The Mishkat Al-Anwar: The Niche for Lights

Al-Ghazzali

Jan 2010 · Cosimo, Inc.

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The Mishkat Al-Anwar, literally translated "The Niche for Lights," is a theological and philosophical sufi text by the well-known Muhammad Al-Ghazzali. Though the exact date of its writing is unknown, it was authored after his opus Ihya' ulum al-din, or Revival of Religious Sciences. The work focuses on expanding upon the meaning behind a verse in the Qu'ran--the Light Verse (S. 24, 35)--and upon the Veils Tradition in Islam. The book is divided into three sections; in the first Al-Ghazzali deconstructs the word "light" and all its meanings, in the second he discusses the symbolic language in the Qu'ran and Muslim traditions, and in the third he applies his findings to the verse and tradition itself. ABU HAMED MUHAMMAD IBN MUHAMMAD AL-GHAZZALI (1058-1111)was a Persian Islamic philosopher, theologian, psychologist, and mystic, known today as one of the most famous Sunni scholars in history, sometimes cited as next-in-importance only to Muhammad. Born in Tus, Al-Ghazzali was a pioneer of methodic doubt; his work The Incoherence of Philosophers shifted early Islamic philosophy from metaphysics to the theory of occasionalism, an Islamic doctrine that states cause-and-effect is controlled by God. He also succeeded in bringing orthodox Islam in contact with Sufism. The author of more than 70 books on various subjects, his influence continues to stretch far and wide even today.