The Maqasid is unique because it contains almost no original Al-Ghazalian critique. Instead, it is a masterfully clear exposition of the philosophical sciences of his day. In his introduction, Al-Ghazali explicitly states that he wrote this book as a prerequisite for his more famous polemic, The Incoherence of the Philosophers ( Tahafut al-Falasifa ). By presenting the "intentions" of the philosophers so accurately, he gained the intellectual credibility to criticize them. Ironically, the book was so well-written that when it was later translated into Latin as Summa Philosophorum , many European scholars mistakenly believed Al-Ghazali was a devoted follower of Avicenna rather than his critic.
Despite its critical framing, the book became a popular and clear summary of philosophy in both the Islamic world and medieval Europe. ghazali.org PDF Resources & Translations maqasid al-falasifa pdf