Ghazali: The Person Who Linked Money to Morality

Abu Hamid al-Ghazali lived at the peak of Islam’s Golden Age, yet his thoughts on money, ethics, and power sound uncannily relevant to the modern world. This video shows how a medieval thinker, centuries before the birth of modern economics, understood the psychology behind wealth, the corrosive nature of corruption, and the economic damage caused by the loss of moral integrity. For anyone seeking to understand today’s financial system—whether inflation, speculation, or inequality—al-Ghazali’s insights provide a strikingly clear framework.

Core Ideas and Perspectives

• Al-Ghazali believed money was a means, not a goal, and argued that its value comes from public trust rather than the substance from which it is made.
• He referred to hoarded wealth as “lifeless money,” warning that capital removed from circulation harms society as a whole.
• Long before discussions of market manipulation became common, he criticized speculation and the exploitation of crises for personal gain.
• He emphasized trust as the cornerstone of every economic system, foreshadowing modern ideas such as moral hazard and information asymmetry.
• He cautioned rulers that debasing currency amounts to theft, foreseeing inflationary crises with remarkable precision.
• In his writings, he argued that economic collapse is driven not by shortages but by corruption—an insight that echoes in today’s global financial instability.
• Many of these arguments appeared centuries before Western economic theory, positioning al-Ghazali as one of the earliest thinkers to seriously analyze money and power.


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