Page 101 - The Importance of the Ahl Al-Sunnah

ADNAN OKTAR

Damascus and Egypt in order to reach a high standard in the
science of hadith studies. As well as the Sunan Ibn Majah, he
also wrote other texts on history and tafsir. His most well-
known book is regarded as the sixth volume in the al-Kutub as-
Sitta. Some scholars, however, regard Imam Malik’s al-
Muwatta’ as the sixth volume.
Of the 4,341 hadiths in the Sunan ibn Majah, 1,339 are used
only by Imam Maja in his own work and by nobody else in their
respective works.

Imam al-Ghazali
Hujjat al-Islam Abu Hamed Muhammad ibn Muhammad al-
Ghazali is one of the greatest figures in fiqh and tasawwuf in the
entire history of Islam. He was born in Tus, modern-day Iran,
in 450 AH (1058 CE). Although his father was not well-off,
great pains were taken by his noble parents to make sure he
was provided with a good upbringing.
Having completed his studies in Tus, al-Ghazali moved to
Gurgan to continue his education. The shaking of political
authority in Anatolia also affected al-Ghazali. As a result, he
migrated to Nishapur, becoming the student of the famous
scholar Abu al Ma‘ali al-Juwayni. Following the death of his
teacher, he was appointed by Nizam al-Mulk Tusi as chief pro-
fessor in the Nizamiyya madrassah. Within a short space of
time, al-Ghazali was able to make his voice heard among the
people, and the number of his students began rising with every
passing day.
He left the madrassah as the result of an illness he suffered in
488 AH, and spent the next decade away from the public gaze.
Immediately after this period he returned to his students in

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