Abstract

Among Muslim scholars, Abu Hamed Muhammad Ghazali, emphasis on self-knowledge and introspection in recognizing the factors and obstacles in the realization of moral acts has special prominence. His view about why man’s moral knowledge does not necessarily lead to corresponding moral acts is close to Aristotle’s view which considers overcoming weak will as well as the existence of knowledge to be necessary in this regard. Ghazali provides six stages for the formation of moral acts which, in order to be traversed requires not only that the factors of realization of moral acts are available but also that any present obstacles be removed. Five obstacles can be extracted from Ghazali’s sayings in Ihya e Ulumid Deen,. By analyzing Ghazali’s views about each of these obstacles - especially Satan - and his theory regarding good and bad thoughts in man, one can assume that he regards the origin of all of these obstacles to be internal, and not the presence of an independent and external factor which finds its way into man. If such a view is accepted, it will have important influences on accepting, knowing and defining moral factors and obstacles, as well as on man’s moral training and it can also be proposed as a comprehensive view, even beyond the boundaries of a particular religion and denomination.