Epistemologi Integratif Al-Ghazālī dalam Iḥyā’ ‘Ulūm al-Dīn : Relasi Ta‘allum dan Ilhām dalam Perspektif Analisis Filologi

Abstract

Islamic epistemology has distinctive characteristics compared to modern epistemology, which often separates knowledge acquisition from moral and spiritual dimensions. In Islamic intellectual tradition, knowledge is not merely understood as cognitive activity but also as a process of human spiritual and ethical transformation. Abū Ḥāmid al-Ghazālī (450–505 H/1058–1111 M) is among the most influential Muslim thinkers who attempted to integrate rational and spiritual dimensions of knowledge. This article examines al-Ghazālī’s epistemological framework through a philological study of the concepts of ta‘allum, ilhām, and the distinction between the Sufi path (ṭarīq al-ṣūfiyyah) and the rational path (ṭarīq al-nuẓẓār) in Iḥyā’ ‘Ulūm al-Dīn. This study employs library research using philological, epistemological, and content analysis approaches. The primary source is Iḥyā’ ‘Ulūm al-Dīn, particularly Book III, Kitāb Sharḥ ‘Ajā’ib al-Qalb, while secondary sources include studies on Islamic epistemology and al-Ghazālī’s intellectual thought. The findings reveal that al-Ghazālī does not reject rational inquiry in favor of mystical experience. Instead, he develops an integrative epistemology that recognizes two modes of knowledge acquisition: ta‘allum as acquired knowledge obtained through learning and reasoning, and ilhām as gifted knowledge received through spiritual unveiling (kashf). This epistemological structure places revelation as the highest source of truth, reason as an analytical instrument, learning as human effort, and the heart (qalb) as the locus of spiritual reception. This study contributes to Islamic education by proposing that knowledge should not merely be transferred but should transform learners intellectually, morally, and spiritually.