Sheikh Muhammad Al-Ghazali wrote a large number of books on different aspects of Islam and the present-day situation of the Muslim community throughout the world. In all his writings, Al-Ghazali has been an advocate of Islam, putting forward its principles, illustrating its values, defending its people and battling against its enemies. We referred briefly in our previous articles to his disagreement with the second leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, which led to his departure from the movement, and we mentioned that the decision of his expulsion hurt him so much. But it was a blessing in disguise. It did not only mean that he was spared the long imprisonment endured by many leading members of the movement, extending in many cases to 20 years. It also meant that he remained a free voice for Islam, defending its cause at a time when such voices were heavily suppressed. His role in those years was very vital. His writings and speeches reminded friends and foes alike that Egypt continued to be a stronghold of Islam that could never be easily diverted from its Islamic character.
Sheikh Al-Ghazali had a great passion for Islam which was reflected in all his writings and his powerful style. The flow of his style also benefited by his strong argument and scholarly approach. It is impossible to refer to all his books and give a brief note of their subject matter. He wrote more than 50 books in his long career. But we will refer to two main lines in his writings.
One of his early books is Fiqh Al-Seerah, which is a study of the life of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). In this book we see Al-Ghazali’s fine literary style and his scholarly approach intertwined with the spirit of the Muslim advocate and the passionate love of the Prophet which he no doubt felt throughout his life. Thus, his approach to the Prophet’s biography was not that of a historian recording events and looking at them with hindsight. His approach aimed at analyzing each event, outlining what we should learn from it. He pointed out what was the result of divine guidance and what was the Prophet’s own choice as a human being. In his book, he travels with the Prophet from birth to prophethood, and then through the hard times he faced in Makkah and the triumphs achieved in Madinah, with the setbacks suffered when the Muslim community were not up to the standards required by Islam. It is worth noting that he wrote this book when he was in Madinah, living in the city where many of the events he was recording took place.
The other aspect in this line is his solid commitment to the Sunnah as it explains the Qur’an and defines how it should be implemented. We note that some writers strongly criticized Al-Ghazali because over his rejection of a small number of Hadiths which he felt to be defective or less than authentic. When we go through his books, we find his conscious commitment to the Sunnah exceedingly clear. Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi sums up Al-Ghazali’s position toward the Sunnah in the following five points:
1. Al-Ghazali never entertained any doubt as to the position of the Sunnah as the second source of Islam. No one who reads any of his books, written at any time in his life, fails to recognize this.
2. Al-Ghazali has always been a strong advocate of the principle that makes the Sunnah binding on all Muslims. In his books he strongly attacks all those who raise doubts about the Sunnah.
3. Al-Ghazali believes that the Prophet provided the highest example of human perfection. He combined the total sum of earlier messages with the virtues of all earlier prophets. Thus, his example provides the best guidance humanity can have.
4. All his books, speeches and lectures quote extensively from the Hadith. His arguments are often based on the verbal and practical Sunnah.
5. Al-Ghazali might have rejected some Hadiths which other scholars find authentic, but this rejection is based on a scholarly approach leading to conviction that these Hadiths could not be authentic.
The other main line in Al-Ghazali’s writings is the Qur’an. His love and constant reading of the Qur’an was exemplary. He memorized it at an early age, and he kept it in memory through daily readings. Rarely did he make a mistake when he quoted from memory.
In his writings, Al-Ghazali relied heavily on the Qur’an to drive his point home to his readers. Moreover, he devoted a number of his books to the Qur’an, such as Nazarat fil-Qur’an, or Reflections on the Qur’an, and Al-Mahawir Al-Khamsah lil-Qur’an Al-Karim, or The Five Main Themes of the Qur’an. These are: God’s oneness; the universe as a pointer to the Creator; stories of past communities; resurrection, reckoning and reward; and finally, education and legislation.
Toward the end of his life, Al-Ghazali wrote Al-Tafseer Aal-Mawdoo’ie lil-Qur’an, which has been translated into English and published by the International Institute of Islamic Thought under the title: A Thematic Commentary on the Qur’an. This is a highly valuable book which takes every Surah as a complete unit, tackling one particular theme. In this book, Al-Ghazali presents each Surah, relating its end to its beginning and showing how no Surah ever moves away from its subject matter. He identifies the underlying thread that connects all its parts. In this he shows great insight.
In his introduction to this book, Al-Ghazali mentions that he was influenced in this approach by the late Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah Draz who shows how the longest Surah in the Qur’an, The Cow, is highly consistent in its thematic design. Draz treats this aspect in a book recently published in English by the Islamic Foundation under the title: The Qur’an: an Eternal Challenge. Al-Ghazali mentions elsewhere that his first teacher in his approach to the Qur’an was Hassan Al-Banna, the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood. To give an example of his finer points concerning the Qur’an we may cite the following quotation concerning the arrangement of Qur’anic Surahs. He writes: "As I read the Qur’an, sometimes I feel that the time gap between two Surahs, or even two verses, is wide indeed. I wonder whether this is deliberate in order to alert the reader to this gap! Toward the end of the Qur’an we find the Surah Victory comes immediately after The Unbelievers (these are Surahs 109 and 110), although the second of these two Surahs was revealed toward the end of the Madinah period, while the first, The Unbelievers, was revealed early in the Makkah period. This means that the time gap between the revelation of these two Surah was more than 20 years. As we read the Qur’an, moving from one to the other, the time gap is wrapped up in a moment.
"The first of these two Surahs, 109, was revealed at a time when Islam was still a new trend, its advocates working hard and its opponents stubbornly rejecting it. The Surah’s role was to establish the principles of the practical unity of the Muslim community, regardless of the sacrifices required for its achievement and the obstacles put in its way. The second, 110, was revealed at a time when every indication was pointing to the ultimate victory of Islam. Arabian tribes which adopted a hostile attitude at first were flocking to the fold of Islam. The great messenger of Islam was feeling the end of his blessed life was approaching. He was preparing himself with increased glorification of God and prayers for forgiveness, after having spent a life of jihad that could never be matched even by the greatest warriors. The burden he shouldered was enough to weaken mountains.
"The two Surahs provide clearly contrasting pictures: one sews the seeds and the other depicts the harvest. Once more I wonder: is it the intention behind this arrangement of the Qur’anic Surahs that we should feel the contrast?"
Much more could be written about Muhammad Al-Ghazali, a great scholar and a warrior for Islam. Up to his last day, he was fighting for his cause. May God shower His mercy on him. (Concluded)
