Beauty and Art in Abū Hamid al-Ghazali’s Idea

The present study aims to review Abū Ḥāmed Moḥammad Ḡazālī’s thoughts about art and beauty. Ḡazālī was born in 450 AH (c.1056) in Tus and passed away 55 years later in the same city. Since he had various books on Islamic theology, he’s known as one of the most influential scholars of the Islamic world. The study of his works reveals that he is one of the Muslim scholars who particularly discussed the issue of beauty in his books. Most of his thoughts on beauty are under the influence of Sufism which has found expression mainly in his book entitled:  Eḥyāʾ ʿolūmal-dīn.  Searching into various viewpoints in epistemology, he holds a considerable attitude, however not a general one, towards beauty.  Applying descriptive- analytic study, I review the issue of beauty and art according to Ḡazālī’s thoughts in two chapters and through library research method (review of related literature). In conclusion, Ḡazālī classifies beauty into two types: exoteric and esoteric beauty. Likewise, in his view, the esoteric beauty is of two types: moral and divine.  Ḡazālī’s intention of mysticism, Sufism, and religious concepts paves the way for an esoteric approach to the beauty. As for art, he follows the same approach namely for the music, he mostly considers its purpose and impression on the human to reach the ultimate happiness. On the whole, Ḡazālī presents a significantly different viewpoint on art and beauty in Islamic civilization.