Al-Harith al-Muhasibi: Sufis Who Influenced Imam al-Ghazali's Thoughts and Works

 

Al-Harith al-Muhasibi: Sufis Who Influenced Imam al-Ghazali's Thoughts and Works

Al-Harith al-Muhasibi's careful analysis of the question of riya', hypocrisy, and all his methodological approaches became the basis and indispensable for the early Sufis. Al-Ghazali, the moderate medieval mystic, leaned almost completely on him. ~Annemarie Schimmel, (1986: 56)

Who does not know Imam al-Ghazali? Medieval Sufi whose name is widely known through his monumental works such as Ihya' Ulumuddin . On the other hand, who knows Imam al-Harith al-Muhasibi? The Sufi figure of the early centuries whom Annemarie Schimmel and other scholars consider the most influential figure in Imam al-Ghazali's Sufism thought?

Al-Harith al-Muhasibi is a well-known Sufi whose name began to emerge again after several contemporary scholars examined al-Ghazali's influence on al-Muhasibi's works. He was born in the middle of the 2nd century Hijri. Authoritative sources agree that he died in 243 H.

His full name is Al-Harith bin Asad al-Muhasibi. He was born in Basra (a city in Iraq) and lived there for several years. Then he moved to Baghdad at a very young age.

Kezuhudan al-Harith began to smell from a young age. It is said that his father was a wealthy man who adhered to the Muktazilah school (a theological school of Islam). His father was not only a passive follower of the Muktazilah sect, he was even one who was persistent in campaigning for the ideas developed by the Muktazilah. However, al-Muhasibi was not like his father, both in matters of theology and in his attitude towards wealth. In short, al-Muhasibi is arguably far away from his father's life.

Al-Ghazali's Influence

A number of scholars such as AJ Arberry as reviewed by Kausar Azhari Noer (1999: 167), consider that al-Muhasibi's introduction in his Kitab al-Washaya is autobiographical, and may well have been contained in al-Ghazali's mind when writing al-Munqidz's work. min al-Dhalal his autobiography.

In the introduction to the Kitab al-Washaya , he describes his spiritual quest which was plagued by many doubts in which many sects claimed the truth. This is reminiscent of the book al-Munqidz min ad-Dhalal by al-Ghazali. Here's the quote:

In our time there has been a division of the people into seventy groups, or more; Among them, only one is on the way of salvation, and the rest, only Allah knows best. Up to now, I have never stopped, even for a moment in my life, to think well about the differences that have brought down this ummah, and to look for a clear way and the right path, with the aim of seeking theory and practice, and hoping for guidance on the path to the world. to come under the direction of theologians. Moreover, I have studied many doctrines of the Supreme God, with the interpretations of fiqh scholars, and pondered the various circumstances of this ummah, and thought about their differing doctrines and sayings. Between all this I understand what I must understand: and I saw that their differences were like an ocean so deep, in which many drowned, and only a small group managed to escape from it; and I saw every class declaring emphatically that salvation could be found by following them, and perishing those who opposed them.  

The influence of Imam al-Ghazali on Imam al-Harith al-Muhasibi is also shared by Shaykh Zahid al-Kautsari as expressed by Shaykh Abdul Halim Mahmud (21-22), that Imam al-Ghazali's monumental work Ihya Ulumuddin was influenced by the work of Imam al-Harith al -Other Muhasibi, namely the book ar-Ri'ayah lihuquqillah Azza wa Jalla .

In addition to al-Ghazali's influence on the works of al-Harith al-Muhasibi, from a Sufism perspective, al-Haris al-Muhasibi's contribution is also quite strong in shaping al-Ghazali's Sufism thinking. Where long before al-Ghazali appeared, al-Haris al-Muhasibi had already built the concept of moderate Sufism or commonly known as Sunni Sufism. The assessment of many scholars that al-Ghazali was the first Sufi who has succeeded brilliantly in reconciling Sufism and Shari'a needs to be reviewed. Because, 3 centuries before al-Ghazali, Imam al-Haris al-Muhasibi had succeeded in doing it.

Wallahu A'lam Bisshawab