Al-Ghazali's Attack on Philosophy in The Rescuer from Error

Abstract

This paper is an exploration of al-Ghazali's attack on philosophy by way of an examination of his autobiographical epistle, "The Rescuer from Error." In this text written late in his life, al-Ghazali advises a young student about the best way to pursue knowledge. The thesis argued below is that his project is to re-form Islam around the Sufi mystics, and that he attacks philosophy as a threat to Islam; meanwhile, he covertly attempts to preserve philosophy as a study which can aid the mystics by refining their mystic knowing and providing an antidote to the poisonous error of the multitude.