A Critical Study of Al-Ghazali's Theory on Mīzān and its Types

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

• Mohammad Reza Farhamandkia ¹
• Mahnood Saidiy ²

¹ Doctoral student of Islamic Philosophy and Theology at Shiraz University

² Associate Professor of Department of Philosophy, Shahid University of Tehran

10.22067/epk.2024.90211.1375

Abstract

Al-Ghazali's theory on the meaning and referent of mīzān in the Holy Quran is one of the most important and coherent theories presented on this subject. Mīzān means measurement and assessment, which is often used in Quranic verses about the assessment of actions. However, in Al-Ghazali's theory, mīzān is the correct measurement of arguments, their correctness or incorrectness, and ultimately the quality of their evaluation. In other words, in Al-Ghazali's view, mīzān refers to the scale of beliefs and convictions. According to him, the Quran uses five types of mīzān, which are: the scale of balance, which is itself divided into the major, intermediate, and minor, the scale of coherence, and the scale of conflict, and in contrast to each of these cases, there is also a satanic scale in a secondary manner. In the present study, the theory in question is examined using a descriptive-analytical method and it is proven that, contrary to Al-Ghazali's claim, both or one of the premises of these argumentative scales are non-self-evident and acquired, some instances of the major, intermediate, and minor scales overlap with each other, and the satanic scale faces ambiguities and difficulties

Keywords

• Al-Ghazali
• mīzān
• Quran
• human
• guidance

Main Subjects

• Islamic Philosophy and Kalam

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References

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