A comparative study of al-Ghazali’s and Ibn Taymiyyah’s views on sufism

Sufism has generated from the ancient time a very staunch polemics among Muslim scholars. The controversy over sufism has attracted various comments and remarks over the unique and peculiar tenets of sufis. Among the Muslim scholars who have contributed to the discourse were al-Ghazali and Ibn Ta...

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Main Author: Arikewuyo, Ahmed Nafiu
Format: Article
Language:en
Published: Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia 2020
Online Access:http://journalarticle.ukm.my/14868/1/IJIT-Vol-17-June-2020_2_15-24.pdf
http://journalarticle.ukm.my/14868/
http://www.ukm.my/ijit/volume-17-june-2020/
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author Arikewuyo, Ahmed Nafiu
author_facet Arikewuyo, Ahmed Nafiu
author_sort Arikewuyo, Ahmed Nafiu
building Tun Sri Lanang Library
collection Institutional Repository
content_provider Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
content_source UKM Journal Article Repository
continent Asia
country Malaysia
description Sufism has generated from the ancient time a very staunch polemics among Muslim scholars. The controversy over sufism has attracted various comments and remarks over the unique and peculiar tenets of sufis. Among the Muslim scholars who have contributed to the discourse were al-Ghazali and Ibn Taymiyyah. This research aims to compare the views of these two scholars. Library research with analytic and comparative methodology was adopted. Findings show that both scholars are credited to have reformed some popular and conventional doctrines of the Sufis of their respective times. In addition, al-Ghazali and Ibn Taymiyyah agreed that some innovations and perversions have found their way into sufism. A major phenomenon in the views of the two scholars on sufism is that while al-Ghazali was to a very large extent influenced by some sufi superstitions, Ibn Taymiyyah strongly subjects sufism to the literal provisions of the Quran and Sunnah. It is the conclusion of this paper that while it is accurate to ascribe al-Ghazali to sufism, it is inaccurate to regard Ibn Taymiyyah as one despite some of his sympathetic views on some sufis.
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institution Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
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spelling my-ukm.journal.148682020-07-21T01:02:54Z http://journalarticle.ukm.my/14868/ A comparative study of al-Ghazali’s and Ibn Taymiyyah’s views on sufism Arikewuyo, Ahmed Nafiu Sufism has generated from the ancient time a very staunch polemics among Muslim scholars. The controversy over sufism has attracted various comments and remarks over the unique and peculiar tenets of sufis. Among the Muslim scholars who have contributed to the discourse were al-Ghazali and Ibn Taymiyyah. This research aims to compare the views of these two scholars. Library research with analytic and comparative methodology was adopted. Findings show that both scholars are credited to have reformed some popular and conventional doctrines of the Sufis of their respective times. In addition, al-Ghazali and Ibn Taymiyyah agreed that some innovations and perversions have found their way into sufism. A major phenomenon in the views of the two scholars on sufism is that while al-Ghazali was to a very large extent influenced by some sufi superstitions, Ibn Taymiyyah strongly subjects sufism to the literal provisions of the Quran and Sunnah. It is the conclusion of this paper that while it is accurate to ascribe al-Ghazali to sufism, it is inaccurate to regard Ibn Taymiyyah as one despite some of his sympathetic views on some sufis. Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia 2020-06 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://journalarticle.ukm.my/14868/1/IJIT-Vol-17-June-2020_2_15-24.pdf Arikewuyo, Ahmed Nafiu (2020) A comparative study of al-Ghazali’s and Ibn Taymiyyah’s views on sufism. International Journal of Islamic Thought ( IJIT ), 17 . pp. 15-24. ISSN 2232-1314 http://www.ukm.my/ijit/volume-17-june-2020/
spellingShingle Arikewuyo, Ahmed Nafiu
A comparative study of al-Ghazali’s and Ibn Taymiyyah’s views on sufism
title A comparative study of al-Ghazali’s and Ibn Taymiyyah’s views on sufism
title_full A comparative study of al-Ghazali’s and Ibn Taymiyyah’s views on sufism
title_fullStr A comparative study of al-Ghazali’s and Ibn Taymiyyah’s views on sufism
title_full_unstemmed A comparative study of al-Ghazali’s and Ibn Taymiyyah’s views on sufism
title_short A comparative study of al-Ghazali’s and Ibn Taymiyyah’s views on sufism
title_sort comparative study of al-ghazali’s and ibn taymiyyah’s views on sufism
url http://journalarticle.ukm.my/14868/1/IJIT-Vol-17-June-2020_2_15-24.pdf
http://journalarticle.ukm.my/14868/
http://www.ukm.my/ijit/volume-17-june-2020/
url_provider http://journalarticle.ukm.my/