Al-Ghazali: The Alchemist of Happiness

This is an excellent film about the life and spiritual journey of the renowned Islamic scholar al-ghazali. The film takes us through his time as the judge in Iraq, where he is revered as for his knowledge of quran and fiqh. Students flock to him. Then we see his crisis where he questions everything he knows, and he is unable to talk. He opens him mouth but no words come out. He then embarks on his spiritual journey, travelling for 10 years. He finds his truth in the knowledge of actions.

In his work the 99 names of Allah, Ghazali talks of how Allahs attributes must be known by tasting the experience,and not just the word. So to know mercy we must be merciful, to know justice we must be just. Just like if you tell someone what it is like to swim (wet, buoyancy etc) they will never truly know swimming until they have swam. And so we will never know God until we have experienced what it is to be merciful, just, compassionate, etc.

It makes a refreshing change to see a movie where the film is inspirational and captures the essence of spirituality , pushing us to reflect on how we view religion.

The scenic shots of Iraq are also wonderful