[12Jasoumemoobia]

so in present times one shouldnt leave their family for a long time or is it an option?

No I didn't mean that, what I meant is its easier to take the family along nowadays, so people leaving the family alone in the present day might be lesser. Just a speculation.

Also Imam Ghazzali is Shaykhul Islam, one of the best scholars of this Ummah, so He definitely must have known whats the ruling regarding this issue. To think otherwise would be foolish.