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Rare_Sermons_of_Jesus, page : 14
Hidayah), presents one side of the teaching there given, namely, the religious
practices and the conduct in social relationships which al-Ghazali set up as an
ideal. Thus The Beginning of Guidance is an introduction to the Ihya‟; it deals with
the „purgative way‟ and directs the reader to the larger work for what lies
beyond that. The ideal resembles that of a monastic third order with a very strict
rule; it does not seem to be suited to the hurried life of a modern city. Yet al-
Ghazali‟s seriousness and sense of urgency stand out vividly and communicate
themselves. The book is interesting, too, in that, though al-Ghazali‟s standpoint is
almost modern in many ways, dark forces of superstition are prominent in the
background proof that people need true siritual coaching.
Al-Ghazali has sometimes been acclaimed in both East and West as the greatest
Muslim in his time as the proof of Islam and a great follower of Prophet
Muhammad, and he is by no means unworthy of that dignity. His greatness rests
above many on four things: (1) He was the leader in Islam‟s supreme encounter
with Greek philosophy-that encounter from which Islamic theology emerged
victorious and enriched, and in which Arabic Neoplatonism received a blow
from which it did not recover. (2) During the revival of Greek philosophy in the middle
ages, many Christians were attracted and swayed by the persuasion of Greek logic. In an effort to
practices and the conduct in social relationships which al-Ghazali set up as an
ideal. Thus The Beginning of Guidance is an introduction to the Ihya‟; it deals with
the „purgative way‟ and directs the reader to the larger work for what lies
beyond that. The ideal resembles that of a monastic third order with a very strict
rule; it does not seem to be suited to the hurried life of a modern city. Yet al-
Ghazali‟s seriousness and sense of urgency stand out vividly and communicate
themselves. The book is interesting, too, in that, though al-Ghazali‟s standpoint is
almost modern in many ways, dark forces of superstition are prominent in the
background proof that people need true siritual coaching.
Al-Ghazali has sometimes been acclaimed in both East and West as the greatest
Muslim in his time as the proof of Islam and a great follower of Prophet
Muhammad, and he is by no means unworthy of that dignity. His greatness rests
above many on four things: (1) He was the leader in Islam‟s supreme encounter
with Greek philosophy-that encounter from which Islamic theology emerged
victorious and enriched, and in which Arabic Neoplatonism received a blow
from which it did not recover. (2) During the revival of Greek philosophy in the middle
ages, many Christians were attracted and swayed by the persuasion of Greek logic. In an effort to