Imam al-ghazali's efforts in the development of psychology: a study based on iḤyā′ 'ulūm al-dīn (the chapter of ritual acts and customs as model)

Abstract

Imam Al-Ghazali is one of the Muslim scholars whose fame has flown in horizons and varied knowledge and has provided enlightened services to various sciences, including philosophy, education, and psychology, which have a strong relationship among them. Psychology is the science in which a person's psychological trick is sought by thoughts, feelings, tendencies, desires, memories, and emotions. On this basis, the study aims to analyze two chapters of Iḥyā′ 'Ulūm alDīn, namely “The Chapter of Ritual Acts and The chapter of Customs”, focusing on their contents related to psychology and identifying their contemporary terminologies using the analytical and inductive approach. The Study was concluded that Imam Al-Ghazali played an active role in the development of psychology where he referred to several concepts related to modern psychology, as it becomes clear through the contents of his famous Book Iḥyā′ 'Ulūm al-Dīn. This study is perhaps the best evidence of the knowledge of the services provided by Muslim scholars in the development of the humanities, especially psychology, which is widespread in the modern era.