Page:A Moslem seeker after God - showing Islam at its best in the life and teaching of al-Ghazali, mystic and theologian of the eleventh century (IA moslemseekeraft00zwem).pdf/209

 apter IX.

for veracity in this greatest of all Moslem apolo gists. If even Al-Ghazali handled Tradition so carelessly as to ascribe to Mohammed so much that is altogether puerile, fabulous and often immoral, what confidence can we put in other and later tra dition-mongers and how can we clear Al-Ghazali from the charge of using pious falsehood?

We add another fact of great interest in regard to his writings. Al-Ghazali exercised a command ing influence on Jewish thought in the Middle Ages. In the appendix is a list of some of the translations of his books made in Hebrew. Jewish students of philosophy, including Maimonides, drew many of their theories from the Maqasid and his other works. Al-Ghazali’s attacks on philos ophy were imitated by Judah ha-Levy in his Cumri; but it was chiefly his ethical teaching rather than through his philosophy that Al-Ghazali at tracted the Jewish thinkers. Broyde says, " He approached the ethical ideal of Judaism to such an extent that some supposed him to be actually drift ing in that direction, and his works were eagerly studied and used by Jewish writers. Abraham ibn Ezra borrowed from Al-Ghazali’s Misan al Amal his comparison between the limbs of the human body and the functionaries of a king, and used it for the subject of his beautiful admonition Yeshene Leb; Abraham ibn Dawud borrowed from the same work the parable used by Al-Ghazali to prove the difference in value between various branches of