The Influence of the Books Al-Luma Fi al-Tasawwuf and Ghoot ol-Gholoob Regarding ‎the Subject of Sama on Abu Hamid Muhammad al-Ghazali's Ihya Ulum al-Din

The present study seeks to investigate the influence of Abu Nasr al-Sarraj Tusi's book Al-Luma Fi al-Tasawwuf and Abootaleb Makky’s Ghoot ol-Gholoob regarding the subject of Sama on Abu Hamid Muhammad al-Ghazali's Ihya Ulum al-Din (492 AH). The approach in this study is a descriptive-analytical one. Research on Ihya Ulum al-Din helps to better understand the culture of Sufism and Persian literature. In this study, samples quoted from al-Luma and Ghoot-ol-gholoob by al-Ghazali in his Ihya are investigated. These include various subjects like Wajd (spiritual ecstasy), Sama, and the views of the Prophet of Islam (PBUH), his companions, and the elders of Sufism. Most of these excerpts are the sayings of Sufis and anecdotes about them. The results of the present study showed that Al-Ghazali uses the materials from al-Luma in several ways. Sometimes, he directly quotes the exact language of al-Luma, but other times he elaborates on or summarizes the material as he deems it necessary. Another method used by al-Ghazali is that of presenting the material with a different classification and format. The precise statement of the chain of sources of a quote is not very important to al-Ghazali.