The Categorisation Of Knowledge (Ilm) Into Deeni And Dunyawi, Religious And Worldly Spheres Is Flawed: Insights From Ghazali And Scholars From Nishapur And Cordoba
By Ghulam Rasool Dehlvi, New Age Islam
25 October 2025
Note: This article has been written in the context of the recent scholarly debate on the classification and categorisation of the knowledge (ilm) into Deeni and Dunyawi, or the religious and modern or secular spheres. The debate has been sparked recently by the annual convocation "Jashn e Mufti e Azam e Hind" at Jamia Ashrafiya of Mubarakpur, Azamgarh, leading Islamic seminary of the Sunni Barelwi tradition in India.
Main Points:
1. Rejection of the Religious/Worldly Divide: Al-Ghazālī rejects separating sciences into “religious” and “worldly.” All knowledge serving humanity or fulfilling essential worldly functions is part of religion: Sciences like medicine, mathematics, astronomy, and politics are valid, sacred pursuits when approached with proper intent.
2. Moral and Ethical Purpose of Knowledge: Knowledge pursued for status, debate, or gain becomes corrupt. Scholars must cultivate humility, sincerity (ikhlāṣ), and service (khidmah).
3. Reconciliation of Reason and Revelation: Al-Ghazālī harmonized reason (‘aql) with revelation (waḥy). Rational sciences are tools guided by divine illumination: “Reason is like eyesight; revelation is like the light of the sun. The eye by itself cannot see unless the sun illuminates it.”
4. The Unity of Knowledge and Historical Legacy: Classical institutions (Nīshāpūr, Niẓāmiyyah, Bayhaqiyyah, Córdoba) integrated Qur’ānic studies with logic, mathematics, and philosophy. Their curricula produced integrated intellects, combining spiritual and rational development.
5. Qur’ānic Epistemology and Contemporary Relevance: First revelation: “Read in the name of your Lord Who created” (96:1) — links learning with creation and reflection. Sciences like embryology, medicine, and natural philosophy are Qur’ānic imperatives when studied to understand God’s creation.
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Imam Abū Ḥāmid al-Ghazālī (1058–1111 CE) remains one of the most profound intellectual architects of Islamic civilization. His magnum opus, Iḥyā’‘Ulūm al-Dīn (The Revival of Religious Sciences), redefined the purpose of learning by restoring its moral and spiritual foundations. In an age that tends to divide knowledge into “religious” and “worldly,” al-Ghazālī’s thought calls us back to a Qur’ānic epistemology—one that measures the worth of knowledge not by its subject, but by its intent and impact.
Knowledge as Worship: The Inner Dimension of Learning
For al-Ghazālī, the pursuit of knowledge was not an intellectual pastime but a form of worship (‘Ibadah). He famously declared in the Iḥyā’:
“Al-‘ilm ‘ibādat al-qalb, wa-ṣalāt al-sirr, wa-qurbat al-bāṭin.”
“Knowledge is the worship of the heart, the prayer of the inner self, and the closeness of the soul to God.”
In this vision, learning becomes a sacred act when it purifies the heart, refines conduct, and deepens awareness of the Divine. For this reason, al-Ghazālī repeatedly distinguishes between ‘Ilm Nāfi‘ (beneficial knowledge) and ‘ilm ghayr nāfi‘ (non-beneficial knowledge). The Prophet ﷺ himself prayed, “Allāhumma Innī A‘Ūdhu Bika Min ‘Ilmin Lā Yanfa‘” — “O Allah, I seek refuge in You from knowledge that does not benefit.”
Al-Ghazālī therefore asserts that the true purpose of knowledge is not intellectual dominance, nor career advancement, nor argumentation—but transformation of the self. “Knowledge without action,” he writes, “is madness; and action without knowledge is futile.”
The Real Division: Beneficial and Non-Beneficial
One of the most revolutionary aspects of al-Ghazālī’s epistemology is his rejection of the artificial division between “religious” and “secular” sciences. For him, such a dichotomy had no grounding in the Qur’ān. He writes:
“Kullu ‘Ilm Yuḥtāju Ilayhi Li-Ṣalāḥ Al-Dunyā Fa-Huwa Min Al-Dīn.”
“Every form of knowledge that is indispensable for the proper conduct of worldly affairs is itself part of religion.”
This statement dismantles the notion that sciences like medicine, astronomy, mathematics, or politics are “worldly” and hence less sacred. To al-Ghazālī, these disciplines, when pursued with the intention of serving creation, are forms of service to the Creator. He considered the physician, engineer, or artisan—if sincere in intention—to be as close to God as the preacher or jurist.
Thus, the only valid criterion is whether a given knowledge benefits humanity and pleases God. It is not the label that sanctifies learning, but the purpose and ethics guiding it.
The Moral Purpose of Knowledge
In the Iḥyā’, al-Ghazālī repeatedly warns against the corruption of scholars who seek knowledge for prestige, power, or polemics. “The ruin of religion,” he laments, “comes from three sources: ignorant worshippers, corrupt scholars, and hypocritical rulers.”
For him, knowledge divorced from moral intent becomes a poison. The learned man who uses his intellect to deceive, or his eloquence to dominate, is further from God than the ignorant man who remains humble. True learning must therefore be accompanied by humility, sincerity (Ikhlas), and service (Khidmah).
He writes:
“The learned who seek the world with their knowledge are like candles—they give light to others but burn themselves.”
This moral critique resonates powerfully today, when knowledge is often instrumentalized for power or profit. Al-Ghazālī reminds us that knowledge is not to be possessed but to be purified—to refine the knower’s soul and uplift the community.
Reconciliation of Revelation and Reason
Al-Ghazālī’s intellectual greatness lies in his effort to harmonize reason (‘Aql) with revelation (Waḥy). Having mastered Greek philosophy and the rational sciences, he understood their appeal but also their limits. His critique of philosophers in Tahāfut al-Falāsifah (The Incoherence of the Philosophers) was not an anti-intellectual reaction; it was a defense of the proper hierarchy of knowledge—that reason is a noble instrument, but not the final arbiter of truth.
He wrote:
“Reason is like eyesight; revelation is like the light of the sun. The eye by itself cannot see unless the sun illuminates it.”
In his synthesis, al-Ghazālī placed revelation as the guiding light, and reason as the disciplined tool through which the light of revelation is understood and applied. The conflict between the two, he argued, arises not from contradiction but from misunderstanding—from human arrogance or narrow interpretation.
In al-Ghazālī’s time, the great academies of Nīshāpūr and Baghdad’s Niẓāmiyyah embodied this unity. Their curricula blended the Qur’ānic sciences with logic, mathematics, medicine, and philosophy. A student could learn both Shāfi‘ī jurisprudence and Greek logic, both Arabic rhetoric and astronomy.
But with the gradual decline of Muslim intellectual life, this integrated vision of knowledge fragmented. The rise of defensive orthodoxy on one hand, and Western secularism on the other, split learning into isolated compartments. The result is what we witness today—seminaries suspicious of science, and universities indifferent to spirituality.
Al-Ghazālī’s thought calls us to heal this rupture. In his Munqidh min al-Ḍalāl (Deliverance from Error), he describes his own journey from scepticism to spiritual certainty—a journey that reconciled intellect and intuition, reason and revelation. For him, the highest form of knowledge was ma‘rifah—direct experiential awareness of God—yet he saw all true sciences as pathways leading toward it.
The Qur’ānic Epistemology: Knowledge as Creation and Contemplation
Al-Ghazālī’s framework draws its spirit from the Qur’ān itself. The first revealed verse, “Read in the name of your Lord Who created” (96:1), integrates learning (iqrā’) with creation (khalq). It commands humanity to explore the universe as a sign (āyah) of divine artistry.
In this light, disciplines such as biology, medicine, or embryology are not “foreign” to Islam but fulfill a Qur’ānic mandate—to know the Creator through His creation. As al-Ghazālī observed, the study of nature can purify the heart when approached with wonder and gratitude, for it unveils the wisdom and beauty of God’s design.
Thus, modern Muslim scholarship, he would argue, must no longer shy away from the sciences but reclaim them as part of its sacred mission. The ignorance or suspicion toward modern universities that prevails in some circles is contrary to the Iḥyā’’s ethos. Without engaging contemporary sciences, our seminaries cannot fulfill the Qur’ān’s comprehensive vision of knowledge.
A Cry from the Ruins of Nīshāpūr and Córdoba
Today, when the luminous institutions of Nīshāpūr, the Niẓāmiyyah, Bayhaqiyyah, and Córdoba exist only in memory, one is forced to ask: Where will our students go? For those institutions did not merely produce graduates—they cultivated integrated intellects, hearts that combined ‘ilm and ḥikmah, intellect and illumination.
Their disappearance signifies more than the fall of buildings; it marks the disintegration of the Muslim intellectual soul. Our task now is not to lament but to rebuild—by restoring the unity of revelation and reason, of faith and inquiry, that once animated our civilization.
Toward an Ethic of Knowledge in the Modern Age
If al-Ghazālī were alive today, he would not denounce modernity outright. He would rather ask: What is the intention behind our learning? For him, the crisis of knowledge is not technological but ethical. He would call upon both the seminary and the university to rediscover a shared purpose—to serve humanity and seek divine pleasure.
In a world drowning in information but starved of wisdom, al-Ghazālī’s voice echoes across the centuries:
“The goal of knowledge is not to master the world, but to master the self.”
Conclusion
Imam al-Ghazālī’s vision of knowledge stands as a bridge between revelation and reason, spirituality and science. He reminds us that knowledge is a sacred trust, not a mere profession. To revive the spirit of the Iḥyā’ is to restore the Qur’ānic unity of learning — where every inquiry, from law to logic, from theology to technology, becomes an act of devotion when pursued “in the name of your Lord Who created.”
Only through this unity can Muslim education once again produce illumined intellects — scholars who heal hearts, serve humanity, and reflect the light of Divine wisdom in a fragmented world.
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