BIOGRAFI IMAM AL-GHAZALI

Alwi Alatas

PERKENALAN

Nama : Alwi Alatas

Aktiviti: Menulis, studi PhD (IIUM)

Email: alwialatas@gmail.com

FB: Alwi Alatas II

Twitter: @alwialatas

BIOGRAFI RINGKAS
Nama lengkap beliau Abu Hamid Muhammad bin
Muhammad al-Ghazali (Algazel). Ia merupakan
seorang keturunan Persia.
Ia merupakan seorang ahli kalam (theolog), filsuf,
sufi, ahli fiqh, dan berbagai disiplin keilmuan
lainnya.
Lahir pada tahun 450/1058 di kota Tus, Khurasan.
Ia lahir 300 tahun selepas Imam Syafii, 150/ 730.
Beliau bermadzhab Syafii, berfaham Asyari, dan
mengamalkan tasawuf.
Pada puncak karirnya, ia menjadi rektor Madrasah
Nizamiyah.

 Keilmuannya begitu mendalam dan

pengaruhnya begitu luas sehingga ia dijuluki
Hujjatul Islam (Proof of Islam). Ia juga
dianggap sebagai mujaddid abad ke-5 Hijriah.
Filsafat mengalami kemunduran dan tasawuf
mendapat penerimaan dalam orthodoksi Islam
terutama melalui peranan al-Ghazali.
Ia wafat pada tahun 1111, pada umur 53
tahun, di kota Tus.
Ia memiliki beberapa anak perempuan. Anak
laki-lakinya, Hamid, meninggal saat masih
bayi.

WAFATNYA
Utsman el-Muhammady dalam artikelnya
menyebutkan: Ibn al-Jawzi meriwayatkan dalam
kitab al-Thabat Inda al-Mamat kisah yang
didapatinya daripada Ahmad saudara Imam alGhazali bahawa pada Hari Isnin (14 Jamadil-Akhir)
pada waktu masuk Subuh saudaraku Abu Hamid
mengambil wudunya, sembahyang Subuh, kemudian
berkata: Bawa kepadaku kain kafanku; beliau
mengambil kain itu, menciumnya dan
meletakkannya pada matanya, sambil berkata: Kami
mendengar dan taat dengan penuh persediaan untuk
hadhir ke Hadhrat Tuhan, Raja (Yang Maha
Berkuasa); kemudian beliau melunjurkan kakinya,
mengadap kiblat,dan meninggal dunia sebelum
matahari naik.

GURU-GURUNYA

Abul Qasim al-Ismaili (w. 477H)

Nasr al-Maqdisi (w. 490H)
Al-Faramidhi (w. 477H)
Abul Maali al-Juwayni (w. 487H)

KITAB-KITABNYA

Ihya Ulumuddin

Al-Munqidh min al-Dhalal (otobiografi)

Misykat al-Anwar

Al-Basit, al-Wasit, dan al-Wajiz

Al-Iqtisad fil Itiqad

Bidayat al-Hidayah

Minhaj al-Abidin

Nasihat al-Muluk

Al-Qistas al-Mustaqim

Maqasid al-falasifa

Tahafut al-Falasifa

Ya Ayyuhal Walad

Al-Mustasyfa fi ilm al-Ushul

PENGARUH
Kesinambungan syariah dan tasawuf di dunia
Islam.
Melemahnya pengaruh filsafat di tengah kaum
Muslimin.
Bantahan terhadap kaum Batiniyah (Ismaili).
Pengaruh ke kalangan Eropa, antara lain
Thomas Aquinas.
Sunni revival: Beliau dianggap sebagai tokoh
utama kebangkitan kembali Ahlus Sunnah
pada era itu, sehingga ada yang mengatakan,
The key to Jerusalem is Ihya Ulumuddin.

SEDIKIT RENUNGAN
Adalah menarik bahwa al-Ghazali memilih tasawuf
dan menolak filsafat, dan Ahlus Sunnah mengalami
kebangkitan dan mampu memadamkan Fatimiyah
dan kekuatan salib.
Sementara Ibn Rushd yang mengusung Filsafat di
Andalusia tidak mendorong kebangkitan di negeri
itu. Pemikiran Ibn Rushd justru diterima di Eropa
dan mendorong terjadinya kebangkitan di sana
(Latin Averoes).
Salah satu pihak yang berperan penting dalam
menunda keterpurukan Andalusia, yaitu Kerajaan
al-Muwahidun (Almohads), justru menerima
pengaruh al-Ghazali.

PUJIAN DAN KRITIK TERHADAPNYA

Al-Yafii: Kalau wujud nabi selepas Nabi Muhamad pasti

orang itu ialah al-Ghazali.
Imam Nawawi : Hampir-hampir Kitab Ihya mengambil
tempat al-Quran.
Al-Subky: Tidak tahu ada orang selepas al-Ghazali
yang sama sepertinya terutama dari segi kadar
memiliki ilmu. Pasti tidak ada orang yang akan datang
sepertinya.
Al-Ghazali mendapat kritik antara lain oleh Ibn
Taimiyah, Ibn al-Jauzi, Ibn Rusyd. Beliau dikritik antara
lain dalam masalah hadits yang digunakan, dalam
masalah filsafat, dan juga pilihannya atas tasawuf.
Pada era masa belakangan ini, beliau juga dikritik
karena dianggap pilihannya terhadap tasawuf telah
menyebabkan kemunduran umat Islam.

SUMBANGAN PEMIKIRAN
Fiqh & Ushul
Fiqh

Pendidikan

Kalam & Filsafat

AlGhazali

Politik dan
Kemasyarakata
n

Tasawuf &
Ethics

BEBERAPA KUTIPAN

TENTANG ILMU
Adapun disiplin ilmu yang menjadi sarana
kebahagiaan ilmu yang bermanfaat terbagi
menjadi 4 kategori: ilmu alam, ilmu matematika,
ilmu politik, dan ilmu ketuhanan.
Disiplin-disiplin ilmu ini bagi manusia seperti
makanan atau obat bagi mereka, dan para rasul
diutus untuk menjelaskan semua ini. Kadar
kebahagiaan ilmu-ilmu ini berbeda-beda menurut
kondisi manusia yang berdasarkan perbedaan
watak, naluri, kadar resepsi dan akal mereka.

TENTANG EKONOMI

It happens that farmers live in a place where farming tools are

not available. And, blacksmiths and carpenters live where farming
does not exist. So, the farmer needs blacksmiths and carpenters
and they in turn need the farmers. Naturally, each will want to
satisfy his needs by giving up in exchange a portion of what he
possesses. But, it is also possible that when the carpenter wants
food in exchange for some tools, the farmer does not need the
tools. Or, when the farmer needs the tools from the carpenter,
the carpenter does not need food. So such situations create
difficulties. Therefore, there emerge forces leading to the creation
of trading places where all kinds of tools can be kept for
exchange and also the creation of warehouses where farmers
produce can be stored. Then, customers come to obtain these
goods and markets and storehouses are established. Farmers
bring their produce to the markets and if they cant readily sell or
exchange what they possess, they sell them at a lower rate to the
traders who in turn store the produce and try to sell to the buyers
at a profit. This is true for all kinds of goods and services.

Then, such practices extend to different cities and countries.

People travel to different villages and cities to obtain tools
and food and transport them. Peoples economic affairs
become organized into cities which may not have all the tools
needed and into villages which may not have all the
foodstuffs needed. Peoples own needs and interests create
the need for each other and for transportation. Then, a class
of professional traders who carry goods from one place to
another is created. The motive behind all these activities is
the accumulation of profits, no doubt. These traders exhaust
themselves by travelling to satisfy others needs and wanting
to make profits and these profits, too are then eaten by
others -- like robbers or a tyrant ruler. This seems their
ignorance and foolishness, but in these activities Allah has
provided a system for the welfare of the people and the
formation of communities. Really speaking, all worldly affairs
are based on ignorance and meanness of some people. If
people were wise and had higher and nobler intentions, they
would discard the mundane life. However, if they would do
this, then the means of livelihood would perish and people
would perish including the pious too.

 Ihya, Vol. 3, p. 227. It might be noted that this

insightful analysis of the markets by al-Ghazali
precedes what so many European classical
economists said in their discourses during the 1719th centuries, especially Adam Smith. It is
especially interesting to note that the farmercarpenter example here is analogous to the
famous butcher-baker illustration of Adam Smith.
While discussing the selfinterest motivated
behavior, Smith says, It is not from the
benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the
baker, that we expect our dinner, but from their
regard to their own self-interest. (Wealth of
Nations, Modern Library, New York, 1965, p. 14).