Fakhr al-Din al-Razi

Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī () or Fakhruddin Razi () (1149 or 1150 – 1209), often known by the sobriquet Sultan of the Theologians, was an Islamic polymath, scientist, one of the pioneers of inductive logic and author of Tafsir al-Kabir. He wrote various works in the fields of medicine, chemistry, physics, astronomy, cosmology, literature, theology, ontology, philosophy, history and jurisprudence. He was one of the earliest proponents of the concept of multiverse, and compared it with the astronomical teachings of the Quran. A rejector of the geocentric model and the Aristotelian notions of a single universe revolving around a single world, al-Razi argued about the existence of the outer space beyond the known world.

Al-Razi was born in Ray, Iran, and died in Herat, Afghanistan. He left a very rich corpus of philosophical and theological works that reveals influence from the works of Avicenna, Abu'l-Barakāt al-Baghdādī and al-Ghazali.

Two of his works titled Mabāhith al-mashriqiyya fī 'ilm al-ilāhiyyāt wa-'l-tabi'iyyāt المباحث المشرقية في علم الإلهيات و الطبيعيات (Eastern Studies in Metaphysics and Physics) and al-Matālib al-'Aliya المطالب العالية (The Higher Issues) are usually regarded as his most important philosophical works.

Biography

Fakhr al-Din al-Razi, whose full name was Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn ʿUmar ibn al-Ḥusayn bin Ali al-Razi al-Tabaristani (), was born in 1149 or 1150 CE (543 or 544 AH) in Ray (close to modern Tehran), whence his Nisba (onomastics)| al-Razi. Either his great-grandfather or his grandfather migrated from Mecca to Tabaristan (a mountainous region located on the Caspian coast of northern Iran) in the 11th century, and some time after that the family settled in Ray. However, it is not known whether his ancestors resided continuously in the Hijaz since the early days of Islam, or which specific ancestor migrated from Mecca to Tabaristan. Shihadeh notes that the poet Ibn ʿUnayn (died 1233) praised him as a descendant of the second caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab, but considers this to be a confusion on the poet’s part. Furthermore, the ‘‘Diwan’s’’ commentary notes that the verse was intended to praise al-Razi’s Arab Qurashi origins, despite his ancestors settling in non-Arab lands.

Fakhr al-Din first studied with his father, Ḍiyāʾ al-Dīn al-Makkī, himself a scholar of some repute whose magnum opus in kalam has recently been rediscovered in part, and later at Merv and Maragheh, where he was one of the pupils of Majd al-Din al-Jili, who in turn had been a disciple of al-Ghazali. He was a leading proponent of the Ash'ari school of theology.

His commentary on the Quran was the most-varied and many-sided of all extant works of the kind, comprising most of the material of importance that had previously appeared. He devoted himself to a wide range of studies and is said to have expended a large fortune on experiments in alchemy. He taught at Ray (Central Iran) and Ghazni (eastern Afghanistan), and became head of the university founded by Mohammed ibn Tukush at Herat (western Afghanistan).

In Khwārazm, debates with Muʿtazilī scholars led to unrest, forcing him to return to Rey. Later, he traveled through Transoxiana, where his works such as al-Mabāḥith al-Mashriqiyya and Sharḥ al-Ishārāt were taught. In Sarakhs, he befriended the famous physician ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. ʿAbd al-Karīm and wrote a commentary on Ibn Sīnā's al-Qānūn for him. He married his two sons to the physician's daughters. In Bukhara, he debated prominent Ḥanafī scholars and theologians, earning great admiration. His debates with the Bāṭinīs and Karrāmīs also drew widespread attention.

He later settled in Herat in 600 AH (1203 CE). Although some sources claim he traveled to Baghdad and then Egypt, there is no reliable confirmation of this. He spent the remainder of his life in Herat, authoring works and teaching more than 300 students. Though poor in his early years, he later became wealthy, partly due to gifts from rulers and inheritance from his in-laws.

He was also renowned as an influential preacher and public speaker. According to later biographical reports, he delivered sermons in both Arabic and Persian and was often overcome with emotion while preaching, sometimes weeping. His gatherings in Herat attracted followers from different schools and sects, who attended in order to question him and engage in theological debate. It is reported that through his preaching and disputations, many members of the Karrāmiyya and others returned to Sunni doctrine. Because of his influence in Herat, he was known there by the title “Shaykh al-Islām.”

Some later sources also preserve anecdotes illustrating his rhetorical ability. One report states that during a sermon he addressed Sultan Shihāb al-Dīn with a reminder of the transient nature of worldly power, which reportedly moved the ruler to tears.

In addition to his written works, he trained many prominent students whose influence spread his intellectual legacy. Among those associated with his scholarly circle were Athīr al-Dīn al-Abharī, Tāj al-Dīn al-Urmawī, Sirāj al-Dīn al-Urmawī and Shams al-Dīn Ḥusrawshāhī, as well as later scholars among his descendants.

The Great Commentary

One of Imam Razi's outstanding achievements was his unique interpretive work on the Quran called Mafātiḥ al-Ghayb (Keys to the Unseen) and later nicknamed Tafsīr al-Kabīr (The Great Commentary), one reason being that it was 32 volumes in length. This work contains much of philosophical interest. One of his "major concerns was the self-sufficiency of the intellect." His "acknowledgment of the primacy of the Qur'an grew with his years." Al-Razi's rationalism undoubtedly "holds an important place in the debate in the Islamic tradition on the harmonization of reason and revelation." According to Tony Street, we should not see in Razi's theoretical life a journey from a young dialectician to a religious condition. It seems that he adopted different thoughts of diverse schools, such as those of Mutazilite and Asharite, in his exegesis, The Great Commentary.

Methodology of Qur’anic interpretation

Al-Rāzī developed a distinctive and systematic methodology in Qur’anic exegesis that combined rational analysis, linguistic inquiry, and theological argumentation. He maintained that apparent conflicts between reason and revelation must be resolved through interpretation (taʾwīl), since sound reason and authentic revelation ultimately cannot contradict each other. Verses that appeared to conflict with rational principles were therefore classified as ambiguous (mutashābih), and their meanings were explored through linguistic, philosophical, and theological analysis.

Although his approach emphasized rational reflection (dirāyah), al-Rāzī also made use of transmitted reports, occasions of revelation, variant Qurʾanic readings, and intertextual comparison within the Qurʾān itself. He held that the most reliable method of interpretation was to allow the Qurʾān to explain itself, while also integrating knowledge from philosophy, logic, and the natural sciences when relevant.

Philosophical theology

Al-Rāzī is widely regarded as a central figure in the development of philosophical theology in Islam. Drawing on the works of Ibn Sīnā and other philosophers, he sought to integrate philosophical reasoning into the framework of Ashʿarī theology while preserving core doctrinal commitments. His synthesis marked a major shift in the discipline of kalām, transforming it into a more systematic and intellectually expansive field.

Despite his extensive engagement with rational methods, some sources report that toward the end of his life he expressed dissatisfaction with the ability of kalām and philosophy to provide ultimate certainty in matters of faith and emphasized the primacy of the Qurʾān as a source of guidance. and that God has the power to fill the vacuum with an infinite number of universes.

List of works

Al-Razi had written over a hundred works on a wide variety of subjects. His major works include:

Tafsir al-Kabir (The Great Commentary) (also known as Mafatih al-Ghayb) This tafsīr book dedicated an entire volume to Surat Al-Fatihah
Asraar at-Tanzeel wa Anwaar at-Ta'weel (The Secrets of Revelation & The Lights of Interpretation). Tafsir of selected verses from The Quran.

Note: Not to be confused with the book of Tafsir by Imam Nasir al-Din al-Baydawi Qadi Baydawi called: Anwaar at-Tanzeel wa Asraar at-Ta'weel (The Lights of Revelation and The Secrets of Interpretation) or more commonly Tafsir al-Baydawi

Asas al-Taqdis (The Foundation of Declaring God's Transcendence) Refutation of Ibn Khuzayma, the Karramites, and the Anthropomorphists
Aja'ib al-Qur'an (The Mysteries of the Qur'an)
Al-Bayan wa al-Burhan fi al-Radd 'ala Ahl al-Zaygh wa al-Tughyan
Al-Mahsul fi 'Ilm al-Usul
Al-Muwakif fi 'Ilm al-Kalam
Ilm al-Akhlaq (Science of Ethics)
Kitab al-Firasa (Book on Firasa)
Kitab al-Mantiq al-Kabir (Major Book on Logic)
Kitab al-nafs wa'l-ruh wa sharh quwa-huma (Book on the Soul and the Spirit and their Faculties)
Mabahith al-mashriqiyya fi 'ilm al-ilahiyyat wa-'l-tabi'iyyat (Eastern Studies in Metaphysics and Physics)
Al-Matālib al-'Āliyyah min al- 'ilm al-ilahī (The Higher Issues) – his last work. Al-Razi wrote al-Matālib during his writing of al-Tafsir and he died before completing both works.
(The Harvest/Compendium of the Thought of the Ancients and Moderns)
Nihayat al 'Uqul fi Dirayat al-Usul
Risala al-Huduth
Sharh al-Isharat (Commentary on al-Isharat wa-al-Tanbihat of Ibn Sina)
Sharh Asma' Allah al-Husna (Commentary on Asma' Allah al-Husna)
Sharh Kulliyyat al-Qanun fi al-Tibb (Commentary on Canon of Medicine)
Sharh Nisf al-Wajiz li'l-Ghazali (Commentary on Nisf al-Wajiz of Al-Ghazali )
Sharh Uyun al-Hikmah (Commentary on Uyun al-Hikmah)
Kitāb al-Arba'īn Fī Uṣūl al-Dīn
Al-Shajara al-mubaraka

References

Bibliography

(on his life and writings)
Maḥmūd b. Sulaymān al-Kafawī, Katāʾib Aʿlām al-Akhyār min Fuqahāʾ Madhhab al-Nuʿmān al-Mukhtār, ed. Muṣṭafā Kūnā, al-Shākir Marwān Rashīd, Ḥasan Ūzār, and Ḥanīf Bukhārī, Istanbul, Turkey: Maktabat al-Irshād, 2017, pp. 425–428.
(on his treatise on physiognomy)
(on his astrological-magical writings)

External links

Muslimphilosophy.com: Fakhr al-Din al-Razi
His biography
Another Biography by GF Haddâd