A list of Imām Ghazālī’s well known teachers
Abu’l Qāsim al-Ismaʿīlī: Ismāʿīl b. maʿsada b. Ismāʿīl b. Imām Abū Bakr Aḥmad b. Ibrāhīm b. Ismāʿīl al-Ismāʿīlī. A scholar, Jurist and orator from Jurjan, born in 407 learned from his father and uncle al-mufaḍal, Ghazālī (Ṭabqāt 6:195-196) and others learned from him. He traveled to many countries where he learned and taught some of which are Nishapur, al-Rayy and Isfahan. He visited Baghdad on his way to Hajj. He taught Ibn ʿAdī’s book al-Kāmil, Tarīkh Jurjān and many other works. He is said to have met Abū Isḥāq al-Shīrazī in Baghdad who came to him and Abū al-Qāsim said: “I don’t know by which I am happier by seeing Abu Ishaq or my visit to Baghdad”. He Died in Jurjan in 477. For more information see. al-ʿIbar 3:286, Ṭabqāt al-shāfiʿiyya al-kubrā, 4:294-296, Ibn al-ʿImād’s shudhrāt al-dhahab fī akhbār man dhahab Beirut: 1989, Dār ibn Kathīr; 5:331. al-muntaẓim, 9:10.
Abū al-maʿali al-Juwanyni: Imam al-Ḥaramyan ʿAbd al-malik b. Abdullāh b. Yūsef, A Shāfiʿī Jurist, learned in Priciples of Jurisprudence, Ashaʿrī Theologian (mutakalim) born in Juwayin near Nishapur in 419. Traveled to Baghadad, Mecca and Medina Then returend to Nishapur where he died in 487. He had many famous students among them al-Ghazālī (wafiyāt 4:217, Ṭabqāt, 6:196); al-Kiya Harāsī and al-Khwafi of whom he was very proud of and used to say in rhyming prose: “al-Ghazali is deep sea, al-Kiya a briliant lion and al-Khwafi a burning fire”. Due to Sunni persecution he had to flee his ancestral homelands but after Nizam al-mulk’s regin he was able to come home and was appointed as a head professor in the Nazimayh college opened in honor. Some of his works are al-Burhan, al-Waraqat, al-talkhīṣ (on Priciples of Jurrisprudence), Shāmil fī Iṣūl al-dīn, al-Irshād fī Iṣūl al-Iʿtiqād, al-ʿAqīda al-naẓimiyya (Ashaʿrī theology), and Ghiyath al-Umam, Mughith al-Khalq, Nihaya al-Maṭlab fī Diraya al-Madhhab (Jurrisprudence). Printed works: Kitāb al-irshād ila qawaṭiʿ al-ʾadilla fī iṣul al-iʿtiqād (The Guide to the Cogent Proofs of the Principles of Faith), ed. M. Musa and A. ‘Abd al-Hamid, Cairo, 1950. And al-Burhan fī īṣul al-fiqh (The Proofs of Jurisprudence), ed. A. al-Dib, Cairo: Dar al-Ansar, 1980. For additional information see: Ibn ʿAsākir, Tabyin Kadhib al-Muftarī p. 272-278; Wafiyāt al-ʿayān, vol. 3:167, Ṭabqāt al-shāfiʿiyya al-kubrā, 5:165–222, #477. ; al-Dhahabi, Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalaʾ 14:16-21 #4313. Modern bio by Muhammad al-zuhalyi, Dar al-Qalam, Damascus (pdf).
Al-Faramidhi: Abu Ali al-fadil bin Muhammad bin Ali al-Faramidhi hails from Faramidh a village on outskirts of Tus. He was an astetic, Sufi and an orator. Born in 407. He learned from the elder Abu Hamid al-Ghazali (al-kabir). He was also a student and follower of Abu al-Qasim al-Qushari. Al-Ghazali and many others learned from him. He travelled to many lands to preach and he died in Tus in 477. For more information see al-`Abar vol. 3 p. 288; al-Subki’s Tabqat al-shafi`ya al-kubra, 5:304-306; , shuthart al-thahab vol. 3. p. 355.
Naṣr al-Maqdisī: Abū al-fatḥ Naṣr b. Ibrāhīm b. Naṣr al-Nābulsī al-maqdisī, an Imām and Muḥadith, Shāfiʿite jurist born before 410. He learned from many scholars throughout the Muslim world inculding such places as Damascus, Gaza, Jerasualem, Sur and many others. He made Jerasulem his home for many years but moved to Damascus towards the end of his life where he lived for 10 years till his death in 490. Many learned from him inculding al-Ghazali (in Damascus in 489, siyar 19:139, Ṭabqat 6:198) and al-khaṭīb al-Baghdādī. The corner in which al-Ghazali studied is called al-Ghazāliya (Ṭabaqāt 6:197) He is author of many works including al-ḥujja ʿala tārik al-maḥajja, and al-tahdhīb fī al-madhab. For more information see, al-Dhahabi, al-ʿIbar fī khabr man ghabr Beirut: 1985, Dār al-kutub al-ʿilmiyya; 2:363 (pdf); al-Dhahabi, Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalaʾ Beirut: 1996, Muʾasast al-risāla; 19:136-143; Ibn al-ʿImād’s shudhrat al-dhahab fī akhbar man dhahab Beirut: 1989, Dār ibn Kathīr; 5:396-397 (pdf).
Abul fityan al-ruʾasī: ʿUmar ʿAbd al-karīm b. saʿadway al-dahistani, Ḥāfiẓ and Muḥadih, widely travelled born in dahistan in 428. Learned from many scholars in many cities throughout the Muslim world, such Nishapur, Baghdad, Dahistan, Damascus, Egypt, Haran. Al-Ghazali narriated from him as well as the Jurist Naṣr b. Ibrāhīm al-Maqadsī and many others he died in Sarkhas in 503. For more information see al-ʿIbar 4:6, Tadhkirat al-ḥufāẓ pp. 1237–1239.
Narriations of Hadith: It is said by many of al-Ghazālī’s biographers that towards the end of his life he has concentrated on Hadith studies. Some mentioned the following teachers:
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Abū Sahl Muḥammad b. ʿAbdallah al-Hafsi, He read (Samaʿ) Sahih al-Bukhari with him.
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al-Ḥakim abu al-fatḥ al-Ḥakimi al-Ṭūsī: He read (Samaʿ) Sunan Abū Dawud with him.
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Abu ʿAbdullāh, Muḥammad b. Aḥmad al-khawari: he read(Samaʿ) kitāb muwlad al-Nabī (SAW)
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Abu al-fityān ʿUmar al-ruʾasī: he read (Samaʿ) with him al-Bukhari and Muslim.
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He also studied with Muḥammad b. Yaḥya al-Zuzuni
See al-Subkī’s Ṭabqāt al-shāfiʿiyya al-kubrā, vol 6: p. 200, 212, 213, 214, 215, 220. (pdf of Ghazālī’s bio)
