The reason is that we will undertake further investigation into this meeting to ascertain whether Al-Ghazali was a teacher of Ibn Tumart, or if there was no connection between them. We will embark on this investigation by analyzing what may have been stated by testimonies or eyewitnesses who attended the meeting, and then proceed from there to accounts from the parties themselves, to the narratives of historians and the opinions of researchers.

We have not found in the works of Ibn Tumart that are in our possession any statement by him mentioning Al-Ghazali or quoting him in a way that suggests meeting him or studying under him. However, we have found two reports attributed to him in which he mentions Al-Ghazali in a way that implies meeting him.

The first of these two reports is what was attributed to him as a saying about Al-Ghazali, which is symbolic and causes ambiguity in its intended meaning. It may refer to the Sufi path that Al-Ghazali was following. This phrase appeared in the treatise "Al-Kafiya fi Burhan al-Imam al-Mahdi, may God be pleased with him, intellectually and by transmission," which was cited by Ibn al-Qattan (may God be pleased with him) for Abu Abd al-Rahman Ibn Tahir. Its text is: "And it was mentioned to us from him [i.e., Ibn Tumart] that the matter of the man known as Al-Ghazali was mentioned to him. He said: That man knocked on the door and it was not opened for him, or he was not given permission, or he did not enter, according to the different narrations from him." This same phrase appeared with a slight change in "Siyar A'lam al-Nubala," and its text is: "Abdullah bin Ali al-Ashir said: I heard Abd al-Mu'min bin Ali al-Qasbi say: I heard Abu Abdullah Ibn Tumart say: Abu Hamid Al-Ghazali knocked on the door and it was opened for us."

It is clear that this phrase does not imply meeting Al-Ghazali, but rather a mere acquaintance with him, which may have arisen from meeting him, or from studying his books. However, this symbolic phrasing may indicate a precise knowledge of Al-Ghazali's psyche and his spiritual state, which may only be achieved through companionship, which supports the possibility of a meeting.

See: (43) Information about him in: Ibn al-Qattan, "Nathm al-Juman," commentary no. 250. Ibn al-Qattan, "Nathm al-Juman," (44) (45) Quoted from Abd al-Rahman Badawi, "Works of Al-Ghazali," p. 537, citing Al-Dhahabi, "Siyar A'lam al-Nubala," vol. 12, p. 177. Manuscript photographed at the Egyptian National Library, no. 12195 H.