by raza
6. October 2008 14:07
On 9th December, I saw the movie Al-Ghazali: The Alchemist of Happiness at the Kara Film Festival which will continue till 12th of December. The title of the film is based on Imam Ghazali's famous book Kimiya-ye Sa’adah (Alchemy of Happiness) on matters of tasawwuf. My comments at the end of the film were that either the film is brilliant or Imam Ghazali's life is a true inspiration. Both of them are true. He was very capable and learned the major works in religion at an early age. Then while he was in Baghdad, he debated with people on matters of religion and his attitude was that one should look at 'what is being said' rather than 'who is saying it'. Definitely, this was radical thinking in the times of taqleed (blind following). He started off as an idealistic young person in search of the truth. Then the ruler of Baghdad Nizam-ul-Mulk offered him position of the head of Baghdad University, not knowing that it was offered for political reasons. This gave him a place to forward his thoughts. All this success and recognition somehow got to his head and he was lead astray and became the same person that he despised. Instead of searching for the truth he was debating on matters in formal religious knowledge. He lost the real spirit. His brother Ahmed Ghazali was inclined towards the sufi path from the begining and one day questioned his motives and made him realize his situation. He took it to his heart and for some time he became disconnected from everything. He was unable to give passionate sermons and make debates. He was so absorbed that he became ill. He recovered from his illness and decided to leave home in search of God. For ten years he did this and then returned to Baghdad. He found what he was looking for.
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