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/268



has tasted the bitterness of remorse and has dis covered his own inability to meet the demands of the Moral Law. His book on repentance has the following sections: (1) The reality of repentance. (2) The necessity for repentance. (3) True re pentance expected by God. (4) Of what a man should repent, namely, the character of sm. (5) How small sins become great. (6) Perfect re pentance, its conditions and its duration. (7) The degree of repentance. (8) How to become truly penitent.

One can only give a summary of his teaching. He rises far above the Koran. In fact in some cases his proof texts, when we consider the context, are a terrible indictment of the Prophet. 1

He says the necessity of repentance always and for all men is evident because no one of the human race is free from sin. " For even though in some cases he is free from outward sin of his bodily members, he is not free from sin of the heart; though free from passion he is not free from the whisperings of Satan and forgetfulness of God, or of coming short of the knowledge of God and His

1 One of the texts he uses is (Surah 2, verse 222), " Verily, God loves those who repent and loves those who are puri fied." 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.