Al-Ghazali and His Theory of the Soul: A Comparative Study

This book seeks to study in depth the influence of al-Ghazali’s life, in particular his search for true knowledge, on his theories concerning the psychological dispositions of man. The first few chapters attempt to clarify the distinctive contribution of his psychological ideas to an understanding of human personality. This includes an assessment of the theories of the soul of three major Greek philosophers: Plato, Aristotle and Plotinus. This is followed by the Islamic theories of the soul: those found in the Qur’an, those of al-Farabi and Ibn Sina, and finally al-Ghazali’s theory of soul. The final chapter examines briefly al-Ghazali’s concept of happiness and attempts to analyse the spiritual dynamic inherent in al-Ghazali’s theory of the soul and how this is related to his views on the human personality. Containing all these discussions, this book is an essential text for those who are interested in understanding the spiritual aspect of human beings as well as the spiritual conflicts brought by the complexities of daily life.