Khalafallah/al-Ghazali Enigma, 8. Shari'a and the Telling of the Muslim Story

Towards the end of his life, Ghazali saw a paramount connection between Shari'a and understanding Muslim history, which he then made the centrepiece of his last campaign. This drive to impart to the common person the urgency of sound assessment of the past may be Mohammed al-Ghazali's greatest, and so far the least noted accomplishment. In considering this last preoccupation of Ghazali and its unexpected consequences, chapter eight also includes contemporary portraits from which the reader can glimpse how, in real life, impressions of their past determine how Muslim communities understand Sharia and power until today. The chapter assesses how Ghazali’s ever-increasing probes of their heritage, including the reliability of Shari’a-related evidence, led him to rethink his communities’ legal and social maps, reverse famous Islamic rules, and battle vocal Sunni groups that previously saw in him a leader of their causes. But, most of all, Ghazali’s probes of their records gave legitimacy to a new Sunni political discourse that spread across his Arabic-speaking neighbourhood.