# Al-Ghazali's Arguments Against the Idea of the World's Antiquity

Al-Ghazali (1058-1111), also known as Abu Hamid Muhammad al-Ghazali, was a Muslim theologian, jurist, and philosopher. He is considered one of the most influential thinkers in the Islamic Golden Age. Among his numerous contributions to Islamic thought, Al-Ghazali also criticized the idea of the world's antiquity, which was upheld by several of his contemporaries, particularly the philosophers of the Peripatetic tradition. In this article, we will discuss Al-Ghazali's main arguments against the idea of the world's antiquity and the sources that support these arguments.

### Al-Ghazali's Main Arguments

1. **The Temporal Finiteness of the World**:

    Al-Ghazali argues that the world is temporally finite and had a beginning in time. In his famous work, *Tahāfut al-Falāsifa* (The Incoherence of the Philosophers), he criticizes the Peripatetic philosophers' belief in the eternity of the world[^1^]. He argues that the world must have had a beginning because the idea of an infinite past is untenable. According to Al-Ghazali, an infinite past would lead to an infinite series of events or causes, which is impossible from both logical and theological perspectives[^2^].

2. **The Argument from Divine Will**:

    Al-Ghazali maintains that the world is a product of God's will and creative power. Therefore, the world must have had a beginning, as it would be absurd to suggest that God's will was inactive for an infinite amount of time before creating the world[^3^]. By asserting that the world was created ex nihilo (out of nothing), Al-Ghazali emphasizes the role of divine agency and God's omnipotence, which he believes is undermined by the notion of the world's eternal existence.

3. **The Argument from Contingency**:

    Al-Ghazali also employs the argument from contingency to refute the idea of the world's antiquity. He argues that the world is contingent, meaning that it could have been otherwise or not existed at all. In other words, the world is not a necessary being; rather, it is contingent upon God's creative act[^4^]. Therefore, the world must have had a beginning in time, as it owes its existence to a necessary being (God) who chose to create it.

### Sources

Al-Ghazali's main arguments against the idea of the world's antiquity can be found in his works, particularly *Tahāfut al-Falāsifa*[^1^] and *Iqtisad fi'I-i`tiqad* (The Moderation in Belief)[^5^]. These works have been extensively studied by modern scholars, who have analyzed Al-Ghazali's arguments and their implications for the broader debate on the relationship between philosophy and theology in Islam[^6^].

#### References

[^1^]: Al-Ghazali. (1997). *The Incoherence of the Philosophers*. Translated by Michael E. Marmura. Provo: Brigham Young University Press.

[^2^]: Griffel, F. (2009). *Al-Ghazali's Philosophical Theology*. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

[^3^]: Moad, E. O. (2016). “Al-Ghazali's Occasionalism and the Nature of Creatures”. *Journal of Islamic Philosophy*, 12, 1-27.

[^4^]: Leaman, O. (2002). “Ghazali and the Ash‘arite School”. In S. H. Nasr & O. Leaman (Eds.), *History of Islamic Philosophy* (pp. 241-255). London: Routledge.

[^5^]: Al-Ghazali. (2013). *The Moderation in Belief*. Translated by Aladdin M. Yaqub. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

[^6^]: Burrell, D. (2012). *Al-Ghazali: Faith and Reason in Islam*. Oxford: Oneworld Publications.