Al-Ghazali underwent several intellectual stages in his evolution as a scholar. He began his studies in jurisprudence and the Quran before embarking on a 3-year study of Sufism. He then studied further subjects including theology, logic, and natural sciences. In his quest for certain knowledge, he abandoned strict adherence to past teachings and doubted conventional means of knowledge. He explored different fields including theology, philosophy, and mysticism before finding satisfaction in the teachings of mysticism and ethics.

1. THE NATURE OF AL- GHAZALI’S
ETHICS

2. THE NATUREOF AL- GHAZALI’S ETHICS:
 1. The stages in al-Ghazali’s intellectual evolution.
 2. The character of al- Ghazali’s ethics.

3. 1. The stages in al-Ghazali’s intellectual
evolution
 The earliest spiritual training of al-Ghazali was under the
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guardianship of a Sufi friend of his father.
He studied Quran and tradition followed by other studies
mainly in jurisprudence (fiqh).
3 year studied Islamic mysticism(Sufism) under Yusuf alNassaj.
Studied in Nishapur about theology, dialectics, natural
sciences, philosophy and logic under al-Juwayni.
He abandoned taqlid, doubted the means of knowledge
including sense perception and intellectual truths in his
quest for certain knowledge.

4. He divided the seekers after the truth into four groups:
(1) He began with the science of dogmatic theology.
(2) Then turned to philosophy and divided philosophers into 3
groups, namely Materialist(dahriyyun), Naturalists(tabi’iyyun)
and Theists (ilahiyyun).
(3) Being dissatisfied with philosophy he studied the teachings
of the ta‘limiyyah.
(4) Then he turned to the way of mysticism (tasawwuf) or know
as ilm al-akhlaq.