Reevaluating Al‑Ghazali: Philosophy, Theology, and Cosmology in Professor Frank Griffel's New Study

Introduction

The latest episode of the McMillan Report features Professor Frank Griffel, a leading scholar of Islamic studies at Yale, discussing his new book Al‑Ghazali’s Philosophical Theology. Griffel’s work challenges long‑standing assumptions about the medieval thinker Al‑Ghazali, especially his relationship to Islamic philosophy (falāsafa) and his views on cosmology.

Who Was Al‑Ghazali?

• Lived at the turn of the 12th century, a period of vibrant intellectual activity in the Islamic world.
• One of the most widely read classical Islamic authors, shaping what later generations called “Islamic orthodoxy.”
• Known for works that engage both theology (kalam) and philosophy, most famously The Incoherence of the Philosophers.

Motivation for the Book

Griffel explains two main reasons for writing the study: 1. Intellectual importance – Understanding Al‑Ghazali is essential for grasping the development of Islamic thought. 2. Misconception about his role – Traditional scholarship portrays Al‑Ghazali as the figure who “defeated” Islamic philosophy. Griffel argues this view is overly simplistic.

Research Methodology

• Extensive reading of primary texts, often multiple times, to capture nuanced meanings.
• Direct work with medieval manuscripts in European and Middle‑Eastern libraries, because many of Al‑Ghazali’s works remain unpublished in printed form.
• Critical comparison of printed editions, which can be unreliable, with manuscript evidence.

Challenging Traditional Views

• Old consensus (early 20th‑century scholars): Islamic philosophy flourished until a sudden turn toward purely religious literature, with Al‑Ghazali seen as the catalyst that ended rationalist inquiry.
• Griffel’s revision: Al‑Ghazali acted as a bridge, transferring philosophical ideas into the theological (kalam) tradition rather than destroying them. He both critiqued and incorporated philosophical concepts.

Key Findings

1. Al‑Ghazali’s Life

• New Persian letters, edited in the 1950s, reveal previously unknown details about his personal feelings and daily activities.
• These sources correct basic biographical data, such as his exact birth date.

2. His Students and Early Followers

• Griffel examines how Al‑Ghazali’s disciples recorded his teachings, helping to distinguish his core doctrines from occasional contradictions in his own writings.
• This approach uncovers a more coherent intellectual program than the fragmented picture presented by earlier scholars.

3. Cosmology – God, Causality, and the Universe

• Two dominant medieval models:
• Occasionalism: God creates every individual event anew, like a film frame.
• Secondary causality: God creates the world with natural causal laws (Aristotelian view).
• Griffel argues that Al‑Ghazali embraced both models simultaneously. For him, God is the ultimate creator of each moment and the ultimate source of the causal chains that operate in the world.
• This dual stance allows Al‑Ghazali to affirm divine omnipotence while still supporting scientific inquiry.

Surprising Discoveries

• The corrected birth date shows that even basic encyclopedic entries can be inaccurate.
• Al‑Ghazali’s attitude toward the sciences was progressive: he saw scientific investigation as compatible with, and even necessary for, a proper understanding of God’s creation—contrary to the popular myth that he “destroyed” science in Islam.

Translating Al‑Ghazali’s Cosmology to Modern Terms

• Griffel likens Al‑Ghazali’s view to a theological version of the Big Bang: God initiates the universe, and the subsequent natural laws are the means by which the created order unfolds.
• This perspective positions Al‑Ghazali as a thinker who could bridge medieval theology and contemporary scientific cosmology.

Conclusion

Griffel’s book reshapes the narrative around Al‑Ghazali, presenting him not as a philosophical destroyer but as a synthesizer who integrated rational inquiry into Islamic theology and maintained a nuanced cosmology that accommodates both divine immediacy and natural causality.

Al‑Ghazali should be seen as a bridge between philosophy and theology, whose dual view of divine creation and natural causality supports both religious devotion and scientific inquiry.