4. The knowledge of the Next World
- As regards the joys of heaven (Paradise) and the pains of hell which will follow this life, all believers in the Quran and the Traditions are sufficiently informed.
- But it often escapes them that there is also a spiritual heaven and hell, concerning the former of which God said to His Prophet, "Eye hath not seen, or ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive the things which are prepared for the righteous."
- In the heart of the enlightened man there is a window opening on the realities of the spiritual world, so that he knows, not by hearsay or traditional belief, but by actual experience, what produces wretchedness or happiness in the soul just as clearly and decidedly as the physician knows what produces sickness or health in the body.
- He recognises that knowledge of God and worship are medicinal, and that ignorance and sin are deadly poisons for the soul.
3. The knowledge of this World
- This world is a stage or market-place passed by pilgrims on their way to the next.
- It is here that they are to provide themselves with provisions for the way or, to put it plainly, man acquires here, by the use of his bodily senses, some knowledge of the works of God, and, through them, of God Himself, the sight of whom will constitute his future beatitude.
- It is for the acquirement of this knowledge that the spirit of man has descended into this world of water and clay.
- While man is in this world, two things are necessary for him. First, the protection and nurture of his soul. Secondly, the care and nurture of his body.
2. The knowledge of God
- It is a well-known saying of the Prophet that "He who knows himself, knows God", that is, by contemplation of his own being and attributes man arrives at some knowledge of God. But since many who contemplate themselves do not find God, it follows that there must be some special way of doing so.
Al-Ghazali divides mans nature into three categories
- As a matter of fact, there are two methods of arriving at this knowledge, but one is so abstruse that it is not adapted to ordinary intelligence, and therefore is better left unexplained.
THE ALCHEMY OF HAPPINESS
1. resembles animals
2. resembles devils
3. resembles angels
- The other method is as follows, when a man considers himself he knows that there was a time when he was non-existent, as it is written in the Quran.
1. The knowledge of Self
- First, knowledge of self is the key to the knowledge of God, according to the saying: "He who knows himself knows God," and, as it is written in the Quran, "We will show them Our signs in the world and in themselves, that the truth may be manifest to them."
- Here again beauty is elevated and associated with God, and the act of its contemplation with that of the angels.
- Now nothing is nearer to them than themself, and if you knowest not themself how can you know anything else? If you say yes "I know myself," meaning the outward shape, body, face, limbs, and so forth, such knowledge can never be a key to the knowledge of God.
spiritual
- it is directly connected to the of the Almigthty and is attained through ecstasy.
- The heart of man has been so constituted by the Almighty that, like a flint, it contains a hidden fire which is evoked by music and harmony, and renders man beside himself with ecstacy.
moral beauty (batin)
- relates to a persons character
- "The former kind of man (a man who is only acquainted with sensuous delights) will say that beauty resides in red-and-white complexions, well-proportioned limbs, and so forth, but he will be blind to moral beauty.
Imam al Ghazali
The alchemy of happiness
Kimia al-saadah
conclusion
- In conclusion, each dhahir, or outward quantitative and physical appearance, differs from its batin, or inward qualitative and spiritual essence, while perfection can only be attributed to God the Creator.
- Therefore, to copy living figures from nature, though never intended to represent God, is regarded as a futile way of directing the recipient to the contemplation of transcendence and the truths embodied in tawhid, the Doctrine of Unity.
- For a Muslim, beauty is not an aesthetic portrayal of human attributes or is it copying an ideal state of nature.
- And this is exactly how al-Ghazali perceived beauty, summing it up as follows, "For the next world is a world of Spirit and of the manifestation of the Beauty of Allah; happy is that man who has aimed at and acquired affinity with it".
external physical beauty (dhahir)
introduction
- the first is external physical beauty (dhahir) that he regards as the most debased form as is obvious in Chapter I of Kimia al-Saadah (The Alchemy of Happiness): " . . . as to (mans) beauty, he is little more than nauseous matter covered with a fair skin. Without frequent washing he becomes utterly repulsive and disgraceful."
God has sent on earth a hundred and twenty-four thousand prophets to teach men the prescription of this alchemy, and how to purify their hearts from baser qualities in the crucible of abstinence. This alchemy may be briefly described as turning away from the world to God, and its constituents are four :
1. The knowledge of self.
2. The knowledge of God.
3. The knowledge of this world as it really is.
4. The knowledge of the next world as it really is.
AL GHAZALI CONCEPT OF BEAUTY
everything in the universe is created by God, each created thing reflects Gods majesty and beauty, therefore each event in mans life also reveals God way of guiding us. He writes of three types of beauty :
1. external physical beauty (dhahir)
2. moral beauty (batin)
3. spiritual