Tentative Answer to Application: Discerning Truth and Falsity with al-Ghazali

Application: Many of us have been brought up to treat religious writings with skepticism. Does Al-Ghazali's (and the writings of the other mystics) provide a way to believe in a truth behind those words, that is to believe without taking the Bible or Qur'an as the whole truth. 

Following his discussion of the scientific disciplines, Ghazali addresses the "two harms" that "[result] from the philosophers' blending of prophetic discourse and mystical discourse" in their teachings and writings. According to him, the two harms lie in total rejection of the philosophers' teachings and in total acceptance of those same teachings. 

The harm of rejection, per Ghazali, occurs when people shun and denounce the philosophers' teachings based on the fact that some of "the discourse... is mixed with falsehood." Ghazali believes this is unproductive because it limits what truth we can draw from the teachings. Extending this, Ghazali asks "why should [this discourse] be shunned and discarded, if it is rational in itself, supported by demonstration, and not contrary to the Qur'an and Hadith? If we were to set the precedent that all truths that had ever occurred to a falsifier were to be avoided, then it would follow that much of the truth would have to be abandoned, including many verses from the Qur'an, the sayings of the Prophet, the narratives of our ancestors and the statements of sages and mystics."

Similarly, the harm of acceptance occurs when a text is accepted strictly on the fact that it contains some truth, either from the "prophetic discourse" or the "mystical discourse." Ghazali succinctly explains this position by stating that "[people] must be made aware of the fact that proximity between the fake and the genuine does not render the genuine fake, just as it does not render the fake genuine. Similarly, proximity between truth and falsehood does not render the true false, no more than it renders the false true."

These last two statements by Ghazali provide us with the foundation with which we can approach religious texts and attempt to extract truth from them. When addressing the Bible or the Qur'an, we must look at the core of their teachings, and if we find truth in specific teachings, we can accept those truths without assuming the truth of the entire text. Similarly, if we identify part of the religious text as false, that falsity doesn't diminish the validity of the truthful teachings of the text. This can allow us to maintain our skepticism while still believing in the purpose and core of each religious text.