Imam al-Ghazali and the Theory of the Exclusion of the Ismailis of the 5A.H/11 A.D. Century

Abstract

This research aims to highlight the complex relationship between Imam Abu Hamid Al-Ghazali (450 AH - 505 AH) and the followers of the Ismailis, through a set of ideas that he embraced and defended, which reveal to us the manifestations of the intellectual wandering of the personality of Al-Ghazali, and the importance of his book (The Esoteric Scandals and The virtues of Al-Mustazhiri), his method, and the aspects he put forward. The research concludes with Al-Ghazali adopting the doctrinal historical method in his book, taking care of intellectual arguments, and tracing its details. To reach the condemnation of Ismaili thought, and the integrative construction of the idea of quarreling with the other, which leads to its neutralization and gives legitimacy to the complete exclusion from the Islamic socio-political scene. And thus to be one of the most important primary sources on Ismailism.