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Al-Ghazali, the Alchemist of Happiness is a beautiful film documentary directed by Ovidio Salazar. It is true we live in a confused age where almost humanity can not know how to distinguish between good and evil .Yet, movies like Al-Ghazali erases some questions of our intellectual age by refreshing our memory that there were in the past some thinkers who have lived through hardships and difficulties just to again peace in searching Allah (God).
In fact, this film already mixed up with academic interviews from Iran, England and America points out how blissful is the truthfulness of Allah and that the Almighty can be reached by spiritual practices just like Al-Ghazali did in his time. Man is born with AL Fitra (instinct) to go down to the profoundest abyss in order to find himself and to come back with an idea to remember that there is only one truth which is Allah, our Almighty who is worth worshipping.
Ovidio Salazar’s cinematic techniques are much convincing as far talking about documentary film making especially he has not hesitated to go to Tus, Khorasan, Iran in order to be more realistic where Al-Ghazali is buried .He tells Al-Ghazali’ story through narration and fabricated dramatic scenes. The search of truth seems continuous by Al-Ghazali whose taste of knowledge is so vast that he leaves his family, his Khalif,( supreme authority in Baghdad )his properties and his country in order to find Allah.
Nowadays, apart from intelligent movies that we watch from time to time either in festivals or in hacked DVDs ,Hollywood is still bombarding us with worthless artificial and violent movies that we are manifestedly fed up with especially now that the west is still eager to continue his continuous and ferocious fight against Islam via means of image destructions like cinema .This west itself has unfortunately denied that Islam has once breathed gently into the soul of Europe in order to be civilized (see Averroes,Ibn Sina Ibn Arabi …) .
With this genre of movies ,we hope that the world shifts 180 degrees to Al-Agl ( reason ), beauty and intellect rather than hate and indifference and the discourse that the west controls itself and anything foreign to its atmosphere is barbarian and savage, reminds us in fact of its uncontrollable launching bomb on Hiroshima and its unpitiful torturing of innocent souls in Guantanamo Bay.I think I myself have not controlled myself because of the 21 first century burden and atrocities that I still have to find relevant in the teaching of my master Al-Ghazali .Yet peaceful mind is quite reachable as long as there are non-arrogant people who reject dictatorship in their “Nitham-Al Hokm” ( Way of Governing ) and thanks to Allah , it seems that there are other people who have courage to produce via cinema other people ‘s beautiful lives even if they are seemingly“enemies” .
Allal El Alaoui
In fact, this film already mixed up with academic interviews from Iran, England and America points out how blissful is the truthfulness of Allah and that the Almighty can be reached by spiritual practices just like Al-Ghazali did in his time. Man is born with AL Fitra (instinct) to go down to the profoundest abyss in order to find himself and to come back with an idea to remember that there is only one truth which is Allah, our Almighty who is worth worshipping.
Ovidio Salazar’s cinematic techniques are much convincing as far talking about documentary film making especially he has not hesitated to go to Tus, Khorasan, Iran in order to be more realistic where Al-Ghazali is buried .He tells Al-Ghazali’ story through narration and fabricated dramatic scenes. The search of truth seems continuous by Al-Ghazali whose taste of knowledge is so vast that he leaves his family, his Khalif,( supreme authority in Baghdad )his properties and his country in order to find Allah.
Nowadays, apart from intelligent movies that we watch from time to time either in festivals or in hacked DVDs ,Hollywood is still bombarding us with worthless artificial and violent movies that we are manifestedly fed up with especially now that the west is still eager to continue his continuous and ferocious fight against Islam via means of image destructions like cinema .This west itself has unfortunately denied that Islam has once breathed gently into the soul of Europe in order to be civilized (see Averroes,Ibn Sina Ibn Arabi …) .
With this genre of movies ,we hope that the world shifts 180 degrees to Al-Agl ( reason ), beauty and intellect rather than hate and indifference and the discourse that the west controls itself and anything foreign to its atmosphere is barbarian and savage, reminds us in fact of its uncontrollable launching bomb on Hiroshima and its unpitiful torturing of innocent souls in Guantanamo Bay.I think I myself have not controlled myself because of the 21 first century burden and atrocities that I still have to find relevant in the teaching of my master Al-Ghazali .Yet peaceful mind is quite reachable as long as there are non-arrogant people who reject dictatorship in their “Nitham-Al Hokm” ( Way of Governing ) and thanks to Allah , it seems that there are other people who have courage to produce via cinema other people ‘s beautiful lives even if they are seemingly“enemies” .
Allal El Alaoui
