Al-Ghazali - The Bane of the Philosophers
Abu Hamid Muhammad ibn Muhammad Al-Ghazali, better known as Imam Al-Ghazali for short or Algazel in the West, was a Medieval Persian philosopher who pioneered a form of philosophical scepticism that would work to drastically shift the Medieval world away from Neoplatonic metaphysics.
Predating Rene Descartes by over 500 years, Al-Ghazali formalised a method of radical scepticism that would work to question the philosophical consensus of the time. In particular, Al-Ghazali would challenge many of the ideas of thinkers before him, notably Ibn Sina, Al Farabi, Aristotle and Plato - and he would do so in a fashion that was internally consistent within the philosophers own methodology. This would be articulated in his landmark text "The Incoherence of the Philosophers" or "Tahafut al-falasifa".
Eventually Al-Ghazali would grow disillusioned with the academic world, and find solace in becoming a wandering mystic, meandering from city to city within the Abbasid and Seljuk empires. Its from these experiences that Al-Ghazali would write his seminal guide for spiritual life "Ihya Ulum al-Din" or "Revival of the Religious Sciences". But that is a video for another day...
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TIMESTAMPS
Introduction - 00:00
Personal Life - 01:30
Career - 02:50
Claim #1 Eternality of the Universe - 04:35
Claim #2 Universals and Particulars - 06:45
Claim #3 The Unseen World - 08:45
Epistemology - 09:40
Conclusion - 11:25
RELEVANT VIDEOS
• Al-Ghazali - The Reviv...
• Ibn Sina - Master of A...
• Brethren of Purity - A...
TAGS
#philosophy #history #islam
CONTENT
Al-Ghazali portrait by Arman Haque of Moral Studios (moralstudios.com.au/)
By Oasis/Oases of Wisdom.
We have recently launched a patreon and KZhead membership. If you enjoy our contend and like to support us follow the links below :) KZhead Membership - kzhead.info/tools/R-vnjZ_MmhsecpMqXS3BEQ.htmljoin Patreon - www.patreon.com/oasesofwisdom/membership
Excellent work. Would there be any chance of having more content on a regular basis?
@@Tacit_Tern We definitely want to make videos more frequently and we are exploring ways to do that such as potentially including some 'on-camera' sections. However, Ahmad (the writer/narrator) and I (the editor/producer) value the quality of our videos. We aren't funded by any large organisation nor do we have a team of animators helping us. We are just two graduate students trying to make high quality videos as a hobby. The second we have the finances to potentially hire another animator, you should expect videos more frequently. The Ibn Rushd video should release before the end of the year. We are very close to finished. Since it is summer here in Australia, we hope to get another video done before the end of the holidays (its on a surprise topic that we hope you guys will find interesting). Beyond that, we will continue working on our philosophy videos and exploring ways to make videos faster without damaging the quality of our videos :)
5:08 this has no proof its a assumption based on no evidence AL- Ghazali is a guilty of what he acuses other people of moron.
A lot of Muslims have this problem of today, which is just taking from their elders without question or thought. This is the same way the mushriks of Mecca thought. Rather, one should study, learn and think deeply.
Genuinely yes. It makes you a better Muslim too.
Most Muslims forget the first word revealed from the Quran, “Iqra”. Almost no one reads or learns, the moment you question one thing, it’s considered as Shirk, mostly by elders. Coming from a Muslim.
I agree and it does indeed make you better at anything you believe in
@@TheLastEgg08You go too far by saying that "almost no one reads or learns" (to the contrary, many do) and that people immediately think it's shirk (also not true), but I get your point.
Respectfully, most Muslims who take knowledge blindly take it from self-appointed "dawa" bros on KZhead, Facebook, Instagram, etc. Or the most prolific, most moneyed guy on the "Islamic books" racket. If more Muslim youth listened to elders, half the ummah's problems would be solved overnight. Not every elder will be a scholar, but will definitely still have oodles of Islamic wisdom. Our youth, sadly, are infected by western secular individualism and think that is somehow more authentically Islamic. And that is a tragedy. What Imam Al-Ghazali showed by his own sterling example is the power of leaving your own selfish prejudices and venturing sincerely on the Godly path of knowledge with no preconceived notions. The most apt metaphor for that is the wandering of the Sufi mystic, and it is no accident Al-Ghazali became one himself.
The true bane of philosophers is the random 4 year old that suddenly decided to ask "WHY?" to everything you say
Nah I actually love that because I explain things to them as deeply as I feel they can handle and after a while they start genuinely asking why because I’ve taken the “game” from them and replaced it with a thirst for knowledge. I also come from a family of teachers so I’m an outlier
That bandit story may go down as one of the biggest alpha male moves in history
what is bandit story
he stole imam's books..
He gave him his note back
It is just practical knowledge
بله تشکر می کنم برای آن. غزالی
That Tyson Neil degrasse's opinion is not worth mentioning in this video. He is such a sad replacement for Carl Sagon. His followers are a good example of Al- Ghazali's idea that people take other people's philosophy by decree without thinking through its logic themselves.
Yes this is totally a trait of philosophers and not Al Ghazali himself. Philosophers frequently disagree with each other, there's nothing in Islam but mindless repetition of dogma and baseless assertions of others ignorance.
@@JohnSmith-mo1zo Are you sure about that? I'm a Christian but you know there was a golden age after Islam and they took over much of the world after that, a lot of great thinkers came out of it, universities, medicine... that doesn't sound like mindless dogma unless your an atheist then that would make sense.
@@Vahe345the golden age of Islam was due to the rich communication networks enables by the trade. When Islam got a harder grip again, the golden years ended.
@@matswessling6600 Ya they did have communication through east west networks but the wisdom and open-mindedness to embrace new ideas and create universities. What makes you think the golden age ended because Islam got a grip again??? The first grip was a serious grip, like it was the second grip of death somehow. The golden age ended because of the Mongol invasion.
@@Vahe345 no. the muslim scientific era died on late 16 century. Notably is the destruction of Taqi al Dins observatory in 1577.
We live in a distressing age, but the advent of the 'modern world' at least allows us to conclude the great posthumous argument between Imam Gazali and Ibn Rushd.
WE CANT THANK YOU ENOUGH FOR MAKING THIS VIDEO. Thank you for educating the people about the great Muslim thinkers. I hope this channel gets more recognition.
We’re super happy to hear you’ve enjoyed our video! Be sure to share our content around and check out our other episodes :)
@@OasesOfWisdom already doing that brother
I was really impressed by the way u say the arabic name✨✨✨perfect
I was wondering throughout the video whether he's Arab or not, I still don't know, maybe he grew up with Arab friends? It's so hard to tell and I'm Egyptian too
@@emmarina3525nah. arabic names are easy to pronounce, you just gotta know the rules.
Oinker boy cant speak a lick of arabic nor does you urban dwelling ausch know the grammer rules. @pigslam
Since he only does videos on Muslim scholars, it's not too speculative to say that he's probably arabic himself
@pigslam but cra kr boys like u don't know the rules so what are u saying.
Sorry for the delays! This has been our most ambitious project yet. We've begun rendering videos in 60fps as well as utilising 3D software for the introduction. We sincerely hope you enjoy our video on the esteemed thinker, Al-Ghazali! And please make sure to like, share and subscribe our content as we are just a team of two working out of our bedrooms to keep this channel running.
Jazakallu Khair. Amazing video again, I went back and watched the introduction section of all your videos and there's definitely a marked improvement in design, presentation and writing, keep up the good work
@@Zeee530 Thanks so much! This video took especially long to learn how to use the tools for, but we are incredibly humbled and glad its gotten the reception it has as it shows there's serious demand for high quality theological/philosophical content on KZhead.
Thank u for ur contribution 🙏🏽
Al Ghazali 😎💪, may Allah grant him Jannah
Janna is for Averroes 🌸
@@khalidbd3253 May Allah forgive all Muslims, and grant us all Jannah, Ameen
الغزالي أشعري قح وكلامه في غاية الصفات غاية الفساد.
@@africandawahrevival Ameen
Subhanallah. Ameen.
A very commendable effort and quality production brothers 🎖️
Jazakallahkhair. It means so much. This video has taken us months to research, esit and produce but we knew we had to do Al-Ghazali justice. We’ve only scratched the surface of his incredible life and career.
@@OasesOfWisdom The effort shines through, it is evident in the quality. Continue to produce videos, InshaaAllah this channel will be of great resource for many people in years to come.
It shines through. Now I want to go pick up ihyaa uloom e deen
This was eye opening 👏🏾👏🏾 Can’t wait for more videos
DON'T STOP UPLOADING!!! YOU ARE DOING GREAT WORK !!
We’ll keep uploading. Just been a bit busy with University and work :)
Amazing video, keep the great content coming!!
Thank you so much for making this video!
Excellent video as always. So fascinating to learn more about Al-Ghazali!!
This is badly needed. Well done !
This is such an incredible and educational video, when i was younger, my dad opened a school and named it after al ghazali, and now i randomly found this video! May Allah reward you for your work, please keep it up!
Thanks so much for the inspiring feedback ❤️ Ameen
Liked and subscribed as soon as I hared the name pronounced correctly, thank you for the effort in expanding such figures to the world.
You just know I had to subscribe because of the quality of your video mate
This well-made video about a philosopher only has 35,000 views, sexy reds music video has millions, may God have mercy on humanity…
Damn I thought you were gonna mean quite the opposite after how you started
Find the mean between the 2 sir.... And find the people of the truth !
some people wanna have fun and shake some ass not everybody wanna philosophise like an ascetic
Aameen
Because people love to see violence and nudity that is why. Literature is dying and people aren't interested because money is not there too.
What a beauty you've made brother ❤
Excellent video! Very well constructed! I’ve just started to read the Incoherence myself, and Al Ghazāli makes some incredible arguments!
He was very ahead of his ti e
Time**
Brilliant piece of work. Subscribed and will be waiting for more content
This is an excellently researched video and fabulously presented
Superb quality and informative production... ❤❤❤❤❤❤
really good video, happy to hear about muslim philosophers anytime
im so glad someone made a video about this
Amazing work. Subscribed.
so nice that this came in my recommended today. I am named after him too and i aspire to be someone as rationable and knowledgable as Imam Al Ghazali was.
very fascinating production, hoping for the best !!
Thanks so much! We’re still working on improving our production quality. Glad you enjoyed
mashallah the content only gets better with you guys!! amazing production and details.
I loved this video. You deserve way more views my brother
Absolutely phenomenal
jazakAllah for making the video.
Fantastic video, as a Persian I commend you on the level of detail you attended to about Al-Ghazali's life.
Thank so much! We’re looking forward to covering more iconic Persian philosophers.
@@OasesOfWisdom Amazing its much appreciated highlighting our culture, I thank you on behalf of all Persians. if I may I have a few suggestions for you: Mulla Sadra, Nasir al-Din al-Tusi, Omar Khayyam
@@arashghanbari5907He is the most ignored person in Iran.
@@ramzan6949that doesn’t take away his Iranian heritage. And you’re not Iranian how do you know what goes on there. Al Bukhari, Imam Muslim, Ibn Sina, Abu Hanifa, Al Juwayni, Al Tabari, Al Khwarizmi, Al Ghazali, and soo many more were Persians! I’m Iranian and very proud of our icons!
@@agostocobain2729 Al ghazali was not racist Iranian Nationalist like you? His first identity he was Muslim first then nationality. If you aren’t Muslim there is nothing for proud him.
Subscribed to your wonderful channel! May Allah bless you❤ ameen.
The video is so great and all gratitude for such an amazing work that shows us our bright history of thought
Thanks so much! These videos take a lot of time and effort to make, but hearing these positive reactions always motivates us to keep pushing :)
love the video presentation had to subscribe
Underrated Channel
Keep posting videos, very underrated channel.
We’ll continue posting videos! Don’t worry :)
It is so sad to see that a lot of Islamic philosphers work were later expanded by European scientist without mentioning the original inspiration European scientist had.
The difference between the Muslims and the Westerners is that Muslims gains knowledge to satisfy God while Westerners gains knowledge to satisfy their egos
classic westerners
this channel is a gem. Im happy i found it it
very nice mashaallah, keep producing.
I always heard coach firas say his name on the podcast but I never knew how to spell it and learn about him. Thank you. I am now on the path to enlightenment
props to you for putting in the time to say the names correctly
You did an excellent job!
phenomenal work! keep going my friend.
Thanks so much! By the way, we have noticed a massive uptick in our views as of yesterday. I am curious to know if someone has shared our content or recommended our channel? Where did you hear about us from?
Incredible work!!!!
What a gem in the ocean of ignorance. Amazing channel!
Facinating video
Hope you'll cover Fatima Al-Fihri or any other women intellectuals in Islamic history.
Yes! We intend to have an entire series dedicated to women from Islamic history :)
So proud!
Great video, well presented. Congrats
Thanks :)
Fascinating
Keep it up Well researched
Thanks so much
thanks for sharing!
No worries! We’ve noticed a massive uptick in views lately. I’m curious to know where you heard about our channel from :)
@@OasesOfWisdom KZhead recommended the video. I do love Ghazali's work.
thanks for this video
well made, i would like to see the second part
You can check out our other part on our channel. It features Ibn Rushd’s response to Al-Ghazali. It is called “Ibn Rushd - The Guardian of the Philosophers”
@@OasesOfWisdom jazakhallah khairan
I appreciate you sharing this elaborately wrapped nothing 🙏
You sir, have gained a new subscriber.
Amazing video
Until god appears to "me" you can not convince me of him
based
Awesome !!!
Absolutely brilliant, please make a video on Shaykh Ibn Arabi RH.
Yes! We absolutely intend to cover Ibn Arabi in our series. Next philosophers are Ibn Rushd, Ibn Tufail, Maimodines and then Ibn Arabi. Still a little while to go, but for the meanwhile feel free to check out our other videos and the philosophers to come. :)
Fantastic
Just found your channel, god truly does work in mysterious ways. I am currently experiencing a theological/philosophical crisis as it pertains to my work as a leader. My direct superior and I have different schools of thought regarding what is good for our employees and profession. I have sought guidance from god, ancient scholars, theologians, and now the works of Al Ghazali to try and make sense of the double-think hypocrisy that defines my profession and it’s leaders. I thank god for finding your channel :) I will continue to reflect and hopefully make sense of this dilemma. May god keep you all!
Super glad to hear that our channel is benefitting people, not only in their quest for knowledge for its’ own sake but also in its’ application. So often are the subjects of the arts swept aside and prioritised last due to a false perception of their lack of utility. Your experience demonstrates that it is vital that people do not merely act upon impulse and pure intuition but also look to research, break down and reconstruct their outlook on life and ethical views and examine how they can apply the wisdoms of disparate philosophers in real-life situations. That is what our channel also aims to aid with - not merely information as cold, abstract thoughts but genuine life advice from people who have dedicated their lives to answering the fundamental questions regarding humanity and our place in the universe. The crisis you are going through will certainly shape you for the better we are sure, as it shaped al-Ghazali!
Jazakallah khair for this amazing video. You have explained it simply. Please do such short videos on philosophy and other personalities as well. I am sure you have put in a lot of efforts and its worth the time,.
It's just amazing .
Thanks so much!
Great video
Beautiful video
Well done
Great video ❤
Thank you :)
Subhanallah finally a new video
Alhamdulilah. Took us months to get done, but I’m proud of the end product :)
@@OasesOfWisdom brother i came across your channel two days ago looking for islamic philosophy content, and when I saw your channel hadn't uploaded in 4 months I thought you had quit. Brother keep making what you make In sha Allah you will reap the reward. I enjoy the wisdom you share Jazaakallahukhairan
@@karimkahtaoui9593 Your comment and support means the world to us! Our channel is run by just two people, Ahmad Qadri, who does the research, writing and narration, and me, Abdur-Rahman Butler, who does the editing and production. It takes at least a month to write the script, and then another month or so to edit - and this is all in our free time as university students. So yeah, unfortunately it means it takes several months to produce just a single video. In the mean time you can help us by please spreading the word and sharing our content out there.
You are alive 😮!!!miracle
Yes of course. Haven't gone anywhere, just been hard at work and busy with our personal lives.
@@OasesOfWisdom just kidding brother may God bless you nice video
@@skullnetwork4482 Thanks man
Great video!
Thanks so much. Please make sure to share to anyone you'd think would benefit from our content!
Excellent work, I was curious about Imam Al-Ghazali, there is something about his name that really drew me in.
Gazelles are cool
@@exarquazowexa7247 He isn't named after gazelles tho, sry to break your bubble 😅
@@user-hj4ym7ug3h bruh what الغرالي al ghazali الغزال the gazelle Literally just nisba of the word gazelle meaning sth along the lines of "that which is attribited to the gazelle" or in this case "the one attributed to the gazelle" get yo act on boi
@@exarquazowexa7247 Nope, he actually is al ghazzali with a shadeh that was removed to make it easier to spell, he was named that because his father worked in Ghazzl (Fabric spread)
@@exarquazowexa7247His nesba(title) comes from him being from a place called Ghazala, near the City of Tus in Iran, not from the herbivore animal loool
If we wanna talk about people that may have predated what Descartes said, Russell claimed that St. Augustine did it.
Ghazali was my first "guide", I really resonated with his thought, specifically Incoherence of the Philosophers, Deliverance from Error and Prohibition of Studying Kalaam. I have slowly "rejecting" Ghazali for the Neoplatonists (Ibn Sina), but I still really really like Ghazali.
I should say, I don't believe that Allah "doesn't know" the particulars and only knows the universe. Instead, the way I look at it is, Allah knows both, but his knowledge of the particulars is the same way how if you know y=x+2, you could derive any value of X for any value of X. So if you know the equation, you know all values of Y. Likewise, Allah's knowledge is that way, he knows the "equation" of all. I could be wrong about this and I ultimately submit that Allah knows bila kayf but this model makes sense to me.
@@farhan00Descartes actually invented mathematical notation and formal languages. Before that time mathematics had been done in natural language.
You are touching some truth but are very wrong. Allah knows both what will ultimately happen but also the possibilities of what could have happened. He can change what happens based on the individual's will to change his self but is aware of that will and allows it to happen and already knew that this would be the ultimate outcome. He is simply letting it go that way as a testimony for the person's judgement on the day of judgement. He gives similar examples in the quran saying the disbeoievers would still reject the truth while knowing it even after hearing it an infinite amount of times in the quran.
you are the example of what falsafa and kalaam doing with human brain
This video was vocabularily super rich for me.
Could you make something about Ibn Rushd next time? Great video💯
Yes!! We are currently working on our video on Ibn Rushd. Stay tuned as we are looking to release it before the end of the year :)
Incredible
I freaking love Al Ghazzali, may God be happy with him. I kinda agree with him almost entirely.
I love this video series on Arabic thinkers!
mannn this is peak brainstorming!!
❤May Allah reward the Imam ameen. May Allah forgive and accept us ameen.
May I ask for the source of the oriental drawings at the beggining of the video, they are so good !
Not bad, finally some substance in this world
He speaks so much to me as a modern Muslim.
It is a common misconception of orientalists that al-Ghazali was the 'death of philosophy' in the muslim world. Rather he, as the video said, harmonized rational thinking with divine scripture, ushering in a new age of thinking for muslim scholars and philosophers
May Allah's mercy upon him.
A lil correction, there are 20 propositions in his book. Good video
سبحان الله
We want a video for the book "the bane of bane" written by Averroes which was a response for Gazali's book Thanx anyway🌸
We have a video on Ibn Rushd where we cover the incoherence of the incoherence. Check it out :)!
Finally nonbiased content on Arab philosophers, great content! Would like to see ibn rush next :)
Ibn rushd will be our next video :)
@@OasesOfWisdom amazing!
arab? he was persian
@@shadowgod1797 Everything is persian.
@shadowgod1797 he was but at this point he talks in Arabic his name is Arabic under Arabic rule and all of his work is Arabic so persain in dna only
wow. just wow
Wake up honey oasis released a new vid!
please do a video on ibn al-haytham
A brilliant and fascinating individual with a keen mind, which is reason enough to study his work. In spite of the latter, however, we are expected to accept "the unproven assumption" that Allah exists. Sadly, all the "proof" of Allah's (or however one identifies the prime mover) "existence" has been handed down to us through the experience of personal revelation when someone in the very distant past tells us that he (usually a man) was visited by either Allah or his emissary to deliver a message, which later becomes scripture, and that becomes irrefutable "proof." Where is the philosophy that does not rely on metaphysics, myth, or other worldly constructs to study the world, its societies, and the individuals that populate them? Now that, indeed, requires a great mind.
does anyone know the reference to the question in 10:58 , like where did he say this question?