HARMONIZING THE CLASH OF SUFISM AND SHARIA IN AL GHAZALI’S THOUGHT

Al-Ghazali is an expert and great Muslim scholar who speaks up for moderate Sunni sufism, a sufism which is based on the doctrine of the asceticism of the Qur'an, Prophetic traditions, and the tradition of his companions. He succeeded in purifying Sufism from various deviations, and harmonizing Sufism with sharia, and making it "halal" for Sunnis. According to al-Ghazali, several terms in Sufism should be returned to the original teachings of the Qur'an and Prophetic traditions. In his view, ma'rifah is knowing the secrets of God and His various rules about everything that exists. Heart becomes a means of understanding for a Sufi. So the highest and most noble pleasure is recognizing Allah Almighty, known as ma'rifah. A wise person (‘arif) does not see other than Allah, and everything he or she knows in this existence is only Him and His various creations. In the knowledge of Mukasyafah for example, al-Ghazali wanted to avoid the mistakes of other Sufis who transgressed, such as Abu Yazid al-Bustami and Abu Manshur al-Hallaj with their philosophical concepts which tended to be very complicated.

I. Introduction mam al-Ghazali was known as a very influential and revered muslim cleric in muslim world. 1 He is also known to be an intelligent and productive ulama. He is known as an expert of Islamic jurisprudence (faqih), an Islamic theologian (mutakllim), expert on Sufism, a Sufi, and an education expert (murabbi) who is admired by many great scholars because of his expertise. He lived during the reign of Prime Minister Nizamul Muluk of the Kingdom of Bani Saljuk.
Azyumardi Azra suggested that al-Ghazali had successfully reconciled and harmonized Sufism and Sharia. This is important to observe because Sufism has been deemed to be deviant to sharia which is then followed by the emergence of Harmonizing The Clash of Sufism Teosofia: Indonesian Journal of Islamic Mysticism, Vol. 7, No. 2, 2018 139 http://journal.walisongo.ac.id/index.php/teosofia right among the many schools of theology in Islam? 6 In other words, al-Ghazali wanted to find a truth which truly represents the real truth, just as ten is more than three.
At first, this kind of knowledge was found by al-Ghazali in sensible matters, but apparently he thought it was a lie. Then he put his trust in reason, but it turned out that reason also could not be trusted. After it lasted for almost two months, finally God cured al-Ghazali's disease; his doubtfulness. This happened, as written by al-Ghazali in his work al-Munqidz min al-Dhalâl, not by well-structured reasoning or compiling information, but by the light given by Allah Almighty into his heart. 7 In historical record, it is stated that al-Ghazali then revisited his path of life which had been traversed and he then tried to be honest to himself. He finally realized that his motivation in teaching so far had only been to gain a position and fame which was the lowest and despicable motivation. Therefore, he tried to free himself from this self-assertive attitude. This is, according to al-Taftazani, what later underlied the decline of al-Ghazali's position as a Professor in Madrasah Nidzamiyah. 8 In other words, al-Ghazali realized that whatever was done must be based on sincerity, not by the worldly motivation, a position.
Furthermore, after stepping down from his position, al-Ghazali went to Damascus for ten years to meditate -precisely to contemplate -in one of the Umawi mosques. He then moved to Palestine to visit Hebron and Jerusalem while doing 'uzlah in Bait al-Maqdis. After that, he performed Hajj and returned to his homeland, Tus.
Along with his activities leading Khandaqah, al-Ghazali also established educational institutions for prospective jurists in Tus. Al-Ghazali died at the age of 55 years, 9 on Monday, the 14th of Jumadil Akhir 505 H / 19 December 1111 AD in his hometown, Tus.

III. Al-Ghazali's Works Literature
It is difficult to find an Islamic scholar similar to al-Ghazali in terms of his scholarship and writing productivity. Aside from being a Sufi -who usually tends to isolate himself from the crowd of people -al-Ghazali also wrote many scientific works. According to the records, no fewer than 228 pieces of work have been written by al-Ghazali. His writing is not only in one competency, but covers many fields of science, Other opinions, such as the Islamic Literature magazine, 11 state that al-Ghazali's works found are 65 pieces plus 23 pieces in the form of pamphlets or brochures.
Another opinion that is not less important than are many other reliable sources was that al-Ghazali had 457 writings. 12 This is an explanation of 'Abdurrahman After deeply observing various schools at his era, namely the schools of theology, philosophy, and spirituality, al-Ghazali then preferred tasawuf (Islamic Mysticism). As quoted by Hamka, al-Ghazali did appreciate theologians since they have strived with their knowledge to defend well-structurally the oneness belief. But al-Ghazali felt that their proves were not time-tested. 14 If they see a case from one perspective, there will be many perspectives unseen. It means that theology is relative and therefore, truth cannot be reached by theology. On the other hand, al-Ghazali respected philosophers because, in his opinion, they have made use and sharpened their minds, particularly in learning exact and natural sciences. But, when it comes to theological discussion, philosophy is merely the product of human brain which cannot be always trusted. Aristotle, in al-Ghazali's opinion, seems to have found God, but after freely deepening it, al-Ghazali found that Aristotle's thought on God contradicts with religious concept. Furthermore, according to al-Ghazali, there are three opinions of philosophers that lead to heathendom. The three opinions are; first, this universe is impermanent, second, resurrection does not exist, and third, God does not know in details what happens in this world. 15 This conclusion is made by Muhammad Abdl Hadi Abu Raidah and followed by Harun Nasution.
Al-Ghazali was also at odds with the Batiniyah sect 16 which was often polemic with Sunni. 17 He rejects the opinion of this sect that the Imams are ma'shum (kept away from sinning). According to him and also the majority of Muslims, the infallible is only the Prophet Muhammad. Besides the Prophet, there were no Imams -like Hasan, Husen, Muhammad al-Kadzim and others who are infallible.
In the end, al-Ghazali concluded that theologians, philosophers, and adherents of the Bathiniyah sect in his time could attain essential truth. Therefore, according to al-Ghazali also, new breakthroughs must be sought to achieve that essential truth. Al-Ghazali then came to the conclusion that the ultimate truth would be achieved through Sufism.

V. Sufism in al-Ghazali's Perspective
After studying the schools of theology, philosophers, and adherents of the Bahiniyah sect, al-Ghazali finally chose the path of Sufism to find the ultimate truth. According to him, Sufis are the most essential truth seekers. More than that, the path of the Sufis is a blend of knowledge and its implementation. Meanwhile, morality is the fruit. The special features possessed by Sufis cannot be achieved only by learning, but more than that, they must also be able to achieve inner disclosure, spiritual condition, and rehabilitation of wrong doings. 18 In Sufism, this kind of activities is also In his Sufism, al-Ghazali assembled aqeedah, syariah, and morals in a systematic and solid frame. It is said to be solid because the Sufism theories were born from intellectual efforts and personal experiences after carrying out intensive suluk, riyadhah, and mujahadah. 19 Al-Ghazali was able to bind Sufism with revelations, both the Qur'an and the Hadith of the Prophet Muhammad.
His most monumental work, Ihya 'Ulum al-Din, show how great al-Ghazali's role is. The most prominent role is his ability to construct a milieu that can revive Muslims enthusiasm in studying religious sciences and practice them diligently. Furthermore, as Simuh said, what al-Ghazali wanted has been achieved, namely to revive and deepen the faith quality of Muslims and establish it, so that it radiates in the excitement of learning and practicing the teachings. 20 That is how Laily Mansur and Simuh elaborated and concluded.
Furthermore, in Ihya 'Ulum al-Din, al-Ghazali described the ways for a roadgoer to Allah Almighty, from the beginning, the various phases, to the end. Regarding maqamat as the stages that must be passed by a Sufi (prospective Sufi) in getting closer to Allah, al-Ghazali gives and describes the maqamat by starting with repentance, then patience, fidelity, zuhud, tawakkal, love, ma'rifah, and ending with ridha. 21 This explanation is concluded by Harun Nasution in his work philosophy and mysticism in Islam.
Furthermore, al-Ghazali outlines several terms in Sufism. This outlining is of characteristic of purification, reconciliation, and harmonization of moderate Sunni Sufism. Al-Ghazali's sufism terms are described in more detail in the following which includes Al-Ma'rifah, Fana' in Tawheed Ghazali, ma'rifah is put in the first order than mahabbah (love) because mahabbah arises from ma'rifah. Mahabbah spoken by Rabi'ah al-'Adawiyah is mahabbah in the form of someone's love for those who do good to him/her, love that arises from affection and mercy of God to humans, which gives life, sustenance, pleasure and etc.
Furthermore, al-Ghazali said that ma'rifah and mahabbah were the highest level that could be achieved by a Sufi. Knowledge in ma'rifah has higher quality than does knowledge obtained by reason. 25 That is the comparison between ma'rifah and mahabbah.
According to other Sufis, such as al-Kalabadzi, there are two kinds of ma'rifah, namely ma'rifat al-haqq and ma'rifat al-haqîqah. The first type means the affirmation of the oneness of God Almighty for the attributes that He posses. Whereas the second type means that ma'rifah cannot be achieved in any way, because of the impenetrable nature of God and the impossibility to verify (tahqiq) His Lordship. 26 This is like what is stated in the Qur'an chapter Thaha verse 109 as follows.
Allah knows what is (presently) before them and what will be after them, but they do not encompass it in knowledge. (Q.S. Thaha : 110).
A well-known interpreter, Ibn Kathir, explained that the verse means that God knows everything about His creatures, but these beings cannot know everything about Allah. 27 In other words, as interpreted by quoting the opinion of Ibn 'Abbas and several other prophet's followers, all beings will submit to Allah Almighty, Substance Who Is Alive and Not Dead, All Regulate the affairs of His creatures and Not Sleep, look after them, and He is the Perfect.
In discussing Sufism, al-Ghazali uses various imagery (tamsil) and analogy to make it clear and easy to understand. The existence of God in reality is actually imaged like sun. Whereas humans with their senses are imagined like bats. Bats during their lives cannot see the sun because their senses are too weak, not suitable for capturing sunlight that is too bright. Likewise, the human eye cannot see God's light because it is too bright. Whereas actually the substance of God is bright without any veil 28 , as Simuh, a Muslim intellectual, explained al-Ghazali's thinking.
Al-Ghazali then gave further explanation about ma'rifah (understanding). The means of ma'rifah for a Sufi, according to al-Ghazali, is heart, neither feelings and nor reason. Heart, according to him, is not a part of body located on the left side of the human chest, but is a spiritual spark of the Godhead which is the essence of human reality. Thus, according to Asmaran, the word "heart" in al-Ghazali's perception is two kinds, namely the physical sense and the spiritual sense. While what is meant here is heart in the spiritual sense. 29 That is the explanation of al-Taftazani.
Still about heart, al-Ghazali explained that heart is like a mirror. Meanwhile, knowledge is a reflection of the image of reality reflected by it. If the mirror or heart is not clear, it cannot reflect the realities of knowledge. He further said that what makes a mirror or heart not clear is the body's lust. While obedience to God Almighty and the abandonment of the demands of lust precisely makes the heart shiny and bright 30 , as explained by al-Taftazani.
On another occasion, al-Ghazali explained five reasons why truth is reluctant to appear in heart, namely 31 :  The abstence of the heart itself, such as in the case of children and crazy people.
 Dirt of immorality and abominations that accumulate on the surface of heart which is caused by uncontrolled lust.
 Deviating heart from the essential direction sought.
 The existence of cover, namely the remnants of lust or ruined aqidah (faith) occurred when still little.
 Ignorance of the desired direction.
Al-Ghazali described how heart becomes a medium of ma'rifah for a Sufi with the following example: "If we imagine a valley to which water flows from various rivers or maybe water breaks through the its cranny, so that the water is clearer or may also be a lot and heavy, so is the heart. Meanwhile, knowledge is like water, and the senses are like rivers. Sometimes knowledge infiltrates the heart through sensory rivers or thoughts, through various observations, so that the heart is filled up by knowledge. The rivers can be dammed by distancing oneself from the crowds and living alone or closing their eyes, while the heart depth can be dived by purifying it and removing various barriers so that the sources of knowledge emit from them", 32 as Asmaran explained.
Like other Sufis, al-Ghazali explained that essential ma'rifah can only be obtained through inspiration (ilham). Ilham can be said as knowledge given directly by God to certain humans without the process of reason observation or learning process 33 as explained by al-Taftazani.

b) Cessation of Being in Tawheed or Mukasyafah Knowledge
According to al-Ghazali, an 'arif does not see anything other than Allah and does not know anything other than Him. What he knows in this form is only Him and His various creations. Thus, he does not see everything merely as creations except that he sees their Creator and he refuses to call these creations heaven, earth, animal, or tree. On the contrary, instead he saw all of them as the creation of the One and Only True.
Clearly, according to al-Ghazali, the entire universe is God's creation. Therefore, whoever looks at the whole universe as Allah's creation, they know that it is Allah's creation, and love it because that is the creation of Allah, then there is nothing they see other than Allah, noone they know and noone they love except Allah Almighty. 34 Al-Taftazani added.
In such conditions, al-Taftazani explained further, "he is the one who truly believes in the oneness of God and sees nothing but Him". Even, he does not see something merely as it is, but sees its position as a servant of God Almighty. With such a description, al-Ghazali described the cessation experience in tawheed as the fruit of knowledge. On the contrary, he criticized those who were unable to express it correctly, as he stated: "this case (everything related to mortality), as known by Sufis, causes problems because of their inability to understand it, aside from being unable to explain it to scientists with sentences that lead to correct understanding, it may also be caused by their business with themselves and their belief that it is not their business to explain this problem. 35 This is what Al-Taftazani concluded, which caused a lack of understanding in recognizing Allah SWT.