The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (122 page)

 
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(d. 1111 (AH 505)).
The ‘Proof of Islam’ (
hujjat al-Islam
), often considered the greatest religious authority after the Prophet
Mu
ammad
. As a result of the esteem accorded to him by his contemporaries, al-Ghaz(z)
l
deeply influenced the direction of Islamic thought, in particular Islamic jurisprudence (
shar
‘a
), dialectical theology (
kal
m
), philosophy, and mysticism (
ta
awwuf
).
He was born at T
s and was educated there and at Nishapur. He rose to be a distinguished professor at the Baghd
d Nizamiya, a formidable scholar in Islamic law and theology. However, in 1095, he underwent a crisis brought on by a search for inner conviction, and by an awareness that although he was lecturing
about
God, he did not know God. He therefore abandoned his high position for the life of a
S
f
, seeking to know the reality of which, hitherto, he had only spoken. After ten years, he returned to Nishapur and wrote his
magnum opus
,
’Ihy
‘ul
m al-d
n
(The Revival of the Religious Sciences) and other key works, such as
Mishk
t al anw
r