political fragmentation and cultural diversity 245beings should not only be for the purpose of avoiding God’s dissat-
isfaction but, more important, also with the aim of worshiping Him
in a complete piety. In classifying levels of consumption, for exam-
ple, we find him differentiating not only between what is lawful and
unlawful, but also between what is lawful and what is pious. For
him, all economic activities of the individual, consumption, produc-
tion, accumulation of wealth, etc., should be within the purpose of,
and with a view to, bringing the individual to the level of piety—a
level that goes beyond what is merely lawful and acceptable, to what
is pious and puritan. In that sense, al-Ghazàlìrepresents a distinc-
tive characteristic of Muslim writers whose aim is to take the believer
to a highly refined level of religious piety.
Despite being a flùfì, al-Ghazàlì’s views, however, are distinguished
from those of the extreme flùfìs who advocated an entire abstinence
from materialistic life. Even further, we find him criticising these
views severely and condemning those who prefer to live on charity
for the sake of devoting their entire life to worship God.
Al-Ghazàlì’s writing on economics is different from that of Abù-
Yùsuf whose main concern was with public finance, and al-Shaibànì
who focused on earnings. He comes nearer to al-A›fahànìin his col-
lective views on man and his role in the universe, though what dis-
tinguishes him from al-A›fahànìis his emphasis on, not what is lawful
and unlawful but, what is pious and not pious. It is the approach of
piety rather than lawfulness that is the basic approach of al-Ghazàlì’s
analysis of man’s behaviour, economic or otherwise. And he never
diverted from this main theme throughout his work.
In the following section we will look into the main views of al-
Ghazàlì as depicted in his well-known four-volume book, “Iœya"
Ulùm al-Dìn”, “the revival of sciences of religion”.
The Author
Abù-Hamid Muœammad al-Ghazàlì, usually referred to as Imam al-
Ghazàlì, was born in 450 A.H.–1058 A.C., in the village of Taberan,
the district of Taus, in Kurasan, Persia. There, he also died in 505
A.H.–1111 A.C. On the day of his death, it is said that he got up
from his bed, performed his morning prayer, sent for his coffin cloth
which he lifted up to his eyes and said, “God’s command is to be
obeyed”. In saying that, he extended his legs and then immediately
breathed his last breath.