Reading Al-GhazÉli’s Thoughts through Some Scenes

Such history seems to repeat recently as the writer should watch another excited movie which entitles The Alchemy of Happiness. This is the second movie the writer has ever watched, portraying some medieval Muslim scholars. The term “medieval” here refers to what has been articulated by Jacques Waardenburg in his Muslim Perceptions of Other Religions: A Historical Survey, pointing to the era of 650 C.E until 1500 C.E. The first watched-movie is al-Masir (Destiny) which is directed by Youssef Chahine, an Egyptian director, and released in 1997. Al-Masir’s director can artistically invigorate Muslims’ cultural awareness of the long conflict between the exponents of blind adherence (taqlid) and ijtihad, choosing Ibn Rusd’ life as a lustrous example. It is the likely reason why this movie had achieved several awards; one of them was in the Cannes Film Festival.

Interestingly, the main figure of the Alchemist of Happiness filmed by Ovidio Salazar in 2004 is al-GhazÉli who had been countered by Ibn Rusd through his important work, TahÉfut al-TahÉfut. Instead of discussing their disengagement, this short essay merely endeavours to grasp what the most important insights are in the second movie, accentuating the relevance of al-GhazÉli’s teachings in these days; therefore, it is not only an interesting movie but also a must-watched movie. It also will be worth edutainment for Muslims nowadays.

Looking at the title, this movie can correctly be surmised as a movie that bases on one of al-GhazÉli’s work named as Kimiya al-Sa`adah. The book itself discusses how to achieve the real happiness. Likewise, this movie tells about the seeker of the truth which will lead to the real happiness by using al-GhazÉli’s life as such experience. Having watched this movie, firstly, the writer would like to highlight the limitation of five senses in the seeking of knowledge. This issue looks like to be important when looking at this millennium in which most people across the world stick to the idea of empiricism.

It is undoubtedly correct that human beings are able to attain such knowledge through the five senses. However the question arises whether it is the truth or mere illusionary knowledge. To al-GhazÉli, misjudged as the only man who should be responsible for bringing about Islamic philosophy to its end, the five sense based-knowledge is indeed the earliest stage in the human life. It is much used in the childhood; thereby, implying its limitation. By mention the limitation, as if al-GhazÉli tried to break down the proponents of the idea that the sole source of knowledge is the five senses (al-ÍawÉss al-khamsah), be it in Islamic history such as al-Sumaniyyah or in the Western civilisation such as the exponents of empiricism.

When humans enter the phase of maturity, they used to utilise their reason and this is the further stage. Through reason, human kinds can understand and define something which is abstract. Either can widen the boundaries that limit their knowledge based on the five senses. Yet, al-GhazÉli articulated, like the former, this stage has a distinct shortcoming; that is, not being able to reach the unseen world. To simply rely upon these two ways, it will evoke such an obstacle as seeking the truth. What al-GhazÉli wanted to point out is that the only way of pursuit of happiness is combining both of those methods under the guide of religion; precisely the revelation.

Compared to what happens today in the modern world, after the Western people putting aside religious teachings following the Rennaisance, many have recently tried to substitute the thrown religion(s) by formulating some ideologies and belief systems. That is why some philosophers propose, not to mention, Marxism, Nationalism or Humanism, be it quasi religions or other ism, replacing their religions. This phenomenon just depicts that basically religions have still a pivotal role in this temporal life. Besides, it is the proof of the relevance of al-Ghazali’s thought.

The second important point is the issue of religious tolerance during al-GhazÉli’s life. At that time in which al-GhazÉli lived there were many conflicts either among Muslims themselves such as the conflict between Sunni and Shiite or Muslims and non-Muslims. One of al-GhazÉli’s writings entitled FaÌÉ’ih al-BÉÏiniyah wa FaÌÉ’il al-MustaÐhiriyyah can describe how al-GhazÉli involved in the midst of chaotic surrounding. Farouk Mitha has nicely articulated that al-GhazÉli to some extent through his fatwas had contributed to this chaotic circumstance because at that time al-GhazÉli had been crowned as ×ujjat al-IslÉm.

Along with this issue, it also appears the issue of orthodoxy whereby one denomination dominates over another. Owing to the superiority, by that time those who had differed with the majority would be deemed as a heretic denomination; as a consequence, its exponents experienced such violent attack and would be tormented. To al-GhazÉli, it was caused by the ignorant zealot people who only accept the truth through looking at their masters, not their sayings and teachings or even actions.

When conflict and violence occurred, al-GhazÉli concerned with this situation, worrying about those people being used for the sake of political power, questioning why some scholars behaved like that. Al-GhazÉli’s abovementioned hypothesis, contrasted to the study of ideology, looks like to be relevant in this era. To some extent, by keeping people in their ignorance, as stated by Helvetius and Holbach, the leader will benefit from them; that is, to maintain their power and rule. In order to overcome this phenomenon, al-GhazÉli viewed that he himself should educate them, so they will aware of this deceit, accepting the truth through the proper way, not blindly adhering to some leaders or scholars who are not unjust.

At the end of this essay, the writer interests in the concept of fiÏrah. Al-GhazÉli expounded that every human was born inherited with his or her primitiveness (fiÏrah) or primordial nature. To al-GhazÉli, to attain the real happiness, humans should concern with their fiÏrah. FiÏrah itself refers to the belief in or worshipping God; however, during humans’ live, they deviate from their own fiÏrah because of desires which comes from their surroundings and estranges them from their path.

As a seminal concept, the idea of fiÏrah is likely akin to the tabula rasa which is traced back to Aristotle and basically developed by Ibn Sina. It is later on associated with John Locke. Unlike Ibn Sina who had enormously influenced by Greek philosophy, al-GhazÉli, as a philosopher, tried to “islamise” this idea, synchronising with taÎawwuf teachings and providing some verses and hadÊth.

To tackle down this obstacle, humans should purify their heart; thus, it will receive the real knowledge, achieving the real happiness; that is, knowing God. The process of purification, al-GhazÉli explained, requires striving and belief. This is because the heart is like the mirror which is originally clear and clean. If it is full of dust, it should regularly be swept by worshiping God rather than ignoring it.

In a nutshell, this movie provides many valuable teachings that should be useful for being such guideline. It also sets out that this worldly life is not the aim of human kinds, but only the place to preparing the journey to the unseen world. What really means for human kinds is that the spirituality in its various forms has a tight correlation with humans’ daily lives, so it should be taking care of properly.

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ode buat hotaru

biar ini tak menjadi sebuah kesalahpahaman. atau kegundahan yang diam-diam. maka, beberapa aksara mesti tertuliskan. sebagai saksi bagi pertobatan ataukah umpatan. tetiba, memang aku menjadi takut kehilangan. kamu dan atau hari-hari yang sedang dan telah menjelma kenangan. tak wajar bukan?

engkau memang tak memungutnya. atau menyimpannya dalam lembaran kehidupan. tak juga menembangkannya dalam nyanyian serta tak menuliskannya dalam catatan. engkau membiarkannya serupa daun kering yang merana. menua, rapuh, jatuh dan tersia-sia.

terbawa entah angin, hujan atau bahkan terlupa. tapi aku. menjalinnya sebagai satu cerita. menyalinnya dalam ingatan tajam. tidak untuk anak, cucu atau saudara. tapi
sekedar kisah hari tua. menyusurinya dalam sorotan senja yang temaram.
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let's pray for them

those who live under the same sun
and stare fixedly at the same moon

their wounds may take a long time to heal
so, let's pray for them Read More..