Al-Juwayni grew up in Naysabur,^[7] an intellectually thriving area drawing scholars to it. Naturally, Juwayni did not have to search far for his education. At the time, the teachings of the Shafi'i school were closely linked to the Ash'arite theology which al-Juwayni decided to study for several years after the death of his father, though he would later regret the time he invested in studying and debating the school's principles while on his deathbed.^[8] He took over for his father at this point and began his teaching career at only 19 years of age.^[7]

The Seljuks, at the time, were moving quickly in their conquest of eastern Iran and Tughril Beg became the first sultan. Tughril Beg was a Mutazili-Hanafi adherent and at the time, the Ash'arite theological camp and the Hanafi school of legal thought shared a hostile relationship based in differences of opinion regarding doctrine and when Tughril Beg was named wazir in Nishapur, he forbid al-Juwayni to practice or teach the Ash'ari theological perspective.^[7]

Al-Juwayni traveled to Mecca and Medina in search of an interim home. He taught and studied there in Hijaz for four years.^[9] During this time, al-Juwayni became hugely popularized because of his father's prominence in the scholarly world, and his exile.^[7] He gained a large following and was invited back to Nishapur by the founder of the Shafii Madrasa, Khwaja Nizam al-Mulk. Upon his return, Juwayni was appointed to teach the doctrine of the Ash'arites at the Nizamiyya Madrasa until he died in 1085CE (which would turn out to be about 26 years).^[9] Al-Juwayni spent his life studying and producing influential treatises in Muslim government; it is suspected that most of his works (below) came out of this period after his return from Mecca and Medina.^[7]