The chair or seclusion for al-Ghazali?
Abu Hamid al-Ghazali reached the highest scholarly chair at the Nizamiyya, then felt an anxiety between fame and sincerity. The decision: stay a celebrated professor at the era's greatest school, or leave everything and withdraw for years to cleanse his heart and write?
The positions
the stay party
students and school need him; leaving is defeat
The evidence
he was teaching hundreds and writing answers to opponents
Sources: person/al-ghazali-abu-hamid
the retreat party
a sick heart cannot teach sincerity; retreat is the cure
The evidence
he withdrew for years and returned to write the Ihya, his greatest work
You decide
If you were his student, what would you have advised him? Write your reason.
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