What was Imam Ibn Rushd's creed, and what is the truth about his disagreement with Imam Abu Hamid Al-Ghazali?

Ibn Rushd al-Hafid, who died in 595 AH, is Abu al-Walid Muhammad ibn Ahmad. He was a judge in Cordoba and was renowned for his interest and writings in philosophy, in addition to jurisprudence and medicine. Among his most famous works are "Bidayat al-Mujtahid" and "al-Kulliyat".

The criticisms directed at Ibn Rushd revolve around: 1. Interpretation of Sharia: His attempt to interpret Sharia texts to conform with Aristotelian philosophy, to the extent that Ibn Taymiyyah said of him: "He is among the most avid followers of Aristotle's sayings." 2. Exoteric and Esoteric: His belief that Sharia is of two parts: exoteric for the public, and esoteric (interpreted) for scholars, and that scholars should not disclose the esoteric interpretation to the public, which some considered an esoteric methodology. 3. Resurrection and Recompense: His inclination towards the philosophers' view that resurrection is spiritual only, and his consideration of this issue as a matter of ijtihad (independent reasoning), with each observer having their own opinion on it. 4. Neglect of Sunnah: His lack of attention to the Prophetic Sunnah as a primary source of legislation, and his not extensively using it in his philosophical and theological works, which led to his missing many hadiths relevant to the intellectual topics he discussed, and subjecting some of the hadiths he did use to distorting interpretations.

The scholars' objections to Ibn Rushd's creed stem from his annulment of many Sharia standards and his call to interpret its established principles, influenced by ancient philosophical ideas.