Abu Hamid al-Ghazali: How one of Islam’s most revered figures still speaks to the modern world

Abu Hamid al-Ghazali: How one of Islam’s most revered figures still speaks to the modern world Submitted by Lubna Masarwa on Tue, 05/12/2026 - 11:11 The sanctity and security of Al-Aqsa is once again under threat, as it was during the lifetime of the great scholar A non-contemporary painting depicting Abu Hamid al-Ghazali (Wikicommons) On It's early morning and we are standing at the Lions' Gate entrance to Al-Aqsa Mosque. In front of us stand a hostile cluster of Israel police, who interrogate our documents with suspicion. Their boss, Israel 's National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, never faces such issues getting into Al-Aqsa. In fact, he'd been among settlers who stormed the compound twice in the week before we arrived. On the second occasion he declared: "I feel like the owner here." It was very different for us, even though we had arranged our visit in advance with the Islamic Waqf Department, the Jordanian-appointed body responsible for managing the Al-Aqsa compound and other Islamic holy sites in Jerusalem's Old City, which always notifies Israeli security about visits by Waqf guests. Mahdi, the Waqf representative who had come to meet us, was visibly upset that Israeli police didn't respect their guests. When we were finally allowed in we found that Al-Aqsa was all but empty, barring the baleful presence of Israeli security forces and a group of Israeli visitors. The atmosphere in this profoundly spiritual and ancient compound, one of the three holy sites of Islam, should have been calm and peaceful. Instead it was nervous, strained and troubled. Under the centuries-old Status Quo arrangements - reinforced by judgments from the International C...

Original source: Middle East Eye