The Transformative Effect of Seeking the Eternal: A Sampling of the Perspectives of Two Great Muslim Intellectuals—Ibn-Ĥazm and Al-Ghazāli

Abstract

Muslim intellectuals during medieval times had an enormous appetite for the study of the mental apparatus, delving into metaphysical discussions and debating the methods of harmonizing their discoveries with the basic tenets of orthodox theology. Most such thinkers wore many hats, being physicians, theologians, philosophers, and politicians, among others. The richness of the literature of that era makes it impossible to confidently conclude that a unified model for psychological transformation exists. This article attempts to arrive at the hypothesis that such a model does indeed exist, even if difficult to prove. To support this hypothesis, some of the works of two of the greatest minds of the 11th century, Ibn-Ĥazm and Al-Ghazāli, will be sampled and contrasted. Ultimately, both scholars reach conclusions that share a common theme. For both of them, seeking the Eternal of the after-life and abrogating the temporary present is an essential component of each of their models of transformation. The road to such a goal is traveled very differently by each scholar, and both approaches appear to reflect what only a fraction of transformed believers have actually utilized. The majority of transformed individuals are likely to have adopted a model that lies on the median between the two sampled approaches.