The The ‘Light’ of Reason in the Philosophical and Theological Teachings of al-Ghazali in Relation to the Byzantine Mysticism of Light

Al-Ghazali's concept of reason integrates sensory, discursive, and moral components, forming a philosophical 'theology' that guides cognition of the Absolute—the One, Eternal, and self-equal. Although the Absolute is unknowable, progress toward it as Truth proceeds through the ideal of the 'perfect man' (al-insan al-kamal) in epistemology and ethics. Al-Ghazali unifies knowledge and action, logic and morality in practical reason, critiquing al-Farabi and Ibn Sina for inadequately correlating theoretical and practical reason and for reason's scope in ethics and religion. The article compares this with the Byzantine mystical tradition of Simeon the New Theologian, who describes striving for absolute knowledge through Divine light and attaining unity with God, paralleling al-Ghazali's Sufi concept of the perfect man.

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Abstract

The author notes that rationality stemmed out of external logic devoid of value meanings and human dimensions. In medieval philosophy the concept of reason was considered as consisting of sensory, discursive, and moral components. The principles of rationalization in alGhazali’s (1058–1111) are considered in the article as philosophical ‘theology’ that underlie the understanding and cognition of the Absolute as a whole: the One, the Eternal, and equal to itself. Despite the unknowability of the Absolute, movement towards it as the Truth occurs within the framework of ideas about the ‘perfect man’ (al-insan al-kamal) in epistemology and ethics. In the teaching of al-Ghazali on practical reason, the unity of knowledge and action, logic and morality, is fulfilled. The ethical relevance of these concepts is emphasized. On the opinion of Al-Ghazali about inadequate solution by the Eastern Peripatetics al-Farabi and Ibn Sina on the correlation of theoretical and practical reason, as well as the issue about the scope of reason competence in the problems of ethics and religion is discussed. Despite the different discourses of knowledge in Islam and Christianity and the absence of the term ‘mysticism’ in the Muslim tradition, the phenomenon of mysticism exists in both philosophical and theological traditions in terms of semantic content. Therefore, for unveiling the meaning of the concept of light of reason of al-Ghazali, the article presents the medieval Byzantine mystical tradition of comprehending the Creator through the Divine light, similar to the knowing of the Absolute in al-Ghazali’s Sufism. The doctrine of Simeon the New Theologian on striving for absolute knowledge in the process of self-perfecting and attainment the highest spiritual state of unity by a person with God in the perception of the Divine light is considered. In this regard, Simeon’s understanding of the human is comparable to the concept of the ‘perfect man’ formulated by al-Ghazali.