Al‐Ghazāli's evaluation of abu yazid al‐bistāmi and his disapproval of the mystical concepts of union and fusion

Abstract

Abstract Abū Yazid al‐Bistāmi (d. 874 AD) was a renowned early sūfi who exerted a tremendous influence upon the doctrinal formulation of the sufism of medieval times. A highly controversial figure, he is venerated by some as a top‐ranking saint and sūfi, condemned by others as a notorious heretic, and there are still others who suspend judgement on him. More than 200 years after him al‐Ghazāli (1058‐1111 AD) flourished as the greatest sūfi of all times; he examined and evaluated the teachings of his sūfi predecessors including Abū Yazid. To determine his evaluation of Abū Yazid and his opinion on the related, well‐known concept of man's union with God at the highest peak of spirituality is the main aim of this paper. To achieve this aim al‐Ghazāli's citations from Abū Yazid's teachings on many basic doctrines of sufism, together with his explicit comments on them, are analysed in the second section of the paper, and he is found to have evaluated these teachings as of a very high grade and to have extolled...