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The problem of Divine Attributes had been one of the most central issues in the theological disuussions of the Muslims over which (along with other issues) the world of Islam was divided into numerous sects. In the present study we have tried to look at the problem through the discussions of al-Ghazali who is the most representative of orthodox Islam. Indeed, until the coming of al-Ghazâli in the 11th and l2th centuries no serious thinker after al-Ashtari was able to challenge the Muctazilah sect over the matters of creed. The core of this thesis is the translation of the part pertinent to the problems of Divine Attributes in his book Al-Iqtisad fil Iticad which he hlmself considered the most authoritative statement on the creed. While translating we showed the variations among the different manuscripts; thus our translation, we hope, also bears the characteristics of an edition critique. In order to make our rendering of al-Ghazâli intelligible, an attempt has been made to elucidate the method employed by al-Ghazâli. Our purpose, besides studying al-Ghazâli has been to show also the development of the theological thinking, both historically and philosophically, around the problem of Divine Attributes; thus we hope to have offered a better understanding of al-Ghazali, the philosopher-theologian, and also to have looked into the problem in a general and comprehensive way.

This thesis compares the concepts presented in the Seventeenth Discussion of al-Ghazali's Tahafut al-Falasifa with concepts currently being discussed in the field of quantum physics. Written as an attack on the neo-Platonic and Aristotelian thinking which challenged the orthodox theology of Medieval Islam, Tahafut al-Falasifa (Incoherence of the Philosophers) questions the understanding of physical reality forwarded by the philosophers of al-Ghazali's times. The Seventeenth Discussion ('On causality and miracles') in particular, with its aim of proving the possibility of miracles, questions the acceptance of notions such as necessary causality and the validity of scientific observation in the natural world. / Although several scholars have examined al-Ghazali's argument in the Seventeenth Discussion in terms of causality, observation and the nature of human conceptions of physical reality, and many others have noted the implicit potential connections between quantum theory and concepts of religiosity, only one, Karen Harding, has attempted a synthesis of the ideas put forth within these two seemingly diverse subjects. This thesis, then, carries forward from the ideas of Harding and attempts an original comparative analysis of the two. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

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This thesis studies al-Ghazali's theory of knowledge, particularly his concept of knowledge of God in his three later works: "The book of Knowledge" of the Ih&dotbelow;ya', al-Munqidh, and Iljam al-`Awamm. From his conception of knowledge of God the first book of the Ih&dotbelow;ya ', to his criticism of various approaches to attaining the knowledge of God in the Munqidh, to his assertion of the best method for attaining the knowledge of God in the Iljam, the aim of the current study is to find out which faculty of man's perception, according to al-Ghazali, is the most appropriate for accessing Divinity. Since al-Ghazali's three works studied here---were composed in different periods, and since the Iljam was completed only a few days before his death, the objective of this study is then to see if there is any change, or development, in al-Ghazali's position regarding the issue of knowledge of God during the later period of his life.

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The Philosophers such as ibn-Sina had maintained that time and space were co-eternal with Allah, emanating by necessity from His Attributes, and not being the results of a deliberate act of creation. This must be the case, for otherwise nothing would have been present to induce Him to create the world after a period of non-existence. Al-Ghazali's refutation of this is that Allah had decreed in pre-eternity that the world would materialize at a future, predetermined date, selecting an instance for its birth from a myriad like-instances by exercising His Free Will and manifesting therewith a cause with a delayed effect. The Philosophers' explanation of local phenomena as resulting from the perpetual motion of the spheres is flawed, since perpetual celestial motions would result in perpetual, not transient phenomena. Time, the measure of motion, does not extend beyond the physical realm. Time, and hence motion, is finite. / Religious Studies and Arabic / M.A. (Ancient Languages & Cultures)

The Philosophers such as ibn-Sina had maintained that time and space were co-eternal with Allah, emanating by necessity from His Attributes, and not being the results of a deliberate act of creation. This must be the case, for otherwise nothing would have been present to induce Him to create the world after a period of non-existence. Al-Ghazali's refutation of this is that Allah had decreed in pre-eternity that the world would materialize at a future, predetermined date, selecting an instance for its birth from a myriad like-instances by exercising His Free Will and manifesting therewith a cause with a delayed effect. The Philosophers' explanation of local phenomena as resulting from the perpetual motion of the spheres is flawed, since perpetual celestial motions would result in perpetual, not transient phenomena. Time, the measure of motion, does not extend beyond the physical realm. Time, and hence motion, is finite. / Religious Studies and Arabic / M.A. (Ancient Languages & Cultures)