and then our exile

synthesis, this is the word for tonight.
--
it began after i read an excerpt of a work where iqbal (the philosopher-poet of pakistan, no known relation) compares imam al-ghazali to immanuel kant, declaring the role of each was similar with respect to their deconstruction of rationalism, showing its limitations in regard to dogma; that al-ghazali shifted to mysticism and tasawwuf because he found therein an independent validation of religion.

this sparked neurons because a) i always understood ghazali's transformation as a personal event, that he felt the coldness of reason's arguments did not let the spirit reach its full potential – /not/ that he felt reason could not /validate/ religion b) as a nominally maturidi hanafi, i have to believe one's individual reason (of each sane and mature human being) is enough to reach at least certain basic or fundamental realities (eg. existence of a God, the idea of a reckoning) – and this i believe is the position iqbal took, who coming from the subcontinent would also have had a predominantly maturidi background.

at that point i stepped back and laughed at myself, who do i think i am, criticizing iqbal's argument and ghazali's position.

the trips home from taraweeh are when i pontificate to familie.