ABSTRACT
This chapter identifies how Muslim scholars since the classical Islamic period articulated what became the key, fiercely contested, elements of the Islamic tradition until the emergence of Shaykh Muhammad al-Ghazali. It constitutes three parts which will enable the examination of al-Ghazali's predecessors in the classical period and the immediate era of Muslim reformism prior to his intellectual appearance in the middle of the twentieth century. First part explores the formation of the classical tradition with a focus on the efforts of Abu Hamid al-Ghazali, Abu Ishaq al-Shatibi and Ibn Taymiyya. Second part examines the late classical ventures of reform of Shah Waliyullah al-Dihlawi, Muhammad al-Shawkani and Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab. Third part focuses at the emergence of a reformist-minded trend from the beginning of the nineteenth century until the period preceding the emergence of Muhammad al-Ghazali. The chapter reviews the development of the institution of interpretation known as ijtihad practiced by jurists.
