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/54



massacred. They seemed to have been among the last of the European nations to submit to the yoke of Christ.

The noblest figure of the century in the West, in the annals of Christendom, was undoubtedly that of Anselm. He was born about the time of Al Ghazali, and died in 1109. His life in many re spects is a parallel to that of his contemporary. Both were theologians and both were mystics, seek ing rest for their souls in withdrawing from the world and its allurements. Both were apologists for the Faith and opponents of infidelity and philos ophy. Both exerted an immense influence by their writings as well as through teaching; and if Al Ghazali sought the revival of religious life in Islam through his Ihya, Anselm gave employment to his active mind in writing his celebrated treatise " Cur I Deus Homo? " Both of them refuted philosophers in their effort to establish the Faith.

It is interesting to note in this connection that Anselm’s famous book is now used in Arabic trans lation by missionaries to Moslems, and that Al Ghazali’s "Confessions" have been put into the hands of the English reader as a testimony of his sincerity and devotion.

Both Anselm and Al-Ghazali lived and wrote under a deep consciousness of the world to come, the terrors of the judgment day, and the doom of the wicked. This also was characteristic of the