Imam Ghazali is known as one of the greatest scholars of the Islamic tradition, and had become the foremost authority of Islamic academia by his mid-30s, serving as the top professor in the Nizamiyya Institute of Baghdad, the leading university of Islamic sciences in the land. However, despite all of this success and accomplishment, Imam Ghazali felt a turmoil within his heart, felt something lacking in his connection with Allah ﷻ. Even though he had intellectually mastered the Islamic sciences, he did not feel the reality of those sciences present within his heart. He looked into different domains of knowledge such as philosophy, theology and mathematics to find a solution to his dilemma, but was not able to — until he began to deeply study the science of Islamic spirituality, or tasawwuf, in which he felt he had found the answers to his problem. After some inner reflection and struggle, and from what he felt was a sign from Allah ﷻ, he secretly departed on his journey to Damascus, where he found the company of the masters of tasawwuf and diligently worked on purifying his heart and developing a close relationship with Allah ﷻ. He eventually returned home as a completely reformed individual, after which he began writing his masterful works for which he is now known and revered, such as his magnum opus Ihya ‘Uloom al-Din, or “The Revival of the Islamic Sciences”, which heavily focuses on the necessity of purifying the soul.
Imam Ghazali’s journey shows us the honesty with which our predecessors would reflect on their inner states and work toward improving them, despite having reached academic pinnacles. Despite his accolades and reputation, Imam Ghazali recognized something was missing in his connection with Allah ﷻ, deeply reflected upon it, and fully committed to rectifying himself through the company of the righteous, sacrificing his time and position in the process. His story contains powerful lessons for the believer on the importance of self-reflection, sacrifice, and commitment in order to attain a true relationship with Allah ﷻ.
