Towards a model of Da'wah in contemporary societies : the case of Shaykh Muhammad Al-Ghazālī (1917-1996)

This thesis is an inquiry into Muh&dotbelow;ammad al-Ghazali's (1917-1996) model of da'wah. It uses Ghazali works as well those of his critics to build up a coherent model of da'wah for contemporary societies. The research first delves into Ghazali's life, learning, and career. It examines his association with the Muslim Brotherhood as well as his intellectual and professional contributions to da'wah and society. This examination provides us with a better understanding of the socio-cultural and intellectual background of Ghazali. The research also explores Ghazali's personality in order to find out the reasons underlying his harsh language or simply the stylistic problems that earned him much criticism. This examination shows that Ghazali was a traditional scholar who profoundly understood the dynamics and implications and of the Islamic development, with a modern approach to the question of religion and society. More importantly, it demonstrates his critical sense, in light of his reviews of contemporary of da'wah .This study also examines Ghazali's conceptual framework of da'wah. This highlights his understanding of major concepts, definitions and characteristics including da'wah in the Quran and the models of da'wah as illustrated by prophets. It also addresses some essential questions, such as innate human nature, People of the Interval ('Ahl al-Fatrah) and the universality of da'wah. It provides a closer look at the effects of society, culture and freedom on da'wah, and demonstrates Ghazali's perspective on the requirements for undertaking modern da'wah. This section provides us with a clear understanding of how Ghazali understood da'wah in light of revelation and with a serious consideration of the socio-cultural, economic and political context of Muslim societies.The above framework led Ghazali to the catalyst of da'wah, the da'i. In light of his conceptual framework of da'wah, Ghazali addresses the various spiritual, moral and educational requirements of da'is . This is made in reference to his ambitious search to quickly and comprehensively fill the serious gap between Muslim life and Islamic ideals, which caused him to produce an ideal image of da'wah. This was not easily achievable, given the many problems and deficiencies affecting contemporary Islamic learning, society and culture, which Ghazali repeatedly raised throughout his analysis. In his discussion of da'wah and da'is, Ghazali used a highly vigorous and critical approach, one that unfortunately employed harsh tones and sometimes demeaning language in his extensive discussion of da'is' undertakings and contributions.This research also considers Ghazali's methodology, including the da'is' approach to da'wah and, most importantly, his fiqh al-da'wah (legal methodology of da'wah), where he attempt to rebuild the priorities of contemporary da'wah in light of his own understanding of the best interest of da'wah (mas&dotbelow;lah&dotbelow;at al-da'wah). Often, Ghazali justifies his criticism of legal interpretations about da'wah based on the mas&dotbelow;lah&dotbelow;a or his re-interpretation of religious texts, yet does not provide or elaborate a systematic methodology or even clear criteria, which would assure consistency and uniformity in his approach towards the problems and challenges of da'wah. At the core of his discussion of the legal methodology of da'wah, Ghazali consistently showed a concern about the opinions of Westerners and the question of what could yield a positive impression of Islam.The various studies of Salafi scholars and da'is have intensely criticized his works as too general, literary, speculative and even destructive for the healthy development of Muslims. In contrast, his contribution was and still is viewed as strongly positive and authoritative by a considerably large number of Muslim scholars, da'is and Muslim activists. His ideas are continually drawn upon whenever modern da'wah and the relationship between East and West in particular are discussed. It is very likely that his contributions will gain increasing intellectual and academic attention, most precisely when developing a new modern model for da'wah in Muslim societies, when trying to analyze and solve the problems and challenges of Muslim societies, or when striving to present Islam and Muslims to the Western world