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The Study of al-Ġazālī

Author(s): W. Montgomery WattSource: Oriens, Vol. 13/14 (1960/1961), pp. 121-131Published by: BRILLStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1580308 .

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THE STUDY OF AL-GAZALI

by

W. Montgomery att

Edinburgh

Therecentlyublished ooksofDr. FaridJabre nal-Gazdli,ogetherwith he

posthumousessay'ofMaurice

Bouyges,once

againdirect he

attention fstudents f slamto this mportantMuslim hinker. herehas been ittledetailedworkon him sinceA. J.Wensinck's a Pensdede Ghazzdlf1940) and Dr. Margaret mith'sAl-Ghazdl theMystic(1944). Thereason s doubtless hesomewhat auntingharacterf suchan undertaking.here refew horoughlyeliable exts, nd muchworktobedoneonmanymanuscripts.here reproblemsbout theauthenti-city f everalworks. bove ll therestherichness,ras Wensinck alledit the 'Proteancharacter' f al-Gazdli'sthought.He was pioneering,

constantly xploring he applicability f fresh deas to a varietyofsubjects.To use a favouritemetaphorfhisown,histhoughts a vastocean in whichall but the most skillednavigators re liable to losetheirway.Thepresent rticle ontains omepreliminaryonsiderationsabout the navigation f thisocean.

? I. QUESTIONS OF METHOD

The methodologicalssumptions nderlyingabre'swork re impor-tant, ndworthyffulleronsiderationhanhe himselfives hem.Out

of the argenumber fbooksascribed o al-Oazdlihe regards score sconstitutingtextuseceptus,ndmakesthese hebasis ofhisstudyofal-Gazdli's houghtwhich, s will be seenin ? 2, he holdsto be self-consistenthroughout).he books ncluded n thistextus eceptusand

1 La NotiondeCertitudeelonGhazalidans sesorigines sychologiquesthistoriques(ftudes Musulmanes,VI), Paris, Vrin,1958; La Notion de la MacrifachezGhazali(Recherches, VIII), Beirut, Lettres Orientales, 1958. (Referredto as Certitudeand Macri/a).Essai de Chronologiees Oeuvresde al-Ghazdli.Beirut,1959; editedbyMichel Allard with notes on subsequent publications.The editorhas earnedthegratitudeof scholarsby his competent nd painstakingwork.This is not affectedby one or two small slips; e.g. (p. 50 note) the translationby J. Robson is oftheioth principleof the second part of the Arbacin; (p. 80 note) there seems nodifficultynsupposing hat a falsifiermight uote the Ihya', and call it our book'.

121



122 W. MontgomeryWatt

placedin chronologicalrder) re thosewhose uthenticitys generallyaccepted. n thus electingertainworks orprimaryonsiderationnd

neglecting thersJabre ntendsto leave open the questionwhetherthe latterare authentic r not (Certitude1); and remarks ereandtheresuggest hat his inclinations not to reject any workwithoutmuchmore onclusive roof f ts falseness han can usuallybe given.

Thismethod fbeginningrom textuseceptusppears obe thebestwayofdealingwith he vast and amorphousorpus azalianum. A solidfoundations necessary romwhich o commenceperations.f a bodyofaccepted exts uchas Jabreusesshows hatal-Gazdli's hought as

a highdegree fconsistencynd,evenwheret develops, as continuitywithin he development-andthere s good reasonforthinkinghis

possible-thenthiswillbe a basisfordealingwithquestions fauthen-ticity.Where work laims o be by al-Gazdli t mustnowbe possibleto showthatthe viewsexpressedn it are somehow ontinuouswiththose n thetextuseceptus,ven when here re superficialifferences.Such a procedure dmittedly resupposes onsistencynd continuityin al-Gaz~li'sthinking,ut themore his s shown o be presentn thetextuseceptus,he more ustificationhere s for ssumingts existence

throughoutisgenuinewriting.AnillustrationfthispointmaybefoundnWensinck'sreatmentf

theconceptionfcabarfit.irsthe quotes passagesfrom he hyd' andtheImld'wherehe phere f he abaritsdescribedsbeingntermediatebetween hoseofthemulk nd themalakit theworlds fsenseand ofthought) nd correspondingo feelingn man1. But a fewpages later(Pense'e 8 f.)he quotesother assages wheremalakftand cabariithavechanged laces, o that the atter s thehighest'; ndhe adds thatthis

changen

terminologys 'not

surprisingincethemutual relation f

malakftnd cabarit s not constant n al-FdrdbindAvicenna, uthorsfromwhomGazdli argely orrowed iscosmologicalerminology'.hisishardlydequate. fal-Gazdli asanythingpproachingheconsistencyJabre laimsforhim,he couldnot have executed uch a volte-face.omaintainWensinck'sosition n thispoint herewouldhaveto bemuchmorediscussionfthe deasunderlyingheterminology,ndan attemptto show omecontinuitynthese deasdespite hechangesnthewordsused. If,as seems ikely, o suchcontinuityan be found,hiswouldbe

1 Pense'e83-85; there s a much fullerbut essentially imilardiscussionof thepointin his article On theRelation between hazali'sCosmologynd hisMysticism,Mededeelingender KoninklijkeAkademie van Wetenschappen,Afdeeling etter-kunde, Deel 75, serie A (Amsterdam, 1933), 183-209 (= no. 6). Al-Gazdll has afuller account in Arbac~n (Cairo 1344). 49.



The studyofal-Oazall 123

an additional eason orholdinghat d-Durraal-/fxira,here he econdsetofpassages s found,s notauthentic.

Jabredoesthepresentwriterhehonour fusingan article n 'TheAuthenticityftheWorks scribed o al-Gazdl~' o support he detailsofhis extuseceptus.Sinceheproceeds, owever,osaythatquestions f

authenticityre eft pen,he s not nfact cceptinghe main rgumentsof the articlebut onlythe chronologicalist ofworks based mainlyonal-Gazdli's eferencesopreviousworks). helisthasreceived urther

general onfirmationromBouyges'Essai de Chronologie. This workwas completed y 1924 butnotpublished, erhapsbecausetheauthorwas not satisfiedwith t 3. He had, however,made a careful tudyof

manymanuscripts,nd his conclusionsarrymoreweight hanthosebased onlyonprinted exts.The orderof the maingenerally-acceptedworks fal-Gazdlis thusfairlywellestablished.

One pointof Jabre'schronologyalls for comment.He places the

Mustazhiri irstn theworkshe considersCertitude), thusrejectingtheviewof gnazGoldziher hat tcontained referenceotheTahdfut.A briefustificationfhisdating f theMustazhiri,houghwithoutnyreferenceo Goldziher'srguments,s given ater;but it is based only

on subjectivempressionsfstyle, nd does notgive anysolidreasonforrejectingheseargumentsr anyalternative ay ofexplaininghe

correspondencesetween the Mustazhirfnd the Tahdfutnoted byGoldziher Certitude 16, cf. 371). The comparativeneglectof thispointis unfortunate,or t is one ofthechief upports fJabre'sfinalcon-clusions.

It is also strange o findhim ncluding workby al-Cuwaynin thetextus eceptus f al-Gazdli.The reasonis that thiswork,al-'Aqfda

an-Niyzdmiya,as transmittedyal-Oazdli Certitude8,note).But this

is no justificationorncludingt among l-Gazdli's wnworks, owever

1 JRAS 1952, 24-45. In this article there was no mention of Macaric al-Quds,but reasonsforholding t to be unauthentic re given byA. S. Tritton,n BSOAS,22/1959, 353.

2 The chiefdifferences the discovery hatthe Ilcam was apparently ompletedonly a fewdays beforeal-Gazdli's death and must therefore e his latest work.

Jabre s aware of thisdatingand has accepted it (Certitude74 note,401), thoughhe has not made the corresponding lteration n his openinglist of al-Gazall'sworks. G. F. Hourani, in JAOS, 79/1959, 225-33, is also aware of the date of the

Ilcam, buthas unfortunatelyeen overtakenby themuch fullerworkofBouyges.3 His dissatisfactionwas doubtlessdue to a realizationof the vastness of the

total task. This can be seen by comparing he relevant sectionof BouygeswithFr. Meier's fulltreatment f Nasihat al-muliik nd at-Tibr al-masbiik n ZDMG,93/1939, 395-408.

4 Streitschrift... egendie Bdtinijja-Sekte,Leiden, 1916, 28, 45 (referringo

Tahafut, d. Bouyges, 260). Bouyges,Chronologie2, acceptsGoldziher's rgument.




closehis relation o al-Cuwaynimaybe. Actually hetreatmentftherelation etween hedistinguishedupiland hischief eachers oneof

theweaker arts fJabre's tudy, or nce gainheargues romubjectiveimpressions; l-Gazdli is visiblyembarrassed y the scholasticpre-sentation.. .' (80o),nd in the qtisddhe finds imselfheprisoner f aterminologynd ofa complex fideaswhichdo notsatisfy im' (88;contrast l-Gazdli's wnfavourable iew oftheIqtisdd n Arba'fn, 4;written fter hyd').

Despitetheseweaknessesn matters fdetailanddespite heabsenceof fullustificationf heproceduredopted,Jabre'smethods a soundoneand

oughto leadto a decision fthe

questionetween im nd the

partisans fsucha view as Wensinck'swhich cceptsthe existence fserious nconsistenciesn the thinking f al-Gazdli. f Jabre'smethodcan show he existence f a largemeasure fconsistency,t willbe diffi-cultto go on maintaininghatal-Gazdliwas a completelynconsistentthinker.

? 2. UNITY AND CONTINUITY OF THOUGHT

Jabre ends o theview that there s an essential nityn al-Gazdli's

thought hroughouthewhole fhistextus eceptus;nd itmustbe saidthathe has marshalled vast amount f evidence o support hisview.In thefuture ll scholarswho do not accepttheunitary haracter fal-Gazdli's hought ave the onus aid uponthem fdemonstratinghecontrary.n particular heviewofDuncan Black Macdonald cf. EI1s.v. al-Ghazzdli;also JAOS 20/1899,71-132), the most widely acceptedviewat thepresent ime,willhave to be re-examined. ccordingo thisviewal-Gazdli's areer alls ntotwo distinct hases, newhere e was ascholastic

heologiannd onewherehe was a

mysticwhohad

largelyrejectedscholastic heology.Jabre,afterwide researcheswithin heselected imits, ives t as hisviewthat in thesphere fthe truths fdogma, properlypeaking, hemaster n his interpretationseepstotheAM'ariteystemn its broad ines' (Certitude71. Cf.J.-M.Abd-el-Jalil,Autourde la Sincerite' 'al-Cazzdl, MelangesLouis Massignon,Damascus 1956, 57-72, esp. 70). This is a point which must be taken

seriously.t hasnowreceived owerfulonfirmationrom hediscoveryby Bouyges fa date fortheIlcdmwhichmakes t the atestofall al-

Oazhli'sworks ; forthe Ilcdmis concernedwithproblems f ta'bh1t

1 Chronologie o-82; there seems no good reason forrejectingthis date. Itrequiresa change in the position given to the Ilcam in the list in JRAS 1952,p. 44; but that list s not in strict hronological rder, nd such a changedoes notaffect he principles n which t is based.



The studyofal-Oazall 125

(anthropomorphism)hich reessentially ithin heuniverse fdiscourseof scholastic heology. hus, even if al-Gazali n 1095 abandonedhis

career o adopta kind ofmonasticife,he did notcease to be a juristand theologian. houghhe permitted imself omefreedomn specu-lation, eremained ithin hebroad ines f he entral unniteradition.

It is important,owever,o go onto askwhether hisessential nityofal-Oazdli's hought ules out all development.t might e expectedthatthecrisis f 1095, not to mention hephilosophicaltudiesoftheimmediatelyrecedingears, ndthegrowthf he nnerifentheyearsafter,wouldlead to modificationsn al-Gazali'sintellectual osition.Suchmodifications

ightegradual,

utthey

ouldhardly

ail ocome.Jabre, n theother and, ends o disallow hepossibilityf suchmodi-ficationscf.Certitude38: '~ ce pointde vue, la penseede Gazdlin'a

pas change').His methods to interpretl-Gazdliby himselfs far as

possible, hat is, to comparepassageswithone another. This is in

general, fcourse, n excellentmethod, ut nhisapplicationf tJabreseems obringna dubious ssumptionbouttheunitaryndunchangingcharacter fal-Gazdli's hought. hismaybe illustrated rom hecon-

ception fdawqor mmediatexperiencesc.of divine hings) ndfrom

theclosely elated onceptionfa faculty bove reason.In the above-mentionedrticleon The Authenticityf theWorksattributedo al-Cazdli t was maintained hat in theMunqid and theMiskdt l-Gazdli sserted heexistence fa sphere bove thesphere freason,whichhe calledthesphere fdawq;thiswas thecharacteristicofprophets nd saintsbutwas shared n to someextentby ordinarymen. n making hispoint was primarilyutting orward criterionof authenticityand not of chronology,houghchronology as also

involved), nd claiminghata work ikeMi'rdcas-salikinwhich peaksofreason s thehighest aculty ouldnotbelong o theclosingyearsofal-Gazdli's ife.At thesame time saidthat so far s I have beenableto discover,heword_dawqs notused nthis pecial ense ntheIhyd','and thatthegeneral iew of the ihyd'was thattheresults eachedbyintuitionwere identicalwith those reachedby reason,and did not

belong o a higherphere.n justificationf his tatement passagewas

quotedfrom he second-last ookof the Ihyda', . at-Ta/akkur: 'the

1 Ib. 268. A complete understanding, f course, requires also a comparisonwith earlierIslamic thought.This is particularly lluminatingn the case of al-O;azll, and the discussionof 'certainty'would have benefitedfrom a study ofthe previoususe of the word yaqin. Jabredeliberatelyneglectsthe background;cf.his slip (p. 18) in attributing it al-quliib o al-Mulhisibi.

2 iv. 354 (363f.);anotherpassagewhichmighthave been quoted is thedefinitionof caql in i. 73 f. (75f.),translated n Certitude 49 ff. In referenceso the Ihyia'



126 w. MontgomeryWatt

knowledge f the methodof employingnd profitingrom sc. suchknowledges onealreadyhas) sometimes omesthrough Divine ight

in the heart rising rom henaturaldisposition/itra),s inthe case ofthe prophets... and sometimes-and this is more usual-comes from

study nddiscipline'.Jabre rightly alls attention o a number f passages priorto the

Munqid where_dawqsused nthetechnicalense, nd t s very seful ohave thisfurther aterial . Part of the nterest f thismaterial ies inthewayinwhich l-Gazdli eemsto be working radually owards he'technical ense' (as found n theMunqid). In severalof thepassagesin the

Ihyd'to which

Jabrerefers,

dawqeans immediate r actual

experience' utis not restrictedo mystical xperience. The threefoldclassificationf theMunqid,namely,mdn, ilm,_dawq, aybe said tobe implied n some passages of the Ihyd', and is explicitly tatedin the Arba'(n (esp. Ihyd' iv. 255 (265f.); Arba'zn 57; Munqid, Da-mascus 1939/1358, 135). To the passages listed by Jabre might beadded one from heMaqsad where l-Gazdli ays thatknowledge ydawqofGod's essence s impossibleCairo, Almiya n.d.,2offi: ann ,fasl 4); this hows hecomplexitiesf thematter. espitetheexistence

of thesepassages,however,heusefulness f_dawqand theconceptionofa spherehigherhanreason), s a criterionfauthenticityn respectof books ascribed o al-Gazali'sclosingyears, s not mpaired. he onlyadjustmento be made s thatthebeginningfthe'_dawqeriod'has tobeplacedmuch arlier,nd that heresa greater ontinuitynal-Gazdli'sthought hanhad been realized.To say this,however,s not to solvetheproblem ompletely,or hepassages n the hyd'which ppeartobe contraryotheconceptionfdawqhave still obe explained.

Now Jabrealso quotesthe above passagefromK.

at-Ta/akkur

nd

agreesthat in it no facultyhigher han reason s attributed o theprophet; uthe thengoeson to argue hat becauseofthisthepassagesin theMunqid and theMilkdtwhich peak of a facultyhigher hanreason cannot mean what theysay-they onlymean that prophetsknowbyreason n itsstateoforiginal urity. e goesso far s toassertthat it s a fact hat n the hyd'al-Gazdli ffirmsherealityf types f)

the first igures that of the editionofCairo, 1316,the second that ofthe editionused by Jabre, Cairo 1346 (i), 1352).

1 Certitude 47, note; the second reference o the Ihyd' shouldprobablybe toi. 18 of Jabre's edition (= 16 of that of 1316).

2 E.g. iv. 67 (69) -a man mayknowby tacriba nd dawq that it is possibletobecome so accustomedto things formerly npleasantto one that one cannot dowithout them. Cf. Iqtisad (Cairo, Ticiriya, n.d.) 102; also Tahafut347.6; alsoIbn Rued, Tahafut t-Tahafut,r. S. van den Bergh,London 1954, i. II f.



The studyofal-Oxazll 127

knowledgeeserved oprophets ithoutneffectpour utant) ttributingto the latteranother aculty hanthatofreason' Certitude63). Yet

somepagesearlier e has quoteda passagefrom he hyd' inwhichheuses thewordfaculty'thought s onlymplied ytheArabic):

... reason grasps nothingof the domain of the Lord. What is in this domainis knownby another ight,nobler and higher han reason. This lightrises in theworld ofprophethood nd of friendshipwith God. It is to reason what reason isto imaginationand to the sensuous,estimativefaculty (wahm). (Certitude 85;

Ihya' IV 98/Ioo).It is difficultotto conclude hatJabrehasoverstated is case and beencarried waybyhis theories bout al-Gazdli o suchan extent hat he

has failed o notice hattheres at least a superficialontradiction hichmay perhapsbe explainedaway, but whichcertainly equiresmuchfuller iscussion.-Thematter s furtheronfused yJabre'suse oftheterm raison-instinct';instinct' s a modernmeaningforgariza,forwhichLane gives a naturalor innatedisposition,ualityorproperty'(cf. A.-M. Goichon, Lexique de la Langue Philosophique d'Ibn Sind,Paris 1938, s.v.). Perhaps faculty'wouldbe a betterrendering,utsince al-Gazali also applies the word to 'life',the underlyingma'ndrequiresn anycase to be discussed.

The rootofthe trouble ppears obe hisassumptionboutthenatureofthe consistencyo be found n al-Gazdli.He has taken t to be soabsolute consistencyhat onepassagecan be interpretedy anotherwithout egard or hronology. Yet this s not the kindofconsistencywhichWestern ritics xpectto find n greatphilosophersikeHumeand Kant (cf.NormanKemp Smith'sdistinction etween arlier ndlater inesof houghtnACommentaryoKant's CritiquefPureReason',London 1923). One of the marks of theirgreatness s that they do not

reacha facileunifiedystem ut,becausetheyare awareof thecom-plexity f theirproblems,t differentimespursuedivergentines ofthoughtwhich heynevercompletelyeconcile. hiswould see to bethewayinwhich o understandl-Gazdli.The conceptionf a facultyabove reasonwas one line of thoughtwhich he followedn certaincontexts,nd whichn his astyearswasthedominantine.Thecontraryconceptionsmphasized y Jabreconstitute t least one other ine ofthought,nd it is prominentn manypartsofthe Ihyd', though essnoticeablen laterworks.The conceptionf_dawqeemsto havegrown

in attraction oral-Cazdliduring hecompositionfthe Ihyd',whichmusthaveoccupied considerableime, ven ftherewereno breaksn

1 He admits changes in terminologynd illustrativematerial; cf. Ma'rifa 92,IOO.




thecourse fthework nd no laterrevisions. ittlewouldprobably e

gained by tryingo distinguishetween arlier nd laterpartsofthat

work;but t is worth oting hatK. al-Arba'in,whichmaybe taken sa brief xpressionfthe viewsheldbyal-Gazaliwhenhe completedhe

Ihyd',followsmainly hedawq ine ofthought.Anotherpoint at whichJabreseemsto overemphasizel-Oazdli's

earlier hinkingnd to neglecthis later views is the questionof thecentral roblem fhis life nd thought. or Jabre his s thequestionofcertitude or howtoattain ertaintyboutthemaintruthsf slam.Nowthiswas undoubtedlyhecentral roblem t thetime of his first

intellectualrisis,whenfor womonths e doubted verything.ut atthetime fthe second risisn 1095,whenheleftBaghdad, hethoughtthatwas uppermostn his mind accordingo his own ateraccount ntheMunqid)wastheavoidance fhelland theattainmentfeverlastinglife.This wasrecognized yWensinck:ofSaul itwassaidthathewentoutto lookfor sses andfound kingdom; fGazdli t canbe saidthathe wentout to lookfor ertainknowledgend foundGod'1.The questfor ertainty arks stateofdoubt nduncertainty,utwhen l-Gazdliwrote heIhyd' andhis aterworks herewas no longer nydoubtand

uncertaintyn his life.He did not doubtthe truths fGod,the LastDay and prophethood; is concernwas to avoid God's condemnationand to learnhowto 'comenear' to him.On the intellectualide hisconcernwas howto describe nd explain heexperiencesfthesiffis-ittihddunification)nd hulill inherence)were ncorrect escriptions,butqurbnearness)waspermissiblend adequate2.

In theform, hen, n whichal-Gazaliconceivedhis central roblemtherehas been,as was onlynatural, developmentnhisthought,nd

Jabrehas made the earlier

houghthe basis of his account.Some

recognitionf development ouldhave produced moresatisfactoryaccount f thethinker.n matters fthiskind he truths inthegoldenmeanbetween bsolute ogicalconsistencynd inconsistencyithouttraceofcontinuity.he aim of the scholar nd critic houldbe to showthatbeneathdifferencesf expression,f emphasis nd even ofviewthere s a discernibleontinuity.Whatwas desideratedn theprevioussectionwas such a limited onsistency hich ncluded hepossibilityfdevelopment.

1 Semietische tudienuit de Nalatenschap, Leiden 1941, 167; Wensinck thinksitwas not so much fearofhell n thefuture hat movedal-Oxazlil s a present enseofbeingabandonedby God (ib. 169).

2 It is noteworthyhat qurbdoes not occur n Jabre's Index Lexicographique'inCertitude.



The studyofal-(azali 129

? 3. AL-GAZALi

AND CONTEMPORARY POLITICS

Both nLa Notion eCertitudend nhis arlier rticle n LaBiographieet 'OeuvredeGhazdli....' (MIDEO 1/1954, 3-102) Jabrehas valuable in-sights ntothe importanceoral-Cazdli'sthought fthecontemporarypoliticalmovementftheBdtinites,a'limites rAssassins.n emphasi-zinghowthe needfor ounteringhismovement ashelped o shapeal-

Oazdli's onceptionfprophethood,ndhowhe must avebeen haken ysuch vents s the ssassinationfNizdm l-Mulkn1094,Jabrehas madea realcontributionoourunderstanding.nceagain,however, e allowshis own deastorun waywithhim o thatheexaggerates nnecessarily.

One exampleofthis, lreadymentioned,s theweakness fhis usti-fication ordating heMustazhiri efore he Tahdiut.Another,loselyconnected,s his contentionhatthephilosophers eremerely notherfacet oftheBdtinitemovementnd that t was in order o refute heBdtinites hat al-Gazdlitook up the studyof philosophyCertitude291-3,316f., tc.; on p. 371 the Tahdfuts said to be directed gainsta groupofBdtinites).Now therewere inksbetweenphilosophyndBatinism,ndsomepersons onnected ithphilosophicalroups ecameBitinites.But the mainexponents f each typeofthoughtmusthave

remained istinct rom ne another. he menagainstwhomtheargu-mentsofthe Tahd/ut ere directedandwhoseviews are summarizedin Maqdsid al-faldsifa)ouldhardly t the same timehave held thatultimate ruthwas attainedbyresort o the nfalliblemdm.

From nsistingnthe central laceofal-Gazdli's eaction o BdtinismJabre goes on to suggestthat his departure romBaghdad in 1095was notdue to 'an exclusively eligiousmotive' s he himselflaims ntheMunqid,but to a certain enseofpoliticalopportunism;o put it

bluntly,e ran

awayto avoid

beingssassinated. ven ifthis

hypothesisis to be replacedby another,thereligiousmotive annotbe consideredas thesole sourceof the master'sdecision n thissituation;the real

explanationmustbe sought lsewhere'Certitude88f;cf.La Biographie89 f).About his here re twopoints o bemade.

The first oint s that ospeakofthe real'explanations being oughtelsewherehan n thereligiousmotive lone s to imply hatthe atterhas a certain nreality-a apseinto positivisticnterpretation'whichcanhardly e Jabre's onsidered erdict nthematter .Jabre's iew s

1 Abd-el-JalilMilanges Louis Massignon72) pleads with scholars not to takeaway the religious ontentof al-Oazali's workby resorting o 'positivistic' nter-pretations.

2 It contradictshis claim that the problemofcertaintywas centralthroughoutal-Gazdll's life.

Oriens XIII-XIV 9



I30 W. MontgomeryWatt

just as one-sideds itwouldbe to say that hisowntwo booksmaybedismisseds a study fal-Gazdli,ince hey re really' literaryxpres-

sionofArabnationalism. is work s notfree romhispoliticalnfluence,but neverthelesst is worthyf discussion s a contributiono scholar-ship-indeed t is oneofthe mostdistinguishedontributionso Islamicscholarshiprom hepen of an Arabduring he last half-century.hetruth s thatreligion ermeates he whole of life,even ifthe modernWest triesto thinkof it as a separate compartment.veryhumandecisionhas its religious spect, though n manycases thismay beunimportantndnegligible.ometimes hereare grounds ordisting-uishing etweenwhata manallegeshisdominantmotive o be and whatit really's,thoughomake uch distinctionsalways delicatematter.The more man's ife s an integrated hole, hemorehe is conscious fall that moveshimto act andthemoreheseeseverythingna religiousperspective.hereligious spect s notseparate romhe ocial,politicaland economic spectsbut is intertwined iththem, ometimes s akind of resultant rom heother actors, ut at other imes xercisingcontrol ver hem.

Fromthis first ointfollows he second-that it is not possibleto

single ut a smallpartofthepolitical ield ndtry o explain l-Cazdli'sconversionythis lone.Allthe slamicreligiousmovementsfpreviouscenturies ad political spects, venifit was only political mpotenceinthefaceof Abbdsid, -iyid rSelcdiq utocracy.Al-Oazdlimusthavebeen nfluencedythepolitical ttitudes inkedwith hevariousmove-mentswhichwentto hisformation-theologians,urists,philosophers,Batinites,mystics.Was Bartholdright n speakingof the Bdtinitemovements 'the aststrugglef the ranianRittertumn'?hatwas theeffectfthesupport fAs'arism ythe

SelcdiqsWhywas there grow-

ing interestn siifismmongAs'aritesand even Hanbalites?Had itsomethingo do with he break-downf thepower f thecaliph If weare to understand l-Gazdli'sviews in the contemporaryocial andpolitical etting,n answerhas to be attempted o all thesequestionsand many ike them1.

In the aboveremarks ttention as beenconcentratedn oneor twofundamentaloints, hieflyfmethod,nJabre's reatmentfhis ubject.Therehas been no attempt o summarize isargumentndetailor even

to outlinehis main conclusions. o muchground s coveredthat anysuchundertaking ould be difficult. et it suffice o warnthereader

1 Jabredoes not considertheprevious religiousmovements ven in their ntel-lectualaspect.There s nomention fthe use ofyaqinbysiifIwriters. t is significantthat inhisBibliography p. 18) he ascribesQiit l-quli!b o

al-Muh.isibi.



The studyofal-Cazdl 131

thatthetreatmentas beenof thiskind.Whathas beensaid,however,willmake t clearthatJabre's trengths not in thepresentationf a

generalviewof al-Cazili, forhis account s unsatisfactoryn variousrespects.His two booksare indeed mostvaluable,but it is fortheircollection nd discussion fpassages inkedwiththe themes fyaqinandma'rifa. f there s one pointthat stands out particularly,t isal-Oazdli's ttachmento orthodoxslam to the end ofhis life.Fromnowon all students f al-Oazdliwillhave to pay careful ttentionowhatJabre ays,and willhave much o learnfrom im.Theywillalsolookforwardo thepublication ftheLexiqueon whichhe appearsto

be working.

wattghstudy1961

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