Politics of the Islamic Tradition: The Thought of Muhammad Al-Ghazali

199 Pages·2015·4.28 MB·English

by  Mohammed Moussa

Politics of the Islamic Tradition
Over the last two centuries the Muslim world has undergone dramatic transfor-
mations, impacting the Islamic tradition and throwing into question our
understanding of tradition. The notion of tradition as an unmoving edifice is
contradictedbytheveryprocessofitstransmission,andthecomplexrolehuman
beings play in creating and sustaining traditions is evident in the indigenous
mechanismsofchangewithintheIslamictradition.
Politics of the Islamic Tradition locates the work of Egyptian cleric
Muhammadal-GhazaliwithinthecontextofthisdynamicIslamictradition,with
special focus on his political thought. Al-Ghazali inherited a vast and diverse
heritagethathemanagedtoreinterpretinachangingworld.Aninnovativeexplo-
ration of the change and continuity present within Muslim discourses, this book
brings together disparate threads of the Islamic tradition, religious exegesis, the
contemporary Arab Middle East, the Islamic state and idea of renewal in al-
Ghazali’s thought. As well as being one of the first complete treatments of
al-Ghazali’s works, this book provides an original critical approach to tradition
and its capability for innovation and change, countering the dichotomy between
traditionandmodernitythattypicallyinformsmostscholarlystudiesoncontem-
poraryIslam.
OfferinghighlyoriginalinsightsintoIslamicthoughtandengagingwithcriti-
calnotionsoftradition,thisbookisessentialreadingforstudentsandscholarsof
Islamicpoliticsandhistory.
Mohammed Moussa is a Postdoctoral Fellow at Tokyo University of Foreign
Studies,whoseresearchinterestslieprimarilyintheIslamictraditionandchange.
Routledge Studies in Middle Eastern Democratization and
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11 PoliticsoftheIslamicTradition
ThethoughtofMuhammadal-Ghazali
MohammedMoussa
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Politics of the Islamic Tradition
The thought of Muhammad al-Ghazali

Mohammed Moussa
Firstpublished2016
byRoutledge
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©2016MohammedMoussa
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Contents

Preface x
Introduction: Tradition: Muhammad al-Ghazali the
scholar-reformer 1
1 Biography of Muhammad al-Ghazali 13
2 Survey of literature on Muhammad al-Ghazali 22
3 Renewal in the formation of the Islamic tradition 43
4 Muhammad al-Ghazali’s rethinking of Islam 78
5 The Shari’ah and politics in Muhammad al-Ghazali’s thought 99
6 The tendency of renewal among Muhammad al-Ghazali’s
peers 121
Conclusion: Further reflections on Muhammad al-Ghazali
and the Islamic tradition 145
Glossary 165
Bibliography 171
Index 180