Al-Ghazali: The Alchemy of Happiness

Al-Ghazali
Abu Hamid al-Ghazali (1058-1111 A.D.) was not only one of the great Islamic
philosophers, he is also considered to be, after the Prophet Muhammad, the foremost
authority on Islamic theology and jurisprudence. What most people don’t know,
however, is that al-Ghazali wrote extensively on the topic of happiness. Indeed, his
monumental Revival of the Religious Sciences, which runs over 6000 pages and 4 volumes,
was reprised as a shorter text in Persian, labeled the Alchemy of Happiness. In this we see
some of his core ideas: that happiness consists in the transformation of the self, and that
this transformation consists in the realization that one is primarily a spiritual
being. The ultimate ecstasy, al-Ghazali contends, is not found in any physical thing, but
rather lies in discovering through personal experience one’s identity with the Ultimate
Reality.
One of al-Ghazali’s nicknames is “The Proof of Islam,” and he is called that not only
because of the sagacity of his writings, but because of the quality of the life he lived. He
was appointed Professor of Theology at the University of Baghdad at the tender age of
thirty-three. But for the next five years he was gripped in a spiritual crisis, trying to find
a rational foundation for Islam’s basic principles as outlined in the Qu’ran. He finally
concluded that there was no rational way to refute skeptical doubt, but that there was
another way to discover truth, one hinted at by the prophet Muhammad and the sages
within the Sufi tradition, the mystical side of Islam. This way was that of immediate
experience, an inward discovery that depends not on logic but on intuition and
imagination. The prophets of all times are the ones who have experienced this reality
based on transforming themselves away from a self-centered to a God-centered
existence.
Armed with this new insight, al-Ghazali left Baghdad and all of his material possessions
(except some books which were later stolen by thieves, a sign that he had to also leave
those behind), as well as his cozy position at the University. He went to Syria to live
with Sufi monks and to adopt a lifestyle that was solely based on discovering the real
truth about the self and one’s relation to God. Then he went on the pilgrimage to Mecca,
where he became convinced that he had been appointed to be the next great reformer of
the faith. His task was to transform Islam, away from the mere adherence to rules, to
the inward mystery of a live encounter with God. This would prove the key secret to
happiness, one that would satisfy the very purpose for which Man is created.
The Alchemy of Happiness

In the Alchemy of Happiness, al-Ghazali begins by writing that “He who knows himself is
truly happy.” Self-knowledge consists in realizing that we have a heart or spirit which
is absolutely perfect, but which has been covered with dust by the accumulation of
passions derived from the body and its animal nature. The essence of oneself is likened
to a perfect mirror which if polished would reveal one’s true divine nature. The key to
this polishing is the elimination of selfish desires and the adoption of a contrary desire
to do what is right in all aspects of one’s life. As he writes, “the aim of moral discipline
is to purify the heart from the rust of passion and resentment till, like a clear mirror, it
reflects the light of God.”
Such a task is not easy, thus it would seem that genuine happiness is not a state most
people can attain. Indeed, al-Ghazali emphasizes that only a few people have attained
this supreme happiness, which is the ecstasy of union with the divine. These people are
the prophets, which appear in all times and places, as messengers to remind mankind of
their true purpose and their ultimate goal. The prophets are those who have succeeded
in cleansing their inner mirrors of all the rust and dirt accumulated by bodily desires
and comparisons with others. As a result, they can see in their waking moments what
other people only see haphazardly in their dreams, and they receive an insight into the
nature of things through an immediate flash of intuition rather than through laborious
learning.
The most striking claim that al-Ghazali makes about the prophets is that they are the
happiest people, for they have achieved the ultimate goal of human existence. Al-
Ghazali writes that every person is born with a “knowing pain in the soul” resulting
from a disconnection from the Ultimate Reality. The tragic condition of Man is that our
eyes have been so distracted by physical things and pleasure, that we have lost the
ability to see the unseen. This is why people are so unhappy: they are trying to relieve
this pain in the soul by recourse to physical pleasure. But physical pleasure cannot
relieve a pain that is essentially spiritual. The only answer to our condition is a pleasure
which comes not from the body but from self-knowledge.
This self-knowledge is not to be attained by mere thinking or philosophy, however.

Indeed, as a practicing member of Sufism, al-Ghazali refers to two ways of achieving
the ultimate state of happiness: through dance (the whirling dervishes) and music
(Qawalli, as represented in modern times by the songs of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, for
example). One of the basic dances of the Sufi dervish consists in simply spinning
around a large nail placed between the first two toes of the left foot. This symbolizes the
idea that everything revolves around God, that He is the center as well as the
circumference of every activity. As one spins, the boundaries of the self begin to fade
away, and one becomes completely absorbed in pure love. Euphoria is achieved when
we lose consciousness of the self and become focused on something we are completely
and ultimately related to. In this way, the Sufi dance or music is similar to
Csikszentmihalyi’s concept of “Flow,” except on a higher level-- the level of absorption
not to a mere task, but to that task which is a metaphor for one’s commitment to
Ultimate Reality.
In the process of arguing for this conclusion, al-Ghazali makes many other interesting
observations about the nature of happiness. He points out that there are different
faculties within the soul, and that a corresponding happiness is connected with each
faculty. Each part of the soul delights in that for which it has been created. But the
highest function of the soul is the perception of truth; hence it is the greatest happiness
one can obtain. Al-Ghazali uses an analogy to describe this; one would be much happier
to meet the King of a country than its Prime Minister. Similarly, one should be much
happier to discover the Ultimate Reality than some conditional lesser truth.
In a similar vein, al-Ghazali writes that unhappiness is created by enslavement to desire

and the belief that one should satisfy only one’s own desires (as governed by base
instincts and appetites). He maintains that everyone perceives, even in that bewildering
state, that something is amiss, that we are living an inauthentic life that needs
correction. This nagging feeling is the source of our greatest joy, for once we become
conscious of it we can be led in the opposite direction, towards the life of meaning and
self-transcendence.
Al-Ghazali loved to tell the following parable as one that illustrates the secret to
genuine happiness. Bayazid was a famous “drunken Sufi” who was accosted by an
unhappy man who claimed that he had fasted and prayed for years but had found no
joy. Bayazid told him that even with three-hundred years of ascetic devotion he would
still find no happiness. “Why?” the man asked. “Because your selfishness stands
between you and God,” Bayazid replied. The man pleaded to be taught the way to
overcome his selfishness. Bayazid answered that if he were to shave his beard, wear a
loincloth, put on a feeding bag full of walnuts, and stand in the marketplace shouting
“A walnut for everyone who slaps me,” then he would be truly happy. Of course, the
man went away disappointed, for he was unable to carry out this suggestion. But
Bayazid knew there was no other way. We cannot imagine how to be happy, but such
wild imagination is the secret to happiness.
Conclusion
Al-Ghazali teaches us the following about achieving true happiness:
 Happiness comes from Self-Knowledge, the knowledge that we have a heart or spirit
that is originally perfect but has become obscured by passions and desires.
 Happiness depends on our faculties: if we exercise our higher faculties (like Reason,
Imagination), we will be happier than if we exercise our lower ones (mere physical
pleasures)
 There are examples in history of truly happy people, and they were “prophets”—
people who have attained a perfect union with Ultimate Reality
 We are happy to the degree to which we can emulate these prophets
 We are all born with a “knowing pain in the soul,” which causes us to seek
happiness, but most of us seek substitute pleasures deriving from the body which
cannot resolve a pain that is essentially spiritual.
Sources
Al-Ghazali, Abu Hamid. The Alchemy of Happiness. Trans. And ed. Claud Field and Elton
I. Daniel. London: M.E. Sharpe, 1991.
A Brief Introduction to Islamic Philosophy. Blackwell: 2007.
Nasr, Seyyid Hossein. Living Sufism. London: Mandala Books, 1980.

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What are Al-Ghazali's views on the nature of happiness?

How does Al-Ghazali describe achieving a state of genuine happiness?

Al-Ghazali

The Alchemy of Happiness

This self-knowledge is not to be attained by mere thinking or philosophy, however.

In a similar vein, al-Ghazali writes that unhappiness is created by enslavement to desire

Nasr, Seyyid Hossein. Living Sufism. London: Mandala Books, 1980.

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