Ghazali’s social thoughts are heavily influenced by his theological beliefs, for example his opinion on justice being a social security that is under the jurisdiction of God. He states that the “people who are ruled over” should not be dealt with in cruelty.
Ghazali’s social thoughts are heavily influenced by his theological beliefs, for example his opinion on justice being a social security that is under the jurisdiction of God. He states that the “people who are ruled over” should not be dealt with in cruelty.
Abu Muhammad ibn Muhammad Al-Ghazali was born in Toos in Khorasan in 1085, and studied in Nishapur, Baghdad and Jurjan. He was a minister in the court of the Suljooq and remained there due to his renowned wisdom. Ghazali was one of the most famous scholars of his time and was respected everywhere he went.
He influenced a lot of people to think critically but also rationally, which helped the people of his time greatly as they were taught to think for themselves rather than to be told what to think all the time. This was due to his great teaching techniques and influence as an academic and an Islamic scholar. He was a well-known teacher mostly in the field of politics, and established his own education centre in Toos. He was a prominent thinker in many fields philosophy, logic, theology, hadith, sociology and politics.
Ghazali’s thoughts on sociology have been used a lot in the past and are still being used today, and in his opinion in the heart of it all is “social life”. This term is constantly mentioned when reading about Ghazali’s social thoughts. He gives many reasons to why it is important, stating that “social life” has two reasons at its base which are mainly the survival of one’s self and to fulfil the necessities in life.
He also states that the main difference between human beings and animals are that human beings are able to achieve different stages and levels in different skills, and to be able to complete one’s needs. He also states that the social actions of a woman is important and also encourages women to educate themselves and to become more academic. This is very important, especially in that day and age, and shows that Ghazali was thinking ahead as many people during his time did not think in the way that women should be educated or be given classes to become scholars.
Ghazali’s social thoughts are heavily influenced by his theological beliefs, for example his opinion on justice being a social security that is under the jurisdiction of God. He states that the “people who are ruled over” should not be dealt with in cruelty. Ghazali was, is, and will always be considered a great thinker and this is due to many things but in my opinion it is mainly because of his way of forward-thinking, equality, and justice in regards to women needing to be educated like men and treated with equality and not cruelty.
When societies implement these ideas, there can be a spike in professional women which will be the cause of an advanced society that will treat women the same as men. It will give women equal rights as they will be the same and if not more qualified than males. This is something that unfortunately is not in place in many countries, especially in Islamic countries. The unfortunate thing is that businesses will think that women will impact their profit as they may get pregnant and leave their workplace, and that they would have to spend money and time in finding the next employee that would fit the role so they would rather employ males from the get go. This is a wrong mentality, especially in the modern age where women are still looked down upon even though there are many laws and campaigns fighting for women’s rights.
The Holy Prophet taught us that females play a major role in the society as he himself had females that were extremely important figures in the Islamic state at the time. It is unfortunate that so many Muslim countries have deviated from that.
Ghazali’s ideas may not be completely new, however are important as they can be used to empower women in an ‘Islamic’ way in our modern age, something that Muslims and non-Muslims alike should take away from and implement in our societies today.
