فکرِ غزالی و حکمتِ فارسی: اخلاقی معیارات کی تشکیل میں فلسفہ و شریعت کی کشمکش

The Thought of al-Ghazālī and the Wisdom of Persian Philosophy: The Tension Between Philosophy and Sharīʿah in the Formation of Ethical Standards

Abstract

This study critically examines the dialectical relationship between al-Ghazālī’s Islamic philosophical theology and the broader tradition of Persian ethical wisdom, focusing on how the interplay between falsafah (philosophy) and sharīʿah (revelatory law) shaped the moral consciousness of the Islamic intellectual world. Through a close analysis of al-Ghazālī’s key works—particularly Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn, Mīzān al-ʿAmal, and Tahāfut al-Falāsifah—the paper explores his attempt to reconcile reason and revelation in defining the moral ideal (al-khayr al-akmal). It further situates his thought in dialogue with the Persian philosophical heritage represented by thinkers such as Ibn Sīnā, Nasīr al-Dīn al-Ṭūsī, and Shihāb al-Dīn Suhrawardī, highlighting how this dialogue oscillates between rational ethics and divine command morality. The research argues that al-Ghazālī’s synthesis of metaphysical reasoning and spiritual discipline represents a turning point in Islamic moral philosophy: an endeavor to root ethical behavior not merely in rational cognition but in the illumination of the heart (nūr al-qalb). In this dynamic tension between intellect and faith, Persian philosophical humanism meets Islamic theological rigor, producing an ethical vision that is both rationally coherent and spiritually transformative.