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doubt the infallibility of sense-perception, and to rest his philosophy rather on
principles which are intuitively certain. But Ghazali had far superior spiritual
and ethical qualities not to mention a path to spiritual reality, and far reaching
global balance and so Al-Ghazali classified and addressed the various
seekers of truth of his time into four distinct groups: Theologians,
Philosophers, Authoritarians, and Mystics.
Scholastic theology had already achieved a fair degree of elaboration in the
defense of Islamic traditions, as a perusal of al-Irshad by al-Juwayni,
(translated into French), will show. Al-Ghazali had been brought up in this
tradition and did not cease to be a theologian when he became a mystic. His
criticism of the theologians is mild. He regards contemporary theology as
successful in attaining its aims, but inadequate to meet his own or anyone
special‟s spiritual needs because it did not go far enough in the elucidation of
its assumptions. There was no radical change in his theological views when
he became a mystic, only a change in his interests, and some of his earlier
works in the field of strict rules are quoted with approval in The Savior from
principles which are intuitively certain. But Ghazali had far superior spiritual
and ethical qualities not to mention a path to spiritual reality, and far reaching
global balance and so Al-Ghazali classified and addressed the various
seekers of truth of his time into four distinct groups: Theologians,
Philosophers, Authoritarians, and Mystics.
Scholastic theology had already achieved a fair degree of elaboration in the
defense of Islamic traditions, as a perusal of al-Irshad by al-Juwayni,
(translated into French), will show. Al-Ghazali had been brought up in this
tradition and did not cease to be a theologian when he became a mystic. His
criticism of the theologians is mild. He regards contemporary theology as
successful in attaining its aims, but inadequate to meet his own or anyone
special‟s spiritual needs because it did not go far enough in the elucidation of
its assumptions. There was no radical change in his theological views when
he became a mystic, only a change in his interests, and some of his earlier
works in the field of strict rules are quoted with approval in The Savior from