Hope Without Illusion: Al-Ghazali on Knowledge, Affect, and Action

Articles in Press

Document Type : Research Paper

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Kuwait University

10.22034/jpiut.2026.74311.4696

Abstract

Al-Ghazali distinguishes hope in divine forgiveness from the complacent expectation that mercy excuses persistent wrongdoing. Yet he also commends hope when further action is no longer possible and denies that deeds secure salvation independently of divine mercy. This paper reads these claims together to reconstruct the relation among knowledge, affect, and action in the Ihya ulum al-din. It argues that their ordering describes the cultivation and ordinary expression of hope rather than three conditions that every appropriate instance must satisfy. Knowledge includes an understanding of divine generosity and human dependence; the affective state directs the heart toward a loved good and, ultimately, toward God; action ordinarily expresses this orientation through repentance and obedience. Hope’s practical seriousness nevertheless confers no entitlement to forgiveness. The agricultural analogy, narratives of unexpected mercy, and the priority of hope near death disclose different aspects of this relation. Read within al-Ghazali’s account of fear, love, and spiritual formation, they support a conception of responsible hope that resists both complacency and reliance on one’s achievements. The resulting comparison with contemporary philosophy clarifies how hope can sustain agency while retaining its significance when its value no longer lies in producing further action.

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Journal of Philosophical Investigations

Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 15 September 2026

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