It has been customary to see the Muslim theologian Abu Hamid al-Ghazali (d. 1111) as a vehement critic of philosophy, who rejected it in favour of Islamic mysticism (Sufism), a view which has come under increased scrutiny in recent years. This book argues that in the guise of a critic, al-Ghazali was, instead, one of the greatest popularisers of philosophy in medieval Islam. The author supplies new evidence showing that al-Ghazali was indebted to philosophy in two insufficiently investigated areas, his theory of mystical cognition and his eschatology, and that, moreover, he accepted even...

Arabic was among the first languages in which the Gospel was preached. The Book of Acts mentions Arabs as being present at the first Pentecost in Jerusalem, where they heard the Christian message in their native tongue. Christian literature in Arabic is at least 1,300 years old, the oldest surviving texts dating from the 8th century. Pre-modern Arab Christian literature embraces such diverse genres as Arabic translations of the Bible and the Church Fathers, biblical commentaries, lives of the saints, theological and polemical treatises, devotional poetry, philosophy, medicine, and history....

Muslim theologian Abu Hamid al-Ghazali (d. 1111) is widely portrayed as a vehement critic of philosophy, who rejected it in favour of Islamic mysticism (Sufism). This book argues that al-Ghazali was, instead, one of the greatest popularisers of philosophy in medieval Islam.