I always find myself wanting to defend Ghazalis statements like this... and this is one of those times. Ghazali believed in extreme abstinence from the world as a path to God. It is not women per se that he hated, but the way that women distract men from spiritual aspirations. https://twitter.com/ibraheem_batta/status/1199553866183790592

This is not an absolute truth, and not all spiritual pathways teach this but for him it was. He is no different than Rabia Al Adawi who also saw marriage as a distraction from spirituality.

This is not hatred for women but hatred for the distraction of worldly life. Some Sufi paths teach that you reach God through the life of this world (through gratitude and seeing God as the ultimate doer). Ghazali felt that removing all potential distraction was the best route.

There’s a saying, ‘the only one we take personally is God’, and if you read Ghazali in that context -as one trying to reach God, and not as some kind of social commentary I think the idea that he was a ‘misogynist’ wouldn’t cross ones mind.

Allahualim but I think Ghazali must be read in the context of what he was striving for... many of his ideas will strike us as outrageous otherwise.

I’m guessing that to him children would be the greatest benefit of being married because children pray for you after death or intercede for you if they die young. If you look at his work through a purely spiritual lens it makes sense, though, it is not the only path to God.