This article has been shortened from a longer article which misused sources. Details of the earlier versions may be found in the page's history. Please help us to rebuild the article properly.

Abu Abdullah Muhammad ibn Umar ibn al-Husayn al-Taymi al-Bakri al-Tabaristani Fakhr al-Din al-Razi^[1] (Arabic/Persian:أبو عبدالله محمد بن عمر بن الحسین فخرالدین الرازی آملی), most commonly known as Fakhruddin Razi was a well-known Persian Sunni Muslim theologian and philosopher.^[2][3] He was born in 1149 in Ray (today located in Iran), and died in 1209 in Herat (today located in Afghanistan). He also wrote on medicines, physics, astrology, literature, history and law.

He should not to be confused with Rhazes, also known as al-Razi.

Multiverse[link]

Fakhr al-Din al-Razi (1149–1209), in dealing with his conception of physics and the physical world in his Matalib al-'Aliya, criticizes the idea of the geocentric model within the universe and "explores the notion of the existence of a multiverse in the context of his commentary" on the Qur'anic verse, "All praise belongs to God, Lord of the Worlds." He raises the question of whether the term "worlds" in this verse refers to "multiple worlds within this single universe or cosmos, or to many other universes or a multiverse beyond this known universe."^[4]

Al-Razi states:^[4]

It is established by evidence that there exists beyond the world a void without a terminal limit (khala' la nihayata laha), and it is established as well by evidence that God Most High has power over all contingent beings (al-mumkinat). Therefore He the Most High has the power (qadir) to create a thousand thousand worlds (alfa alfi 'awalim) beyond this world such that each one of those worlds be bigger and more massive than this world as well as having the like of what this world has of the throne (al-arsh), the chair (al-kursiyy), the heavens (al-samawat) and the earth (al-ard), and the sun (al-shams) and the moon (al-qamar). The arguments of the philosophers (dala'il al-falasifah) for establishing that the world is one are weak, flimsy arguments founded upon feeble premises.

Al-Razi rejected the Aristotelian and Avicennian notions of a single universe revolving around a single world. He describes their main arguments against the existence of multiple worlds or universes, pointing out their weaknesses and refuting them. This rejection arose from his affirmation of atomism, as advocated by the Ash'ari school of Islamic theology, which entails the existence of vacant space in which the atoms move, combine and separate. He discussed more on the issue of the void the empty spaces between stars and constellations in the Universe, that contain very few, or no, stars. in greater detail in volume 5 of the Matalib.^[4] He argued that there exists an infinite outer space beyond the known world,^[5] and that God has the power to fill the vacuum with an infinite number of universes.^[6]

Major works[link]

[edit] The Great Commentary

In Islamic theology, Razi's major work was the Tafsir-e Kabir (The Great Commentary), his eight-volume Tafsir (exegesis) on the Qur'an, also named as Mafatih al-Ghayb (The Keys to the Unknown). This work contains much of philosophical interest. One of his "major concerns was the self-sufficiency of the intellect." He believed that proofs based on tradition (hadith) "could never lead to certainty (yaqin) but only to presumption (zann), a key distinction in Islamic thought." However, his "acknowledgement 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." In his later years, he also showed interest in mysticism, though this never formed a significant part of his thought.^[6]

List of works[link]

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)
• Al-Bayan wa al-Burhan fi al-Radd `ala Ahl al-Zaygh wa al-Tughyan
• Al-Mahsul fi 'Ilm al-Usul
• Al-Mutakallimin 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)
• Matalib al-'Aliya
• Muhassal afkar al-mutaqaddimin wa-'l-muta'akhkhirin (The Harvest of the Thought of the Ancients and Moderns)
• Nihayat al 'Uqul fi Dirayat al-Usul
• Risala al-Huduth
• Sharh al-Isharat (Commentary on the Isharat)
• 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)

See also[link]

• List of Iranian scientists
• Astronomy in medieval Islam
• Cosmology in medieval Islam

References[link]

Bibliography[link]

For his life and writings, see:

• G.C. Anawati, Fakhr al-Din al-Razi in The Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2nd edition, ed. by H.A.R. Gibbs, B. Lewis, Ch. Pellat, C. Bosworth et al., 11 vols. (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1960-2002) vol. 2, pp. 751–5.

For his astrological-magical writings, see:

• Manfred Ullmann, Die Natur- und Geheimwissenschaften im Islam, Handbuch der Orientalistik, Abteilung I, Ergänzungsband VI, Abschnitt 2 (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1972), pp. 388–390.

For his treatise on physiognomy, see:

• Yusef Mourad, La physiognomie arabe et le Kitab al-firasa de Fakhr al-Din al-Razi (Paris, 1939).

External links[link]

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

(Arabic: فخر الدين ‎) Fakhr al-Din may refer to:

• Fakhruddin As'ad Gurgani, 11th century Persian poet
• Baba Fakruddin, 12th century Iranian-Indian Sufi saint
• Fakhr al-Din al-Razi (1149–1209), Persian Sunni Muslim theologian and philosopher
• Fakhr-al-Din Iraqi (1213–1289), Persian philosopher and mystic
• Fakhr ad-Din ibn Adi (fl. 1275), last known ‘Adawī shaykh
• Fakhruddin Mubarak Shah (fl. 1340), King of Bengal
• Fakhr-al-Din II (1572–1635), Lebanese prince
• Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed (1905–1977), President of India
• Fakhruddin G. Ebrahim (born 1928), Pakistani lawyer
• Mariam Fakhr Eddine (born 1933), Egyptian actress
• Youssef Fakhr Eddine (1935–2002), Egyptian actor
• Fahrettin Cüreklibatır, later known as Cüneyt Arkın (born 1937), Turkish actor and director
• Fakhruddin Ahmed (born 1940), Bangladeshi economist
• Fakhraddin Manafov (born 1955), Azerbaijani and Soviet actor
• Fakhruddin T. Khorakiwala, Indian businessman
• Fahrettin Durak (born 1966), Turkish footballer
• Fakhreddine Galbi (born 1984), Tunisian footballer
• Prince Fakhruddin of Egypt (born 1987), Egyptian ex-royalty

See also[link]

• Fakr ad-Din Mosque, Mogadishu, Somalia

This disambiguation page lists articles about people with the same name. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.