THE PERIOD IN WHICH GHAZALI LIVED: THE SOCIO-POLITICAL SITUATION AND THE SPIRITUAL ENVIRONMENT

The article analyzes the period of Imam Abu Hamid al-Ghazali, the socio-political situation in the caliphate, the spiritual life and scientific activity of the thinker, as well as the ideas and mystical works that influenced the formation of his ideological, political, cultural and moral views.

The period in which the thinker lived coincided with the Islamic Caliphate, the most advanced period of Muslim civilization, and the beginning of its decline. At the second half of the XI century and at the beginning of the XII century the political situation became much more complicated. In Khorasan, power struggles between the Abbasid caliphs and the Seljuk Turkmen, who had left Movarounnahr, intensified. During such a tumultuous period, the foundations of the Arab Caliphate were eroded as a result of the struggles between the Tahirids, Safavids, Samanids, Qarakhanid Ilikhans, Ghaznavids and Seljuks in Central Asia and Khorasan.
It was during this time of crisis that Ghazali was born into a poor family. Although his father was poor, he was a Sufi and mystic who loved science. His father passed away early and before his death he left the upbringing of his children Muhammad Ghazzali and his brother Ahmad in the hands of a Sufi friend. Alloma's family married a Sufi who earned halal food. From this it is clear that the thinker's interest and inclination towards mysticism was formed by his father from childhood. We later think that this caused Ghazali to turn to mysticism again. At the age of fifteen, al-Ghazali began to study jurisprudence from Ahmad Rozkani in Tus [3, p.101]. Then he went to Jurjan and studied with Abu Nasr Ismail (1075) for three years. Then he went to Nishapur to study the basics of the method of religion, theology, jurisprudence and philosophy from Abulmaali Abdulmalik al-Juwayni (1085). Al-Ghazali also took lessons from Abu Ali al-Fazl al-Farmadi (1070) on mysticism and its methodology.
Ghazali's education dates back to the Seljuk sultans Alp-Arslan (1063-1072) and Jalal al-Din Malikshah (1072-1092), who ascended the throne after the death of Togrulbek (1063). At that time, political power was in the hands of the Seljuk sultans, and the caliph had influence only in religious, cultural, enlightenment, and ideological rule. Among the Abbasid caliphs, al-Qayyum Billah, al-Muqtadi Billah, and later al-Mustazhir Billah sponsored cultural and scientific activities in the capital, Baghdad.
When Juwayni saw al-Ghazali's rapid acquisition of knowledge, diligence, intelligence, and ingenuity, a grace bestowed upon him. He even described his disciple as "an inexhaustible sea" (bahrun muqdaq). Dr. Ahmad Fuad al-Ahwani, an Arab orientalist, likens Ghazali's relationship with Juwayni to Aristotle's relationship with Plato, and says that the thinker built his religious philosophy in accordance with the Ash'ari creed.
At that time, Nizamulmulk, the minister of the Seljuk Sultan Malikshah, gathered around him prominent scholars of his time. Most of them were jurists, Shafi'i scholars and Ash'ari scholars. Nizamulmulk sponsored the scholars. He founded the Nizami madrassas in Nishapur and Baghdad and attracted famous scholars to teach there. Ghazali, for example, is invited to teach at the madrassa.
Nizamulmulk honored the Sufis, supported the mystics, and he knew mysticism well [1, p.36]. In the Islamic world at that time, a number of works on mysticism were written, the foundations of which were arranged and systematized. The following major works of well-known Sufis on Sufism were popular and well-read among the people before Ghazali: It should be noted that al-Ghazali was acquainted with the above-mentioned works, relied on the ideas expressed in them in the creation of Ihya ulumi-d-din, and developed ascetic-mystical views. Annemarie Shimmel Muhasibi's methodological approach to mysticism was the basis and mandatory guide for the early Sufis, the teachers of moderate mysticism, "... Ghazali assimilated the ideas of Muhasib in many ways." However, the economic development of the caliphate led to the division of society into social strata by the tenth century, the merchants and artisans became rich, and the common people became impoverished. During this period, cities grew and their population increased. As the situation in the Khilafah became more complicated, movements with different ideological views began to emerge. The situation in the country is further complicated by the emergence of the Karmatian and Ismaili movements. They begin to fight against the Abbasid caliphs under the slogan of social justice. It was during this period that the leader of the inner-Ismaili sect, Hasan al-Sabbah, named after the mountain elder (Sheikh ul-Jabal), settled in the fortress of Alamut in the Qazvin province of present-day Iran. If the Karmats carried out military operations in an aggressive manner like the bandits, the Ismailis would begin to carry out individual terror. This sect, known as the Hashishis, became known in Europe as the Assassins, and carried out assassinations aimed primarily at physically destroying officials and spiritual leaders they disliked.
As the territory of the Khilafah expanded, new lands were added to it, and peoples of different religions joined, the situation became more complicated and social and religious tensions increased. In such a socio-economic crisis, injustice in society has led to the spiritual depression of the people of the country and the desire of people to turn to the inner world, to seek help from the heart.
During the Seljuk period, a certain period of political tranquility, economic prosperity led to the flourishing of cultural life, the development of science and enlightenment, the development of various philosophical views. At the same time, a number of great and famous scholars emerged from the Nizami Madrasa. In 1091, Caliph al-Muqtadi (who ascended the throne in 1075) summoned al-Ghazali to Baghdad and appointed him a mudarris (on the recommendation of Nizamulmulk) at the Nizami Madrasa [1, p.37] .
Annemarie Shimmel says the minister will appoint Nizamulmulk Ghazali as a teacher at the Nizami madrassa in Baghdad. A minister who was a supporter of Ash'ari theology, he founded new types of schools (madrasas) in all regions of the Seljuk kingdom. They were designed to train (Ash'ari) theologians and became a model for the educational institutions of the later Muslim world.
3. CONCLUSION In short, the complexity of Ghazali's time, the socio-political situation, the reforms of Minister Nizamulmulk in the field of enlightenment and education, the various theological ideological movements that emerged in the Caliphate due to socio-economic instability, and the competition between them led to the development of the great scholar and thinker. His main task in such a complex period was to strengthen and protect the Sunni sect. In addition to this task, al-Ghazali was skeptical of the views of the Sophists, scholars, botanists, and mutakallims, and approached the views of the Sufis from a rational and logical-philosophical point of view, justifying the superiority of mystical teachings. According to the thinker, mysticism is inextricably linked with the divine essence in the spiritual development of man, in the formation and upbringing of his morals.