Part 16
“Said Jesus (on him be peace), ‘O ye teachers of wickedness! Ye fast and pray and give alms and do not what ye command others and ye teach that which ye do not understand. How evil is that which ye do. Ye repent only with words but your deeds are without value. In vain do ye purify your skins while your hearts are covered with evil. I say unto you, be not as the sieve from which the good flour passes out and all that remains in it are the siftings. Thus ye make the truth to pass out of your mouths, but deceit remains in your hearts, O servants of the world! How can any one understand the other world while his desires cling to this? Of a truth I say unto you that your hearts shall weep because of your deeds. Ye have put the world upon your tongues and trampled upon good deeds. Of a truth I say unto you, ye have corrupted your future life, for ye are more in love with the good things of this world than of the good things of the world to come. Which of the children suffers greater loss than ye do, if only ye knew it! Woe be to you! How long will ye describe the right way to those who are in darkness and ye yourselves remain in the place of doubt? It is as if ye invite the children of the world to forsake its pleasure in order to leave it for yourselves a little while. Woe be to you! What benefit is it to the darkened house if the candle be put on its roof while the rooms of the house remain in darkness? In the same way ye will not be enriched if the light of knowledge is on your lips, while your hearts remain in darkness. O ye servants of the world! what of your righteousness or your freedom? Perchance the world will pluck you up by the roots and cast you upon your faces and drag you in the dust. It will expose your sins upon your foreheads, then it will drive you before it until you are delivered up to the angel of judgment, every one of you naked. Then shall you be punished by your evil deeds.’” (Vol. III, p. 183; cf. Matt. 23: 1-27.)
“Do not be anxious about the food of to-morrow, for perhaps to-morrow will be your time of death.” (Vol. IV, p. 330; cf. Matt. 6: 34.)
“Behold the bird, it does not sow nor reap nor lay up store and God Most High provides for it.” (Vol. IV, p. 190; cf. Matt. 6: 26.)
“Said Jesus (on him be peace), ‘He is not wise who does not rejoice when he enters upon trials and sicknesses of the body and loss of his possessions; for in it he may find atonement for his sins.’” (Vol. IV, p. 205; cf. Matt. 5: 10.)
“It is related of Jesus that he said: ‘If you see a young man passionately fond of prayer to God you will know that he has escaped all temptations.’” (Vol. IV, p. 221; cf. Matt 26: 41.) The reference might be to Christ’s words in the Garden of Gethsemane.
“Said Jesus (on him be peace), ‘Serve God by hating the people who transgress, and draw near to God by departing from them. Seek the good-will of God by hating them.’ They said to him: ‘O spirit of God, with whom then shall we keep company?’ He answered them: ‘Keep company with those who make you remember God and those whose words improve your conduct and those whose example makes you earnest for the world to come.’” (Vol. II, p. 110.)
“It is related of Jesus (on him be peace) that he said to the children of Israel: ‘Where does that which ye sow grow?’ They replied: ‘In the good ground,’ and he said: ‘Verily I say unto you, wisdom does not grow except in the heart which is good soil.’” (Vol. IV, p. 256; cf. Matt. 13: 1-9.)
“Said Jesus (on him be peace), ‘Truly the harvest does not grow on the mountain but in the plain. Thus wisdom works in the heart of those that are humble and not in the heart of the proud.’” (Vol. III, p. 240; cf. Matt. 13: 23.)
“Said Jesus (on him be peace), ‘Fine garments make proud looks.’” (Vol. III, p. 247.)
“Said Jesus (on him be peace), ‘What ails you that ye come in the garments of monks and your hearts are the hearts of ravening wolves? Wear the garments of monks if you wish but humble your hearts with godly fear.’” (Vol. III, p. 247; cf. Matt. 7: 15.)
“Said Jesus (on him be peace), ‘O company of disciples, call upon God Most High that he may make light for you this terror, namely, death. For I fear death in such a fashion that I stand afraid of the same.’” Is it possible that Al-Ghazali here refers to the agony in Gethsemane? The chapter in which this passage occurs is entitled “The terrors of death.” (Vol. IV, p. 324; cf. Matt. 26: 38.)
We now give other “sayings” of Jesus, as Al-Ghazali himself does, in somewhat confused order. Although not quotations or even misquotations from the Gospels, they are of interest as completing the list and also because they show what Al-Ghazali and other Moslems thought was the teaching of Jesus the Prophet.
“Said Jesus (on him be peace), ‘How many a sound body and beautiful face and eloquent tongue will to-morrow cry out in the fires of hell!’” (Vol. IV, p. 383.)
“Said Jesus, ‘Which of you can build a house upon the waves of the sea? Such is the world; therefore do not take it as an abiding place.’” (Vol. III, p. 141.)
“They said to Jesus, ‘Teach us the secret of the love of God.’ He replied: ‘Hate the world and God will love you.’” (Vol. III, p. 141; cf. James 4: 4.)
“Said Jesus, ‘O my disciples, be satisfied with the least of the world as long as your religion is at peace even as the people of the world are satisfied with the least of religion and their possessions are at peace.’” (Vol. III, p. 142.)
“Said Jesus, ‘O thou who seekest the world for the sake of pure gold, the forsaking of the world is greater treasure.’” (Vol. III, p. 142.)
“They asked Jesus (on him be peace) which is the best of good works. He replied: ‘To accept whatever God does with pleasure and to love him.’” (Vol. IV, p. 258.)
“Said Jesus the Son of Mary (on him be peace), ‘Woe to the lover of this world how soon he shall die and leave it and all that is in it. The world deceives him and he trusts it and has confidence in it, etc.’” (Vol. III, p. 141; cf. Luke 12: 21.)
“Said Jesus (on him be peace), ‘Mortify then your bodies that your soul may see your Lord.’” (Vol. III, p. 56; cf. Rom. 8: 13.)
“Said Jesus (on him be peace), ‘The likeness of him who teaches good works and does not do them is that of a woman who commits adultery in secret and then the result of her crime becomes evident to all around her from her condition.’” (Vol. I, p. 48.)
“Said Jesus (on him be peace), ‘Whosoever turns away a beggar from his house the angels will not visit that dwelling for seven days.’” (Vol. II, p. 162.) This saying is often quoted by Moslems to-day. They all believe Jesus was the friend of the poor and needy.
“Said Jesus (upon him be peace), ‘Blessed is he to whom God has taught his book; he will not die a proud oppressor.’” (Vol. III, p. 235.)
“Said Jesus (on him be peace), ‘Blessed is the eye which sleeps and does not regard transgression but is wide-awake for that which is not sinful.’” (Vol. IV, p. 260.)
“The disciples said to Jesus (on him be peace), ‘What is the best of good works?’ He replied: ‘That which is done to God and in which you seek the praise of no one else.’” (Vol. IV, p. 273.)
“Said the disciples of Jesus the Son of Mary: ‘O Spirit of God! Is there any one on earth like thee?’ He replied: ‘Yes. For whosoever is girded with the remembrance of God and is silent because of this and who looks only for the favour of God, he is like me.’” (Vol. IV, p. 305.)
“Said Jesus, ‘Beware of the evil look, for when it is in the heart it produces lust and evil desire.’” (Vol. IV, p. 74; cf. Matt. 5: 28.)
“Said Jesus (on him be peace), ‘Whosoever multiplies lies his beauty departs from him: and whosoever increases care his body becomes ill; and whosoever has a bad character punishes himself.’” (Vol. III, p. 85.)
“Said Jesus: ‘The greatest sin with God is that his servant should say, “God Knows,” concerning something which he knows is untrue, or that he tell lies concerning what he has seen in his dreams.’” (Vol. III, p. 98.)
“Said Jesus (on him be peace) to his disciples: ‘How would you act if you saw one of your brothers sleeping and the wind had taken off his garment?’ They said: ‘We would cover him.’ Said Jesus: ‘No, but you would expose him.’ They said: ‘God forbid! Who would do such a thing!’ He replied: ‘When one of you hears a word against his brother he exaggerates it and spreads the report to others!’” (Vol. II, p. 142.)
“It is related that Jesus (upon him be peace) said, ‘O company of disciples, ye are free of transgression, but we the company of apostles are free of infidelity.’” (Vol. IV, p. 124.)
“Said Jesus (on him be peace), ‘With difficulty will the rich man enter paradise.’” (Vol. IV, p. 140; cf. Christ’s saying, Matt. 19: 23.)
“Said Jesus (on him be peace), ‘Truly I do not love a fixed dwelling place and I dislike the pleasure of the world.’” (Vol. IV, p. 140.)
“Said Jesus (on him be peace), ‘Do not look upon the property of the people of this world for its glory is as nothing in the light of your faith.’” (Vol. IV, p. 144.)
“It was said to Jesus: ‘If you will allow us we will build a house and worship God in it.’ He replied: ‘Go and build a house upon the sea.’ They said: ‘How can we build upon such a foundation?’ He replied: ‘How can your worship exist together with your love of the world?’” (Vol. IV, p. 158.)
“It is related that Jesus said: ‘Four things do not come to us except with difficulty. Silence, which is the first principle of worship, humility, the abundant remembrance of God and poverty in all things.’” (Vol. IV, p. 159.)
“Said Jesus (on him be peace), ‘Verily I say unto you, whosoever seeketh heaven let him eat barley-bread and sleep on the dunghill with the dogs. This is enough for me.’” (Vol. IV, p. 164.)
“Jesus was accustomed to say, ‘O children of Israel, let the water of the brook suffice you and the vegetable of the field and the barley loaf; and beware of the white loaf for it will keep you from worship.’” (Vol. IV, p. 164.)
“Said Jesus (on him be peace), ‘My food is hunger; all my thoughts are fear of God; my dress is wool; my warming-place in winter is the rays of the sun; my candle is the moon; my steed is my legs; my food is fruit that springs from the ground; I go to bed and have nothing and arise without anything; and yet there is no one richer than I am.’” (Vol. IV, p. 146.)
“Said Jesus (upon him be peace), ‘The world is a bridge; therefore cross over it and do not build on it.’” (Vol. III, p. 149.)
“Said Jesus (on him be peace), ‘Whosoever seeks the world is like him who drinks water from the salt sea. The more he drinks the more he thirsts.’” (Vol. III, p. 149.) This occurs for the second time, but Al-Ghazali loves to repeat his own sayings as well, often in the same book.
“It is related in the gospels that whosoever shall ask for forgiveness of him who praises him, has driven away the devil.” (Vol. III, p. 127.)
The following quotations or references to the Gospel occur in some of his shorter works. In the “Alchemy of Happiness,” there is this reference to the Gospel: “Whosoever sows reaps, whosoever sets out arrives, and whosoever seeks finds.” (Cf. Matt. 7: 7.) We have already quoted the words from his epistle, “O Child”: “Verily I have seen in the Gospels, etc.” In the same epistle he refers to the parable of Dives and Lazarus: “When the people of hell will say to the people of the garden, ‘Give us a little water from that which God has granted you to cool our tongues.’” He quotes Jesus as saying: “I was not unable to raise the dead, but I was unable to cure the folly of fools,” and quotes the Golden Rule in several places without acknowledging its source as being the Gospel of Jesus.
All this and what he says in his “Alchemy of Happiness” about the love of God leaves no doubt in my mind that he had read the New Testament. It is a sort of Moslem Version of St. John’s Epistles and St. John’s Gospel. The great Mystic gives seven signs of love to God. The first is not to be afraid of death. The second is to prefer the love of God to any worldly object. The third sign of a man’s love to God is that the remembrance of God is always fresh in his heart. He never ceases to meditate upon God. Every man thinks and calls to mind an object in proportion to his love to it. The fourth is love and respect for the Koran. The fifth, secret prayer. The sixth, to find the worship of God delightful. And the seventh sign of love to God is, “That a man loves the sincere friends and obedient servants of God, and regards them all as his friends. He regards all the enemies of God as his enemies and abhors them. And God thus speaks in his eternal word: ‘His companions are terrible towards the infidels, and tender towards each other.’ A Sheikh was once asked, ‘Who are the friends of the exalted and blessed God?’ He replied: ‘The friends of God are those who are more compassionate to the friends of God themselves, than a father or a mother to their children.’”[88] (Compare Psalm 103.)
There seems a great difference between Al-Ghazali as dogmatic theologian, always compelled to agree with the Koran, and Al-Ghazali as the Mystic, when he begins to speculate and lift the veil. We are constantly reminded of the words of Anselm in his great work on the existence of God: “I do not attempt, O Lord, to penetrate Thy depths, for I by no means think my intellect equal to them; but I long to understand in some degree Thy truth, which my heart believes and loves, _for I do not seek to understand that I may believe, but I believe that I may understand_.”
Whenever Al-Ghazali speaks of God’s nearness to us and of the soul’s desire for human fellowship with the creator, he comes very close to the Christian idea of the Incarnation, and yet always stops short of it. In his “Alchemy of Happiness,” for example, he mentions as the fourth cause of love to God the affinity that exists between man and his Maker, referring to the saying of the Prophet: “Verily God created man in his own likeness.” Immediately afterwards, however, he goes on to say: “This is a somewhat dangerous topic to dwell upon, as it is beyond the understanding of common people, and even intelligent men have stumbled in treating of it, and come to _believe in incarnation_ and union with God. Still the affinity which does exist between man and God disposes of the objection of those theologians mentioned above, who maintain that man cannot love a Being who is not of his own species. However great a distance between them, man can love God because of the affinity indicated in the saying, ‘God created man in His own likeness.’”
Al-Ghazali would doubtless have accepted the statement in the Gospel, “No man hath seen God at any time,” but he omits “the only Begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him.” In speaking of the vision of God he says, “All Moslems profess to believe that the Vision of God is the summit of human felicity because it is so stated in the Law; but with many this is a mere lip-profession which arouses no emotion in their hearts. This is quite natural, for how can a man long for a thing of which he has no knowledge? We will endeavour to show briefly why the vision of God is the greatest happiness to which a man can attain.
“In the first place, every one of man’s faculties has its appropriate function which it delights to fulfill. This holds good of them all, from the lowest bodily appetite to the highest form of intellectual apprehension. But even a comparatively low form of mental exertion affords greater pleasure than the satisfaction of bodily appetites. Thus if a man happens to be absorbed in a game of chess, he will not come to his meal though repeatedly summoned. And the greater the subject-matter of our knowledge, the greater is our delight in it; for instance, we would take more pleasure in knowing the secrets of a king than the secrets of a vizier. Seeing then that God is the highest possible object of knowledge, the knowledge of Him must afford more delight than any other. He who knows God, even in this world, dwells, as it were, in a paradise, ‘the breadth of which is as the breadth of the heavens and the earth,’ a paradise the fruits of which no envy can prevent him plucking, and the extent of which is not narrowed by the multitude of those who occupy it.” (See 1 John 4: 7-21.)
“But the delight of knowledge still falls short of the delight of vision, just as our pleasure in thinking of those we love is much less than the pleasure afforded by the actual sight of them. Our imprisonment in bodies of clay and water and entanglement in the things of sense constitute a veil which hides the vision of God from us, although it does not prevent our attaining to some knowledge of Him. For this reason God said to Moses on Mount Sinai, ‘Thou shalt not see Me.’”
In this book also we are reminded of the statement that only “the pure in heart” can see God, and it seems scarcely possible that what Al-Ghazali here teaches is not based on a knowledge of the Gospel. He says: “He in whose heart the love of God has prevailed over all else will derive more joy from this vision than he in whose heart it has not so prevailed; just as in the case of two men with equally powerful eyesight gazing on a beautiful face, he who already loves the possessor of that face will rejoice in beholding it more than he who does not. For perfect happiness, mere knowledge is not enough unaccompanied by love, and the love of God cannot take possession of a man’s heart till it is purified from the love of the world, which purification can only be effected by abstinence and austerity.” How close is this teaching to the words of Christ, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God”! It is the _vision of God_ which Al-Ghazali sought through all his religious experiences as the highest good in this world and in the next. Yet with all his efforts to explain the nature of the soul and of God, he still finds himself before a blank wall. He covets the vision of God but cannot shake himself free from the Moslem conception that God is unknowable and that nothing in creation resembles the Creator. As Muhammed Iqbal says: “To this day it is difficult to define with accuracy Al-Ghazali’s view of the nature of God. In him, like Borger and Solger in Germany, Sufi pantheism and the _Ashʾarite_ dogma of personality appear to harmonize together, a reconciliation which makes it difficult to say whether he was a Pantheist, or a Personal Pantheist of the type of Lotze. The soul, according to Al-Ghazali, perceives things. But perception as an attribute can exist only in a substance or essence which is absolutely free from all the attributes of body. In his _Al-Madnun_, he explains why the prophet declined to reveal the nature of the soul. There are, he says, two kinds of men: ordinary men and thinkers. The former who look upon materiality as a condition of existence, cannot conceive an immaterial substance. The latter are led, by their logic, to a conception of the soul which sweeps away all difference between God and the individual soul. Al-Ghazali, therefore, realized the Pantheist drift of his own inquiry and preferred silence as to the ultimate nature of the soul.”[89]
We have seen what Al-Ghazali teaches regarding the life and character of Jesus and also of God’s relation to us through the love of those who seek Him with all their hearts. Are these only Moslems, or is there a wider love of God? Are _all_ souls in His keeping?
What were Al-Ghazali’s ideas regarding the salvation of those not in the fold of Islam? We have two striking passages in this connection which seem to contradict each other. They were probably written at different periods of his life. The first passage which is remarkable indeed for his day and his place in Islam occurs on page 22 of his book _Faisul Al-Tafriqa Bain al Islam wa ’l Zandiqa_ and reads as follows: “I here state that most Christians of the Greeks and of the Turks in our day will be included in the mercy of God. Namely, those who are on the confines of the empire and to whom the call to embrace Islam has not come. For they consist of three classes: One class has never heard the name of Mohammed (upon whom be prayers and peace) and they are excusable. Another class have heard of his name and title and the miracles which were wrought by him; they who live as neighbours among Moslems; these are the true infidels and sceptics. And the other class are between these two; they have heard of the name of Mohammed (upon him be prayers and peace), but have not heard of his title and character. On the contrary they have heard from their youth up that he is a liar and deceiver called Mohammed, who pretended to have the gift of prophecy: in the same way as our children have heard of a false prophet in Khorasan called Al-Mukaffa who pretended to be a prophet. And these last, in my opinion, belong to the first class as to their hope for the future.” This account is the more remarkable because in this very chapter he says that God told Adam, according to Tradition, “that out of a thousand of his descendants nine-hundred-and-ninety-nine go to hell and one only will be saved.”