"Our base desires are numerous and human beings are seldom free of them. They all share a common root, namely love of this world."
Abu Hamid al-Ghazali, Inner Dimensions of Islamic Worship
Here al-Ghazali is repeating a common refrain found throughout the Quran itself, the fundamental problem of humans devoting way too much time to this world as compared to the next. I chose this passage because it is a worthy follow-up to the conversation we were having yesterday (and, well, appropriately enough because it's the next paragraph in Inner Dimensions of Islamic Worship). I'll make the same point I made yesterday, and a similar point that I made to my commentary on the original passages from the Quran: to me this is all a matter of degree. If God created this world, well, then He/She/It expected us to live in this world. Do we really believe that God created this world solely to act as a temptation away from the divine world? Simply because we're way too often mean-spirited pricks why do we so often impose the same unpleasant, nefarious nature on God? In these issues I tend to take the side of the Zoroastrians, who believed that Ahura Mazda created the world for us to enjoy, although within moderation, as compared to the Hindu belief that we need to ignore the illusion, or maya, or this world (although even Hindus accept that you need to work in this world to support those in your life). It's not that I would disagree with al-Ghazali, but I would modify his statement to read: "They all share a common root, namely excessive love of this world." I would argue that a monomanical fixation on the next world is also a form of irresponsible vanity.
Abu Hamid al-Ghazali, Inner Dimensions of Islamic Worship
Here al-Ghazali is repeating a common refrain found throughout the Quran itself, the fundamental problem of humans devoting way too much time to this world as compared to the next. I chose this passage because it is a worthy follow-up to the conversation we were having yesterday (and, well, appropriately enough because it's the next paragraph in Inner Dimensions of Islamic Worship). I'll make the same point I made yesterday, and a similar point that I made to my commentary on the original passages from the Quran: to me this is all a matter of degree. If God created this world, well, then He/She/It expected us to live in this world. Do we really believe that God created this world solely to act as a temptation away from the divine world? Simply because we're way too often mean-spirited pricks why do we so often impose the same unpleasant, nefarious nature on God? In these issues I tend to take the side of the Zoroastrians, who believed that Ahura Mazda created the world for us to enjoy, although within moderation, as compared to the Hindu belief that we need to ignore the illusion, or maya, or this world (although even Hindus accept that you need to work in this world to support those in your life). It's not that I would disagree with al-Ghazali, but I would modify his statement to read: "They all share a common root, namely excessive love of this world." I would argue that a monomanical fixation on the next world is also a form of irresponsible vanity.
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