Al-Ghazali’s Metaphysics of Creation: Bridging the Divine and the Material
Keywords:
Al-Ghazali, occasionalism, divine omnipotence, metaphysics of creation, Islamic philosophy, causality, The Incoherence of the Philosophers, divine agency, material contingency, theological determinism.Abstract
Al-Ghazali (1058–1111) remains one of the most influential figures in Islamic philosophy and theology, particularly in his articulation of metaphysics and the nature of creation. His metaphysical framework reconciles divine omnipotence with the contingent reality of the material world, offering a paradigm that challenges Aristotelian causality and asserts the primacy of divine will (Griffel, 2009). Central to his argument is the concept of occasionalism, which posits that all events occur solely through the direct intervention of God, rejecting the idea of inherent causation within nature (Frank, 1992). This position not only refutes the peripatetic philosophers such as Avicenna but also establishes a theological worldview where the material realm exists entirely through the continuous creative act of God (Hourani, 1976).
