Ghazali v Kant!

The comparison between Ghazali and Kant is often drawn by some academics working on the development of Islamic philosophy. I still remember Iqbal comparing the ideas of Ghazali and Kant in Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam. He even goes on to say that Kant is to Germany what Ghazali is to Islam. At that time I wondered how much of this assertion was actually true until I came across a passage from Nietzsche's Gay Science which made me realize the truth. It is known as Kant's joke. Nietzsche writes:


''“Kant’s joke. — Kant wanted to prove, in a way that would dumbfound the common man, that the common man was right: that was the secret joke of this soul. He wrote against the scholars in favor of popular prejudice, but for scholars and not for the people” (from The Gay Science, section 193).

One needs to take a break and ponder how much it actually applies to Imam Ghazali. He wrote against the philosophers and in favor of popular Islam, but for the philosophers and not for the people.