A Moslem seeker after God

[1] “Sketches from Eastern History,” Theodore Nöldeke. London, 1892, p. 98.

[2] “Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.”

[3] “The Assemblies of al-Hariri,” trans. by Thomas Chenery. London, 1867. Vol. I, Introduction, p. 5.

[4] Der Islam, Band V, Heft 2/3; C. H. Becker, Strassburg, 1914, pp. 239, 291.

[5] Mediæval India, in “The Story of the Nations Series,” Stanley Lane-Poole, New York, 1903, p. 37.

[6] “The Caliphate, its Rise, Decline and Fall,” 1892, p. 578.

[7] That there was not only close social, but religious and polemical contact between the learned men of Christian sects and those of Islam long before this period, and especially during the life of Al-Ghazali is well known. See especially the life and writings of Al-Kindi, John of Damascus, and Theodor Abu Qurra as given by A. Keller in “Der Geisteskampf des Christentums gegen den Islam bis zur Zeit der Kreuzzüge” (Leipzig, 1896) and “Christliches Polemik und Islamische Dogmenbilding,” by C. H. Becker (“Festschrift Ignaz Goldziher,” pp. 175-195). The latter shows clearly that Islam borrowed considerably from Christianity, through controversy, both in its dogma and ritual even as late as the tenth century.

[8] Cf. “The Lesser Eastern Churches,” Adrian Fortescue, London, 1913.

[9] Cf. The Moslem World, Vol. VI, p. 385.

[10] See article on “The Arabic Bible” in The Moslem World, October, 1916.

[11] “Missionary Achievement:” A survey of world-wide Evangelization, London, 1907, pp. 22, 26.

[12] “Minhaj et Talibin of An-Nawawi,” trans. from the French of L. W. C. Van Den Berg by E. C. Howard, London, 1914, pp. 467 and 469.

[13] These badges of servitude, called Ghayar, are referred to as obligatory in Al-Ghazali’s “Wajiz.” See the chapter on infidel-subjects.

[14] Richard Gottheil gives the contents of a fatwa on the appointment of Dhimmis to office dated about A. D. 1126 and given by one Ahmad ibn Al Husain. “To place an infidel in authority over a Moslem would never enter the mind of one who had a sound heart. He who does so must either be a godless fellow or be ignorant of Moslem law and practice. He attempts to prove that a Dhimmi (i. e. Jew or Christian) is not even to be used as a scribe, a money-changer, or a butcher; citing passages from the Koran and the Traditions” (“Festschrift Ignaz Goldziher von Carl Bezold,” Strassburg, 1911, pp. 203-208).

[15] “The Early Development of Mohammedanism,” London, 1914, p. 131.

[16] Milner, “The History of the Church of Christ,” London, 1834, p. 531, Vol. II.

[17] “The Pulse of Asia,” Houghton, Mifflin & Co., New York, 1907, p. 325.

[18] See however Gardner’s Al-Ghazali in the “Islam Series” (pp. 1-3) where we have this note: “The district of Tus contained four towns, Radkan, Tabaran, Bazdghur, and Nawqan, (Yaqut gives the spelling as Nuqan) and more than 1,000 villages.” (See Yaqut, quoting Misʾar bin Mukhalhil, vol. vi, p. 7. Ibn Khallikan, vol. i, p. 29. Jackson, From Constantinople to the Home of Omar Khayyam, p. 267, 284 ff.) Of these four towns, Tabaran was the capital, while Nawqan was the most populous. It was outside of Nawqan that ʿAli bin Musa ar-Rida and Haroun Ar-Rashid were buried. Thus, the present Mashad represents the old Nawqan, and must cover some at least of the site of that city; while the ruins now known as Tus represent the old city of Tabaran, which, having been the capital of the district, was commonly called by the name of the district. It was outside Tabaran that Al-Ghazali and Firdausi were buried. It is a mistake to regard Tus as having been a metropolis containing four boroughs. That there ever existed a city of Tus stretching thirty-five miles, from Mashad to Radkan, is incredible. As-Samʾani, in the Kitabu’l-Ansab, says that Tus contained two towns and over one thousand villages.

[19] “The Glory of the Shiah World,” London, 1910. In this book we have an interesting picture of Mashad and Tus as they are to-day.

[20] “Kashf al-Mahjub,” pp. 173-174.

[21] “Hayat-ul-Hayawan,” by Damiri.

[22] Referred to in his “Life of Al-Ghazzali.”

[23] Ibn Khallikan (Vol. I, p. 29, Cairo, 1310) leaves little doubt that Samaʾani spells it with one “z,” Ghazali. So also is the spelling of German Orientalists including Brockelmann. He writes (Vol. I, p. 419) “So, als Nisbe zu Gazala, einem kleinen Orte bei Tus, nach dem ausdrücklichen Zeugnis des Samʾanis, jenes ausgezeichneten Kenners iranischer Namen, (s. o. p. 330) b. j. Hall, nr. 37; die von Gosche 1, 1, nr. 3 auf Grund später, persischer Quellen verteidigte Schreibung ‘Gazzali’ verdankt offenbar einer Volksetymologie ihr Dasein in Anlehnung an die nach al Samʾani in Hwarizm gebräuchlichen Nisben, wie al Qassari für al Qassar. Sujuti den Gosche citiert bestätigt keineswegs seine auffassung, sondern gibt seine Quelle als Samʾani genau wieder.” Clement Huart (“History of Arabic Literature,” p. 265) gives the preference to Ghazali; so do the French Orientalists in the Revue du Monde Mussulman, Goldziher in his latest work Vorlesungen über den Islam (1910), and the well-known Dutch Arabist, Snouck Hurgronje. Yet in spite of all this those who prefer “Ghazzali” may appeal to the highest Moslem authority, namely, Mohammed the Prophet who is said to have declared to some one in a dream that this was the correct spelling. (See “Murtadha,” Vol. I, p. 18.) I have a fatwa from the Sheikhs of Al-Azhar, Cairo, however, stating that the true spelling is now agreed on by Moslems as Ghazali with one middle radical.

[24] Macdonald.

[25] From the Biography given at the end of Miskat-ul-Anwar, Cairo edition (1322).

[26] “The Confessions of Al-Ghazali,” trans. by Claud Field, London, 1909.

[27] Cf. Appendix VII in Macdonald’s “Muslim Theology, Jurisprudence and Constitutional Theology.”

[28] I follow here the contents of Ghazali’s own Wajiz.

[29] D. B. Macdonald, “Life of Al-Ghazzali,” Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. XX, p. 76.

[30] Huart, “Arabic Literature.”

[31] “Lalla Rookh.”

[32] “Baghdad under the Abbasside Caliphate,” G. Le Strange, Oxford, 1900, p. 298.

[33] Several of these are given at length by Murtadha.

[34] Macdonald, p. 88.

[35] Macdonald, p. 90, and see Bibliography.

[36] “The Maqamat.”

[37] “Manuel d’Art Musulman,” Vol. I, Paris, 1907.

[38] Compare on the chronology the first chapters of Gardner’s “Al-Ghazali,” 1919 (Christian Lit. Soc. for India).

[39] Quoted in Klein’s “Islam,” page 87, from the Ihya, IV: 320.

[40] For the significance of these terms consult Hughes’ “Dictionary of Islam.”

[41] That this method of seeking God is still a refuge for the most earnest and sincere among Moslems is clear from such books as “The Autobiography of Imad-ud-Din the Indian Convert” (C. M. S., London).

[42] Gardner finds evidence that the book mentioned was not written there.

[43] “The Jewish Encyclopædia,” article “Machpelah.”

[44] A recent traveller says: “There is a hole in the wall which is supposed to communicate with the cave below. Jews write letters to Abraham and place them in this hole, to tell him how badly they are being treated by the Moslems. But the Moslem boys are said to know that the hole has no great depth, and to collect these letters and burn them before Abraham has seen them.”

[45] Cf. his “Ihya” and also his “Al-Wajiz.”

[46] M. J. De Goeje, “Memoire sur les Carmathes du Bahrain et Les Fatimides,” (Leiden, 1886) pp. 104-114.

[47] In the Ihya Al-Ghazali gives the prayer to be offered when kissing the Black Stone.

[48] “Mekka,” Dr. C. Snouck Hurgronje, Vol. I, den Haag, 1888.

[49] Burton’s “Pilgrimage,” Vol. II, Appendix, pp. 323-324.

[50] Macdonald, “The Life of Al-Ghazzali,” pp. 97-98.

[51] Burton’s “Pilgrimage to Al-Medinah and Meccah,” Vol. I, p. 12.

[52] Macdonald’s “Life of Al-Ghazzali,” pp. 105, 107-108, quoted from Murtadha.

[53] Quoted in Hayat-ul-Hayawan.

[54] An exposition of the Creed of the People of the Sunna on the two Words of Witnessing (kalimatai ’sh-shahada) which form one of the foundations of Islam. This creed is intended to be committed to memory by children. It forms the first section of the second book of Ghazali’s Ihya, Vol. II, pp. 17-42 of edit. of Cairo with commentary of the Sayyid Murtadha. We are indebted for the translation to Professor Macdonald (Muslim Theology and Jurisprudence).

[55] For the process see pp. 170 et seq. of “Mafatih Al-Ghaib” (Cairo, 1327) by Ahmed Al-Zarkawi, a contemporary Egyptian magician, and on the subject in general, the sixth and seventh Risalas in that volume.

[56] Cf. Al-Faidh al Mutawalli of Ahmed Damanhuri, Cairo, 1331.

[57] “Encyclopædia of Islam,” article Buduh.

[58] See a paper on this subject by Ali Bey Bargat, Sur Deux Bronzes du Musée Arabe—“Bulletin de l’Inst. Egypt.,” IV: 7.

[59] For critical notes on his works see R. Gosche, pp. 249-300, also Gardner’s remarks and list.

[60] “The Mystics of Islam.”

[61] Macdonald, p. 72.

[62] Compare the two statements facing this chapter; also the references to “The Gospel,” in Chapter IX.

[63] “Jewish Encyclopædia,” article “Ghazali.”

[64] Macdonald.

[65] In regard to the influence of Al-Ghazali’s writings, R. Gosche remarks: “It is characteristic how his influence has spread. The later mystical portions of his Ihya have especially influenced Mohammedan circles in India. His two works on philosophy exerted influence in Spain and among later Jewish writers, for the best manuscripts of the Tahafut are found in Maghrabi character.”

[66] Adolf Wuttke, “Christian Ethics,” Vol. I, p. 172.

[67] Macdonald, pp. 118-119.

[68] “Ihya,” Vol. II, pp. 32-33, “Mizan al ʿAmal,” pp. 126-128, etc.

[69] “Alchemy of Happiness,” pp. 94-96.

[70] “Alchemy of Happiness.”

[71] “Mizan al ʿAmal.”

[72] “The Mystics of Islam.”

[73] “The Way of a Mystic,” The Moslem World, Vol. II, p. 171.

[74] “Mystics of Islam,” p. 18.

[75] Yet strange to say there was often an utter divorce between these high ideals and practical morality. A surprising statement is made by Al-Ghazali regarding Junaid in this connection. “Ihya,” Vol. II, p. 19.

[76] “Essays on Islam,” by Rev. E. Sell, Madras, 1901, p. 13.

[77] “Mohammedanism,” C. Snouck Hurgronje, New York and London, 1916.

[78] “Der Islam,” Band V, Heft 2/3 article, “Al-Ghazali’s Mishkat Al-Anwar and the Ghazali Problem,” by Canon W. H. T. Gairdner.

[79] “Development of Mohammedanism,” pp. 143-144.

[80] “Ihya,” chapter on Repentance.

[81] One of the texts he uses is (Surah 2, verse 222), “Verily, God loves those who repent and loves those who are purified.” The context is in relation to the infamous statement “Your wives are your tillage, etc.,” which many Moslem commentators interpret as a license for immorality. No wonder that Al-Ghazali was led in this connection to begin to speak on the text “all have sinned” although he does not quote St. Paul’s first chapter to the Romans.

[82] “Al-Badajet,” Cairo Edition, p. 41.

[83] Zwemer, “The Moslem Christ.”

[84] Goldziher, in “Z. D. M. G.,” XXXII, 344.

[85] “Jewish Encyclopædia,” Art. Bible Versions.

[86] After completing this research I found a fuller account of all references to Jesus Christ in Moslem Literature, especially the Ihya as given by Michaël Asin et Palacios in Logia et Agrapha Domini Jesus apud Moslemicos, etc., in Patrologia Orientalis, Tome XIII fascicule 3. Paris 1917.

[87] The story is repeated in Vol. III, p. 206; cf. Matt. 6: 16-18.

[88] These last quotations are from the translation by Homes which was from the Turkish. There seem to be several editions of the “Alchemy of Happiness” and the text varies as well as the number of chapters.

[89] “The Development of Metaphysics in Persia,” p. 75.