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/312



Sufi pantheism and the Ash arite dogma of person ality appear to harmonize together, a reconciliation which makes it difficult to say whether he was a Pantheist, or a Personal Pantheist of the type of Lotze. The soul, according to Al-Ghazali, per ceives things. But perception as an attribute can exist only in a substance or essence which is abso lutely free from all the attributes of body. In his 1 Al-Madnun, he explains why the prophet declined to reveal the nature of the soul. There are, he says, two kinds of men: ordinary men and thinkers. The former who look upon materiality as a condi tion of existence, cannot conceive an immaterial substance. The latter are led, by their logic, to a conception of the soul which sweeps away all dif ference between God and the individual soul. Al Ghazali, therefore, realized the Pantheist drift of his own inquiry and preferred silence as to the ultimate nature of the soul."

We have seen what Al-Ghazali teaches regarding the life and character of Jesus and also of God’s relation to us through the love of those who seek Him with all their hearts. Are these only Mos lems, or is there a wider love of God? Are all souls in His keeping?

What were Al-Ghazali’s ideas regarding the salvation of those not in the fold of Islam? We have two striking passages in this connection which seem to contradict each other. They were prob

J "The Development of Metaphysics in Persia," p. 75.