Fakhr al-Din al-Razi

Fakhr al-Din al-Razi is the famous and well known Muslim theologian and philosopher. His proper name is Abu `Abdallah Muhammad bin `Umar al-Razi (d. 606/1209). He was born in the Shafi'ite and Ash`arite family in 543 or 544 A.H./1149-50 A.C. His father was Diya al-Din `Umar who taught him Islamic religious sciences before he went to study with other Muslim savants. al-Razi travelled to many places such as Bukhara, Khawarazm and Transoxiana and held discussions with the local savants . al-Razi was a prolific and encyclopedic writer and scholar based on his many works, more than sixty complete works. He was a philosopher, historian, mathematician, astronomer, physician, theologian and exegesist. He had the exponents and opponents. His opponents were the Hanbalites who opposed philosophy, Kalam and mysticism, and the Batinites including the Qarmatians whom al-Razi criticized and refuted their teachings.

al-Razi's works on theology and Kalam are many and two of them are al-Arba`in fi usul al-din and al-mas'il al-khamsun fi usul al-din. In his al-Arba`in fi usul al-din, al-Razi presented forty issues in the principles of religion. They include cosmology, theology, ethics, prophethood, eschatology and imamate. In his al-masa'il al-khamsun fi usul al-din, al-Razi presented almost the same themes or topics contained in al-Arba`in fi usul al-din but his discussions are very brief in comparison with his discussions in al-Arba`in fi usul al-din.

Prepared by Ibrahim Abu Bakar, Ph.D. Department of Theology and Philosophy Faculty of Islamic Studies National University of Malaysia 43600 Bangi, Selangor MALAYSIA 25 Sept. 2003