Methodological multilayeredness in Ghazali's thought in the context of the relationship between kalam, tasawwuf and philosophy

This thesis examines how Abū Ḥāmid al-Ghazālī developed an understanding of methodological multilayeredness following his contact with each of the disciplines of theology, tasawwuf and philosophy. In the introduction of the thesis, firstly, information about al-Ghazālī's life and scholarly personality is presented in general terms. Then, in addition to the problem addressed in the thesis, the purpose of the research, the methodology employed, and the main sources consulted are explained in more detail. In addition, information is given about the concepts emphasized in the thesis, the findings obtained during the research, and the contribution this study is expected to make to the field. In the first part of the thesis, the background of multilateralism is analyzed through an outline of early Islamic thought. In addition, the relationship of the Great Seljuks, the dominant political and military authority of the period in the Islamic world, with al-Ghazālī and the reflections of this situation on his world of thought are discussed. In the second part of the study, the method-oriented approaches of religious and philosophical traditions and their determinants in the development of multilayeredness in al-Ghazālī's thought are emphasized. The third chapter provides a comprehensive overview of al-Ghazālī's understanding of methodological multilayeredness structured around his critical reading of early Islamic thought through the main framework laid out in the first two chapters. Finally, according to the findings gleaned from the preparatory process of this thesis, it is concluded that the foundations of methodological multilayeredness reflected in al-Ghazālī's thought in the context of the relationship between kalām, mysticism, and philosophy are his assumptions about the diversity of fields of knowledge and the differences in perception among human beings. Accordingly, al-Ghazālī considers the realization and spiritual satisfaction to be achieved in the field of faith to be possible through the application of revelation and the principles that the prophet taught people by revealing them in his life. For al-Ghazālī, the Prophet's call to the whole of humanity and his practices in agreement with it encompass all levels of cognition. Based on the context just presented, it seems that al-Ghazālī adds a multilayered methodological expansion to the principle of the syllogism of the known to the unknown developed by the theologians by including the logic of the philosophers and the Sûfîs' observation (Mushahada) for people with different cognitive abilities. With this expansion, it is seen that he aims to bring the religious sciences, whose rational coherence he tends to reconstruct, together on a common ground under the encompassing scope of nazar and istidlāl.