What is your opinion regarding al-Ghazali’s rejection of some hadiths based on personal opinion? And what is your opinion if you were to write a book refuting al-Ghazali?

The questioner : What is your opinion, O Shaykh, regarding al-Ghazali’s rejection of some hadiths, including his rejection of the hadith: ... We ... , and he said that it contradicts the Qur'an and so on. What is your opinion, O Shaykh, if you were to write a book refuting al-Ghazali ... ?

The Shaykh : We have heard that his opinion is more [widespread] than what we have seen. Many scholars and students of knowledge have refuted him. In truth, he was a man from whom deviation from the Sunnah was perceived since old times. But as they say regarding him ... the veil was lifted, and what had been hidden before became apparent. The man’s thought was Mu'tazilah, and his jurisprudence was from the people of opinion (Ahl al-Ra'y) who used to prioritize their opinions over authentic hadiths. And in reality, and I say this frankly, even though we lived together in some circumstances, sometimes we would meet him at the Islamic University in the Supreme Council years ago, and I met him in Qatar, and I stayed in a hotel for two weeks or so. The house I stayed in was opposite his house, and we would meet and discuss. I would see in him a deviation from the Sunnah and the application of opinion; until one time we were invited in Qatar to [the home of]The Shaykh : Ibrahim al-Ansari, and a question was directed [to him], and I have now forgotten how the topic developed, but it came to the greeting of the mosque on Friday while the imam was delivering the sermon. He said with complete boldness: I do not see that when the imam is preaching, a person enters the mosque and begins what? With the greeting of the mosque. We said to him: O Shaykh, but this contradicts the authentic hadith that came in "the two Sahihs," his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): . He said: Imam Malik said such and such. We said: But how can the hadith of the Messenger be rejected by the opinion of an imam from the imams of the Muslims? Is it not said here: when the report (athar) comes, reasoning (nazar) is nullified, and when the river of Allah comes, the river of Ma'qil is nullified? As they used to say in old times. In any case, deviation appeared in him regarding some matters, but his opinions were not written down as he did in this book he recently published; in it, he concluded that he is from the people of Mu'tazilah and opinion. Many people have refuted him, some excellently, some moderately, some firmly, and some gently with him to the end. People differ in their temperaments and in their knowledge, but in any case, this book of his was the cause of exposing himself, and if he had concealed himself, that would have been better for him. And Allah (Mighty and Majestic) is the Revealer of what you were concealing.