the status and philosophy of theology in the realm of ghazālī’s thought

although ghazālī has not openly talked about the philosophy of theology, its components can be found in his works. as such, he regards the ultimate goal of theology to be safeguarding the religion and the assertoric or imitative belief of the religious person, preventing misconception and doubt to enter it, and preparing for the desired outcome of theology (happiness). the status of the science of theology in his opinion is sometimes instrumental and secondary and sometimes it is a general science with an inherent value. since the existent is exclusive to god and other than god (mā sawā allāh) and what is other than god is nothing but god’s signs in the horizons and in one’s own soul, then he regards the subject of theology ultimately as being “existence in its own existence” and its problems as the essential attributes of existence. according to him, faith is gradational and it is obligatory to preserve all its stages; therefore he suggests multiplicity in procedure and method, including the rational-demonstrative, rational-dialectical, intuitional (intuitive), experimental, homiletic, imitative, etc. with a persuading and preserving approach. he abandons the definition of theology as ambiguous and multi-faceted. the details of the matter should be sought for within the article itself.