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/85



From his youth up Al-Ghazali belonged to the Shafi School, one of the four orthodox systems of jurisprudence. The Imam ash-Shafii, whose tomb at Cairo was afterwards visited by Al-Ghazali, and is still a place of pilgrimage, died in A. H. 20-i. He chose the via media between the slavery of tradi tion and the freedom of logic and deduction in Moslem law. According to Macdonald, "Ash Shafi i was without question one of the greatest figures in the history of law. Perhaps he had not the originality and keenness of Abu Hanifa; but he had a balance of mind and temper, a clear vision and full grasp of means and ends, that enabled him to say what proved to be the last word in the matter. After him came attempts to tear down; but they failed. The fabric of the Muslim canon law stood firm." The adherents of the school of Shafii now number some sixty million persons, of whom about a half are in the Netherland Indies, and the rest in Egypt, Syria, Hadramaut, Southern India, and Malaysia. Among all of these Al Ghazali the Shafi ite naturally holds a place of su preme honour.

An interesting story is told in connection with his studies under the Imam Abu Nasr al-Isma ili. He took copious notes under this celebrated teacher, but neglected to memorize what he had written. This seems to have been a characteristic of his, according to Macdonald, because his quota tions are often exceedingly careless; and one of