L'amour de dieu chez al-ghazali. Analyse et traduction du bayan 10, livre xxxvi de l'ihya ulum al-din

Al-ghazali's conception of love of god. Analysis and translation of the bayan 10, book 36 in ihya ulum al-din

• Auteur / Autrice : Annick Regourd
• Direction : Dominique Sourdel
• Type : Thèse de doctorat
• Discipline(s) : Philosophie
• Date : Soutenance en 1987
• Etablissement(s) : Paris 4

Résumé

Il y a deux amours en dieu dans l'ihya ulum al-din d'al-ghazali: l'amour de dieu pour son serviteur, abondamment developpe, et son amour pour lui-meme qui, bien qu'important par le sujet (dieu et son attribut d'amour), ne vient pas nourrir la reflexion generale du livre faite d'ilm al-mu amala (science de l'acte) et non d'ilm al-mukashafa (science du devoilement). Pourtant l'amour de dieu pour lui-meme pourrait jouer un role de fondement car il fait l'objet d'une verite de devoilement, verite premiere. Ceci revet l'interet philosophique suivant : la verite atteste, en meme temps que l'existence de cet amour, le sens qu'al-ghazali lui donne, c'est-a-dire que le createur s'aime lui-meme, en aimant ses creatures comme ses oeuvres. L'amour de dieu pour lui-meme est certes un theme soufi classique, mais expose ici au troisieme degre du tawhid (unicite divine) ou subsiste encore une dualite (createur creatures). Les developpements comparatifs sur n. Malebranche dont j'ai etudie l'oeuvre auparavant, s'expliquent par la volonte d'objectiver les presupposes divers qui agissent necessairement et secretent une lecture d'un auteur, dans le cas present d'une autre civilisation, a partir d'un autre. Car la raison humaine, dans son travail, a tendance a ramener le nouveau a l'ancien, c'est-a-dire aux connaissances acquises.

There are two loves in god in al-ghazali's book : ihya ulum al-din : god's love for his servant, which is abundantly developped, and his love for himself, which, however important the subject-matter is (that is to say god and his attribute of love) does not nourish the general thinking of the work, consisting of 'ilm al-mu-amala (the science of the deeds) and not 'ilm al-mukashafa (the science of what is unveiled). However, god's love for himself could be a basis of the thinking because it belongs to the truth behind the veil which is a primary truth. Anyhow we can find in it a philosophical interest : this truth attests, together with the existence of god's love for himself, the meaning given by al-ghazali, that is to say the creator is loving himself when he is loving his creatures as his work. God's love for himself is certainly a traditional theme among sufis but it is here described in the third level of the tawhid (divine uniqueness) where a duality (creator creatures) still remains present. The comparisons with n. Malebranche, whose works i studied before al-ghazali's, find their purpose in bringing to light the various presupposed thoughts which necessairely influence one's own interpretation ; for, obviously, the human reasoning always takes into account formerly acquised knowledge to discover new things.