غزالی و ایده آل خداگونگی (تألّه)

Al-Ghazali and the Ideal of Godlikeness, by Sophia Vasalou, examines al-Ghazali’s ethical thought through the lens of exemplarist virtue ethics, according to which a morally right action is defined as that which a virtuous agent would characteristically choose. Situating al-Ghazali's thought within a broad intellectual tradition extending from Plato to medieval Islamic philosophy, the study also places it in dialogue with contemporary debates on virtue and moral obligation. Vasalou identifies two models of Godlikeness: A Platonic ideal, which calls human beings to approximate divine perfection, and the Qurʾanic model, in which ethical imperatives are derived from God's Ninety-Nine Beautiful Names. Al-Ghazali elaborates the latter model in his celebrated work al-Maqṣad al-asnā fī sharḥ asmāʾ Allāh al-ḥusnā. The central challenge lies in the apparent incommensurability between divine transcendence and human moral psychology. Virtue presupposes limitation, effort, and emotional engagement—qualities from which God is entirely free. Vasalou argues that al-Ghazali resolves this tension through analogical translation: the divine attributes function as paradigms, while their human manifestations are appropriately adapted to the constraints of human existence. The book also explores the plurality of ethical vocabularies in al-Ghazali’s thought—including juridical, theological, philosophical, and Sufi discourses—and demonstrates their convergence upon a unified moral ideal. By bringing historical, philosophical, and contemporary discussions into conversation, Vasalou offers a nuanced account of the complex ideal of Godlikeness (taʾalluh) and presents the first comprehensive study of Islamic exemplarist ethics.