Mir-i Arab Madressa in Bukhara (Photo: Emily O'Dell)
Many years after leaving behind his prestigious teaching post in Baghdad to develop himself spiritually on the Sufi path, al-Ghazali stepped out from the seclusion of his spiritual retreat to return to the madressa and teach–sharing with his students the mystic knowledge he gained while wandering on the road…
In myself I know that, even if I went back to the work of disseminating knowledge, I did not really go back. To go back is to return to the previous state of things. Previously, however, I had been disseminating the knowledge by which worldly success is attained; by word and deed I had called men to it; and that had been my aim and intention. But now I am calling men to the knowledge whereby worldly success is given up and its low position in the scale of real worth is recognized. This is now my intention, my aim, my desire; God knows that this is so. It is my earnest longing that I may make myself and others better.
— al-Ghazali
