Imam Al-Ghazali: Hujjatul Islam in Search of the Truth
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Abu Hamid Muhammad Al-Ghazali was born in Thus, Khurasan, in 450 Hijriah, from a simple family - his father was a wool spinner who before he died entrusted his two sons to a Sufi to be educated. From that humble point, this child rose to become the most talked about Muslim thinker in the last thousand years. His brilliance led him to study with Imam Al-Haramain Al-Juwaini in Naisabur, then attracted the attention of the grand vizier Nizhamul Mulk. In his thirties he was appointed to lead the Madrasah Nizhamiyah Baghdad - the most prestigious university in the Islamic world at that time. Hundreds of scholars attended his lectures; his name shines; the dignitaries respected him. He mastered Shafi'i jurisprudence, ushul, kalam science, and dissected philosophy to the point of writing shocking criticism of philosophers. Then an event occurred that made his story immortal: at the peak of his glory, he experienced a great spiritual crisis. He asked himself โ who is all this knowledge and fame really for? He found his heart uneasy, and worried that his deeds would be tainted by love of position. To the point that his tongue is speechless and he is unable to teach. So he left Baghdad, his position and his big name - wandering for years in khumul (hiding himself) in Damascus and Baitul Maqdis, purifying his heart and reorganizing his intentions. From this adventure, his magnum opus was born: Ihya' Ulumiddin - Reviving Religious Sciences - a giant project that unites external jurisprudence with internal jurisprudence: prayer and devotion, muamalah and honesty, knowledge and sincerity. His other books, such as Bidayatul Hidayah and Minhajul Abidin, are still studied in Indonesian Islamic boarding schools. At the end of his life he returned to Thus, founded a science council and studied Sahih Al-Bukhari, until he died in 505 Hijriah. From Al-Ghazali we learn a piercing lesson: even the highest achievements can be empty if the intentions are cloudy - and it is never too late to dismantle yourself for the sake of sincerity. He earned the title Hujjatul Islam not only because of his intelligence, but because of his courage to subdue that intelligence before Allah.