Imām Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī

Imām Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī (544 – 606 AH / 1149 – 1210 CE)

The Polymath Theologian and Architect of Rational Tafsīr

Early Life and Background

His full name was Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn ʿUmar ibn al-Ḥusayn ibn al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī al-Taymī al-Bakrī al-Rāzī
[أبو عبد الله محمد بن عمر بن الحسين بن الحسن بن علي التيمي البكري الرازي],
commonly known as Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī – فخر الدين الرازي, “The Pride of the Religion.”^1

He was born in Rayy – الريّ (near modern Tehran, Iran) in 544 AH / 1149 CE, during the late Seljuk period.
His father, Ḍiyāʾ al-Dīn ʿUmar al-Rāzī (ضياء الدين عمر الرازي), was a theologian and student of Imām al-Ghazālī’s methods, who introduced young Fakhr al-Dīn to both Shāfiʿī jurisprudence (الفقه الشافعي) and Ashʿarī theology (العقيدة الأشعرية).^2

Education and Teachers

He began his studies under his father, then continued under Majd al-Dīn al-Jīlī (مجد الدين الجيلي) and other leading theologians of Khurāsān and Transoxiana.
He excelled early in:

ʿIlm al-Kalām (علم الكلام) — dialectical theology,
Manṭiq (منطق) — logic,
Falsafah (فلسفة) — philosophy,
Tafsīr (تفسير) — Qurʾānic exegesis,
and the natural sciences, including astronomy, physics, and medicine.

His mastery of Aristotelian logic and Avicennian metaphysics made him one of the most sophisticated intellectuals of his age.
By thirty, he was teaching across Khurasān, Herat, and Samarkand, and his fame spread as the new Imām al-Mutakallimīn – إمام المتكلمين (Master of Theologians).

Public Life and Travels

Al-Rāzī traveled extensively through Khwarazm, Herat, Nīshāpūr, and Transoxiana, engaging in debates with philosophers (falāsifah – فلاسفة), Muʿtazilites, Ismāʿīlīs, and literalist theologians.

He faced opposition from rulers and scholars alike for his boldness in questioning long-held assumptions.
His theological disputations attracted thousands of students and opponents, earning him both admiration and enmity.

He finally settled in Herat, where he established a madrasa (مدرسة) and wrote most of his monumental works until his death in 606 AH / 1210 CE.^3

Scholarly Orientation

Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī combined the Ashʿarī theological system with Avicennian rationalism, transforming Islamic thought into a new intellectual synthesis.
He integrated kalām, falsafah, tafsīr, and ʿulūm al-ṭabīʿiyyah (العلوم الطبيعية – natural sciences) into one worldview grounded in revelation.

He once wrote:

“Reason is the foundation of understanding revelation — and revelation is the light that guides reason.”

This mutual dependence became the hallmark of his method.

Major Works

Work	Arabic Title	Subject	Notes
al-Tafsīr al-Kabīr / Mafātīḥ al-Ghayb	التفسير الكبير / مفاتيح الغيب	Qurʾānic exegesis & theology	His magnum opus — a 32-volume Qurʾānic commentary integrating philosophy, kalām, and science. The first “rational tafsīr.”^4
al-Maṭālib al-ʿĀliyah min al-ʿIlm al-Ilāhī	المطالب العالية من العلم الإلهي	Metaphysics & theology	A systematic exploration of existence (wujūd – وجود), causation, and divine attributes.
Asās al-Taqdīs	أساس التقديس	Theology	Defense of the Ashʿarī doctrine of transcendence; written against anthropomorphism.
Maʿālim Uṣūl al-Dīn	معالم أصول الدين	Creed	Concise manual of theology summarizing Ashʿarī beliefs.
al-Arbaʿīn fī Uṣūl al-Dīn	الأربعين في أصول الدين	Advanced theology	Discusses epistemology, divine knowledge, and prophethood in rigorous logical form.
Sharḥ ʿUyūn al-Ḥikmah	شرح عيون الحكمة	Commentary on Ibn Sīnā	Explains and critiques Avicennian philosophy through a theological lens.

🜂 His Integration of Philosophy, Kalām, and Qurʾānic Tafsīr

1. Rational Tafsīr (التفسير العقلي)

Al-Rāzī’s Mafātīḥ al-Ghayb is more than commentary — it is an encyclopedia of all human knowledge through the lens of revelation.
He explains each verse by:

Linguistic and grammatical analysis (naḥw wa lugha – نحو ولغة),
Philosophical implications,
Scientific and cosmological insights,
Theological and mystical meanings.

For instance, his commentary on “Allah is the light of the heavens and the earth” (Q 24:35) spans multiple volumes, discussing optics, metaphysics, and divine presence.
He famously wrote:

“The Qurʾān embraces every rational truth; nothing in creation lies outside its hints.”

2. Reconciliation of Philosophy and Kalām

While Ibn Sīnā viewed philosophy as an autonomous science, al-Rāzī subordinated it to revelation.
He adopted Avicennian methods — logic, causality, cosmology — but reinterpreted them under Ashʿarī theological premises:

God is al-Fāʿil al-Ḥaqīqī – الفاعل الحقيقي (the true agent);
Secondary causes exist only by His permission;
The world is ḥādith – حادث (created), not eternal;
Human reason discovers signs (āyāt – آيات), not ultimate truths.

Thus, he transformed philosophy from speculative independence to rational servitude to revelation — a harmony both rigorous and humble.

3. Epistemology and the Limits of Reason

Al-Rāzī believed that while reason (ʿaql – عقل) can establish God’s existence, it cannot comprehend His essence (dhāt – ذات).
He distinguished between ʿilm al-yaqīn (علم اليقين – knowledge of certainty) and ʿayn al-yaqīn (عين اليقين – vision of certainty), arguing that mystical experience (kashf – كشف) completes rational understanding.

He concludes his Tafsīr al-Kabīr with humility:

“I have sought truth through reason all my life — yet I find that the straightest path is to follow the faith of the old women of Rayy.”^5

This statement symbolizes not defeat of intellect, but its submission to divine simplicity — the final harmony between ʿaql and īmān (إيمان – faith).

4. Theological Method (Manhaj al-Naẓar – منهج النظر)

Al-Rāzī’s kalām method involved dialectical layering: he presented an issue, surveyed all possible arguments, refuted each logically, and ended with the Qurʾānic resolution.
This method became the model for later madrasah teaching and inspired generations of scholars including:

al-Āmidī (الآمدي)
al-Bayḍāwī (البيضاوي)
al-Taftāzānī (التفتازاني)
al-Jurjānī (الجرجاني)

All of whom built upon al-Rāzī’s analytical framework.

Intellectual Impact

Field	Contribution
Kalām (Theology)	Recast Ashʿarism into a systematic science grounded in logic.
Philosophy	Synthesized Avicennian metaphysics with Qurʾānic monotheism.
Tafsīr	Authored the first encyclopedic rational exegesis in Islamic history.
Science	Discussed cosmology, medicine, optics, and physics within theology.
Epistemology	Balanced reason, revelation, and mystical experience.

His influence extended eastward into Persia, the Ottoman world, and the Indian subcontinent, shaping thinkers like al-Nasafī, al-Taftāzānī, and even Shah Walī Allāh al-Dihlawī.

Death and Legacy

Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī passed away in Herat – هرات in 606 AH / 1210 CE, surrounded by his students and books.
He was buried in the Ghaznawīyah quarter, and his tomb became a site of visitation by students of theology.

He left behind over 200 works, many incomplete — a sign of how vast his mind was and how much he tried to contain in a single lifetime.

“He entered every science and left it enriched.” — al-Dhahabī, Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ

References (Chicago-style)

Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2nd ed., s.v. “al-Rāzī, Fakhr al-Dīn.”
Shlomo Pines, Studies in Islamic Atomism (Jerusalem: Hebrew University, 1997), 153.
Ayman Shihadeh, The Teleological Ethics of Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī (Leiden: Brill, 2006).
Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī, Mafātīḥ al-Ghayb (Cairo: Dār al-Ḥadīth, 2003).
al-Dhahabī, Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ, vol. 21 (Beirut: Muʾassasat al-Risālah, 1986), 501–504.
Oliver Leaman, Averroes and His Philosophy (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1988), 112–114.