Al-Iqtisād fī al-iʿtiqad (), or The Moderation in Belief is a major theological work by Abū Ḥāmid Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad

al-Ghazali Al-Ghazali ( – 19 December 1111; ), full name (), and known in Persian-speaking countries as Imam Muhammad-i Ghazali (Persian: امام محمد غزالی) or in Medieval Europe by the Latinized as Algazelus or Algazel, was a Persian poly ...

George Hourani George Fadlo Hourani (3 June 1913 – 19 September 1984) was a British philosopher, historian, and classicist. He is best known for his work in Islamic philosophy, which focused on classical Islamic rationalism and ethics. Biography George Ho ...

indicated that the ''Iqtisad'' and ''

Mizan al-amal Mizan ( ar, ميزان, lit=balance) is a concept in Quran, which has been described as "the principle of the middle path" and "the overarching divine principle for organizing our universe". Azizah Y. al-Hibri argues that ''Mizan'', as the "divine ...

'' were completed before or during Ghazali's crisis of faith. It led him his post at the Niẓamiyya school in

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...

and enter the path of

Tasawwuf Sufism ( ar, ''aṣ-ṣūfiyya''), also known as Tasawwuf ( ''at-taṣawwuf''), is a mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spirituality, ...

. In it, he offers what scholars consider as the best defence of the Ash'arite school of Islamic theology. He also expressed strong reservations about a theology based on

taqlid ''Taqlid'' (Arabic تَقْليد ''taqlīd'') is an Islamic term denoting the conformity of one person to the teaching of another. The person who performs ''taqlid'' is termed ''muqallid''. The definite meaning of the term varies depending on con ...

and marked by

polemics Polemic () is contentious rhetoric intended to support a specific position by forthright claims and to undermine the opposing position. The practice of such argumentation is called ''polemics'', which are seen in arguments on controversial topics ...

. In this book, Ghazali makes an attempt to respond to the extreme literalists and the

Muʿtazilites Mu'tazilism ( ar, المعتزلة ') was a theological movement that appeared in early Islamic history and flourished in Basra and Baghdad (8th–10th century). Its adherents, the Mutazila or Mutazilites, were known for their neutrality in the dis ...

. It is the balance between reason and revelation that led to the title of book ''The Moderation in Belief''.

Ghazali begins the book with praise for God and importance of

revelation In religion and theology, revelation is the revealing or disclosing of some form of truth or knowledge through communication with a deity or other supernatural entity or entities. Background Inspiration – such as that bestowed by God on the ...

. On one hand, he says, a person who is not guided by reason will misunderstand the revelation while on the other hand a rationalist may exceed the limits leading to rejection of the plain meaning of revelation. The right course, he says, is to reconcile reason with revelation, one that puts reason at the service of understanding and then interprets the revelation. Reason, together with the Revelation, is light upon light as mentioned in

Quran The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , ...

chapter 24, verse 35. Next comes an explanatory chapter with its four introductions and four main sections. Ghazali's main topic throughout is in praise of God, depicting it as a work of theology.

Translations

A translation into English of the first sections was published as a dissertation by Dennis Morgan Davis Jr. in 2005. The first complete English-language edition of was made by Aladdin M. Yaqub, and published by the University of Chicago Press in 2013.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moderation in Belief, The Books by Al-Ghazali Books about Islam Kalam Sunni literature Ash'ari literature Sufi literature Persian literature Islamic theology books Islamic belief and doctrine 12th-century books

Contents

Translations

References