Al-Ghazālī, Ramon Llull and Religionswissenschaft

• Published in: The Muslim world (Hartford) Vol. 102; no. 1; pp. 33 - 59
• Main Author: Akasoy, Anna
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.01.2012
• Subjects: Al-Ghazzali, Abu Hamid Muhammad (1058-1111); Common ground; Faith; Llull, Ramon (1235?-1316); Philosophers; Religion; Religious history
• ISSN: 0027-4909; 1478-1913
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1478-1913.2011.01364.x

Both Ramon Llull and al-Ghazali play an important role in modern debates about religion, in particular in the reason vs. faith discussion. To conservative minds both offer the possibility to maintain the long standing foundations while lending them a more confident face. They both offer an appreciative view of other religions, which might be a positive example to modern participants in the dialogue. Their desire to establish reason as a common ground may even make them palatable to critics of religion. Here, Akasoy gives a superficial account of al-Ghazali's fate in the Western Mediterranean.