Al-Ghazali - The Alchemist of Happiness
Sunday 27 March 2011 6.15pm
At Labia on Orange
A film by Ovidio Salazar. A recreated docudrama on a Sufi mystic. 2004. At Labia on Orange Book with Labia at 021 424 5927 Ticket R30 Running time 80 minutes | |
| An inspiration for spiritual seekers everywhere for almost a thousand years. Exploring the life and impact of one of the greatest spiritual and legal philosophers in Islamic history, this film examines Ghazali's existential crisis of faith that arose from his rejection of religious dogmatism, and reveals profound parallels with our own times. Ghazali became known as the Proof of Islam and his path of love and spiritual excellence overcame the pitfalls of the organised religion of his day. Combining drama with documentary, this film argues that Ghazali's Islam is the antidote for today's terror. Born in 1058 in Tus, Khorasan, in present-day Iran, Abu Hamid al-Ghazali was one of the most original thinkers the world has known. He influenced major figures of medieval philosophy such as Thomas Aquinas and Moses Maimonides, who shaped the philosophy of the Latin West. This visually stunning film sets out to discover who al-Ghazali was and whether we, living in the 21st century, can still find relevance in his teaching. For almost a thousand years Al-Ghazali has been an inspiration for spiritual seekers everywhere, as he was someone, like the Buddha, willing to give up everything: wealth, position, family and comfort in order to search for Truth. | |
| Winner Special Prize: Religions for Peace. Trento Italy | |
| The film is a remarkable achievement, capturing not only the drama of Ghazali's life and texture of the world in which he lived, but also skilfully distilling the significance of the major themes of his writings. - Farouk Mitha, University of Victoria, Canada | |