or al-Ghazzālī in full Abū Ḥāmid Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad al-Ṭūsī al-Ghazālī
born 1058, Ṭūs, Iran
died Dec. 18, 1111, Ṭūs
Muslim theologian and mystic.
He studied philosophy and religion and became chief professor of the Niẓāmiyyah college in Baghdad in 1091. A spiritual crisis prompted him to abandon his career in 1095 and adopt the life of a poor Islam . His great work, Iḥyāʾ ʽulūm al-dīn ("Revival of the Religious Sciences"), explained Islamic doctrines and practices and traced their connection with Sufi mysticism.