Imam Al-Fakhr Al-Razi on his 900th birthday.

Where can we start when telling the story of a great scholar like Imam Fakhr al-Din al-Razi (d. 606 AH / 1209 CE)?

As we are facing a wide and wide world of knowledge, it is difficult to encompass its paths, and in addition to its ramifications, it is difficult to frame its paths.

Al-Razi was, in fact, an encyclopedia of knowledge walking on two feet, in which the foundations converged: belief, jurisprudence, interpretation, critical philosophy, Sufi knowledge and high wisdom, literature lessons and debates, and the machinations of sectarian fanaticism and political conflicts!

The harvest of this came in dozens of books, the contents of many of which extend between the banks of lengthy volumes, and are sequenced in the revival and reform of antiquity and formed at the hands of chains of genius scholars and great jurists, who linked the unity of the nation to reforming belief and establishing the foundations and meanings of monotheism.

This article wants to connect those areas cut off between historians of thought, historians of politics, and historians of Sharia.

Al-Razi was not a marginal thinker, but rather was at the heart of the concerns of his civilization and culture, and the era of Al-Razi is one of the most amazing times because it is the page in which the factors of resistance and victory met with the shovels of defeat and colonialism, and it is that period in which the authority of scholars and civil institutions moved to heal the cracks of political systems.

This model of challenge and response is one of the richest models in study and research, especially when thought is in the locus of political awareness and vanguard forces, similar to the Ayyubid and Ottoman movements that practiced clear reform and adopted a categorical approach in their legal and intellectual position.

Nine hundred years ago, when Imam Al-Razi, whom this article celebrates, was born on the occasion of the centenary of his birth;

There was a jurist who preached in Arabic and Persian, recited poetry with them, traveled the East back and forth, debating, lecturing, and authoring, then he concluded his life repeating in his will upon death: “My religion is to follow Muhammad, the master of the Messengers, and my book is the Great Qur’an.” With my results!!

Between two banks

is Muhammad bin Omar bin Al-Hassan bin Al-Hussein Al-Taymi Al-Bakri;

As attributed by historians, according to Imam Al-Shawkani (d. 1250 AH / 1834 CE) says within his translation of one of the scholars of Al-Razi’s descendants in “The rising full moon with virtues after the seventh century”: “And the Imam (= Al-Razi) stated in his compilations that he was one of the children of Omar Ibn Al-Khattab (d. 23 AH / 645 AD).

Al-Razi was born in the year 543 AH / 1148 AD in the city of Ray (= Tehran now), which was one of the great cities in Persia, so he took knowledge from a group of scholars at the forefront of them, his father Omar bin Al-Hassan, who was a Shafi’i and Ash’ari scholar nicknamed “Imam Diaa al-Din” and he is the preacher of the city. Therefore, Al-Razi became known - in biographies and history books - as "Ibn Khatib Al-Rayy" or "Ibn Al-Khatib" for short.

Thus, al-Razi's affiliation with the Shafi'i and Ash'ari schools of jurisprudence was associated with birth and kinship, and he took the chains of transmission from his father.

He used to exaggerate his father’s appreciation and describe him as the “happy imam.” We find him mentioning him in several places of his interpretation, narrating from him, saying: “I heard my sheikh and my father, may God have mercy on him, say..”, “And I heard my father, may God have mercy on him, say….”!

Al-Razi's expressions about his father, which were characterized by appreciation and loyalty, remind us of similar behavior that Taj al-Din al-Sabki (d. 771 AH / 1370 CE) later pursued towards his father, Taqi al-Din al-Subki (d. 756 AH / 1355 CE).

During the era of Al-Razi, the Islamic world lived between the shores of victory and defeat.

While he was still celebrating the victory of Hattin over the Crusaders in the year 583 AH / 1187 CE, his strongholds - at the moment of Al-Razi's death - were preparing for a losing confrontation in the west with the Christian kings of Andalusia in the Battle of Al-Uqab (= the plural of Uqba) in the year 609 AH / 1212 CE and the ensuing devastating Andalusian battles;

Parallel Mongol invasions were expected, the clouds of which were gathering eastward on the horizon, to gradually fold the rug of domination from under the feet of the Islamic world, by ramming the Tatar horses' hooves to the strongholds of the Abbasid Caliphate state, leading to the subjugation of its capital, Baghdad, in the year 656 AH / 1258 CE!

The truth is that this great reformist effect would not have occurred had it not been for the raising of the status of the "scholars' authority" at that time.

Al-Razi was the inheritor of a huge legacy left by a major renaissance scholarly vanguard, whose emergence began at the beginning of the fifth AH / eleventh century AD, and its generations continued throughout its decades. 1012 AD) and Al-Mawardi (d. 450 AH / 1059 AD) in the center of the caliphate in Iraq;

Ibn Hazm (d. 456 AH / 1065 CE) and Abu al-Walid al-Baji (d. 474 AH / 1082 CE) in the Islamic West;

Al-Juwayni (d. 478 AH / 1086 CE) and Al-Ghazali (d. 505 AH / 1111 CE) are in the eastern wing of the caliphate.

The period in which Imam al-Razi lived (543-606 AH / 1148-1209 CE) witnessed the decline of the Seljuk state in the center of the Abbasid Caliphate in Iraq and the regions to its east, starting with its weakness with the death of Sultan Masoud (d. 547 AH / 1152 CE), and ending with its complete collapse with the defeat of Sultan Tughrul The second (d. 590 AH / 1194 CE) at the hands of the sultans of the rising Khwarezmian state.

The geography of ideas in the "Ajam countries" (Khorasan and Central Asia) was contested by severe sectarian conflicts, as well as the rivalries of esoteric and verbal sects, and therefore its intellectual environment was characterized by extreme laxity, and perhaps this was a reason for Al-Razi to take the path of verbal debates as a way to restore balance to the front of the people year in that region;

As explained by the imam in his book 'Beliefs of Muslim sects'.

To the extent that Al-Razi's era was turbulent, the features of "colonialism" were embodied in it;

It also kindled in him the spirit of resistance and victory over him!

An important note appears here.

It is that the Khwarezmian and Ghaznavid states did not withstand the devastating Tatar invasion due to the fragility of the intellectual foundation and internal disintegration, while the Zangid state and its Ayyubid offspring - who practiced strict ideological and political reform - succeeded in confronting the Crusader threat, and granted that success to their heir, the Mamluk state that stopped the Tatar tide in the Battle of Ain. Goliath in the year 658 AH / 1260 AD, and described the Crusader presence finally with the conquest of Acre in the year 690 AH / 1291 AD);

Then the Ottoman Empire took advantage of these historical successes and took them to broader geographical and cultural horizons.

It is not possible to separate these successes - in their late Ayyubid and Mamluk dimensions - that determined the control of the home front from the rhetorical project of Al-Razi, whose general spirit was working on intellectual control of the internal intellectual and political fronts, in addition to the staggering of states and governments that worked to strengthen sects as social incubators of origins and belonging. jurisprudence and behaviour.

Herein lies the paradox that this reformist thought succeeded in the western wing of the world of Islam, while it failed in its eastern hometown!

Al-Razi represented a special edition of the Ash’ari school, which succeeded in infiltrating the four schools of thought with an overwhelming presence in the Shafi’is and Malikis, while the Maturidi doctrinal doctrine remained mostly confined under the cloak of the Hanafi school of jurisprudence, as they are two sides of the opinions of one personal foundation for both of them, which is Imam Abi Hanifa (d. 150 AH). / 767 CE), and the Imam Abu Mansur al-Maturidi (d. 332 AH / 944 CE) had nothing but to explain and elaborate on these opinions;

Just as the doctrinal Salafi school of thought was often associated with the Hanbali school of jurisprudence, even if there were wide extensions for it in the rest of the schools.

The scholarly vanguard - whose emergence in the Islamic world we have pointed out throughout the fifth century - tried to expand in the authoritarian political vacuum to extend the social authority of scholars. The unity of the nation and the deepening of the consensus mechanism.

We find that Imam Al-Juwayni was strongly supportive of the idea of ​​the nation’s consensus, and he denies the possibility of it being collectively apostatized even if the fundamentals are absent from it, and therefore he decided - in his book “Al-Ghayathi” - that it “does not deviate from faith in the guise of ignorance, so the content of this article is the notification of the nation’s safety About turning to disbelief and apostasy, even if the period is long.

It is the same idea of ​​the infallibility of the nation, which his student Al-Ghazali talked about after him - in the topic of consensus from his book 'Al-Mustafa' - by saying: “It is permissible to make a mistake in a diligence that is unique to the unilateral. It is permissible to contradict it because its infallibility is proven, so is the “infallibility of the nation” without any difference.

Then Al-Razi came after them, and he adopted the same opinion, proving it with evidence.

In his interpretation of the Almighty’s saying: “O you who have believed, obey God and obey the Messenger and those in authority among you.” By obedience to those in authority as a matter of assertion, and it has been proven that whoever commands God to obey him in a manner of definiteness must be infallible, so it is definitely proven that the ruler mentioned in this verse must be infallible.

Then he decides - based on that - that “the infallible whom God commanded the believers to obey is not some of the people of the nation, nor a sect of their sects. And when this was invalidated, it must be that infallible - who is what is meant by his saying: {and those in authority}- the people of the solution and the contract of the nation And that necessitates definitively that the nation’s consensus is an argument.”

This is an important establishment of the principle that the authority of sovereignty and legitimacy belongs to the scholars through the institution of the people of the solution and the contract.

Al-Razi is not satisfied with this establishment of the authority of the nation and the authority of consensus, but rather he refutes the opinion that he believes that the verse refers to princes only;

He said: “And we have that obedience to the people of consensus is definitely obligatory, and as for obedience to princes and sultans, it is not absolutely obligatory.

wide relations and

for the authority of scholars;

Al-Juwayni used to say that if “there was no prophet in the era, then the scholars [are] the heirs of the law, and those in charge of ending it take the place of the prophets.” Therefore, “if the authority of time did not reach the level of ijtihad, then those who are followed [are] scholars, and the authority is their help, thorn, and strength.”

In the same direction, al-Razi proceeds when he sees that “the scholars are sultans because of their perfection in scientific power, and the kings are sultans because of the ability and ability they possess, except that the sultanate of the scholars is more complete and stronger than the sultanate of kings, because the sultanate of scholars does not accept abrogation and isolation, and the sultanate of kings accepts them, and because the sultanate of kings It belongs to the Sultanate of the Scholars, and the Sultanate of the Scholars is of the same kind as the Sultanate of the Prophets, and the Sultanate of Kings is of the same kind as the Sultanate of the Pharaohs!

And this hint - which refers to the interpretation of {and those in authority} as scholars and establishes from that the infallibility of the nation through the principle of unanimity - we find its impact on Imam Ibn Taymiyyah (d. : “We do not accept that the need calls for the appointment of an infallible imam, because the infallibility of the nation is sufficient for his infallibility.., and this nation has no prophet after its prophet, so its infallibility takes the place of prophecy.”

Reading this topic in al-Tafsir al-Kabir by al-Razi and Minhaj al-Sunnah by Ibn Taymiyyah reveals a convergence and perhaps influence of the ideas written by al-Razi in this regard, especially as he was responding to the esoteric sayings that speak of the infallibility of the imams, which confirms that Ibn Taymiyyah inherited the reformist role. The scholar himself, especially in the projects he presented during the era of the Mamluk Sultan al-Nasir Qalawun (d. 741 AH / 1340 CE), saw the necessity of resetting belief ideas and building cultural and societal reform based on them.

As for the practical perspective of this theory of Al-Fakhr Al-Razi;

It was famous for him that he was close to a number of sultans and kings in his region and abroad, and he gifted to some of them a set of his books, such as the book “Eastern Issues”, which he gifted to the Khwarizmi minister, Abu Al-Ma’ali Suhail bin Abdulaziz Al-Mustawfi, as well as the book “The Basis of Sanctification”, which referred to It was written by Al-Malik Al-Adil Al-Ayyubi (d. 615 AH / 1218 CE).

As for his strongest and lasting royal relationship, it was with the Khwarezmian state, where he lived and was active in study and teaching.

Especially with its great sultan, Khwarizm Shah Muhammad bin Taksh (d. 617 AH / 1221 CE), who "was blessed with him and attained the highest ranks, and no one reached his status with him";

According to Ibn Khalkan (d. 681 AH / 1280 CE) in "Deaths of Notables".

He is not close to him in that except his connection to the kings of the Ghaznavid state, which Al-Dhahabi (d. 748 AH / 1347 CE) mentions - in the 'History of Islam' - that Al-Razi "intended [its sultan] Ghiyath al-Din al-Ghuri (d. 599 AH / 1203 CE) ... so he met him, revered him and sent him down, and built a school for him It is meant by the jurists in terms of respect!

Prestige and influence

that these connections and relationships did not prevent Al-Razi from establishing for the scholars a legitimacy that exceeds the legitimacy of these princes, given that "scholars - in fact - are the princes of the princes";

As decided in his interpretation of the 'keys of the unseen'.

Nor did their gifts to him and their reverence for his position prevent him from preaching to them and denying them.

Taj al-Din al-Subki mentioned - in 'The Great Classes' - that al-Razi "preached one day in the presence of Sultan Shihab al-Din al-Ghawri, and a state [was found] occurred to him, so he sought help: O Sultan of the world (= al-Ghawri), neither your authority remains nor the dressing of al-Razi remains {and that our desire remains To God}!!

Rather, those of his authoritarian relations did not allow it to breach the prestige of science and the rules of its request that establish relationships of great appreciation for his elders among his students, even if they were among the great sultans.

He "was exalted even over kings"!!

According to his description by Ibn Abi Usayba (d. 668 AH / 1270 CE) in "Oyoon al-Anbaa fi Tabaqat al-Tibb", in which he was translated by al-Razi as a great physician.

Among the indicative stories here is what was mentioned by Al-Safadi (d. 764 AH / 1362 CE) - in Al-Wafi al-Wafiyat - that “some kings ... asked him (= al-Razi) to put something for him in the Usul to read, and he said to him: On the condition that you come to my lesson and read it to me And he said: Yes, and I will add to this for you! So he put [a book] 'The Collector' for him.., [so] the sultan ... would come and stand and take ... the tread (= shoe) of the imam and carry it in his sleeve, and listen to the lesson in the book "!!

Al-Razi's relations with the sultans enabled him to move with complete freedom, and gave him an ideal opportunity to conduct his lessons and debates.

Even Ibn Abi Osaiba describes the splendor of a study session for him attended by two kings, so they sat as the rest of the attendees sit, and he said: “His council had a great majesty … and it has a well-known day in which all people see it and hear its words .., and on its sides – right and left – are two rows of His Turkish Mamluks lean on swords!!

This text best expresses his theory about the supremacy of the authority of the scholars over the princes, and perhaps it reveals the nature of his relationship with the authority and that he used it in favor of supporting his doctrine and ideas, and not the other way around.

Especially if we evoke what Al-Razi was of great royal splendor, as he was one of the owners of trade, capital, and broad prestige until "he became one of the presidents of that time, on his head fifty kings with gold regions and analyzed the snitch (= ornate clothes)"!!

According to what al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar (d. 852 AH / 1448 CE) reported in Lisan al-Mizan.

As for Ibn al-Imad al-Hanbali (1089 AH / 1679 CE), he said - in 'gold nuggets' - that when al-Razi died, he "left a huge legacy, including eighty thousand dinars (= today approximately 13 million dollars)"!!

One of the most telling evidences of al-Razi's high status among the sultans is that the Tatars - for what they were known for in terms of brutality and bloodshed, which not even the senior scholars were spared - when they entered the city of Herat, they exaggerated the respect of his family in appreciation of his name and status.

It was stated by the historian, Judge Ibn Fadlallah Al-Omari (d. 749 AH / 1349 CE) - in “Masalik Al-Absar” - that “when the Tatars took over the countries of the Persians and destroyed its castles and cities, and they killed in every city everyone in it and did not spare anyone, [Minister Al-Khwarizmi advanced] [Alaa al-Malik [Al-Alawi] to Genghis Khan (d. 624 AH / 1227 CE) - and a squad of his soldiers went to the city of Herat to ravage it and kill those in it - so he asked him to give him security for the children of Sheikh Fakhr al-Din Ibn Khatib al-Ray, and that they bring them honorably to him, so he endowed them with that and gave them Amana!!

A fleeting expansion

. Abu al-Faraj Ibn al-Abri (d. 685 AH / 1286 CE) - in "A Brief History of States" - provides us with an accurate description of the intellectual impact of al-Razi's students in the country of the Ayyubids;

He says that "at this time, a group of students of Imam Fakhr al-Din al-Razi were distinguished masters of great writings in logic and wisdom, such as Zain al-Din al-Kashi (d. 661 AH / 1262 CE) and Qutb al-Din al-Misri (d. 618 AH / 1221 CE) in Khurasan, and Afzal al-Din al-Khunji (d. 646 AH). 1248 CE) in Egypt, Shams al-Din al-Khusrawshahi (d. 652 AH / 1254 CE) in Damascus, Atheer al-Din al-Abhari (d. 686 AH / 1264 CE) in Rome (= Turkey today), Taj al-Din al-Armawi (d. 655 AH / 1257 CE), Siraj al-Din al-Armawi (d. 682 AH / 1283 CE) Konya (= a city in today's Turkey)".

Then he informs us of the extent of the presence of this Al-Razi influence in the court of the Ayyubids in particular.

He says: “Al-Najib, the Egyptian monk, the calculator in Damascus, narrated on the authority of Al-Malik Al-Nasir Daoud (d. 656 AH / 1258 CE) .. the owner of Al-Karak that he used to visit Shams al-Din al-Khusrawshahi to read to him the book ‘Eyes of Wisdom’ by Sheikh Abi Ali Ibn Sina (d. 428 AH / 1038 CE), and he was When he reaches the head of the camp in which the Khusrawshahi house is located, he signals to those with him from among the Hashem and the Mamluks so that they stand in their place, dismount and take his book under his arm, wrapped in a handkerchief, and come to the door of the wise man and knock on it, so he opens it for him and enters and reads and asks what he thought and then gets up, and he did not enable the sheikh to stand up for him. !!

This Razia school of discipline and reform moved to the Ottoman Empire when it was established a century after the death of the imam.

He interpreted its spirit in the schools of Anatolia, to which many of Al-Razi’s students went, led by his great student Siraj Al-Din Al-Armawi, and the explanations and comments of Al-Razi were among the important references in the Ottoman scientific lesson, in addition to imams who followed the Razi methodology, such as Al-Saad Al-Taftazani (d. 792 AH / 1390 CE) and Sharif Al-Jurjani ( Died 816 AH / 1413 AD).

The truth is that this elite of scholars worked to make the Ottomans a reformist extension of the Seljuks in their adoption of Sunni thought and jurisprudential doctrines, and had it not been for the efforts of these people, that powerful state would have fallen into the ravine of theological schools contrary to the Sunnis - in the comprehensive concept of the doctrinal schools adopted by the jurists of the Sunni schools - similar to the Buyids and Fatimids.

In this regard;

Turkish studies concerned with the history of scientific and intellectual life in the Ottoman Empire agree that there was a significant influence of the Razi edition of the Ash’ari school on the Ottoman academic curricula, but they differ in estimating the size of this effect and the extent of its entrenchment, despite their connivance that it appeared there clearly starting from the ninth century AH / fifteenth century AD.

The Turkish researcher, Professor Ahmed Yashar Ocak, says - in his study on "intellectual life" in the Ottoman Empire, published in a collective book titled 'The Ottoman Empire ... History and Civilization' - that "we are witnessing the entry of this school into the religious intellectual life of the Ottomans - and clearly - With the famous scholar Shams al-Din Muhammad, known as al-Manla Fanari (d. 834 AH / 1431 CE), and that school continued - through the sequence between the teacher and the student - until the strongest pioneers emerged from it in the fifteenth (ninth AH) and sixteenth (tenth Hijri) centuries, such as al-Manla Yakan (d. 840 AH / 1437 CE)..., and the famous scholar Al-Manla Lutfi (d. 900 AH / 1495 CE) and finally Ibn Kamal Pasha (d. 940 AH / 1534 CE) and Abu Saud Effendi (d. 982 AH / 1574 CE).

. Awjaq attributes the reason for the domination of the Razia school - to the exclusion of other schools - among the Ottomans because it possessed "the characteristic of defending the beliefs of the Sunnis in Ottoman religious thought with philosophical curricula, and establishing the legitimacy of political power within this framework."

He then adds that "the point worth considering is that the pioneers of the Fakhr-al-Razi school [mentioned] actually held the highest positions in the madrasahs and religious offices at the center of the Ottoman government, and thus became theorists of official application."

This is in addition to the fact that al-Razi was, on a personal level, "the greatest scholar and thinker after al-Ghazali... in the period in which he lived... [and] he left a great impact on the scholars who came after him... Hence we note that the Ottomans who headed to the regions of Khwarizm and beyond Al-Nahr for the acquisition of knowledge" They were influenced by Al-Razi's views, then they returned to their countries and spread them.

Just as the Al-Razi School infiltrated the Ottoman scientific life through Turkish scholars who entered its intellectual stronghold in Central Asia;

His influences infiltrated through two other important tributaries: the first of which preceded the existence of the Ottoman Empire, but he influenced it later, and he is students of Al-Razi who migrated from Central Asia following the Mongol invasion, so they created influences for his school in the geographical neighborhood of the Ottomans in the Levant region before the Ottoman expansion to it later, where the spread of the Razi lesson prevailed with distinction in This region since the Ayyubid era;

As we have seen in the intellectual map that he drew for the influence of Al-Razi - through his students - the previous text of Ibn Al-Abri.

As for the second tributary, it is the family extensions of Al-Razi, represented by the descendants of his scholars who settled in the Ottoman lands in Anatolia, and taught in its large schools.

Tashkubri Zadeh (d. 968 AH / 1561 CE) mentioned - in 'Al-Shaqa'iq al-Nu'mani fi 'Ulama of the Ottoman Empire' - that a grandson of al-Razi called Jamal al-Din Muhammad al-Aqsra'i / al-Aqsra'i (d. 797 AH / 1395 CE) was "a teacher in the country of Karaman (= a region in Anatolia) in a famous school In the “Silsilah School” .., and his students had three classes: the lowest of them were those who benefited from him in his stirrups when he went to the lesson and called them “Pedipalists”, and the middle ones were those who lived in the school’s hallway and called them “Stoics” according to the custom of the ancient wise men (= philosophers); And the highest among them are those who live inside the school, and he first teaches for those who walk on his horse, then gets off his horse and studies for those who live in the hallway, then he enters the school and studies for those who live inside it.

Rather, one of Al-Razi's grandsons assumed the position of "Sheikh of Islam", which had a central position in the Ottoman Empire, at the religious and governmental levels.

By that, we mean his grandson, Ali bin Ahmed Al-Jamali, famous for his nickname 'Zanbilli Ali Effendi' (d. 932 AH / 1527 CE). The scholar Muhammad Zahed Al-Kawthari (d. 1371 AH / 1951 CE) attributed him - in the message "Al-Ghurra Al-Manifah" - to Al-Fakhr Al-Razi among the scholars of his "descendants." They embraced Islam (= affiliated themselves with the Hanafi school of thought), and the most virtuous among them appeared in the Seljuk and Ottoman states.

Perhaps what contributed to the penetration of the Razia school into the corridors of the Ottoman lesson is that it greatly narrowed the verbal gap between the Ash'aris and the Maturidis, in whose shadows the Ottomans arose as a doctrinal extension of their Hanafi school of jurisprudence.

It is this narrowing that allowed - after the era of al-Razi - the emergence of a Hanafi class that began to attribute itself to the Ash'aris, starting with Imam Saad al-Din al-Taftazani al-Ash'ari, whom historians puzzled over whether to classify him as Shafi'i or Hanafi, and passing through Sharif al-Jurjani, "Al-Ash'ari Hanafi", and not ending with the Shah, Wali Allah al-Dahlawi. Al-Hanafi Al-Ash’ari” (d. 1176 AH / 1763 CE).

Systematic rehabilitation

by careful reading of Al-Razi's interpretation;

We realize that he was endowed with a great ability to analyze the verses in an analysis that mixes proof and inference with Sufi transparency, which makes his writings a historical turning point, not only in the interpretation of the Qur’an, but also in the history of theological approaches.

And from the illustriousness of Ibn Khaldun (d. 808 AH / 1406 CE) that he paid attention to this in his book “The Introduction”, so we see him accurately chronicling Al-Razi’s decisive efforts within what Ibn Khaldun calls “the method of the later scholars” that introduced the art of logic within the investigations of theology, then the two entered together in issues and chapters The science of the principles of jurisprudence until they became two "natural" components in the fabric of legal studies, and the "School of theologians" became one of the most important schools of "the principles of jurisprudence" after it was like that in "the principles of religion."

Ibn Khaldun says about the first level - in this "theological normalization" - related to the legal qualification of the art of logic and the role of Al-Razi in that, so that he presents it for a while to Al-Ghazali: "I know that this art (= logic) has intensified denunciation of its plagiarism from the forerunners of the predecessors and theologians ... And they prohibited his learning and teaching, and the later came - after them from the age of Al-Ghazali and Imam Ibn Al-Khatib (= Al-Razi) - so they forgave a little in that, and the people insisted on plagiarizing it from that day except for a little .., and the later ones .. when .. they had the opinion of the people of logic. They ruled that logic is not inconsistent with faith beliefs, even if it contradicts some of their evidence, but rather they may replace the theologians' evidence of the beliefs with other evidence that they correct by looking and mental measurement ..; and this is the opinion of Imam (= Al-Razi) and Al-Ghazali and their followers of this covenant!!

Ibn Khaldun goes on to explain the reforms that the later people - led by Al-Razi - introduced to the art of logic until it was "Islamized" for them.

He says: “Then the later came, so they changed the terminology of logic and joined the consideration of the faculties.., and they deleted the book of categories.., and stared at it according to the article.., then they spoke about what they put in it in arrogant words, and looked at it in terms of it being an art with its head, not in terms of that it is A machine for science, so the talk about it was prolonged and expanded. And the first person to do that was Imam Fakhr al-Din ibn al-Khatib.., and the books of the predecessors and their methods were abandoned as if they were not "!

These elites did not have the success of their reformist knowledge endeavor until they “distinguished between it (= logic) and the philosophical sciences that it is a law and a criterion for evidence only .., then they looked at those rules and premises in the art of speech of the ancients, so they contradicted many of them with the proofs that led to that, and perhaps many of them Adapted from the words of the philosophers in the natural and theological.., so this method became in their terminology a contrast to the first method and is called the 'the method of the later', and perhaps they included in it the response to the philosophers regarding the faith beliefs in which they disagreed.., and the first to write in the method of speech on this approach Al-Ghazali. ., and Imam Ibn al-Khatib [Al-Razi] followed him.”

This means that this current did not succumb to the alienation that came with the translations of Greek books, but rather criticized philosophy with proofs, but it seems that those who came after them exaggerated the use of philosophical approaches until they drowned the science of rhetoric with them, so that diverted it from its original intention: “Then the later people penetrated after them (= Al-Ghazali and Al-Razi ) In mixing books of philosophy, and they became confused about the matter of the subject in the two sciences, so they considered it one in them .., and the two methods were mixed with these later ones, and issues of speech were confused with issues of philosophy so that one of the two arts is not distinguished from the other .., as did [Nasir al-Din] al-Baydawi (d. 685 AH / 1286 AD) in “Al-Tawa’a” (= his book “Tawa’a Al-Anwar”) and those who came after it.

A different perspective

, and here we find Ibn Khaldun - unlike many of the ancients and contemporaries - implicitly absolving Al-Razi of responsibility for that dumping because it happened from a later generation to it;

But he is not satisfied with that until he declares it, urging the scholars to adopt the rhetorical books of Al-Razi in their dogmatic arguments.

Thus, Ibn Khaldun establishes the necessity of distinguishing between the intentions of the theologians - such as Al-Razi - and the intentions of the philosophers, which is something that many did not investigate in their objections to Al-Razi and his rhetorical heritage, which alone exceeded sixty books and letters!

In his talk about the history of writings in the fundamentals of jurisprudence curricula;

Ibn Khaldun tells us about Al-Razi's decisive efforts to consolidate the second level of "normalization" of logical and verbal investigations together in the legal deduction methods represented in the principles of jurisprudence, and he says that "it was among the best things written in it (= science of principles) the theologians: the book 'Al-Burhan' by the Imam of the Two Holy Mosques [Al-Juwayni], and “Al-Mustafa” by Al-Ghazali, who are from the Ash’aris; and the book “Al-Ahed” by Abd al-Jabbar (d. 415 AH / 1025 CE), and its commentary by “Al-Mu’tamid” by Abi Al-Hussein Al-Basri (d. 436 AH / 1044 CE), who are from the Mu’tazila.

Then Ibn Khaldun adds that "[these books] were the four rules and pillars of this art; then he summarized these four books as two of the late theologians, namely Imam Fakhr al-Din ibn al-Khatib in the book 'The Crop', and Saif al-Din al-Amidi (d. 631 AH / 1233 CE) in the book ' Al-Ahkam'. Their methods differed in art between investigation and pilgrims, as Ibn Al-Khatib tends to abound in evidence and protest, and Al-Amdi is fond of investigating doctrines and branching out issues!!

It seems that Al-Razi was aware of his pivotal contribution to "rehabilitating" the investigations of logic and philosophy and pruning the science of speech from their erroneous impurities, then reusing everyone in defending the doctrines of Islam, and even employing the righteous from him in the approaches to the principles of jurisprudence to deal deductively with texts;

As we have seen in the words of Ibn Khaldun.

Here is Al-Razi telling us - in his letter 'The Beliefs of the Muslim Sects' - about his project to confront the heritage of the Greek philosophers, and he says:

“The greatest of them (= the philosophers) of destiny was Aristotle (= Aristotle d. 322 BC) and he had many books, and no one transmitted (= translated) those books better than what was transmitted by the chief sheikh Abu Ali Ibn Sina .., and all philosophers believe in these books great beliefs And we - at the beginning of our preoccupation with acquiring the science of theology - were eager to know their books in order to respond to them, so we spent a good part of our life in that until God Almighty helped us to compile books containing a response to them .., and these books as a whole include an explanation of the fundamentals of religion and nullifying the suspicions of philosophers and other violators. Both those who agreed and disagreed admitted that none of the early and latecomers compiled such works!!

The interpretation of 'Mafatih al-Ghayb' was Omar's project for Fakhr al-Razi, so the book came among his books;

He wrote in it and summarized most of the most important cognitive fruits of his mind, and therefore some of them accused him - as in the interpretation of 'Al-Bahr Al-Muheet' by Abu Hayyan Al-Andalusi (d. 745 AH / 1344 CE) - that "it contains everything except the interpretation!"

In fact, the book is like a major scientific encyclopedia to which all the problems or suspicions that have arisen about his other books can be tried. I do not stand on the quantity and how, whether it is true or false, or sick or fat!!

From what we conclude from reading this interpretation, Al-Razi was basing his verbal, dogmatic inferences on the fact that “consideration and thinking about evidence is commanded” by law, because imitation - especially in belief - is one of the ancient ways that the Qur’an condemns.

So we read to him - in the interpretation of the verse {Indeed, we found our forefathers on a nation, and we are following their example}- his saying that "if there was nothing in the Book of God except these verses, it would have sufficed in nullifying the saying by imitation!"

And he derives from the doctrinal approach of al-Hajjaj to Abraham and Moses - peace be upon them - many methods of demonstrative inference.

He sees that this methodology was included in the Prophet Ibrahim, from his argument with himself when he said: {I do not like those who are settling}, to the pilgrims with his people: {What are these statues to which you are devoted}?!, Then his debate “with the king of his time” in his saying: {My Lord, who gives life and causes death}.

Then, in the end, he reaches a conclusion by which he confirms that "everyone whose instinct is safe knows that the science of speech is nothing but the determination of these evidences and the refusal of questions and oppositions about them, for this is all the research of Abraham, peace be upon him!"

And in the interpretation of 'The Keys of the Unseen' as well;

We find in abundance what Al-Fakhr Al-Razi settled on regarding Sufism and his vision of its foundation and issues, including his saying in the foundation of the legitimacy of Sufism: “The outcome of all divine books is due to three things: either praising God with the tongue, or preoccupation with service and obedience [to Him], or asking for revelations and observations.” [from him]".

It seems that the pride here is based on the reconciliation that Al-Ghazali concluded - in the 'Revival of Religious Sciences' - between Sufism and the sciences of Sharia, and perhaps what distinguishes him from Al-Ghazali is that he presented Sufism as an epistemological path that complements the path of reasoning and does not differ from it.

Therefore, Al-Razi says - within his interpretation of the story of God’s Prophet Moses and the learned “good servant” mentioned in Surat Al-Kahf - that “knowledge of the outward appearances of things can be obtained based on knowledge of the outward laws, and as for knowledge of the inward things, it can only be obtained based on the purification of the inner, the abstraction of the soul and the purification of the heart from The physical relations, and for this reason the Almighty said in describing the knowledge of that world: {And We taught him knowledge from Us}!Moses - upon him be peace - when his rank in the knowledge of Sharia was completed, God sent him to this world, [and that] so that Moses, peace be upon him, may know that the perfection of degree is in that Man moves from Sharia sciences based on phenomena to subconscious sciences based on supervising the inward and looking at the realities of things.

وقد قدَّم الرازي منظورا مختلفا للصوفية حينما كتب عنهم ضمن فِرَق المسلمين، وهو تصنيف غير مسبوق بحسب ما يقول هو نفسه في رسالته ‘اعتقادات فرق المسلمين‘: "اعلم أن أكثر من قَصَّ فِرَقَ الأمة لم يذكر الصوفية، وذلك خطأ لأن حاصل قول الصوفية [هو] أن الطريق إلى معرفة الله تعالى هو التصفية والتجرد من العلائق البدنية، وهذا طريق حسن". وهو هنا يُشَرْعِنُ طريقتهم فيما سماه "التطلع على حقائق الأمور" التي تقوم على التصفية والتجرد، ليمكن بذلك إضافتهم إلى الطوائف الأخرى التي اعتاد إيرادَها مؤلفو كتب الفِرَق والمِلَلِ والنِّحَل.

ثم إنه جعل الصوفية ست فِرَق وصوّب منها نهج الثالثة باعتبارهم "أصحاب الحقيقة، وهم قوم إذا فرغوا من أداء الفرائض لم يشتغلوا بنوافل العبادات، بل بالفكر وتجريد النفس عن العلائق الجسمانية، وهم يجتهدون ألا يُخْلوا سِرَّهم وبالَهم عن ذكر الله تعالى، وهؤلاء خير فرق الآدميين"! ونلحظ هنا أن إدماج الفكر مع الذكر والعقل مع النقل والتزكية هو أرض التصوف السواء التي ينحاز إليها الرازي ويدعمها.

مناظرات شاملة
دخل الرازي حلبات المناظرات الكلامية بوصفها أحد مقاصد العلم ووظائف العلماء، وأصّل لها بالقصص القرآني الذي جعلها من مسالك الأنبياء والرسل في تبليغ الرسالات وإقامة الحجة على الجاحدين لها، وضرب أمثلة واسعة من مناظرات إبراهيم وموسى عليهما السلام، مازجا ذلك كله بما لديه من تحليل عقلي كبير وزاد علمي وفير ونقد ظاهر باهر، وتلك عُدّةٌ منهجية أكسبه إياها تنوعُ تحصيله المعرفي، وتعدد رحلاته في الشرق الأقصى الإسلامي، واتساع احتكاكه بالثقافات والفلسفات.

وحسب كتاب ‘مناظرات الرازي‘؛ فإن دائرة ردوده ومجادلاته ظلت تتوسع مستوعِبةً ما تزخر به منطقة آسيا الوسطى وخراسان من فرق وطوائف، فقد رد على الفلاسفة والمجوس والزنادقة والبراهمة وأهل الكتاب والكرامية والمعتزلة والشيعة، وجرت مناظرات بينه وبين طائفة من أعلام عصره يتقدمهم نور الدين الصابوني البخاري (ت 580هـ/1184م)، والرضا النيسابوري (ت بعد 582هـ/1186م)، والشرف المسعودي (ت بعد 582هـ/1186م).

وعن تلك المناظرات يقول الفخر: "لما دخلت بلاد ما وراء النهر وصلت أولا إلى بلدة بخارى ثم إلى سمرقند (كلتاهما تقع اليوم بأوزبكستان)، ثم انتقلت منها إلى خُجَنْد (تقع اليوم بطاجكستان) ثم انتقلت منها إلى البلدة المسماة بَناكِت (تقع اليوم بطاجكستان)، واتفقت لي في كل واحدة من هذه البلاد مناظرات ومجادلات مع من كان فيها من الأفاضل والأعيان".

ويبدو أن الرازي -على حدَّته التي يعترف بها- كان يتسم بإنصاف لخصومه وموضوعية في إبراز نقاط ضعفهم وقوتهم؛ إذ يقول عن أحد خصومه في المناظرة: "فالمرة الأولى تكلمتُ مع الرضا النيسابوري وكان رجلا مستقيم الخاطر بعيدا عن الاعوجاج، إلا أنه كان ثقيل الفهم كليل الخاطر محتاجا إلى الفكر الكثير في تحصيل الكلام".

ومن إنصاف الرازي أنه عُرف بأنه يورد حجج خصومه -في مناظراته ومؤلفاته- على أكمل وأقوى ما يكون من النصاعة والبرهنة، وقد أقر هو بنفسه -في كتاب ‘نهاية العقول في دراية الأصول‘- هذه الطريقة، وهي المنهجية التي انتُقد بسببها فقال بعض معارضيه -حسبما يحكيه عنهم ابن حجر في ‘لسان الميزان‘- إنه "يورد شُبَهَ المخالفين في المذهب والدين على غاية ما يكون من التحقيق، ثم يورد مذهب أهل السنة والحق على غايةٍ من الوَهاء (= الضَّعْف)"!

لكن ابن حجر ينقل عن نجم الدين الطوفي الحنبلي (ت 716هـ/1316م) تعليلا نفسيا طريفا لما يُتَّهم به الرازي؛ فيقول إنه "اتهمه بعض الناس ولكنه (= الاتهام) خلاف ظاهر حاله (= الرازي)..، ولعل سببه [إن صحّ هو] أنه كان يستفرغ قواه في تقرير دليل الخصم، فإذا انتهى إلى تقرير دليل نفسه لا يبقى عنده شيء من القوى، ولا شك أن القوى النفسانية تابعة للقوى البدنية"! وهذا معناه أن الرازي كان يبذل الوسع والطاقة في بناء حُجَج الخصم حتى إن هدمها يُصبح متعذّرا، أو يكون هو نفسه استنفد طاقته في تعميقها فيشق عليه نفسيا وذهنيا أن ينقضها بنفس الكفاءة!!
انتقاد وإنصاف
رغم ما أشرنا إليه سابقا من تقارب بين ابن تيمية والرازي في أفكار وتطابق في أدوار؛ فإنه لا يمكن إنكار نقد الإمام ابن تيمية القوي لمدرسة الرازي والسجالات الشديدة التي دارت بين المدرستين طوال القرون الماضية، ولا تزال محتدمة حتى لحظة قراءة هذا المقال! فابن تيمية -الذي أحسَّ بخطر غزو تلامذة الرازي المحمّلين بأفكاره ومنهجه الكلامي للشام قُـبيل زمانه وفي أثنائه- كان شديد النقد للرازي بل ويصفه كثيرا بالاضطراب والتناقض.

فابن تيمية يقول مثلا عن الرازي في ‘مجموع الفتاوى‘: "وأما ابن الخطيب (= الرازي) فكثير الاضطراب جدا لا يستقر على حال، وإنما هو بحثٌ وجدلٌ بمنزلة الذي يطلب ولم يَهْتدِ إلى مطلوبه؛ بخلاف أبي حامد [الغزالي] فإنه كثيرا ما يستقر". ويتهمه بأنه "هو من أفسد الحجج". ومع ذلك؛ لا تخلو نقاشاته للرازي من الإنصاف خصوصا أن ابن تيمية لم يفُتْه مقصد الرازي النبيل في الدفاع عن عقيدة الإسلام.

وهكذا نجده يلتمس له المعاذير كما في قوله: "وليس هذا تعمدا منه لنصر الباطل، بل يقول بحسب ما توافقه الأدلة العقلية في نظره وبحثه. فإذا وجد في المعقول -بحسب نظره- ما يقدح به في كلام الفلاسفة قَدَح به، فإن من شأنه البحث المطلق بحسب ما يظهر له، فهو يقدح في كلام هؤلاء بما يظهر له أنه قادح فيه من كلام هؤلاء، وكذلك يصنع بالآخرين. ومن الناس من يسيء به الظن وهو أنه يتعمد الكلام الباطل؛ وليس كذلك بل تكلم بحسب مبلغه من العلم والنظر والبحث في كل مقام بما يظهر له"!!

ولعل هذا الموقف المنصف هو ما لخصه الحافظ ابن حجر حين قال -في لسان الميزان‘- إن "الفخر [الرازي] كان من أئمة الأصول، وكُتُبُه في الأصليْن (= أصول الدين وأصول الفقه) شهيرة سائرة، وله ما يُقْبَل وما يُرَدُّ".

ومن اللافت أنه كما وجدت مدرسة الرازي طريقها إلى بلاد العثمانيين؛ نالت كذلك مدرسة ابن تيمية الناقدة لها حضورا مبكرا هناك، فنشطت -بقيادة محمد أفندي البِرْكِويّ (ت 981هـ/1573م)- في مواجهة غريمتها الرازية، كما واجهها من قبل ابن تيمية نفسه حين أحس بتأثيرها الكبير في معظم الساحة العلمية الإسلامية آنذاك (في الشام ومصر والعراق وما وراءه شرقا). فجاء ظهور هذه المدرسة التيمية العثمانية "ردا على مدرسة الفخر الرازي التي كانت تمثل الإسلام الرسمي عند العثمانيين"؛ حسب ما يقول الباحث التركي أوجاق.

اتهام منتحَل
استنتج الباحث البروفيسور جورج مقدسي (ت 1422هـ/2002م) -في دراسته ‘الشافعي وأصول المتكلمين‘- أن الإمام الشافعي (ت 204هـ/820م) وضع كتابه ‘الرسالة‘ في أصول الفقه من أجل التأسيس لتيار الظاهرية بين أهل الحديث، وذلك لقطع الطريق على أصحاب الكلام ممثلين في المعتزلة؛ حيث يقول مقدسي إن الشافعي "يَظهر -من وَضْعِه السُّنّةَ في منزلة القرآن وتقييدِه إعمالَ القياس بضوابط مُحْكَمة- أن باعثه الأصيل [لكتابة ‘الرسالة‘] قد تمثل في أن يضع علما جديدا لأهل الحديث يكون مقابلا لعلم الكلام الذي ارتبط بالمعتزلة، الذين وصفهم الشافعي بأنهم: ‘خصومه من أهل الكلام؛ أنصار الحكمة والفلسفة‘".

ثم تساءل مقدسي -ليؤسس لنفي انتماء علم الأصول في منشئه إلى "العلوم العقلية"- قائلا: "لمَ وقع هذا التغيير في طبيعة علم أصول الفقه الذي وضعه الشافعي؟ هذا العلم الذي كان في بدايته علما نقليا محضا، بعيدا كل البعد عن الكلام والفلسفة، بل عن كل مسائل فلسفة التشريع؛ ثم اختلطت مسائله -في مستهل القرن الخامس الهجري/الحادي عشر الميلادي- بمسائل كلامية أدخلها المتكلمون الذين أظهر الشافعي مَقْتَه لهم"!

ونحن نرى أن مقدسي لم يكن مصيبا فيما ذهب إليه مقتديا -باعترافه هو- بآراء المستشرقيْن إغناز غولدتسيهر (ت 1340هـ/1921م) ويوسف شاخت (ت 1389هـ/1969م). ومن يطالع كتاب ‘مناقب الشافعي‘ للفخر الرازي يعرف أن ما قدمه هؤلاء الثلاثة ليس مطعنا جديدا بحسب ما يُصوِّره مقدسي، الذي إما أنه اطّلع على كتاب الرازي هذا فلا وجه لاعتباره أطروحته أمرا جديدا، بل كان عليه إسنادها إلى قائليها قبل قرون وليس إلى نفسه أو إلى باحثين معاصرين؛ أو أنه لم يطّلع عليه فذلك قد يعني تقصيرا منه في البحث لكون الكتاب طُبع قبل نشر دراسته بقرن كامل!! ولو طالعه لعلم أن ما طرحه كان متداولا قبل الرازي بقرون مما دفعه للرد عليه!

Al-Razi conveyed old claims by the followers of some sects, "They claimed that (= Al-Shafi'i) was one of them." Among them was a sect he called "Al-Mushabihah" that claimed Al-Shafi'i's affiliation with it because "he was extremely hating the science of theology, and extremely loving the phenomena of the Book and the Sunnah." Then he added: As for the Mu'tazila, they claimed that he was one of them, too!!

And Al-Razi believed that the reality of the contradiction between the two aforementioned trends nullifies any affiliation from Al-Shafi’i to one of them, and then that “the friendship that occurred between him and the people of Al-Zahir does not necessitate his being on their doctrine, because it is not far from being said that he did not engage with them in the science of origins (= their doctrinal viewer) That's why this friendship happened."