and al-Ghazali's
Correlative Conceptions of the Spiritual Life, Islam and Christian–Muslim Relations, 20:2, 171-182

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 Islam and Christian – Muslim Relations,
Vol. 20, No. 2, 171– 182, April 2009

A Common Vision: John Cassian and

al-Ghazali’s Correlative Conceptions
of the Spiritual Life
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BROCK BINGAMAN
Loyola University, Chicago, USA

ABSTRACT This article explores common ground between understandings of the spiritual life held
by the fourth-century Desert Father John Cassian and the eleventh-century Sufi mystic al-Ghazali.
Both refer to the spiritual life as a journey to God, to the purity of heart and practice of unceasing
prayer required for that journey, and to the important role of praying selected, scripturally-based
phrases. The article argues that, by investigating these themes, Christian and Muslim scholars
can engender constructive interreligious dialogue between their traditions, without homogenizing
their distinct faiths. While claiming that there are striking correlations between Cassian and
al-Ghazali at certain points, the article also acknowledges that there are many distinctive
features, including some irreducible differences. However, the article maintains that juxtaposing
these two influential writers leads to the recognition of interesting parallels between their
perspectives and practices and concludes that, by studying Cassian and al-Ghazali alongside one
another, Christians and Muslims can learn from each other’s traditions, deepen their mutual
respect, and work together in promoting love for God and neighbor.

Introductory Remarks
In 2007, Muslim and Christian scholars, clerics, leaders, and intellectuals signed and
exchanged two momentous documents: A Common Word between Us and You and
Loving God and Neighbor Together.1 These documents locate common ground between
Christianity and Islam, as well as the most ancient Abrahamic faith, Judaism. In light of
these significant documents, this article explores common ground between the fourth-
century Desert Father John Cassian and the eleventh-century Sufi mystic al-Ghazali’s2
visions of the spiritual life. It argues that they both have a vision of the spiritual life as
a journey to God, both refer to the requisite purity of heart and practice of unceasing
prayer, and practical steps to be taken on the spiritual journey, and both point to the
important role of praying selected scripturally-based phrases, an act that sometimes
leads the pray-er to moments of ecstasy.3 The article goes on to suggest that Christian

Correspondence Address: Brock Bingaman, Loyola University, Chicago IL, USA; E-mail: bbingam@luc.edu

0959-6410 Print/1469-9311 Online/09/020171-12 # 2009 University of Birmingham

DOI: 10.1080/09596410902781568
 172 B. Bingaman

and Muslim scholars can engender constructive interreligious dialogue between their
traditions without homogenizing these distinct faiths.
Moreover, while claiming that there are striking correlations between Cassian and
al-Ghazali at certain points, the article acknowledges that there are also many distinctive
features, and indicates a few of them. Of course, among these distinctive features are some
irreducible differences concerning, for example, the doctrines of the Trinity and the incar-
nation of Christ as the divine Word. However, rather than pitting Cassian and al-Ghazali
against each other on the basis of such differences, the article seeks, in the spirit of the
documents A Common Word and Loving God and Neighbor Together, to encourage
constructive dialogue between Christians and Muslims and maintains that juxtaposing
these two influential writers leads to the recognition of interesting parallels between
their perspectives and practices. By studying Cassian and al-Ghazali alongside one
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another, Christians and Muslims can learn from each other’s traditions, deepen their
mutual respect, and work together in promoting love for God and neighbor (cf. Kung,
2007, pp. xxiii – xxx).

Journey to God
Both of these mystical writers envision the spiritual life as a journey toward God. In his
well-known Conferences, Cassian explains that all the various arts and sciences have a
particular goal or mark, ‘an end or aim of their own, on which the diligent pursuer of
each art has [their]4 eye, and so endures all sorts of toils and dangers and losses, cheerfully
and with equanimity’. He says that this is so with farmers, merchants, and soldiers, and
then explains that the goal of his monastic and mystic colleagues is the kingdom of
God. He writes: ‘And so the end of our way of life is indeed the kingdom of God’
(Cassian, 2004a, pp. 295, 296). This end, as we shall see below, is known as the beatific
vision, the telos for which humanity is created, that final state in which believers ‘see’ God
and experience unceasing bliss.
Al-Ghazali also views the spiritual life as an odyssey toward God, the believer’s return
to his or her Maker. In his celebrated Ihyā’ ‘ulūm al-dı̄n (Revivification of the Religious
Sciences), what Kojiro Nakamura calls _‘his magnum opus and the Muslim counterpart of
the Summa Theologiae’, al-Ghazali spells out his teachings on worship, daily life, and the
ways to perdition and salvation. In the third part of this stunning work, he discusses the
believer’s journey to God and the methods that help remove the evil impediments on its
course. ‘After all, the Ihya is, in my view’, writes Nakamura, ‘a compendium of the
Muslim religious sciences—theology (kalam), jurisprudence ( fiqh), Qur’an exegesis
(tafsir), the science of Tradition (ilm al-hadith), Sufism (tasawwuf), etc.—interpreted
and arranged from a single point of view.’ That view is ‘how to make preparations for
‘seeing God’ (ru’yat Allah) or ‘meeting with God’ (liqa’ Allah) in the hereafter’
(Ghazali, 1990, pp. xix – xx).
This notion of Muslims journeying toward God is, therefore, found throughout al-Gha-
zali’s writings, not just in his Ihyā’. For example, in Jawāhir al-Qurcān (The Jewels of the
Qur’an), in his ‘Explanation of_ the Aims of the Qur’an’, he writes that devotion to God ‘is
achieved by advancing towards Him and turning away from things other than Him . . . In
this journey to God there is movement neither from the side of the traveler nor from the
side of Him to Whom [one] travels, since both are together’ (Ghazali, 1983, p. 26) Further-
more, when the believer ‘attains to God’ (Ghazali, 1983, p. 27), s/he will encounter repose
 Cassian’s and al-Ghazali’s Conceptions of the Spiritual Life 173

and delight, ‘and the highest of these is the pleasure of looking upon God (may He be
exalted!)’ (Ghazali, 1983, p. 28). On this journey, as the Qur’an explains, ‘the world is
one of the stages of those who travel to God. . .’ (Ghazali, 1983, p. 30).

Purity of Heart and Unceasing Prayer

Since the spiritual life is a journey toward God, a preparation for seeing the One who is
holy, both Cassian and al-Ghazali assert that believers must pursue purity of heart in
this life. While they use their own religious parlance, the gist of what each says finds a
certain resonance in the words of the other.
An illustration of this is found in The Philokalia, the compendium of Orthodox
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spirituality (published in 1782, in Greece), where Cassian writes: ‘The goal of our pro-
fession, as we have said, is the kingdom of God. Its immediate purpose, however, is
purity of heart, for without this we cannot reach our goal.’ He adds, ‘We should therefore
always have this purpose in mind; and, should it ever happen that for a short time our
hearts turn aside from the direct path, we must bring it back again at once, guiding our
lives with reference to our purpose as if it were a carpenter’s rule.’5
How does one acquire this purity of heart? In short, according to Cassian, it is given to
the believer through the grace-infused struggle for union with God through unceasing
prayer. Cassian (2004a, p. 300) writes that the goal of purity of heart is attained as one
‘clings to God continually’, ‘inseparably holds fast to meditation on Him’, so that sin
no longer reigns within the heart, and ‘the kingdom of God is founded in us’.
Linked with unceasing prayer, moreover, is Cassian’s teaching on the role of asceticism
in the quest for purity of heart. Columba Stewart, a scholar of Cassian and a Benedictine
monk, points out how Cassian weaves together important threads in his instruction on
purity of heart. Stewart (1998, pp. 43ff.) notes that Cassian sees the quest for purity of
heart as progressive and consisting of various degrees, explains that his teaching on the
subject has three main aspects: ‘ascetical purification, a theological equation of purity
of heart with love, and the experience of liberation from sin in tranquility of heart’. In
short, Cassian insists on the importance of ascetical discipline in the pursuit of purity of
heart, but neither is the real goal—which is union with God. Cassian also states that
purity of heart is love, and love is the very definition of eternal life with God, both here
and in the life hereafter. Finally, Cassian explains that engaging in ascetic exercises
(such as regular fasting) helps one cultivate a heart of love for God and neighbor, and
frees the mind from the allurements of sin so that one might walk through the gateway
of inner stillness (apatheia) to knowledge of God (gnosis), and loving (agape) union
with God.6
On these notes of purity and prayer, al-Ghazali’s thoughts are consonant. Nakamura
highlights the importance he attributes to ‘purity of the heart’ and ‘inner purity’ for
those who journey toward God (Ghazali, 1990, pp. xxxiv, xxxv). Further, al-Ghazali
says that one comes closer to God as one perseveres in prayer and turns away from pas-
sions that hinder one’s intimacy with God, ‘by cleansing oneself from the troubles of
this world, and by purification of the soul from them’. Al-Ghazali provides a vivid
analogy of how this occurs. He explains, ‘The truth is that the seeker and the Sought
are comparable to a picture present in a mirror: The picture is not revealed in it because
of rust on its surface; when, however you polish the mirror the picture is revealed in it.’
 174 B. Bingaman

This happens ‘neither by the movement of the picture towards it nor by its movement
towards the picture, but by the removal of the veil’ (Ghazali, 1983, pp. 26, 27).
Like Cassian, al-Ghazali suggests ways to accomplish this pursuit of purity of heart. Put
succinctly, in Jewels of the Qur’an, he asserts that the highest of all sciences is the knowl-
edge of God and the Last Day. Second to this is the knowledge of purification of the soul,
the removal of vices, and the beautification of the soul through virtues. Al-Ghazali
explains that the soul is purified from various vices through the displacing power of asce-
ticism, trust in God, satisfaction with God’s will, and the love of God. He also references
his Ihyāc, in which he details his methods of removing the veils of the carnal soul, encoura-
ging_readers to remove the carnal veils so that one might move closer to God and acquire
deeper knowledge of him (Ghazali, 1983, pp. 41– 43).7 Like Cassian, al-Ghazali too
argues that asceticism is not an end in itself, but a means to growing in the knowledge
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of God, having one’s heart purified, and cultivating the beauty of the soul through the
virtues. Furthermore, again like Cassian, al-Ghazali underscores the primacy of love in
the ascetic struggle and journey towards God.
Thus, for both Cassian and al-Ghazali, purity of heart is crucial in the believer’s quest
for God. Moreover, both authors agree that God transforms the heart of the pray-er as s/he
seeks God in prayer. How, in more practical terms, does this actually occur, and what role
does a textually-based prayer play? To this we now turn.

Practical Steps for the Journey

Those who spend time pondering the works of Cassian and al-Ghazali realize that both are
committed to a vision of spirituality that is neither too lofty nor theoretically lopsided.
Rather, they are determined to present a balanced spiritual life, one that conjoins theory
and practice. This point is especially important for the argument of this article, as it
demonstrates common ground between Cassian and Ghazali—how praying a particular
phrase from the scriptural text both nourishes and focuses the spiritual life. Accordingly,
their perspectives on the spiritual life include practical dimensions, as we shall now see.

Cassian
Cassian’s teaching on the journey toward God and his kingdom, and the requisite pursuit
of purity of heart, leads straight to his teaching on prayer and scripture. For Cassian, the
two—prayer and the Bible—are intimately connected. We shall first succinctly trace out
his perspective on how one approaches prayer and the text, noting how the interplay
between the two is crucial if one is to understand Cassian, and then point out some of
the parallels in al-Ghazali’s perspective.
The first aspect of Cassian’s teaching on prayer and the Bible stems from his interpret-
ation of a biblical text—1 Timothy 2.1, where Timothy is urged to instruct the church
regarding prayer for all people: ‘First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, inter-
cessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone’ (NRSV). Cassian sees these as four
kinds of prayer, but does not press their distinctions too far, as they usually overlap
with one another. In short, he understands them to be a general approach to God in
prayer, one that will take on various expressions at different times (Cassian, 2004a,
pp. 390 – 395).8 And, in line with our overall argument, we see that Cassian’s teaching
on prayer emerges from a particular verse of scripture.
 Cassian’s and al-Ghazali’s Conceptions of the Spiritual Life 175

A second feature of Cassian’s teaching on prayer and scripture deals with his notion that
the life of Christ is the starting point for contemplation and biblical interpretation. Cassian
is situated in the Alexandrian tradition of Clement and Origen, which emphasizes the unity
of the Old and New Testaments as the interpreter ‘finds Christ’ within the text. Integral to
this perspective is the belief that the interpreter must pursue virtue (‘purity of heart’, as
Cassian says) in order to properly understand the meaning of the text. Moreover, as
Stewart says, ‘Meeting Christ in the text was the goal of the monk who read, meditated,
and prayed over the Bible. To know the text properly was to see it transfigured and rev-
elatory of its deepest meaning’ (Stewart, 1998, p. 91) As Cassian teaches in Conference
10, ‘reading the Bible spiritually meant climbing the mountaintop with Jesus, there to
see him transfigured’ (Stewart, 1998, p. 92). For Cassian, this approach to biblical
interpretation was not simply an academic exercise in which anyone could engage. It
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was a way of life, something that required the full engagement of the interpreter’s heart
and mind (Stewart, 1998, pp. 91 and 92; cf. Burton-Christie, 1993, pp. 60ff.).
What is more, Cassian’s Christ-centered approach to the biblical text is meant to lead
one to the imitation of Christ. Meeting Christ in the text, particularly the Gospel narratives,
helps one learn more about following Christ, emulating his words and deeds of love,
mercy, and justice. Yet, as Stewart (1998, p. 97) again points out, while the disciple is
to follow Christ’s earthly example of prayer and service to others, ‘Cassian wants to
move his readers beyond imitation of the earthly life of Jesus to real participation in the
glorified Christ’. In his work The Incarnation of the Lord (2004b), Cassian ‘attacks the
Pelagians for suggesting that imitatio Christi is sufficient for salvation’ (Stewart, 1998,
p. 97). For Cassian, ‘imitation of Christ is the way to recover the full image and likeness
of God in the perfection of love. Then one is able to climb the mountain to see Christ trans-
figured’ (Stewart, 1998, p. 97; and see Stewart, 1998, pp. 96– 97; Cassian, 2004b [De Inc.
3:1 – 2, 5.11, 6.14.1] and 2004a, [Conference 11.6– 10]).
This Christological perspective, along with the demands on the interpreter’s inner life,
leads to a third characteristic of Cassian’s teaching on prayer and scripture—his tripartite
view of knowledge and the senses of scripture. This threefold scheme, based on Evagrius
Ponticus (c. 345 – 399), is praktike, theoria physike, theologia. Put succinctly, praktike is
the cultivation of the virtues, particularly through the activity of asceticism in pursuit of
the virtues. Theoria physike is the contemplation of created things, when the purified
mind begins to discern their inner structures. And theologia is the goal, when contempla-
tion ushers one into knowledge of and unity with God.
As indicated, Cassian applies this tripartite view of knowledge to scriptural interpret-
ation, but he adds his own touches, resulting in a fourfold scheme that influenced sub-
sequent generations of biblical interpreters. Put briefly, this scheme includes: (1) the
‘historical/literal’ meaning, (2) the ‘spiritual’ meaning, which is subdivided into (a) the
‘tropological’ meaning, dealing with morality and the ascetical life, (b) the ‘allegorical’
meaning, indicating spiritual mysteries prefigured or signified by the literal meaning,
and (c) the ‘anagogical’ meaning, ‘the higher and more sacred mysteries of heaven’,
which are ‘future and invisible’ (Cassian, 2004a [Conference 14.8.2 –5], pp. 437 –438;
cf. Stewart, 1998, p. 95).
Cassian’s teaching on knowledge and the interpretation of scripture brings us to a fourth
element within his perspective: how one biblical passage becomes the rudder that steers
the interpreter through the whole of scripture. For Cassian, this guiding pericope is
Psalm 70.1: ‘O God, come quickly to deliver me. O Lord, come quickly to my help!’
 176 B. Bingaman

(my translation). It is this verse that postures the heart before God, in order that one may
seek inner purity, search for the true meaning of scripture, and cling to God with all one’s
being. Cassian envisions readers before the open Bible, seeking God’s assistance in under-
standing the text, and asking God to deliver and transform them as they encounter Christ
within the words.
For Cassian, this key verse functions much like the shema‘ within Old Testament
Judaism (Deuteronomy 6.4 – 9), a passage in which God’s people are urged to recall
that the Lord is one, and that they are to love God with all their heart, soul, and might.
Cassian’s key text, like Israel’s shema‘, is to be ‘on the heart’ continually, something
that guides the teaching of spiritual children and permeates the whole of everyday life.
Cassian (2004a [Conference 10.10.15], pp. 405– 407) writes, ‘This [plea for assistance
based on Psalm 70.1] “you shall write on the threshold and doors” of your mouth, this
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you shall set on the walls of your house and in the recesses of your heart’ (cf. Stewart,
1998, p. 111).
The act of focusing on this single verse, according to Cassian, follows the spirit of
renunciation praised by Christ in Matthew 5.3. Those who are ‘poor in spirit’ will set
aside all other knowledge, including the multitude of other memorized scriptural passages,
in order to focus all their energy and attention on the presence of God by means of this
single verse (‘the poverty of this one verse’, as Cassian says (2004a [Conference 11],
p. 407)). It becomes a narrow gate by which one enters the kingdom and experiences its
manifold beatitudes. Cassian is not saying that all other biblical material should be jetti-
soned, but that this becomes the central guide to use as one charts one’s course toward
union with God. Stewart says that the key to understanding ‘Cassian’s insistence on the
formula is to realize that although prayer is anchored in this single verse, psalms are
still chanted in the “canonical” prayer of the hours, biblical lessons are read at the
liturgy and meditatio of other biblical texts continues’. This ‘formula is an undercurrent
in the river of words that carries [the pray-er] through day and night, coming to the
surface in the interstices of other forms of prayer or in times of particular need’. For on
‘the basis of total intimacy with the one verse, the monk can navigate the rest of the
Bible with ever greater delight and ease’ (Stewart, 1998, p. 112). With these four elements
of Cassian’s approach in mind, we turn now to al-Ghazali.

Al-Ghazali
As we have been arguing, there are points of consonance between Cassian and al-Ghazali
in particular themes related to prayer and the spiritual life. Of course, each author has his
own distinctive characteristics, but the parallels at certain points are conspicuous, as we
shall now indicate.
First, in a fashion congruent to Cassian’s tripartite view of knowledge, one can discern a
pattern in al-Ghazali’s approach. As Nakamura posits in his introduction to Invocations
and Supplications, there are three themes within al-Ghazali’s thought in this work. The
first is that by means of dhikr (from the verb dhakara, lit. ‘to remember, recall’ and ‘to
mention, utter’) and ducāc (lit. ‘supplication’ and ‘[humble] request’), the believer can
gain freedom from worldly bonds. Second, by practicing these forms of prayer, the
believer can attain a constant ‘remembering’ of God. And third, by means of engaging
in constant prayer, the believer can arrive at worshipful union with God. (Ghazali,
1990, pp. xxff.) These three acts resonate with Cassian’s notions of praktike (ascetic
 Cassian’s and al-Ghazali’s Conceptions of the Spiritual Life 177

practices that help free the believer from entanglement in the world), theoria physike
(contemplation that perceives and recalls God’s presence in the world), theologia
(union with God).
In addition to this correlation with Cassian on the tripartite understanding of knowledge,
al-Ghazali’s view of the multi-layered nature of the Qur’an parallels Cassian’s perspective
on the Bible. For al-Ghazali, the Qur’an is like an unfathomable ocean. Its readers must
launch into its depths, travel its breadths, journey to its many islands, and search for its
priceless jewels. Muslims are to emulate revered readers and interpreters of the Qur’an,
those from the past who have successfully journeyed into the world of Allah’s revelation,
plunged into its depths, and retrieved its precious truths. Moreover, as Muhammad Abdul
Quasem indicates in his introduction to The Jewels of the Qur’an, ‘Throughout the book
[The Jewels] there is an emphasis . . . upon employing what the author considers to be the
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correct method of apprehending the Holy Book,’ that is, ‘upon penetrating into the depth
of the inner, hidden meanings of the Qur’anic verses, without being merely content with
their outward meanings’ (Ghazali, 1983, p. 11).9 Al-Ghazali’s approach to the Qur’an,
with its emphasis on delving into the text for deeper meanings, corresponds to Cassian’s
hermeneutic. According to both authors, if the reader is to rightly understand scripture and
encounter God in the process, he must probe the text in order to discover its hidden, inner
meaning.10
As with Cassian, we shall take a closer look at how, according to al-Ghazali, prayer and
reciting selected phrases aid the believer in the spiritual journey. First, the practice of
prayer, what the Prophet and al-Ghazali call ‘the marrow of worship’ (Ghazali, 1993,
p. 91), is the vital force behind one’s religious life. Dhikr, as the act of remembering
God, includes mental activity and vocal prayer. It is associated with particular places of
worship and occasions as well as free, extra-canonical, devotional acts. According to
Nakamura, the wide range of dhikr in al-Ghazali’s thought can be divided into five cat-
egories. One category deals with the believer’s endeavor to constantly remember God,
and to turn from being preoccupied with worldly things. This turning from earthly
things to God is the most effective safeguard against Satan’s temptations. A second cat-
egory is a kind of ‘spiritual exercise’, a meditation on one’s own death and entombment,
and eschatological events such as the Last Judgment, Hell, and Paradise.11 Thirdly, dhikr
signifies the repeated invocation of God’s name or utterance of a sacred formula. We shall
return to this in a later section, after touching on the other two categories. The fourth is the
attainment of the state of single-heartedness (ikhlās). ‘It is the inner state’, says Nakamura,
_
‘reached as a result of constant practice of dhikr, both mental and vocal, and other ascetic
practices as well.’ Further, it ‘is the higher spiritual state in which a [person] is solely bent
on God and [their] mind is completely submerged in the thought of Him’. And this ‘is what
Ghazali means when he says that “the real essence of dhikr is established in the heart only
after the heart is consolidated in the fear of God (taqwa) and purified from the blame-
worthy qualities”‘. As a result, ‘no matter what the Sufi may do, [his/her] mind and
thought always turn to God. No effort is needed for the remembrance (dhikr) of God.
[They are] freed from all worldly concerns’ (Ghazali, 1990, pp. xx– xxx). Lastly, the
fifth category of the usage of dhikr ‘is the most intensified method of repeating incessantly
the name of God (Allah) or a simple phrase such as ‘Glory be to God!’ (Subhana ’Llah),
without being disturbed by any other thought whatsoever’ (Ghazali, 1990, p. xxvi).
In addition to Ghazali’s teaching on dhikr are his notions of ducāc, the kind of prayer
that ranges from supplication to humble requests and praises of God, and confidential
 178 B. Bingaman

talk (munajāt) between God and humans (Ghazali, 1990, p. xxviii). Al-Ghazali likens
ducāc to the act of drinking water to quench thirst. He explains that ‘supplication requires
the presence of the heart with God, and this is the apex of the acts of worship’. Further, he
says that need ‘requires supplication, and supplication brings back the heart to God with
humility and submission, so that there results the remembrance [of God], which is the
noblest of the acts of worship’ (Ghazali, 1998, pp. 90– 91).
Because ducāc is ‘so vital to the inner life of the human heart,’ says Nakamura, ‘it is best
to make du‘a as often as possible on every occasion in our daily lives, without waiting for
need, calamity, or ill luck’ (Ghazali, 1998, p. xxxv). In order to aid the believer in ducāc,
al-Ghazali suggests two things. First, he advises that believers utilize the many prayers
handed down from the Prophet, the early pious Muslims, and the saints. This will
insure that ducāc is efficacious, properly performed, and instructive for the novice
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pray-er (Ghazali, 1990, p. 36). Second, al-Ghazali recommends that believers ‘organize
and regulate daily life for this single purpose with the practices of invocation (dhikr), sup-
plication (du‘a), Qur’an-recitation (qira’a), and meditation (fikr)’ (Ghazali, 1998,
p. xxxv). Therefore, each day is divided into twelve parts, each one having particular exer-
cises for the remembrance of God. ‘Thus, every moment of daily life’, asserts Nakamura,
‘is punctuated by the practice of dhikr and du‘a’ (Ghazali, 1998, p. xxxvi).
It should also be pointed out that, on this theme of persistent du cāc, believers are to
follow the example of Muhammad, not unlike the way Cassian urges his readers to
follow Christ. Muslims are to imitate Muhammad’s life of prayer, his exercises of devo-
tion, his overall manner of worship, and all his manners and customs in daily life. To
follow Muhammad and all the prophets is to take in their prophetic medicine and remedies
that cure all the ailments of the heart and soul (Ghazali, 1983, p. 42; cf. Lings, 1983,
p. 43).12
As noted above, in an approach similar to Cassian, al-Ghazali employs the repetition of
certain scriptural phrases in order to free the mind, recollect, and remember God through-
out the day. While Cassian focuses on Psalm 70.1, al-Ghazali suggests qur’anic phrases
such as, ‘Remember Me and I will remember you’, ‘Glory be to God, and praise be to
Him’, and ‘There is no God but God.’13 Scripturally-rooted prayers like these aid believers
in their pursuit of God and purity of heart.
Moreover, the fruits of praying in this manner are, as we have seen in both Cassian and
Ghazali, an increasingly purified heart, a mind that remembers God, a safeguard against
the attacks and temptations of Satan, and (particularly for Cassian) a guide for the
proper interpretation of scripture.

Prayer, Pericope, and Ecstasy

One final result of this textually-based approach to prayer is the experience of ecstasy. Put
succinctly, according to Cassian, constant meditation on Psalm 70.1 may lead to a form of
prayer that is indescribable. He writes in Conference 10:

Our mind arrives at that incorruption of prayer . . . that is not concerned with consid-
ering any image, and indeed is not distinguished by any accompaniment of voice or
words, but with the intention of the mind on fire (ignita) [this prayer] is produced
through an inexpressible ecstasy of heart (per ineffabilim cordis excessum), by an
insatiable keenness of spirit (inexplebili spiritus alicritate); and so the mind
 Cassian’s and al-Ghazali’s Conceptions of the Spiritual Life 179

altered beyond sense or visible matter pours forth [prayer] to God with unutterable
groans and sighs. (Stewart, 1998, p. 117)

This experience in prayer is the gift of divine grace, the spiritual ravishment of the mind
and heart, and is so profound that it bursts the limits of human understanding and
expression. Perpetual meditation on the words of Psalm 70.1 postures the heart and
mind of the pray-er to receive such an extraordinary grace, but it is a divine and rare
gift, and cannot be acquired by human effort alone (Stewart, 1998, pp. 117 – 118).
According to al-Ghazali, a similar experience may come to one who engages in intense
dhikr. By the repetition of the name of God (Allāh) or one of the simple qur’anic phrases
noted above, such as ‘Glory be to God!’ (Subhana ’Llah), the ardent pray-er may ulti-
mately come
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to a state in which his effort to move his tongue drops off and it looks as if the word
were flowing on his tongue all by itself. Then let him adhere to this until any trace of
motion is removed from his tongue and he finds his mind persevering in dhikr. Then,
let him still adhere to this until the image of the word, its letters and shape are
effaced from his mind and there remains the idea of the word alone in the mind,
clinging to it, as if it were glued to the mind, without separating from it. (Ghazali,
1990, p. xxvi)14

And, in another piece that must be quoted in its entirety to convey the full idea, al-Ghazali
explains that the one who prays and puts him/herself at the disposal of God’s mercy is like

One dumbfounded (madhush), absorbed in the sea of direct witnessing (ayn al-
shuhud) . . . The Sufis express this state by saying that ‘he has passed away from
himself’ ( faniya ‘an nafsihi). Whenever a man has passed away from himself, he
has passed away from all besides himself. Then it is as if he passed away from
everything except the Witnessed One, and passed away from the act of witnessing.
For the heart, whenever it turns aside to view the act of witnessing and itself as a
witness, becomes heedless of the Witnessed One. And for he who is infatuated
with a thing which he sees, there is no turning aside, in his state of absorption,
toward his witnessing, nor toward his own self through which his vision comes,
nor toward his heart in which his joy lies. (Ghazali, 1990, p. xxvii)

For both Cassian and al-Ghazali, one begins with constant recitation of the scripturally-
based prayer (or name of God), which may lead to a state of ecstasy, when one moves
outside of him/herself, is enflamed or dumbfounded, and encounters the Divine. As is
the case with most mystical writers, they struggle for words to describe this profound
experience. Nonetheless, their modus operandi share resonant features and may occasion-
ally lead the believer to a moment of ecstasy.

Concluding Remarks
This article has argued that Cassian and al-Ghazali share certain characteristics in their
perspectives on the spiritual life, highlighting parallels or points of consonance between
them—their vision of the spiritual life as a journey to God, the requisite purity of heart
 180 B. Bingaman

and unceasing prayer, practical steps for the spiritual journey, and the important role of
praying selected scripturally-based phrases, an act that sometimes leads the pray-er to
experiences of ecstasy.
Moreover, it has contended that this approach to prayer, one rooted in a passage such
as Psalm 70.1 for Cassian, or a qur’anic phrase such as ‘There is no God but God’ for
al-Ghazali, is central to their vision of the religious/spiritual life. It is not something
tangential, but is crucial to the believer’s attainment of union with God. For both
Cassian and al-Ghazali, this recitation and meditation on the phrase aids in liberation
from sin, remembering God throughout daily life, and experiencing profound intimacy
with God.
Finally, while arguing for these consonant notions, the article has also noted that there
are distinctive elements within each writer. One example of this was how Cassian’s tex-
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tually-grounded approach to prayer influences one’s interpretation of scripture. The

pray-er’s cry for divine assistance helps him/her discern the presence of Christ in the bib-
lical text. Nevertheless, even in light of this and other distinctions, it can be maintained
that Cassian and al-Ghazali share congruent thoughts and practices, particularly in the
themes of the spiritual journey, the importance of prayer, and the centrality of rehearsing
and ruminating on the text, a practice that invigorates the believer’s quest for God. It is
these intriguing parallels between Cassian and al-Ghazali—representatives of two distinct
traditions—that exemplify ways that Christian and Muslim scholars can meet on common
ground, engage in constructive interreligious dialogue, and foster the love of God and
neighbor in the world.

Acknowledgments
This article is based on a paper presented at the University of Notre Dame, at the confer-
ence From Res Publica to the Republic of Letters: The Common Good in Transition and
Translation, sponsored by the Kellogg Institute for International Studies, 9 – 11 October
2008. I also express my gratitude to Dr Marcia Hermansen, Director of the Islamic
Studies Program and Professor in the Theology Department at Loyola University
Chicago, for reading this essay and offering helpful suggestions.

Notes
1. Available on the Common Word and Yale University websites: http://www.acommonword.com
(accessed 8 January 2009) and http://www.yale.edu/faith/abou-commonword.htm (accessed 8
January 2009).
2. John Cassian (c. 360–433), known as one of the ‘Scythian monks’ or ‘Desert Fathers’, promulgated
monastic writings that profoundly influenced Benedictine, Cistercian, and Trappist monastic move-
ments. He is the only Latin writer to be included in the Orthodox Philokalia (Palmer et al., 1983),
which indicates his importance in both Eastern and Western Christianity. For helpful biographical infor-
mation on Cassian, see Chadwick (1968). Al-Ghazali (1058– 1111) was an influential Islamic theolo-
gian, philosopher, and mystic, who helped systematize Sufism. For biographical information on al-
Ghazali, see Watt (1998) and McCarthy (2000).
3. The methodological approach followed in this article is influenced by a number of thinkers. In short, my
own interest in the dialogue between religious mystics began with studying the Catholic author Thomas
Merton (e.g., Merton, 1996) fifteen years ago. After Merton, I studied the work of Kenneth Cragg, the
Christian Islamicist (e.g., Cragg, 2000). In more recent years, I explored the phenomenological works of
the Jewish scholar Abraham J. Heschel (e.g., Heschel, 2001), as well as those of the Orthodox Bishop
 Cassian’s and al-Ghazali’s Conceptions of the Spiritual Life 181

Kallistos Ware and his dialogue with Sufis (Ware, 2002). Additionally, I have read the transcendental
Thomists Karl Rahner (2000) and Bernard Lonergan (1990), both of whom are deeply influenced by
Ignatian spirituality and the aspiration for interreligious dialogue. Lastly, I am currently exploring the
works of David Burrell (2004), Elizabeth Johnson (2002), Hans Urs von Balthasar, who analyzes a
wide range of mystical authors (1993), William Harmless (2007), and Bernard McGinn (2003),
whose research on the modern study of mysticism traces the various theological, philosophical, and com-
paritivist approaches.
4. At particular points, more gender inclusive language will be used when citing a text, always indicated by
square brackets.
5. On the Holy Fathers of Sketis and on Discrimination—Written for Abba Leontios (Palmer et al., 1983,
p. 95).
6. As is his custom, Cassian anchors his reflections to biblical texts. On these themes of asceticism, purity
of heart and love, and apatheia, Cassian points to such texts as Romans 6.22; Philippians 3.13–14; and 1
Corinthians 13.4– 13 (Cassian, 2004a [Conference I.5.2– 3], pp. 396– 397). Stewart also notes how
Cassian emphasizes the importance of showing hospitality to those in need, rather than refusing to
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break off from prayer or ascetic exercises: ‘In the Institutes Cassian praises the willingness of Egyptian
monks to suspend their fasts for the sake of hospitality, an accommodation to charity he claims was
unknown in the evidently more priggish monasteries of Palestine. The principle of placing hospitality
over discipline is a strong theme in the Egyptian desert tradition of the Apophthegmata, and Cassian
found the lesson important enough to mention four times in the Conferences’ (Stewart, 1998, p. 44).
7. It is also interesting to see the list of vices al-Ghazali spells out, along with ‘the praiseworthy qualities
with which the soul should be made beautiful’. The vices are: greed, anger, pride, ostentation, conceit,
envy, love of influence, and love of wealth. The virtues are: asceticism, trust in God, satisfaction with the
divine decrees, love of God, truthfulness, and sincerity (Ghazali, 1983, p. 42). In another study, it might
be worth juxtaposing Cassian and Ghazali’s perspectives on the virtues and vices, exploring their clas-
sical sources (both philosophical and theological), noting ways they adopt and adapt these sources in
their own works.
8. The well-known Cassian scholar, Columba Stewart, says, ‘For Cassian these four kinds of prayer are not
“forms” (modus) of prayer like those outlined in books 2– 3 of the Institutes; rather than structures or
models of prayer, they are attitudes or stances’ (Stewart, 1998, p. 106).
9. It is also intriguing that al-Ghazali, in his teaching on understanding the Qur’an, speaks of the ‘Throne
Verse’ (in the first sūra) as the chief of all the verses. The special place given to this passage is interest-
ing, especially when compared with the way Cassian underscores the importance of Psalm 70.1 and its
role in requesting divine aid in understanding the Bible, as well as verses such as Israel’s shemac (as
highlighted by Christ in Mark 12.28–31).
10. I am grateful to Timothy Winter of the University of Cambridge for suggesting helpful sources on
al-Ghazali’s hermeneutic. A recent essay by Paul Hardy (2008) explores aspects of this. Also worth
mentioning are Kamal (2004) and Whittingham (2007).
11. It would be interesting to juxtapose al-Ghazali (in this second category) with Ignatius Loyola’s Spiritual
Exercises (1991), where spiritual disciples are urged to meditate on similar themes.
12. Ghazali, preface to Book XX of Ihya Ulum al-Din
13. Ibid., 5, 18, 19.
14. Ihya, III.18– 19.

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