Hamza Yusuf : the critical importance of Al-Ghazali in our times

Comments

Good interesting listen.

Imam Ghazali was not a fan of sectarianism and thought it was from closed minds.

Interesting.

"For too long, we have been a passively tolerant society, saying to our citizens 'as long as you obey the law, we will leave you alone'" - David Cameron, UK Prime Minister. 13 May 2015.

You wrote:

Imam Ghazali was not a fan of sectarianism and thought it was from closed minds.

Interesting.

Why have you specifically picked that part out? I picked that part out too when I listened to it.

 

I dont know but it stood out.

"For too long, we have been a passively tolerant society, saying to our citizens 'as long as you obey the law, we will leave you alone'" - David Cameron, UK Prime Minister. 13 May 2015.

I love this lecture. Imam-al-ghazali's work is truly transhistorical and relevant more than ever today. Today, as the 'self' becomes the centripetal force in one's life, and people, unknowingly or knowingly, are drifting into a self-idolatrous mode, this lecture is a valuable reminder that we need in every passing moment- that Allah swt is the point of focus-everything is through Him and everything is for Him!
Also, its absolutely amazing that centuries ago, he aptly typed the different intellectual thinkers that have existed and would ever exist in the world - Philosophers, theologians, esotericists, experientialists. Subhanallah it's like he knew everything there is to know about the different dimensions of human thinking.
'This religion is about knowing God and recognizing Him'- The beauty of Islam defined in one sentence!

I think it always needs to be made clear too the diference between shirk and pseudo-shirk:

worshipping idols is kufr.

Being self centered or anything like that isnt. Its just something that can lead down a path which causes problems.

It is too easy for people to talk about the latter and mix it with the former without showing the differences and cause mass confusion.

"For too long, we have been a passively tolerant society, saying to our citizens 'as long as you obey the law, we will leave you alone'" - David Cameron, UK Prime Minister. 13 May 2015.