Comparing the views of Muhammad and Ahmad Ghazali on the nature and characteristics of language

Document Type : Original Research

Authors
1 Assistant Professor, Department of Persian Language and Literature, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, University of Guilan, Rasht, Iran
2 Associate Professor, Department of Persian Language and Literature, Faculty of Persian Literature and Foreign Languages, University of Mazandaran, Babolsar, Iran.
Abstract
Muhammad and Ahmad Ghazali, two prominent Iranian thinkers of the sixth century, have thought-provoking views on the nature and characteristics of language. The present essay, written in a descriptive-analytical manner and with a phenomenological approach, examines and compares the views of these two brothers in the field of the nature and characteristics of language and tries to answer these two questions:Give that: 1- What are the similarities and differences between the opinions of the two brothers in the discussion of language opinions, especially "the nature of language"? 2- What approach does each of the Ghazalians use to explain the concept of language? The results of this study show that the examination of the concept of "what is language" is tied to the category of "heart" both in the eyes of Muhammad and in the eyes of Ahmad Ghazali; In other words, "heart" is the common point of two points of view. In the process of examining "language in the general sense", the opinion of both thinkers converges in reaching the area of ​​"silence". But in the discussion of "language in a special sense", Mohammad Ghazali has a linguistic approach in the design and description of linguistic concepts and terms; That is, like a linguist, he examines language as an object. While Ahmad Ghazali's encounter with language is an existential encounter, and it is as if language is truly the house of existence for him.
 

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Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 03 May 2026