Al-Ghazali - The Muslim Thinker Who Outpaced Descartes
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0:00René Descartes' famous formula, "I think, therefore I am," argued that if an individual was capable of doubting their own existence, then they must necessarily exist to
0:088 secondsexperience that doubt. His method, which made doubt a central instrument for demonstrating existence, would revolutionize the Western philosophical landscape and foster
0:1717 secondsthe birth of modern philosophy. But it is possible that someone had anticipated Descartes in this way of philosophizing. Much earlier, in the 9th century, a perceptive scholar began
0:2828 secondsby questioning all his beliefs, deconstructing and then reconstructing the assertions of others. This approach was both a source of intellectual dynamism
0:3737 secondsand despair for many philosophical currents. This form of doubt would become the catalyst for an unprecedented intellectual upheaval in the
0:4444 secondsmedieval world. From childhood, his insatiable curiosity seemed unparalleled. His teachers often reprimanded him for asking too many questions and readily engaged in debate. His
0:5454 secondspassion for knowledge is evident in a well-known anecdote. While still a student, he was attacked by highwaymen. They searched his bags and stole
1:021 minute, 2 secondsall his possessions. He begged them to at least let him keep his study notes. The bandit leader burst out laughing and asked the young scholars what good knowledge could be if it
1:101 minute, 10 secondscould be so easily taken from them. Later, Al-Ghazali would say that this was one of the best pieces of advice he had ever received. From that day forward, he resolved to memorize all his knowledge
1:201 minute, 20 secondseach time he wrote it down so that it could never be taken from him again. And indeed, he flourished intellectually. He eventually surpassed his own teachers, who had already praised the immensity of his erudition, comparing him to a mother in whom one could drown.
1:341 minute, 34 secondsAl-Ghazali's path led him to teach at one of Baghdad's most prestigious institutions under the patronage of the Sultan himself. His works brought him immense renown.
1:441 minute, 44 secondsSome of his reflections even anticipated most modern philosophies. He remains a major figure, both rational and spiritual, who addressed an accusation still levelled against believers today: that of blindly following doctrines without critical reflection.
1:581 minute, 58 secondsEven before the age of 20, he was already denouncing human laziness. He found people negligent
2:042 minutes, 4 secondsand observed that most simply adapted to the ideas they had been taught rather than trying to develop their own. Many followed the traditions of their ancestors without even
2:142 minutes, 14 secondsquestioning them. He observed that religious, scientific, or philosophical convictions were often merely the product of environment and education. Although the rationalism
2:222 minutes, 22 secondsof Avicenna and Al-Farabi already dominated his era, Al-Ghazali believed that those most guilty of intellectual conformism were not ordinary believers but rather certain philosophers, particularly the Neoplatonists who were heirs to Aristotle.
2:372 minutes, 37 secondsHaving himself been praised by his fellow thinkers for his exceptional mastery of philosophy, notably through his work *The Intentions of the Philosophers*, his rejection of credulity reached its climax with the publication of his famous treatise *The Incoherence of the Philosophers*.
2:502 minutes, 50 secondsHere, the term "philosopher" does not refer to philosophy in the modern sense, but to a doctrinal system developed in an Arab-Muslim world that inherited a complex synthesis
2:582 minutes, 58 secondsof Neoplatonism and Aristotelianism, transmitted and transformed after the conquests of the Near East.
3:043 minutes, 4 secondsIn this text, he particularly attacks three of the eighteen metaphysical propositions that philosophers had naively adopted from the Greeks. One of the questions was
3:123 minutes, 12 seconds: Has the universe always existed? Al-Ghazali rejected the idea that the universe had always existed with God. This thesis, notably defended by Avicenna,
3:213 minutes, 21 secondsmaintained that God had not created the universe in time because that would imply a change in Divine will would introduce a form of contingency into God himself. For Al-Ghazali,
3:303 minutes, 30 secondsthis was merely an unproven hypothesis. According to him, time and the universe were created by God according to an eternal decree. In other words, God existed for all eternity without the universe and freely possessed the will to bring about things independently of time itself.
3:433 minutes, 43 secondsThe Neoplatonists responded that such a conception would render divine choice arbitrary. Why would God create the universe at one time rather than another without any particular reason?
3:513 minutes, 51 secondsBut for Al-Ghazali, this was precisely the representation of pure omniscience, of a true capacity to create. He then offers a famous comparison. Imagine a man presented with two perfectly identical dates, equally appealing and desirable.
4:064 minutes, 6 secondsNothing compels him to choose one over the other. If human beings can make seemingly arbitrary choices, Al-Ghazali asks, what would prevent God from acting freely in
4:144 minutes, 14 secondsthe same way? Moreover, it is precisely this freedom to will without external constraint that makes God an absolutely free agent. Human beings, on the other hand, appear
4:224 minutes, 22 secondsto make free choices, while in reality they are often determined by external, sometimes uncontrollable, causes. Al-Ghazali also reveals what he considers a double
4:304 minutes, 30 secondsstandard among Neoplatonist philosophers. For, he asks, could we not also question God about the very properties of the universe? Why was it created exactly
4:394 minutes, 39 secondsas it is? Why not larger, smaller, colder, or hotter? If we accept a degree of arbitrariness in the characteristics of the world, then we must also accept it in the
4:474 minutes, 47 secondsvery fact that the universe began to exist at some point. To conclude his critique, Al-Ghazali asserts that the Neoplatonists fall into the trap of infinite regress,
4:564 minutes, 56 secondsparticularly when they affirm the eternity of the world—precisely the kind of philosophical difficulty they sought to avoid. This objection remains a subject of debate
5:035 minutes, 3 secondstoday. Another proposition attacked in the philosophers' inconsistency concerns the idea that God only knows universals and not particular realities.
5:115 minutes, 11 secondsAt that time, particularly with Plato's ideas, it was believed that there is a general idea of humanity, and that it is this form that God observes, not the individual in particular. That is to say,
5:215 minutes, 21 secondsthere is a universal idea of humanity, an abstract, ideal, and general essence. Then there are particular individuals with their concrete characteristics: tall, short, thin, stout,
5:305 minutes, 30 secondswicked, or kind. For the Neoplatonists, God does not know singular individuals situated in time and space like you or me. He only knew the universal man, independent
5:395 minutes, 39 secondsof temporal and material circumstances. Through this theory, he sought to support the immutable and eternal nature of the divine. Al-Ghazali could have simply asserted that this idea
5:495 minutes, 49 secondscontradicted the sacred texts, as any dogmatic theologian would have done. But he chose a different path and proceeded to demonstrate this methodically. According to him, the Neoplatonists
5:585 minutes, 58 secondswrongly presuppose that any change in the object of knowledge necessarily implies a change in the essence of the one who knows. Yet, he argues, God can perfectly know
6:066 minutes, 6 secondsparticular realities without his essence being altered. His knowledge can encompass the changing events of the world without his divine nature undergoing the slightest transformation.
6:166 minutes, 16 secondsIn their attempt to preserve divine majesty, the philosophers, according to Al-Ghazali, paradoxically end up stripping God of his essential attributes:
6:236 minutes, 23 secondspower, will, and living knowledge. In his view, he unwittingly diminished
6:296 minutes, 29 secondsGod's power. Next, he refutes the Neoplatonic thesis that explained that bodies would not be resurrected on Judgment Day. The Neoplatonists supposed that only the soul would survive. To this, Al-Ghazali simply replies that the philosophers offer no argument.
6:436 minutes, 43 secondsThis is crucial because it concerns not a scientific question but one pertaining to revealed truth. He argues that science cannot speak to what lies beyond death.
6:526 minutes, 52 secondsTherefore, it is impossible to formulate theories that can be validated. In this way, Al- Ghazali maintains a clear epistemological distinction between religion and empirical science,
7:017 minutes, 1 secondwhile also highlighting the internal contradictions of philosophers. According to him, philosophers overestimate their rational capacity. Realities pertaining to the unseen and the metaphysical must remain
7:097 minutes, 9 secondsunder the authority of scripture, while other forms of knowledge can be examined rationally and empirically. It is essential, however, to clarify that Al-Ghazali was not
7:177 minutes, 17 secondsagainst philosophy. He even demonstrated that certain areas of philosophy, particularly ethics, were very important. He recognized many commonalities between
7:267 minutes, 26 secondsancient virtue and Islamic morality. One day, he abandoned his teaching positions, left money to his family, and withdrew from public life to become a simple meditator in the mosques
7:357 minutes, 35 secondsof Jerusalem. This crisis ultimately led Al-Ghazali to a profound disillusionment with purely theoretical philosophy, prompting him to adopt a form of critical skepticism.
7:447 minutes, 44 secondsEven in his daily experience, he already possessed certain intuitions similar to those of René Descartes. He wondered, moreover, how we could place such trust in our
7:527 minutes, 52 secondssenses when they so often deceive us. And if intuitive logic allows us to correct certain sensory illusions, he continued, might there not be forms of knowledge
8:008 minuteseven superior to logic itself? For after all, if our senses can be fallible, what makes us think that logic is not also? This reflection would nourish his immense
8:108 minutes, 10 seconds40-volume work devoted to ethics and practical reason. An attempt to revive spirituality while concretely helping ordinary people found a form of inner peace
8:188 minutes, 18 secondsand contentment. Even today, some intellectuals portray Al-Ghazali as a false fanatic, an ultra-orthodox religious figure who declared mathematics diabolical.
8:298 minutes, 29 secondsThey even claim he destroyed the intellectual golden age of the Muslim world. Nothing could be further from the truth. Philosophy and the natural sciences continued to
8:368 minutes, 36 secondsflourish for centuries after his death, thanks in large part to his famous critic, Aeveroes. Al-Ghazali should instead be remembered as a thinker who sought to harmonize reason and faith, providing structure and direction to humanity's quest for wisdom.
8:508 minutes, 50 secondsHe died in 1111, retired to his hometown, leaving behind a warning: "He who determines truth solely through men will remain lost in the plains of
8:588 minutes, 58 secondsconfusion. First experience truth, and then you will recognize what brings it." Indeed, his understanding of causality has influenced the Islamic world as much as Western thought.
9:159 minutes, 15 secondsWhen we see fire consuming wood, we conclude that fire is the cause of this combustion. Yet, according to Al-Ghazali, this perception is misleading.
9:249 minutes, 24 secondsFire does not inherently have the duty to burn. Fire and combustion coincide simply because God brought them about simultaneously. In other words, it is not fire that acts, but God who
9:339 minutes, 33 secondscreates the event of burning at every moment. From this idea stems what tradition would later call occasionalism. God is the sole true cause, and all natural phenomena
9:439 minutes, 43 secondsare merely occasions through which His will is exercised. He explained that he was proving to himself that the link between a cause and its effect was only an appearance shaped by divine will
9:529 minutes, 52 secondsand not a necessity inscribed in things themselves. In the Aristotelian tradition, natural phenomena are linked by essential properties. Thus, fire burns
10:0010 minutesbecause it possesses within itself the quality of combustion. Avicenna, continuing this line of thought, asserted that all the causal chains of the universe originate solely in
10:0910 minutes, 9 secondsGod. But Al-Ghazali opposes this deterministic view. While affirming that God is the ultimate cause of all things, he rejects the idea that natural causes
10:1710 minutes, 17 secondsnecessarily produce their effects. According to him, what we call cause and effect is merely a habit of perception, a regularity established by divine will, and not a necessity inscribed
10:2610 minutes, 26 secondsin nature itself. Al-Ghazali's critique also extends to inductive reasoning.
10:3110 minutes, 31 secondsPhilosophers argued that since fire has always burned in the past, it is reasonable to conclude that it will always burn. Al-Ghazali rejects this certainty. The accumulation
10:3910 minutes, 39 secondsof past experience does not establish any future necessity. Nothing guarantees that what has been will be again. What we call the law of nature is merely an observed regularity, not an objective truth.
10:4910 minutes, 49 secondsThis questioning foreshadows, several centuries later, the reflections of David Hume, who would also assert that causality is not an objective connection but a habit of
10:5710 minutes, 57 secondsthe mind shaped by repetition. For Al-Ghazali, denying the necessity of causes amounts to restoring power to God. If natural causes possess their own efficacy,
11:0811 minutes, 8 secondscertain events would occur independently of God. Such an idea would introduce a limit to His power. By rejecting this autonomy of nature, Al-Ghazali reaffirms that everything depends exclusively on divine will. From this perspective, the world changes its appearance.
11:2211 minutes, 22 secondsFire does not burn by its very nature; it burns because God wills it. Natural laws are no longer necessities but regularities established by divine will. Al-Ghazali thus introduces
11:3211 minutes, 32 secondshabit to express our perception of causality. By repeatedly witnessing the same events, the human mind eventually comes to believe in a necessary link. But this link does not exist in
11:4211 minutes, 42 secondsthings themselves. It exists solely in our perception. The mind confuses repetition with necessity, regularity with causality. This critique of causality would have a lasting influence. In
11:5211 minutes, 52 secondsWestern thought, David Hum would take up a similar idea. We never observe causality itself, only the constant succession of these phenomena. In the Middle Ages,
11:5911 minutes, 59 secondsthe Latin tradition of Al-Ghazali would also influence certain Christian thinkers, including Thomas Aquinas, who sometimes opposed this thesis on divine power and the order of the world.
12:0812 minutes, 8 secondsHis questioning of causality continues to fuel many debates on determinism.
12:1412 minutes, 14 secondsHe thus developed a series of intellectual manifestos, attacks directed against the currents he considered extreme or destructive in his time. He knew them intimately,
12:2112 minutes, 21 secondshaving been in contact with them in Baghdad, and in many cases, he emerged as the most effective defender of traditional Sunni Islam against tendencies deemed deviant. In keeping with tradition, Avicenna
12:3112 minutes, 31 secondsoffered remarkably coherent syntheses, sometimes in a systematic and ambitious form, sometimes in more metaphysical and mystical writings. His position rested on one idea:
12:4012 minutes, 40 secondsrevelation is indeed of divine origin, but it is primarily addressed to the masses. However, God cannot directly reveal ultimate truth to limited minds. He therefore speaks to them through symbols,
12:4812 minutes, 48 secondsnarratives, and prescriptions adapted to their understanding. But beyond this pedagogical function, an intellectual elite, endowed in his view with a superior capacity for intellection, must transcend the revealed text to reach first principles through reason alone.
13:0113 minutes, 1 secondThis distinction between an exoteric truth for the people and an esoteric truth for the wise structures his thought. And it is precisely this point that Al-Ghazali will challenge. For behind
13:1013 minutes, 10 secondsthis hierarchy of knowledge, he perceives a danger: that of subjecting wisdom and spirituality
13:1613 minutes, 16 secondsto an autonomous structure. This structure risks drifting and becoming detached from the message itself. Al Ghazali, in a broad reading of the Quranic doctrine, understood very early on the danger represented by the intellectual seduction exerted by the great philosophical systems of his time.
13:3013 minutes, 30 secondsFaced with this, Al-Ghazali decided to fight the philosophers on their own ground.
13:3413 minutes, 34 secondsHe first set about mastering their system completely. He dismantled Avicenna's reasoning, not in the name of dogma, but by revealing its internal contradiction,
13:4213 minutes, 42 secondsits inability to stand according to its own principle. The work is organized into some twenty sections devoted to the philosophers' principal errors. Three theses struck him as
13:5013 minutes, 50 secondsparticularly serious, to the point of placing them beyond the bounds of orthodoxy, notably the eternity of the world. The philosophers maintained that the world was not created in time,
13:5913 minutes, 59 secondsbut that it has existed for all eternity as a necessary consequence of divine generosity. And according to him, this is an error. The denial of bodily resurrection and of the judgment as described in
14:0714 minutes, 7 secondsrevelation, replaced by a symbolic or intellectual interpretation, is also an error , as is the limitation of divine knowledge to universals, excluding the particular details of the
14:1514 minutes, 15 secondssensible world without judgment, which is unworthy of divine perfection. On each of these points, Al-Ghazali was very severe. He asserts not only their theological error but also their logical inconsistency. According to him, philosophers cannot defend their own theses without contradiction.
14:2914 minutes, 29 secondsAfter him, Avinec's philosophy does not disappear, but it loses its central position in the Islamic intellectual world. Averroes attempts a later, more nuanced response without
14:3814 minutes, 38 secondsmanaging to reverse this underlying trend. Thus, Al-Ghazali becomes the emblematic figure of a unique possibility: that of a highly sophisticated, highly rational thought
14:4814 minutes, 48 secondsthat nevertheless remains firmly within orthodoxy. His legacy lies in demonstrating that intelligence and spiritual fidelity can coexist within the same
14:5514 minutes, 55 secondsintellectual framework without one abolishing the other. He is therefore a thinker who greatly interests me, given that I also try to do this. Reason and spirituality should not be separated, just as the body should not be separated from the mind.
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