Al-Ghazali’s Unspeakable Doctrine of the Soul

Timothy J Gianotti

Hardback

9789004120839

Unveiling the Esoteric Psychology and Eschatology of the Ihya

This text marks a radical rethinking of the soul and the afterlife in the writings of al-Ghazālī (d. 505/1111), particularly within his magnum opus, Reviving Religious Knowledge (Ihyā’ulūm al-dīn). Attending closely to variations of genre and discourse mode within his works, it attempts to resolve some of the major ambiguities that have vexed al-Ghazālī’s readers for nearly nine hundred years.

Beginning with his theory of multi-level, multi-genre writing and working through his theological, philosophical, and mystical positions on the soul’s true nature, the study culminates in an exploration of al-Ghazālī’s mystical “psycho-cosmology”, where some startling conclusions are drawn regarding his most intimate thoughts on the “secrets” of the soul and the Hereafter. 

Contents

1. All Things to All People? Deciphering al-Ghazālī’s Doctrine of Discourse

2. al-Ghazālī’s Dogmatic/Theological (Kalāmī) Formulation of the Soul

3. Al-Ghazālī’s Condemnation of the Philosophical Psychology and Eschatology in the Incoherence of the Philosophers (Tahāfut al-falāsifa)

4. The Heart {Al-Qalb) and Al-Ghazālī’s Mystical Discussions of the Soul

5. Through a Looking Glass: The Heart Reflected in Al-Ghazālī’s Mystical Cosmology

6. The Wayfarer's Final Journey: Al-Ghazālī’s Esoteric Eschatology (Conclusion)

Appendix: Translation and Commentary: 'The Epistle of Presence'