Rashid al-Din Fadlullah
Rashid al-Din Fadlullah (Rashīd al-Dīn Tabīb) (Rashīd al-Dīn Fadhl-allāh Hamadānī) (1247–1318). Muslim statesman and historian, possibly of Jewish descent. He began his career as the court physician of the Mongol Sultan Abaqa Khan. In 1298, Rashid was appointed vizier by Abaqa’s successor Ghazan and continued to hold office under Uljaytu. The envy aroused by Rashid’s great wealth and grandiose benefactions enabled his enemies, early in the reign of the young Abu Sa’id, to procure first his deposition from office and then his execution on the charge of having poisoned Uljaytuk.
Rashid’s great history, Jami ‘al-Tawarikh (“Collection of Chronicles”) was begun as a history of the Mongols at the invitation of Ghazan Khan, who put the state archives at his disposal, and continued, as a universal history, for Uljaytu. Jami ‘al-Tawarikh is notable for impartiality, clarity of style, and the wide range and authority of its sources. Rashid al-Din took great pains to ensure its transmission to posterity, in two versions, one in Persian, the other in Arabic. However, Jami ‘al-Tawarikh was never completed.
Jami ‘al-Tawarikh is composed of two parts: the first is known as Ta’rikh-i Ghazani and it comprises an account of the Turkish and Mongol tribes and the reigns of Jenghiz Khan and his successors down to Ghazan, with an uncompleted section on Uljaytu; the second part is a general history of the world -- from China to Europe -- in twelve sections. A geographical third part was planned but apparently was never written.
Rashīd al-Dīn Tabīb was a Persian physician of Jewish origin. He was a polymathic writer and historian, who wrote an enormous Islamic history, the Jami al-Tawarikh, in the Persian language. Jami al-Tawarikh is often considered a landmark in intercultural historiography and a key document on the Ilkhanids (13th and 14th century). In 1980, an illuminated version of this manuscript in Arabic was sold at Sotheby's to Nasser David Khalili for £850,000, the then highest price ever paid for an Arabic manuscript.
His encyclopedic knowledge of a wide range of cultures from Mongolia to China to the Steppes of Central Eurasia to Persia, the Arab lands, and Europe, provide the most direct access to information on the late Mongol era. His descriptions also highlight the manner in which the Mongol Empire and its emphasis on trade resulted in an atmosphere of cultural and religious exchange and intellectual ferment, resulting in the transmission of a host of ideas from East to West and vice versa.
Fadlullah, Rashid al-Din see Rashid al-Din Fadlullah
Rashid al-Din Tabib see Rashid al-Din Fadlullah
Tabib, Rashid al-Din see Rashid al-Din Fadlullah
Rashid al-Din Fadhl-allah Hamadani see Rashid al-Din Fadlullah
Hamadani, Rashid al-Din Fadhi-allah see Rashid al-Din Fadlullah
Rashid al-Din Fadlullah (Rashīd al-Dīn Tabīb) (Rashīd al-Dīn Fadhl-allāh Hamadānī) (1247–1318). Muslim statesman and historian, possibly of Jewish descent. He began his career as the court physician of the Mongol Sultan Abaqa Khan. In 1298, Rashid was appointed vizier by Abaqa’s successor Ghazan and continued to hold office under Uljaytu. The envy aroused by Rashid’s great wealth and grandiose benefactions enabled his enemies, early in the reign of the young Abu Sa’id, to procure first his deposition from office and then his execution on the charge of having poisoned Uljaytuk.
Rashid’s great history, Jami ‘al-Tawarikh (“Collection of Chronicles”) was begun as a history of the Mongols at the invitation of Ghazan Khan, who put the state archives at his disposal, and continued, as a universal history, for Uljaytu. Jami ‘al-Tawarikh is notable for impartiality, clarity of style, and the wide range and authority of its sources. Rashid al-Din took great pains to ensure its transmission to posterity, in two versions, one in Persian, the other in Arabic. However, Jami ‘al-Tawarikh was never completed.
Jami ‘al-Tawarikh is composed of two parts: the first is known as Ta’rikh-i Ghazani and it comprises an account of the Turkish and Mongol tribes and the reigns of Jenghiz Khan and his successors down to Ghazan, with an uncompleted section on Uljaytu; the second part is a general history of the world -- from China to Europe -- in twelve sections. A geographical third part was planned but apparently was never written.
Rashīd al-Dīn Tabīb was a Persian physician of Jewish origin. He was a polymathic writer and historian, who wrote an enormous Islamic history, the Jami al-Tawarikh, in the Persian language. Jami al-Tawarikh is often considered a landmark in intercultural historiography and a key document on the Ilkhanids (13th and 14th century). In 1980, an illuminated version of this manuscript in Arabic was sold at Sotheby's to Nasser David Khalili for £850,000, the then highest price ever paid for an Arabic manuscript.
His encyclopedic knowledge of a wide range of cultures from Mongolia to China to the Steppes of Central Eurasia to Persia, the Arab lands, and Europe, provide the most direct access to information on the late Mongol era. His descriptions also highlight the manner in which the Mongol Empire and its emphasis on trade resulted in an atmosphere of cultural and religious exchange and intellectual ferment, resulting in the transmission of a host of ideas from East to West and vice versa.
Fadlullah, Rashid al-Din see Rashid al-Din Fadlullah
Rashid al-Din Tabib see Rashid al-Din Fadlullah
Tabib, Rashid al-Din see Rashid al-Din Fadlullah
Rashid al-Din Fadhl-allah Hamadani see Rashid al-Din Fadlullah
Hamadani, Rashid al-Din Fadhi-allah see Rashid al-Din Fadlullah
Rashid al-Din Sinan
Rashid al-Din Sinan (Rashid ad-Din Sinan) (1132/1135-1192/1193/1194). Leader of the Syrian Nizari Isma‘ilis. He played a prominent part in Syrian and Egyptian politics, successfully defending his people against Sunni Muslim rulers, especially Saladin, and against the Crusaders.
Rashid ad-Din Sinan, also known as the Old Man of the Mountain, was one of the leaders of the Syrian wing of the Hashshashin sect and a figure in the history of the Crusades.
Latin sources from the Crusader states call him Vetulus de Montanis, derived from the Arabic title Shaykh al-Jabal, which means prince or elder of the mountain.
According to his autobiography, of which only fragments survive, Rashid came to Alamut, the center of the Hashshashins, as a youth and received the typical Hashshashin training. In 1162, the sect's leader Hassan II sent him to Syria, where he proclaimed Qiyamah, which in Nizari terminology meant the time of the Qa'im and the removal of Islamic law. Based on the Nizari stronghold Masyaf, he controlled various districts in northern Syria, namely Jabal as-Summaq, Ma'arrat Masrin and Sarmin.
His chief enemy was the Sultan Saladin, who ruled over Egypt and Syria. Saladin twice managed to elude assassination attempts ordered by Rashid and as he was marching against Aleppo, Saladin devastated the Nizari possessions. In 1176, Saladin laid siege to Masyaf but he lifted the siege after two notable events that transpired between him and the Old Man of the Mountain. One night his soldiers had found the Old Man of the Mountain and his personal guard wandering the mountains but failed to attack him because, as the soldiers reported, they were held back by some mystical power. Saladin suffered terrible dreams and one night awoke to find freshly baked hotcakes, the type only the Assassins made, and a poisoned dagger next to his bed. He believed the Old Man of the Mountain himself had laid them there. Saladin promptly lifted the siege and had to accept the independence of the Hashshashin principality.
His last notable act occurred in 1192, when he ordered the assassination of the newly elected King of Jerusalem Conrad of Montferrat. Whether this happened in coordination with King Richard I of England or Saladin remains speculation.
Rashid enjoyed considerable independence from the Nizari center in Alamut and some writings attribute him with a semi-divine status. He died between 1192 and 1194 and was succeeded by men appointed from Alamut, which regained a closer supervision over Masyaf.
Sinan, Rashid al-Din see Rashid al-Din Sinan
Rashid ad-Din Sinan see Rashid al-Din Sinan
Sinan, Rashid ad-Din see Rashid al-Din Sinan
Old Man of the Mountain see Rashid al-Din Sinan
Vetulus de Montanis see Rashid al-Din Sinan
Shaykh al-Jabal see Rashid al-Din Sinan
Rashid al-Din Sinan (Rashid ad-Din Sinan) (1132/1135-1192/1193/1194). Leader of the Syrian Nizari Isma‘ilis. He played a prominent part in Syrian and Egyptian politics, successfully defending his people against Sunni Muslim rulers, especially Saladin, and against the Crusaders.
Rashid ad-Din Sinan, also known as the Old Man of the Mountain, was one of the leaders of the Syrian wing of the Hashshashin sect and a figure in the history of the Crusades.
Latin sources from the Crusader states call him Vetulus de Montanis, derived from the Arabic title Shaykh al-Jabal, which means prince or elder of the mountain.
According to his autobiography, of which only fragments survive, Rashid came to Alamut, the center of the Hashshashins, as a youth and received the typical Hashshashin training. In 1162, the sect's leader Hassan II sent him to Syria, where he proclaimed Qiyamah, which in Nizari terminology meant the time of the Qa'im and the removal of Islamic law. Based on the Nizari stronghold Masyaf, he controlled various districts in northern Syria, namely Jabal as-Summaq, Ma'arrat Masrin and Sarmin.
His chief enemy was the Sultan Saladin, who ruled over Egypt and Syria. Saladin twice managed to elude assassination attempts ordered by Rashid and as he was marching against Aleppo, Saladin devastated the Nizari possessions. In 1176, Saladin laid siege to Masyaf but he lifted the siege after two notable events that transpired between him and the Old Man of the Mountain. One night his soldiers had found the Old Man of the Mountain and his personal guard wandering the mountains but failed to attack him because, as the soldiers reported, they were held back by some mystical power. Saladin suffered terrible dreams and one night awoke to find freshly baked hotcakes, the type only the Assassins made, and a poisoned dagger next to his bed. He believed the Old Man of the Mountain himself had laid them there. Saladin promptly lifted the siege and had to accept the independence of the Hashshashin principality.
His last notable act occurred in 1192, when he ordered the assassination of the newly elected King of Jerusalem Conrad of Montferrat. Whether this happened in coordination with King Richard I of England or Saladin remains speculation.
Rashid enjoyed considerable independence from the Nizari center in Alamut and some writings attribute him with a semi-divine status. He died between 1192 and 1194 and was succeeded by men appointed from Alamut, which regained a closer supervision over Masyaf.
Sinan, Rashid al-Din see Rashid al-Din Sinan
Rashid ad-Din Sinan see Rashid al-Din Sinan
Sinan, Rashid ad-Din see Rashid al-Din Sinan
Old Man of the Mountain see Rashid al-Din Sinan
Vetulus de Montanis see Rashid al-Din Sinan
Shaykh al-Jabal see Rashid al-Din Sinan
Rashid al-Din Tabib
Rashid al-Din Tabib. See Rashid al-Din Fadlullah.
Rashid al-Din Tabib. See Rashid al-Din Fadlullah.
Rashid ibn al-Sharif, Mawlay al-
Rashid ibn al-Sharif, Mawlay al- (Mawlay al-Rashid ibn al-Sharif) (b. 1630). Sharif of Morocco and the real founder of the so-called Filali Sharifian dynasty (r. 1664-1672). He was born in southern Morocco where his family, the Hasani Sharifs was acquiring political influence during the decline of the Sa‘di Sharifs. He conquered Fez in 1666 and extended his possessions west and southwards.
Mawlay al-Rashid ibn al-Sharif see Rashid ibn al-Sharif, Mawlay al-
Rashid ibn al-Sharif, Mawlay al- (Mawlay al-Rashid ibn al-Sharif) (b. 1630). Sharif of Morocco and the real founder of the so-called Filali Sharifian dynasty (r. 1664-1672). He was born in southern Morocco where his family, the Hasani Sharifs was acquiring political influence during the decline of the Sa‘di Sharifs. He conquered Fez in 1666 and extended his possessions west and southwards.
Mawlay al-Rashid ibn al-Sharif see Rashid ibn al-Sharif, Mawlay al-
Rashidis
Rashidis (The House of Rasheed) (Al Rashid) (Alrasheed). Dynasty in Ha’il, Najd, Saudi Arabia. The Rashidis were the ruling family in northeastern Arabia and were rivals of the Saudis in the early twentieth century. In 1835, the house of Ibn Rashid became firmly established as rulers under the suzerainty of the al-Sa‘ud. Under Muhammad ibn Rashid, who ruled Ha’il between 1872 and 1897, Jabal Shammar was independent and trade relations existed with al-Najaf in Iraq. After the death of Muhammad, the House of Rashid was weakened by dynastic disputes. Ha’il was taken by ‘Abd al-‘Aziz al-Sa‘ud in 1921.
The House of Rasheed was a historic dynasty of the Arabian Peninsula, and the most formidable enemies of the House of Saud in Nejd. They were centered in Ha'il, a city in northern Nejd that derived its wealth from being on the route of the Hajj.
The Al Rasheed derived their name from the grandfather of Abdullah, the first Rasheedi amir ("prince") of Ha'il, who was named Rasheed.
The Rasheedi amirs cooperated closely with the Ottoman empire. However, this cooperation became problematic as the Ottoman empire lost popularity.
One recurrent problem with the Rasheedi rule was the lack of a generally accepted rule of succession. The internal dispute normally centered on whether succession to the position of amir should be horizontal (i.e. to a brother) or vertical (to a son). These internal divisions within the family led to bloody infighting. In the last years of the nineteenth century, six Rasheedi leaders died violently. Nevertheless, the Al Rasheed Family still ruled and fought with each other hand in hand against Ibn Saud.
Over the first twenty years of the 20th century, the Arab peninsula saw a long-running series of wars as the Saudis and their allies sought to unite the peninsula under their rule. While the Al Rasheed rallied the majority of other tribes to their side the effort proved futile and by 1921 Ha'il was captured and given to Ibn Saud's army by the British command.
Some members of the Rasheed family left the country and went into voluntary exile, mostly to Iraq. By the 1990s only a handful were still outside Saudi Arabia. Some members live in England and France.
The House of Rasheed see Rashidis
Rashid, Al see Rashidis
Alrasheed see Rashidis
Rashidis (The House of Rasheed) (Al Rashid) (Alrasheed). Dynasty in Ha’il, Najd, Saudi Arabia. The Rashidis were the ruling family in northeastern Arabia and were rivals of the Saudis in the early twentieth century. In 1835, the house of Ibn Rashid became firmly established as rulers under the suzerainty of the al-Sa‘ud. Under Muhammad ibn Rashid, who ruled Ha’il between 1872 and 1897, Jabal Shammar was independent and trade relations existed with al-Najaf in Iraq. After the death of Muhammad, the House of Rashid was weakened by dynastic disputes. Ha’il was taken by ‘Abd al-‘Aziz al-Sa‘ud in 1921.
The House of Rasheed was a historic dynasty of the Arabian Peninsula, and the most formidable enemies of the House of Saud in Nejd. They were centered in Ha'il, a city in northern Nejd that derived its wealth from being on the route of the Hajj.
The Al Rasheed derived their name from the grandfather of Abdullah, the first Rasheedi amir ("prince") of Ha'il, who was named Rasheed.
The Rasheedi amirs cooperated closely with the Ottoman empire. However, this cooperation became problematic as the Ottoman empire lost popularity.
One recurrent problem with the Rasheedi rule was the lack of a generally accepted rule of succession. The internal dispute normally centered on whether succession to the position of amir should be horizontal (i.e. to a brother) or vertical (to a son). These internal divisions within the family led to bloody infighting. In the last years of the nineteenth century, six Rasheedi leaders died violently. Nevertheless, the Al Rasheed Family still ruled and fought with each other hand in hand against Ibn Saud.
Over the first twenty years of the 20th century, the Arab peninsula saw a long-running series of wars as the Saudis and their allies sought to unite the peninsula under their rule. While the Al Rasheed rallied the majority of other tribes to their side the effort proved futile and by 1921 Ha'il was captured and given to Ibn Saud's army by the British command.
Some members of the Rasheed family left the country and went into voluntary exile, mostly to Iraq. By the 1990s only a handful were still outside Saudi Arabia. Some members live in England and France.
The House of Rasheed see Rashidis
Rashid, Al see Rashidis
Alrasheed see Rashidis
Rashid, Mehmed
Rashid, Mehmed (Mehmed Rashid) (d.1735). Ottoman imperial historiographer. He wrote a history of the Ottoman empire from 1660 to 1721.
Mehmed Rashid see Rashid, Mehmed
Rashid, Mehmed (Mehmed Rashid) (d.1735). Ottoman imperial historiographer. He wrote a history of the Ottoman empire from 1660 to 1721.
Mehmed Rashid see Rashid, Mehmed
Rashid Rida
Rashid Rida (Muhammad Rashid Rida) (September 23, 1865, Syria - August 22, 1935, Egypt). Syrian Arab scholar. His life was devoted to the reconciliation of the Islamic heritage to the modern world. He was influenced by Jamal al-Din al-Afghani and Muhammad ‘Abduh, of whom he wrote a well-known biography. He founded the newspaper al-Manar and published it throughout his life.
Muhammad Rashid Rida was an Islamic revivalist and reformer, Muhammad Rashid Rida was born in a village near Tripoli, then Syria, to a family that claimed a line of descent from the prophet Muhammad. After his early education in a traditional religious school, Rida attended an Islamic school established by an enlightened scholar, Shaykh Husayn al-Jisr (d. 1909), who believed that the way to the progress of the Muslim nation was through a synthesis of religious education and modern sciences. Rida thus acquired a thorough education in the doctrine and traditions of Islam and a fair knowledge of the natural sciences and languages (Turkish and French). He studied the works of al-Ghazali (d. 1111) and Ibn Taymiyah (d. 1328), which inspired him with the need to reform the declining conditions of Muslims and purify Islam from degenerate Sufi practices.
By the end of the nineteenth century, a broader movement of reform, the Salafiyah movement led ty Jamal al-Din al-Afghani (d. 1897) and Muhammad ‘Abduh (d. 1905), was underway in Egypt. This movement, provoked by the stagnant and vulnerable conditions of the Muslims, sought to reinvigorate Islam; it stressed the need for the exercise of reason and the adoption of modern natural science, for agitation against tyranny and despotism and resistance to foreign domination, and the promotion of Muslim solidarity. The tenets of this movement were expounded in Al-‘urwah al-wuthqa (The Indissoluble Bond), which al-Afghani and ‘Abduh published in Paris in 1884. Instilling new ideas such as freedom, independence, unity, and the rights of the ruled into the minds of its Muslim readers, Al-‘urwah made a deep impact on Rida; it broadened his idea of reform and brought him to a new stage in his intellectual life.
In 1897, Rida left for Egypt to join ‘Abduh and the soon became one of his close associates and leading disciples. In Cairo, Rida published his own magazine, Al-manar (The Lighthouse), which first appeared in 1898 as a weekly and, subsequently, as a monthly until his death in 1935. The objectives of Al-manar were to articulate and disseminate the ideas of reform and preserve the unity of the Muslim nation. Rida was a prolific writer, producing more work than ‘Abduh and al-Afghani. Besides editing most of the articles that appeared in Al-manar, he wrote several books on various Islamic issues.
Rida, as did ‘Abduh, believed in the compatibility of Islam and modernity. ‘Abduh emphasized ijtihad (independent judgment) in an effort to reinterpret Islamic doctrines and give Islam a new vitality, but Rida, faced with more ominous challenges, insisted on certain criteriafor Islamic reform. Rida’s time witnessed the disintegration of the Islamic caliphate, the fragmentation of the Muslim world, and the ascendancy of the advocates of wholesale adoption of Western models, who tried to take ‘Abduh’s reinterpretations of Islamic doctrines to secular conclusions (probably contrary to his intentions).
Concerned with the unity of the Muslim and the preservation of its identity and culture, Rida viewed the original Islamic sources, the Qur’an, sunnah, and ijma’ (consensus of the companions of the Prophet) as the basis of reform. Rida, however, distinguished between acts of worship (‘ibadat) and matters concerning interaction with others (mu‘amalat). Since the ‘ibadat organize human behavior, were revealed in the Qur’an, and were laid down by authentic hadith, they cannot be changed. But human relations, in the absence of an explicit, authentic, and binding text can be reinterpreted according to the interest (maslahah) of the community. Ijtihad can be exercised in light of achieving the common good of the Muslim community. By emphasizing maslahah and ijtihad, Rida allowed room for human legislation.
Throughout his intellectual career, Rida was preoccupied with the issue of reform. He believed the decline of the Muslim nation was due to the stagnation of its scholars and the tyranny of its rulers. He viewed European dominance over the Muslims as a result of the latter’s weakness, which he attributed to the Muslims’ inability to master the sciences, form organized political institutions, and restrict the power of their governments. Considering education a precondition for political reform and independence, Rida urged the Muslim peoples to acquire the commendable aspects of Western civilization, such as science, technical skill, and wealth. His emphasis on education was manifested in his founding of the School of Propagation and Guidance in 1912. Here Rida attempted to combine modern education with religious teachings.
Central to Rida’s scheme of thought was the concept of the caliphate and its indispensability to the coherence of the Muslim community. On the eve of the breakup of the Ottoman caliphate in 1923, Rida wrote a treatise, The Caliphate or the Supreme Imamate, which included an elaborate discussion of the caliphate and a plan for its restoration. Realizing the obstacles surrounding the revival of a proper Islamic caliphate of ijtihad, Rida proposed a caliphate of necessity, a temporary one, to preserve the solidarity of the Muslims. Essential to this caliphate were the issues of shura (consultation), ahl al-hall wa-al-‘aqd (“those who bind and loose”), and ijtihad to ensure the adaptability of Islamic laws and the sovereignty of the Muslim nation.
Rida’s ideas, particularly in the interwar period, gave an Arab emphasis to the Islamic reform movement. As a result of the repressive policies of the Turkish government in 1911, Rida held the non-Arab peoples, namely the Turks, responsible for the decline of the Muslim world. Glorifying the role of the Arabs in history, he placed them at the center of a revived Islamic state; Rida also participated in several parties and associations advocating Arab independence and freedom.
Rida contributed greatly to the preservation and dissemination of the ideology of Islamic reform. He perceived clearly the challenges and threats that led to the disintegration of the Muslim nation and constituted a link between al-Afghani and ‘Abduh and the succeeding generations of Muslim activists and thinkers who appeared in the third decade of the twentieth century. He developed his own thought and attempted to elaborate a specific and systematic doctrine of Islamic laws and policies. Rida’s ideas shaped modern Islamic thought with moderate and activist features that influenced later Muslim thinkers.
Muhammad Rashid Rida is said to have been "one of the most influential scholars and jurists of his generation" and the "most prominent disciple of Muhammad Abduh".
Rida was born near Tripoli in Al-Qalamoun and was then part of the Ottoman Empire. His early education consisted of training in "traditional Islamic subjects". In 1884-5, he was first exposed to al-`Urwa al-wuthqa, the journal of Jamal al-Din al-Afghani and Muhammad Abduh. In 1897, he left Syria for Cairo to collaborate with Abduh and the following year they launched al-Manar, a weekly and then monthly journal comprising Quranic commentary at which Rida worked until his death in 1935.
Like his predecessors, Rida focused on the relative weakness of Muslim societies vis-à-vis Western colonialism, blaming Sufi excesses, the blind imitation of the past (taqlid), the stagnation of the ulama, and the resulting failure to achieve progress in science and technology. He held that these flaws could be alleviated by a return to what he saw as the true principles of Islam - salafiyya Islam which was purged of impurities and Western influences — albeit interpreted (ijtihad) to suit modern realities. This alone could he believed save Muslims from subordination to the colonial powers.
Muhammad Rashid Rida see Rashid Rida
Rashid Rida (Muhammad Rashid Rida) (September 23, 1865, Syria - August 22, 1935, Egypt). Syrian Arab scholar. His life was devoted to the reconciliation of the Islamic heritage to the modern world. He was influenced by Jamal al-Din al-Afghani and Muhammad ‘Abduh, of whom he wrote a well-known biography. He founded the newspaper al-Manar and published it throughout his life.
Muhammad Rashid Rida was an Islamic revivalist and reformer, Muhammad Rashid Rida was born in a village near Tripoli, then Syria, to a family that claimed a line of descent from the prophet Muhammad. After his early education in a traditional religious school, Rida attended an Islamic school established by an enlightened scholar, Shaykh Husayn al-Jisr (d. 1909), who believed that the way to the progress of the Muslim nation was through a synthesis of religious education and modern sciences. Rida thus acquired a thorough education in the doctrine and traditions of Islam and a fair knowledge of the natural sciences and languages (Turkish and French). He studied the works of al-Ghazali (d. 1111) and Ibn Taymiyah (d. 1328), which inspired him with the need to reform the declining conditions of Muslims and purify Islam from degenerate Sufi practices.
By the end of the nineteenth century, a broader movement of reform, the Salafiyah movement led ty Jamal al-Din al-Afghani (d. 1897) and Muhammad ‘Abduh (d. 1905), was underway in Egypt. This movement, provoked by the stagnant and vulnerable conditions of the Muslims, sought to reinvigorate Islam; it stressed the need for the exercise of reason and the adoption of modern natural science, for agitation against tyranny and despotism and resistance to foreign domination, and the promotion of Muslim solidarity. The tenets of this movement were expounded in Al-‘urwah al-wuthqa (The Indissoluble Bond), which al-Afghani and ‘Abduh published in Paris in 1884. Instilling new ideas such as freedom, independence, unity, and the rights of the ruled into the minds of its Muslim readers, Al-‘urwah made a deep impact on Rida; it broadened his idea of reform and brought him to a new stage in his intellectual life.
In 1897, Rida left for Egypt to join ‘Abduh and the soon became one of his close associates and leading disciples. In Cairo, Rida published his own magazine, Al-manar (The Lighthouse), which first appeared in 1898 as a weekly and, subsequently, as a monthly until his death in 1935. The objectives of Al-manar were to articulate and disseminate the ideas of reform and preserve the unity of the Muslim nation. Rida was a prolific writer, producing more work than ‘Abduh and al-Afghani. Besides editing most of the articles that appeared in Al-manar, he wrote several books on various Islamic issues.
Rida, as did ‘Abduh, believed in the compatibility of Islam and modernity. ‘Abduh emphasized ijtihad (independent judgment) in an effort to reinterpret Islamic doctrines and give Islam a new vitality, but Rida, faced with more ominous challenges, insisted on certain criteriafor Islamic reform. Rida’s time witnessed the disintegration of the Islamic caliphate, the fragmentation of the Muslim world, and the ascendancy of the advocates of wholesale adoption of Western models, who tried to take ‘Abduh’s reinterpretations of Islamic doctrines to secular conclusions (probably contrary to his intentions).
Concerned with the unity of the Muslim and the preservation of its identity and culture, Rida viewed the original Islamic sources, the Qur’an, sunnah, and ijma’ (consensus of the companions of the Prophet) as the basis of reform. Rida, however, distinguished between acts of worship (‘ibadat) and matters concerning interaction with others (mu‘amalat). Since the ‘ibadat organize human behavior, were revealed in the Qur’an, and were laid down by authentic hadith, they cannot be changed. But human relations, in the absence of an explicit, authentic, and binding text can be reinterpreted according to the interest (maslahah) of the community. Ijtihad can be exercised in light of achieving the common good of the Muslim community. By emphasizing maslahah and ijtihad, Rida allowed room for human legislation.
Throughout his intellectual career, Rida was preoccupied with the issue of reform. He believed the decline of the Muslim nation was due to the stagnation of its scholars and the tyranny of its rulers. He viewed European dominance over the Muslims as a result of the latter’s weakness, which he attributed to the Muslims’ inability to master the sciences, form organized political institutions, and restrict the power of their governments. Considering education a precondition for political reform and independence, Rida urged the Muslim peoples to acquire the commendable aspects of Western civilization, such as science, technical skill, and wealth. His emphasis on education was manifested in his founding of the School of Propagation and Guidance in 1912. Here Rida attempted to combine modern education with religious teachings.
Central to Rida’s scheme of thought was the concept of the caliphate and its indispensability to the coherence of the Muslim community. On the eve of the breakup of the Ottoman caliphate in 1923, Rida wrote a treatise, The Caliphate or the Supreme Imamate, which included an elaborate discussion of the caliphate and a plan for its restoration. Realizing the obstacles surrounding the revival of a proper Islamic caliphate of ijtihad, Rida proposed a caliphate of necessity, a temporary one, to preserve the solidarity of the Muslims. Essential to this caliphate were the issues of shura (consultation), ahl al-hall wa-al-‘aqd (“those who bind and loose”), and ijtihad to ensure the adaptability of Islamic laws and the sovereignty of the Muslim nation.
Rida’s ideas, particularly in the interwar period, gave an Arab emphasis to the Islamic reform movement. As a result of the repressive policies of the Turkish government in 1911, Rida held the non-Arab peoples, namely the Turks, responsible for the decline of the Muslim world. Glorifying the role of the Arabs in history, he placed them at the center of a revived Islamic state; Rida also participated in several parties and associations advocating Arab independence and freedom.
Rida contributed greatly to the preservation and dissemination of the ideology of Islamic reform. He perceived clearly the challenges and threats that led to the disintegration of the Muslim nation and constituted a link between al-Afghani and ‘Abduh and the succeeding generations of Muslim activists and thinkers who appeared in the third decade of the twentieth century. He developed his own thought and attempted to elaborate a specific and systematic doctrine of Islamic laws and policies. Rida’s ideas shaped modern Islamic thought with moderate and activist features that influenced later Muslim thinkers.
Muhammad Rashid Rida is said to have been "one of the most influential scholars and jurists of his generation" and the "most prominent disciple of Muhammad Abduh".
Rida was born near Tripoli in Al-Qalamoun and was then part of the Ottoman Empire. His early education consisted of training in "traditional Islamic subjects". In 1884-5, he was first exposed to al-`Urwa al-wuthqa, the journal of Jamal al-Din al-Afghani and Muhammad Abduh. In 1897, he left Syria for Cairo to collaborate with Abduh and the following year they launched al-Manar, a weekly and then monthly journal comprising Quranic commentary at which Rida worked until his death in 1935.
Like his predecessors, Rida focused on the relative weakness of Muslim societies vis-à-vis Western colonialism, blaming Sufi excesses, the blind imitation of the past (taqlid), the stagnation of the ulama, and the resulting failure to achieve progress in science and technology. He held that these flaws could be alleviated by a return to what he saw as the true principles of Islam - salafiyya Islam which was purged of impurities and Western influences — albeit interpreted (ijtihad) to suit modern realities. This alone could he believed save Muslims from subordination to the colonial powers.
Muhammad Rashid Rida see Rashid Rida
Rashidun
Rashidun. Term which means “the rightly guided.” The term rashidun is a title applied to the first four Caliphs. The Rashidun caliphs refers to the first four successors to Muhammad as leaders of the umma -- as leaders of the Muslim community. The Rashidun caliphs were Abu-Bakr, Umar, Uthman, and Ali.
The Rightly Guided Caliphs or The Righteous Caliphs (al-Khulafā’u r-Rāshidūn) is a term used in Sunni Islam to refer to the first four Caliphs who established the Rashidun Caliphate. The concept of "Rightly Guided Caliphs" originated with the Abbasid Dynasty.
The Rashidun were the first four caliphs of the Islāmic community, known in Muslim history as the orthodox or patriarchal caliphs: Abū Bakr (r. 632–634), ʿUmar (r. 634–644), ʿUthmān (r. 644–656), and ʿAlī (r. 656–661).
The 29-year rule of the Rashidun was Islām’s first experience without the leadership of the Prophet Muḥammad. His example, however, in both private and public life, came to be regarded as the norm (sunnah) for his successors, and a large and influential body of anṣār (companions of the Prophet) kept close watch on the caliphs to insure their strict adherence to divine revelation (the Qurʾān) and the sunnah. The Rashidun thus assumed all of Muḥammad’s duties except the prophetic: as imams, they led the congregation in prayer at the mosque; as khaṭībs, they delivered the Friday sermons; and as umarāʾ al-muʾminīn (“commanders of the faithful”), they commanded the army.
The caliphate of the Rashidun, in which virtually all actions had religious import, began with the wars of the riddah (“apostasy”; 632–633), tribal uprisings in Arabia, and ended with the first Muslim civil war (fitnah; 656–661). It effected the expansion of the Islāmic state beyond Arabia into Iraq, Syria, Palestine, Egypt, Iran, and Armenia and, with it, the development of an elite class of Arab soldiers. The Rashidun were also responsible for the adoption of an Islāmic calendar, dating from Muḥammad’s emigration (hijrah) from Mecca to Medina (622), and the establishment of an authoritative reading of the Qurʾān, which strengthened the Muslim community and encouraged religious scholarship. It was also a controversy over ʿAlī’s succession that split Islām into two sects, the Sunnite (traditionalists) and the Shīʿite (shīʿat ʿAlī, “party of ʿAlī”), which have survived to modern times.
The religious and very traditionalist strictures on the Rashidun were somewhat relaxed as Muḥammad’s contemporaries, especially the anṣār, began to die off, and the conquered territories became too vast to rule along theocratic lines; thus the Umayyads, who followed the Rashidun as caliphs, were able to secularize the operations of the state.
The Rightly Guided Caliphs see Rashidun.
The Righteous Caliphs see Rashidun.
Khulafa'u r-Rashidun, al- see Rashidun.
Rashidun. Term which means “the rightly guided.” The term rashidun is a title applied to the first four Caliphs. The Rashidun caliphs refers to the first four successors to Muhammad as leaders of the umma -- as leaders of the Muslim community. The Rashidun caliphs were Abu-Bakr, Umar, Uthman, and Ali.
The Rightly Guided Caliphs or The Righteous Caliphs (al-Khulafā’u r-Rāshidūn) is a term used in Sunni Islam to refer to the first four Caliphs who established the Rashidun Caliphate. The concept of "Rightly Guided Caliphs" originated with the Abbasid Dynasty.
The Rashidun were the first four caliphs of the Islāmic community, known in Muslim history as the orthodox or patriarchal caliphs: Abū Bakr (r. 632–634), ʿUmar (r. 634–644), ʿUthmān (r. 644–656), and ʿAlī (r. 656–661).
The 29-year rule of the Rashidun was Islām’s first experience without the leadership of the Prophet Muḥammad. His example, however, in both private and public life, came to be regarded as the norm (sunnah) for his successors, and a large and influential body of anṣār (companions of the Prophet) kept close watch on the caliphs to insure their strict adherence to divine revelation (the Qurʾān) and the sunnah. The Rashidun thus assumed all of Muḥammad’s duties except the prophetic: as imams, they led the congregation in prayer at the mosque; as khaṭībs, they delivered the Friday sermons; and as umarāʾ al-muʾminīn (“commanders of the faithful”), they commanded the army.
The caliphate of the Rashidun, in which virtually all actions had religious import, began with the wars of the riddah (“apostasy”; 632–633), tribal uprisings in Arabia, and ended with the first Muslim civil war (fitnah; 656–661). It effected the expansion of the Islāmic state beyond Arabia into Iraq, Syria, Palestine, Egypt, Iran, and Armenia and, with it, the development of an elite class of Arab soldiers. The Rashidun were also responsible for the adoption of an Islāmic calendar, dating from Muḥammad’s emigration (hijrah) from Mecca to Medina (622), and the establishment of an authoritative reading of the Qurʾān, which strengthened the Muslim community and encouraged religious scholarship. It was also a controversy over ʿAlī’s succession that split Islām into two sects, the Sunnite (traditionalists) and the Shīʿite (shīʿat ʿAlī, “party of ʿAlī”), which have survived to modern times.
The religious and very traditionalist strictures on the Rashidun were somewhat relaxed as Muḥammad’s contemporaries, especially the anṣār, began to die off, and the conquered territories became too vast to rule along theocratic lines; thus the Umayyads, who followed the Rashidun as caliphs, were able to secularize the operations of the state.
The Rightly Guided Caliphs see Rashidun.
The Righteous Caliphs see Rashidun.
Khulafa'u r-Rashidun, al- see Rashidun.
Rassids
Rassids. Line of Zaydi Imams of Yemen (r. c. 860-1281). The name is taken from a property near Mecca, called al-Rass, which belonged to the grandfather of the first Imam, al-Qasim al-Rassi, who was a descendant of Hasan ibn ‘Ali. The Rassids ruled from Sa‘da, but their reign was disturbed by several other dynasties, such as the Sulayhids, the Ayyubids, the Rasulids and the Tahirids of Lahij. The Rassids were followed by the Qasimids.
The Rassids were the first Zaidi Imams of Yemen, with their capital at Sa'da, in the highlands. They ruled the tribal groups intermittently from the end of the 9th century. The Zaydiyyah branch of Shi'a Islam required a visible, politically active Imam, who must be descended from the Prophet Muhammad and fulfill a number of personal criteria.
In 893 al-Hadi Yahya bin al-Hussain bin al-Qasim ar-Rassi (a descendant of Imam al-Hasan), was invited from Medina to the Northern Highlands of Yemen as an arbiter between the local tribes. Later with the help of the Hamdan tribes of Hashid and Bakil, al-Hadi Yahya bin al-Hussain bin al-Qasim ar-Rassi founded the Zaidi Imamate of Yemen at Sa'da, in 893-7. He made Zaidi Islam the state religion. He died in 911, and the state he had created crumbled after the death of his able son an-Nasir Ahmad in 934. After the 10th century, succession to the imamate tended not to be hereditary, but circulated among various Sayyid branches. Most, though not all, Imams were descended from al-Hadi Yahya or his grandfather al-Qasim ar-Rassi (d. 860). The term Rassids usually refers to the Imams of the medieval period, up to the 16th century, the later ones being known as Qasimids (Al al-Qasimi).
In the centuries after an-Nasir Ahmad, Zaidi Imams continued to hold power in the highlands intermittently, without being able to create an enduring state. Sunni dynasties centered in lowland Yemen tended to hold the political initiative in the region. Several Rassid Imams were killed at the hands of their political opponents. For long periods, as in 1066-1138, there was no Imam. In other periods, especially in the years 1436-1522, there were several competing claimants to the title. During the 16th century, the Sharaf ad-Din branch of the Rassids (1507-1572) kept up a partly successful resistance against the encroaching Ottoman Turks. In 1569-1570, however, they were decisively defeated at the hands of the Ottoman commander Sinan Pasha, and a last claimant of the imamate was captured in 1585.
A new branch of the Rassids rose in revolt against the Turks in 1597, and managed to expel them from Yemen by 1635. From the first of the line, al-Mansur al-Qasim the Great (d. 1620), this line is known as the Qasimids. They succeeded each other in their religious-political capacity like a royal dynasty, and the Imams did not always meet the formal requirements of religious learning and personal aptitude. The Zaidi Imamate continued until the middle of the 20th century, until the revolution of 1962 deposed the last Imam.
From its inception, the Zaidism of Yemen belonged to the Jarudiyya group or the Hadawi sub-sect.
Rassids. Line of Zaydi Imams of Yemen (r. c. 860-1281). The name is taken from a property near Mecca, called al-Rass, which belonged to the grandfather of the first Imam, al-Qasim al-Rassi, who was a descendant of Hasan ibn ‘Ali. The Rassids ruled from Sa‘da, but their reign was disturbed by several other dynasties, such as the Sulayhids, the Ayyubids, the Rasulids and the Tahirids of Lahij. The Rassids were followed by the Qasimids.
The Rassids were the first Zaidi Imams of Yemen, with their capital at Sa'da, in the highlands. They ruled the tribal groups intermittently from the end of the 9th century. The Zaydiyyah branch of Shi'a Islam required a visible, politically active Imam, who must be descended from the Prophet Muhammad and fulfill a number of personal criteria.
In 893 al-Hadi Yahya bin al-Hussain bin al-Qasim ar-Rassi (a descendant of Imam al-Hasan), was invited from Medina to the Northern Highlands of Yemen as an arbiter between the local tribes. Later with the help of the Hamdan tribes of Hashid and Bakil, al-Hadi Yahya bin al-Hussain bin al-Qasim ar-Rassi founded the Zaidi Imamate of Yemen at Sa'da, in 893-7. He made Zaidi Islam the state religion. He died in 911, and the state he had created crumbled after the death of his able son an-Nasir Ahmad in 934. After the 10th century, succession to the imamate tended not to be hereditary, but circulated among various Sayyid branches. Most, though not all, Imams were descended from al-Hadi Yahya or his grandfather al-Qasim ar-Rassi (d. 860). The term Rassids usually refers to the Imams of the medieval period, up to the 16th century, the later ones being known as Qasimids (Al al-Qasimi).
In the centuries after an-Nasir Ahmad, Zaidi Imams continued to hold power in the highlands intermittently, without being able to create an enduring state. Sunni dynasties centered in lowland Yemen tended to hold the political initiative in the region. Several Rassid Imams were killed at the hands of their political opponents. For long periods, as in 1066-1138, there was no Imam. In other periods, especially in the years 1436-1522, there were several competing claimants to the title. During the 16th century, the Sharaf ad-Din branch of the Rassids (1507-1572) kept up a partly successful resistance against the encroaching Ottoman Turks. In 1569-1570, however, they were decisively defeated at the hands of the Ottoman commander Sinan Pasha, and a last claimant of the imamate was captured in 1585.
A new branch of the Rassids rose in revolt against the Turks in 1597, and managed to expel them from Yemen by 1635. From the first of the line, al-Mansur al-Qasim the Great (d. 1620), this line is known as the Qasimids. They succeeded each other in their religious-political capacity like a royal dynasty, and the Imams did not always meet the formal requirements of religious learning and personal aptitude. The Zaidi Imamate continued until the middle of the 20th century, until the revolution of 1962 deposed the last Imam.
From its inception, the Zaidism of Yemen belonged to the Jarudiyya group or the Hadawi sub-sect.
Rasul
Rasul. The Arabic rasul means “one sent.” In Islam, a rasul is a messenger, envoy, or apostle and is applied to someone sent from Allah to a religious community with a message and, usually, sent to head that community.
In the Qur’an, Muhammad is called both a rasul and a nabi -- a prophet. However, the Qur’anic usage indicates that rasul is a subset of the class of prophets. From an Islamic perspective, God sends only one rasul to a religious community {see Sura 10:48}. Muhammad was sent to his people to whom no rasul had previously been sent {see Sura 32:3}. Noah, Lot, Isma’il, Moses, Shu’aib, Hud, Salih, and Jesus are called rasul in the Qur’an, but Adam, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Aaron, David, Solomon, Job, and others are prophets. Both the rasul and the nabi bring scripture from God and warn their communities, but only the rasul acts as the head of the community.
In post-Qur’anic tradition the distinction between rasul and nabi is blurred. The messengers and the prophets are regarded as many as free from sin and error, although authorities differ on the particulars of the applicability. Tradition also increases the number of messengers to over three hundred, without, however, naming them.
It is an article of faith that Muhammad is the rasul of God.
In Islam, a Messenger (Arabic: rasūl, plural rusul) is a prophet sent by Allah with a shariah "Divine Law".
In Christianity, the Greek term angelos "messenger" is used to refer to supernatural beings sent by God. However, Islam does not consider Messengers to be supernatural beings and employs a separate term for "angels" (Arabic: malā’ikah).
According to the Qur'an, Allah has sent many prophets to mankind. However, a messenger entertains a 'rank' higher than a prophet, bringing a new Sharia to the people, while prophets reinforce old ones. Twenty-five prophets are mentioned by name in the Qur'an, but according to the hadiths there have been over 124,000 prophets in total sent to all portions of the Earth to preach and spread the message of Islam.
Of these, the Qur'an highlights twelve Messengers, the five mightiest ones being Nuh (Noah), Ibrahim (Abraham), Musa (Moses), Isa (Jesus) and Muhammad.
Messenger of God see Rasul.
Rasul. The Arabic rasul means “one sent.” In Islam, a rasul is a messenger, envoy, or apostle and is applied to someone sent from Allah to a religious community with a message and, usually, sent to head that community.
In the Qur’an, Muhammad is called both a rasul and a nabi -- a prophet. However, the Qur’anic usage indicates that rasul is a subset of the class of prophets. From an Islamic perspective, God sends only one rasul to a religious community {see Sura 10:48}. Muhammad was sent to his people to whom no rasul had previously been sent {see Sura 32:3}. Noah, Lot, Isma’il, Moses, Shu’aib, Hud, Salih, and Jesus are called rasul in the Qur’an, but Adam, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Aaron, David, Solomon, Job, and others are prophets. Both the rasul and the nabi bring scripture from God and warn their communities, but only the rasul acts as the head of the community.
In post-Qur’anic tradition the distinction between rasul and nabi is blurred. The messengers and the prophets are regarded as many as free from sin and error, although authorities differ on the particulars of the applicability. Tradition also increases the number of messengers to over three hundred, without, however, naming them.
It is an article of faith that Muhammad is the rasul of God.
In Islam, a Messenger (Arabic: rasūl, plural rusul) is a prophet sent by Allah with a shariah "Divine Law".
In Christianity, the Greek term angelos "messenger" is used to refer to supernatural beings sent by God. However, Islam does not consider Messengers to be supernatural beings and employs a separate term for "angels" (Arabic: malā’ikah).
According to the Qur'an, Allah has sent many prophets to mankind. However, a messenger entertains a 'rank' higher than a prophet, bringing a new Sharia to the people, while prophets reinforce old ones. Twenty-five prophets are mentioned by name in the Qur'an, but according to the hadiths there have been over 124,000 prophets in total sent to all portions of the Earth to preach and spread the message of Islam.
Of these, the Qur'an highlights twelve Messengers, the five mightiest ones being Nuh (Noah), Ibrahim (Abraham), Musa (Moses), Isa (Jesus) and Muhammad.
Messenger of God see Rasul.
Rasulids
Rasulids. Dynasty of Yemen (r. 1229-1454). Rasul, who gave his name to the dynasty, was a Turkmen of Oghuz origin. After the departure of Mas‘ud, the last Ayybid, Rasul’s grandson Nur al-Din ‘Umar (r. 1229-1250) made himself independent at Zabid, captured many places from the Zaydi Imams, among them San‘a’, and in 1240 took Mecca, which remained in Rasulid hands for fifteen years. The kingdom stretched from the Hejaz to Hadhramaut, making the Rasulids a power of international significance in the Islamic world. After al-Malik al-Nasir’s death in 1424, internal strife set in, and in 1454 the last Rasulid abdicated before the Tahirids of Lahij and Aden.
The Rasulids were a Muslim dynasty that ruled Yemen and Ḥaḍramawt (1229–1454) after the Ayyūbids of Egypt abandoned the southern provinces of the Arabian Peninsula.
Although the family claimed descent from Qaḥṭān, the legendary patriarch of the southern Arabs, the Rasūlids were of Oğuz (Turkmen) origin, Rasūl having been a messenger (Arabic rasūl) for an ʿAbbāsid caliph. His son ʿAlī was governor of Mecca under the last Ayyūbid ruler of Yemen and succeeded him in the government of the whole country. ʿUmar I ibn ʿAlī (reigned 1229–50), Rasūl’s grandson, first established himself at Zabīd (Yemen), then moved into the mountainous interior, making Sanaa the Rasūlid capital. Though the Hejaz (west coast of Arabia) itself was a tributary of the Egyptian Mamelūkes from 1252, ʿUmar also ruled the holy city Mecca.
For the next two centuries Yemen was an important and prosperous Muslim state; the Rasūlid ruler assumed the title of caliph in 1258. Political and trade relations were maintained with China, India, and Ceylon, and the opening of the port of Aden encouraged a lively international trade. Disturbances in Mecca around the middle of the 14th century, however, offered the Mamelūkes an opportunity to intervene in Rasūlid affairs. Aḥmad ibn Ismāʿīl (reigned 1400–24) regained temporary control and offered Mamelūke trade in the Red Sea keen competition, but, soon after his death, internal unrest, revolts of slaves, and the plague hastened the fall of the dynasty. Yemen then passed into the hands of the Ṭāhirid dynasty until the Ottoman conquest of the 16th century.
The Rasulid rulers were:
al-Mansur Umar I 1229–1250
al-Muzaffar Yusuf I 1250–1295
al-Ashraf Umar II 1295–1296
al-Mu'ayyad Da'ud 1296–1322
al-Mujahid Ali 1322–1363
al-Afdal al-Abbas 1363–1377
al-Ashraf Isma'il I 1377–1400
an-Nasir Ahmad 1400–1424
al-Mansur Abdullah 1424–1427
al-Ashraf Isma'il II 1427–1428
az-Zahir Yahya 1428–1439
al-Ashraf Isma'il III 1439–1442
al-Muzaffar Yusuf II 1442
The Rasulid was a Muslim dynasty that ruled Yemen and Hadhramaut from 1229 to 1454. The Rasulids assumed power after the Egyptian Ayyubid left the southern provinces of the Arabian Peninsula.
The Rasulid descended from Rasul (his real name is Muhammad ibn Harun) whose lineage could be traced back to Jabalah ibn al-Aiham the last Ghassanid king, and they were mistakenly identified as Turkmen because their Turkic language the Rasul gained living in the land of the Turks. Rasul came to Yemen around 1180 while serving as a messenger for an Abbasid caliph. His son Ali was governor of Mecca for a time, and his grandson Umar bin Ali was the first sultan of the Rasulid dynasty.
Rasūl is Arabic for messenger (although in this context it does not carry the Islamic prophet significance); during their reign, however, the Rasulids claimed to be descendants of the legendary patriarch Qahtan.
Rasulids. Dynasty of Yemen (r. 1229-1454). Rasul, who gave his name to the dynasty, was a Turkmen of Oghuz origin. After the departure of Mas‘ud, the last Ayybid, Rasul’s grandson Nur al-Din ‘Umar (r. 1229-1250) made himself independent at Zabid, captured many places from the Zaydi Imams, among them San‘a’, and in 1240 took Mecca, which remained in Rasulid hands for fifteen years. The kingdom stretched from the Hejaz to Hadhramaut, making the Rasulids a power of international significance in the Islamic world. After al-Malik al-Nasir’s death in 1424, internal strife set in, and in 1454 the last Rasulid abdicated before the Tahirids of Lahij and Aden.
The Rasulids were a Muslim dynasty that ruled Yemen and Ḥaḍramawt (1229–1454) after the Ayyūbids of Egypt abandoned the southern provinces of the Arabian Peninsula.
Although the family claimed descent from Qaḥṭān, the legendary patriarch of the southern Arabs, the Rasūlids were of Oğuz (Turkmen) origin, Rasūl having been a messenger (Arabic rasūl) for an ʿAbbāsid caliph. His son ʿAlī was governor of Mecca under the last Ayyūbid ruler of Yemen and succeeded him in the government of the whole country. ʿUmar I ibn ʿAlī (reigned 1229–50), Rasūl’s grandson, first established himself at Zabīd (Yemen), then moved into the mountainous interior, making Sanaa the Rasūlid capital. Though the Hejaz (west coast of Arabia) itself was a tributary of the Egyptian Mamelūkes from 1252, ʿUmar also ruled the holy city Mecca.
For the next two centuries Yemen was an important and prosperous Muslim state; the Rasūlid ruler assumed the title of caliph in 1258. Political and trade relations were maintained with China, India, and Ceylon, and the opening of the port of Aden encouraged a lively international trade. Disturbances in Mecca around the middle of the 14th century, however, offered the Mamelūkes an opportunity to intervene in Rasūlid affairs. Aḥmad ibn Ismāʿīl (reigned 1400–24) regained temporary control and offered Mamelūke trade in the Red Sea keen competition, but, soon after his death, internal unrest, revolts of slaves, and the plague hastened the fall of the dynasty. Yemen then passed into the hands of the Ṭāhirid dynasty until the Ottoman conquest of the 16th century.
The Rasulid rulers were:
al-Mansur Umar I 1229–1250
al-Muzaffar Yusuf I 1250–1295
al-Ashraf Umar II 1295–1296
al-Mu'ayyad Da'ud 1296–1322
al-Mujahid Ali 1322–1363
al-Afdal al-Abbas 1363–1377
al-Ashraf Isma'il I 1377–1400
an-Nasir Ahmad 1400–1424
al-Mansur Abdullah 1424–1427
al-Ashraf Isma'il II 1427–1428
az-Zahir Yahya 1428–1439
al-Ashraf Isma'il III 1439–1442
al-Muzaffar Yusuf II 1442
The Rasulid was a Muslim dynasty that ruled Yemen and Hadhramaut from 1229 to 1454. The Rasulids assumed power after the Egyptian Ayyubid left the southern provinces of the Arabian Peninsula.
The Rasulid descended from Rasul (his real name is Muhammad ibn Harun) whose lineage could be traced back to Jabalah ibn al-Aiham the last Ghassanid king, and they were mistakenly identified as Turkmen because their Turkic language the Rasul gained living in the land of the Turks. Rasul came to Yemen around 1180 while serving as a messenger for an Abbasid caliph. His son Ali was governor of Mecca for a time, and his grandson Umar bin Ali was the first sultan of the Rasulid dynasty.
Rasūl is Arabic for messenger (although in this context it does not carry the Islamic prophet significance); during their reign, however, the Rasulids claimed to be descendants of the legendary patriarch Qahtan.
Ratan, Baba Hajji Abu’l-Rida
Ratan, Baba Hajji Abu’l-Rida (Baba Hajji Abu’l-Rida Ratan). Indian saint of thirteenth century. His shrine near Bhatinda in the Punjab is a place of pilgrimage visited by Muslims and Hindus. There has been much discussion in Muslim circles about his claim that he was a long-lived Companion of the Prophet.
Baba Hajji Abu’l-Rida Ratan see Ratan, Baba Hajji Abu’l-Rida
Ratan, Baba Hajji Abu’l-Rida (Baba Hajji Abu’l-Rida Ratan). Indian saint of thirteenth century. His shrine near Bhatinda in the Punjab is a place of pilgrimage visited by Muslims and Hindus. There has been much discussion in Muslim circles about his claim that he was a long-lived Companion of the Prophet.
Baba Hajji Abu’l-Rida Ratan see Ratan, Baba Hajji Abu’l-Rida
Ratri, Shinta
Shinta Ratri (b. June 5, 1962, Yogyakarta, Indonesia - d. February 1, 2023, Yogyakarta, Indonesia) was an Indonesian transgender activist who founded the Pesantren Waria al-Fatah, a retreat for transgender women in Yogyakarta, Indonesia.
Born on June 5, 1962, in Yogyakarta, Ms. Shinta was one of nine children in a middle-class family of merchants.
She earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta and became an advocate for transgender, gay and lesbian rights in 1981, while still a student.
In 1982, together with Rully Malay, Shinta formed the Yogyakarta Waria Association to address transgender issues. Rully then joined Shinta in setting up the boarding school, together with Maryani, another friend.
Shinta, who transitioned as a teenager, founded the school, Pesantren Waria al-Fatah, in 2008, along with two colleagues, as a retreat and a place to pray. For transgender women in the largely Muslim nation of Indonesia, discrimination is particularly acute at mosques, where men and women generally pray separately.
Transgender women in Indonesia are known as waria, an appellation that combines the words for woman (wanita) and man (pria). As many as 40 students at a time have attended the school, with several of them living there as boarders. They are taught prayers and comprehension of the Qur'an, and they join in regular prayer services.
The leader of the Islamic boarding school that offers a haven for transgender women in Indonesia, died on February 1, 2023, in Yogyakarta, a city on the Indonesian island of Java. She was 60.
A colleague at the school, Rully Malay, said the cause of her death, in a hospital, was a heart attack.
Ratu Adil
Ratu Adil. Javanese “just king” who, it was believed, would appear after a time of turbulence and depravity to institute a new age of justice and plenty. The belief was linked with the popular Jayabaya prophecies that had foretold the circumstances under which the ratu adil would arise and was later (especially in West Java) associated with the coming of an Islamic mahdi figure. In modern Javanese history, several princely rebels and popular leaders have styled themselves as the ratu adil, among them Dipanagara.
The Ratu Adil, which literally means Just King, is a messianic figure in Indonesian folklore. The Ratu Adil will establish universal peace and justice in the manner of similar figures, such as King Arthur in European folklore. The Ratu Adil is first mentioned in the Pralembang Joyoboyo, the pseudonymous prophecies ascribed to King Joyoboyo of Kediri.
The prophecy predicts that the Ratu Adil will be poor and at first unknown. This was highly advantageous to most early nationalist leaders. The prophecy also talks about the decline of the nobility as real rulers. The mantle of Ratu Adil has been claimed by a number of leaders in recent Indonesian history, including Diponegoro, Hamengkubuwono IX, Sukarno and Megawati.
Adil, Ratu see Ratu Adil.
Just King see Ratu Adil.
Ratu Adil. Javanese “just king” who, it was believed, would appear after a time of turbulence and depravity to institute a new age of justice and plenty. The belief was linked with the popular Jayabaya prophecies that had foretold the circumstances under which the ratu adil would arise and was later (especially in West Java) associated with the coming of an Islamic mahdi figure. In modern Javanese history, several princely rebels and popular leaders have styled themselves as the ratu adil, among them Dipanagara.
The Ratu Adil, which literally means Just King, is a messianic figure in Indonesian folklore. The Ratu Adil will establish universal peace and justice in the manner of similar figures, such as King Arthur in European folklore. The Ratu Adil is first mentioned in the Pralembang Joyoboyo, the pseudonymous prophecies ascribed to King Joyoboyo of Kediri.
The prophecy predicts that the Ratu Adil will be poor and at first unknown. This was highly advantageous to most early nationalist leaders. The prophecy also talks about the decline of the nobility as real rulers. The mantle of Ratu Adil has been claimed by a number of leaders in recent Indonesian history, including Diponegoro, Hamengkubuwono IX, Sukarno and Megawati.
Adil, Ratu see Ratu Adil.
Just King see Ratu Adil.
Rawshaniyya
Rawshaniyya. Afghan sect founded by Bayazid ibn ‘Abd Allah (1525-1585), who took the title Pir-i Rawshan. The sect, whose doctrine is said to have been extreme pantheism, was suppressed in 1637.
Rawshaniyya. Afghan sect founded by Bayazid ibn ‘Abd Allah (1525-1585), who took the title Pir-i Rawshan. The sect, whose doctrine is said to have been extreme pantheism, was suppressed in 1637.
Razi, Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Zakariyya’ al-
Razi, Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Zakariyya’ al- (Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Zakariyya’ al-Razi) (Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Zakariya ar-Razi) (Rhazes) (Muhammad ibn Zakariyā Rāzī) (Mohammad-e Zakariā-ye Rāzi) (Rasis) (August 26, 865, Rey – 925, Rey). Greatest physician of Islam, and a noted alchemist and philosopher. A number of his works, among them his large medical encyclopedia in Arabic, called al-Hawi, were translated into Latin. Indeed, al-Hawi was commonly used in Europe and up to the seventeenth century al-Razi’s medical authority was undisputed.
In chemistry, al-Razi rejected all occult and symbolical explanations of natural phenomena. Of his metaphysical works only a few fragments have been preserved in later authors. He was an opponent of the Aristotelians and relied on the authority of Plato and the pre-Socratic philosophers. He had a critical attitude to established religion, refuted the Mu‘tazila, the extreme Shi‘a and the Manichaeans, and denied the possibility of a reconciliation between philosophy and religion. One of his writings was read among the Carmathians, and seems to have influenced the famous theme of the “De Tribus Impostoribus.”
Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Zakariyya’ al-Razi was born in Rayy in what is now Iraq. He lived in Baghdad in his early thirties and again from about 901 to 907, while the Abbasid caliph al-Muktafi was in office. Just as earlier, so later, he returned to Rayy as soon as possible, and it was there that he died. A man of imposing stature, al-Razi was predominantly a physician and teacher of medicine, but he also served as a sometime adviser to various rulers and was a prolific author. Indeed, his writings include over 200 treatises, pamphlets, and books. Though his writing apparently led to a paralysis of the hand and impaired eyesight, he nonetheless continued with the help of secretaries and scribes.
It is said that early in his life Ar-Razi was interested in singing and music besides other professions. Because of his eagerness for knowledge, he became more interested in the study of alchemy and chemistry, philosophy, logic, mathematics and physics. It was in the field of medicine that he spent most of his life, practicing it, studying and writing about it. Due to his fame in medicine, Ar-Razi was appointed head of the physicians of the Rayy Hospital, and later put in charge of the Baghdad main Hospital during the reign of the Adud-Dawla.
An interesting episode of Ar-Razi’s remarkable method of choosing the right spot for the Baghdad main hospital is described as follows: When Adud-Dawla asked Ar-Razi to build a hospital, he had pieces of fresh meat placed at various parts of the city of Baghdad. Some time later, he checked each piece to find out which one was less rotten than the others, and he chose the spot of the least rotten pieces of meat a site for the hospital.
Ar-Razi was a pioneer in many areas of medicine and treatment and in the health sciences in general. In particular, he was a pioneer in the fields of pediatrics, obstetrics and ophthalmology. In medicine, his contribution was so significant that it can only be compared to that of Ibn Sina (Avicenna). Some of his works in medicine, e.g., Kitab al-Mansoori; Al-Hawi; Kitab al-Mulooki and Kitab al-Judari wa al-Hasabah earned everlasting fame. A special feature of his medical system was that he greatly favored cures through correct and regulated food. This was combined with his emphasis on the influence of psychological factors on health. He also tried proposed remedies first on animals in order to evaluate in their effects and side effects. Ar-Razi was the first person to introduce the use of alcohol (in Arabic, al-kuhl) for medicinal purposes. He was also an expert surgeon and was the first to use opium for anesthesia.
Ar-Razi was the first to give an account of the operation for the extraction of a cataract and also the first scientist to discuss the pupillary reaction or the widening and narrowing of the pupil of the eye. He explained that the reaction was due to the presence of small muscles which act according to the intensity of light.
The greatest medical work of Ar-Razi (Rhazes) and perhaps the most extensive ever written by a medical man, is al-Hawi, i.e., the Comprehensive Book, which includes indeed Greek, Syrian, and early Arabic medical knowledge in their entirety. Throughout his life, Ar-Razi must have collected extracts from all the books available to him on medicine. In his last years, he combined these with his medical experience into an enormous twenty volume medical encyclopedia. Al-Hawi was the largest medical encyclopedia composed by then. It was translated into Latin under the auspices of Charles I of Anjou by the Sicilian Jewish physician, Faraj ibn Salim (Farragut) in 1279 and was repeatedly printed from 1488 onwards. Al-Hawi was known as Continens in its Latin translation. By 1542, five editions of Continens had appeared, while parts of it were more publicly availaable than the five editions might suggest. Another scholar points out that Ar-Razi’s al-Hawi was one of the nine volumes constituting the whole library of the Paris Faculty of Medicine in 1395.
Ar-Razi’s Kitab al-Mansoori, which was translated into Latin (and is known by the title Liber Almansoris) in the 1480s in Milan, comprised ten volumes and dealt exhaustively with Greco-Arab medicine. Some of its volumes have been published separately into German and French. The ninth volume of the translation made by Gerard of Cremona -- the Nonus al-Mansuri was a popular text in Europe until the sixteenth century. Ar-Razi in al-Mansoori devoted a whole chapter on anatomy. In it Ar-Razi has presented a detailed description of the various organs of the human body, and sensory and motor parts. He has also given elaborate descriptions of the intervertebral foramina and spinal chord, and correctly asserted that an injury either to the brain or spinal chord would lead to paralysis of the parts of the organs whose nerve supply was damaged or destroyed.
Ar-Razi’s al-Judari wa al-Hasabah was the first treatise on smallpox and chickenpox, and is largely based on Ar-Razi’s original contribution. It was first translated into Latin in 1565 and later into several European languages and went into forty editions between 1498 and 1866. It was translated into English by William Greenhill of London in 1848. Through his treatise Ar-Razi became the first to draw clear comparisons between smallpox and chickenpox.
Ar-Razi gave many valuable pieces of advice to practicing physicians:
A physician should not forget to ask his patient all sorts of questions pertaining to the possible causes of his illness, both internal and external. ...
If a physician can treat a patient through nutrition rather than medicine he has done the best thing.
A physician should always try to convince his patient of improvement and hope in the effectiveness of treatment, for the psychological state of the patient has a great effect on his physical condition.
Whoever seeks treatment with too many physicians might suffer the risk of the faults of each of them. A patient should restrict consultation to one trustworthy physician.
Ar-Razi also compounded medicines and took keen interest in experimental and theoretical sciences. It is conjectured that he developed his chemistry independently of Jabir ibn Hayyan (Geber). He has discussed several chemical reactions and also given full descriptions of and designs for about twenty instruments used in chemical investigations. His description of chemical knowledge is in plain and plausible language. One of his books Kitab-al-Asrar deals with the preparation of chemical materials and their utilization. Another one was translated into Latin under the name Liber Experimentorium. He went beyond his predecessors in dividing substances into plants, animals and minerals, thus in a way opening the way for inorganic and organic chemistry. By and large, this classification still holds. As a chemist, Ar-Razi was the first to produce sulfuric acid together with some other acids, and he also prepared alcohol by fermenting sweet potatoes.
Ar-Razi’s contribution as a philosopher is also well-known. The basic elements in his philosophical system are the creator, spirit, matter, space and time. He discusses their characteristics in detail and his concepts of space and time as constituting a continuum is well ahead of his time.
Ar-Razi was a prolific author, who has left monumental treatises on numerous subjects. He has more than two hundred outstanding scientific contributions to his credit, out of which about half deal with medicine and twenty-one on alchemy. He also wrote on physics, mathematics, astronomy and optics, but these writings could not be preserved. A number of his other books, including Jami-fi-al-Tib, Maqalah fi al-Hasat fi Kuli wa al-Mathana, Kitab al-Qalb, Kitab al-Mafasil, Kitab al-‘Ilaj al-Ghoraba, Bar al-Sa’ah, and al-Taqseem wa al-Takhsir, have been published in various European languages. About 40 of his manuscripts are still extant in the museums and libraries of Iran, Paris, Great Britain, and Rampur (India). His contribution has greatly influenced the development of science, in general, and medicine in particular.
In recognition of his great contributions to science and, especially to medicine, Ar-Razi’s portrait adorns the great hall of the Faculty of Medicine in the University of Paris.
Al-Razi was also a major contributor to philosophy. The two major philosophical works of al-Razi are the Book of the Philosophic Life and Book of Spiritual Medicine. In his Book of the Philosophic Life, al-Razi focuses on the life of Socrates. The Book of Spiritual Medicine describes (1) how we can rid ourselves of bad moral habits and (2) the extent to which someone aspiring to be philosophical may concern himself with the gaining of a livelihood, acquisition, expenditure and the seeking of rulership. For al-Razi, philosophy consists of three basic concerns: moral virtue or ethics, household management or economics, and political rule. As al-Razi notes almost in passing, it is perfectly justifiable to distinguish between human beings in terms of how essential they are to the well-being of the community.
Such reflections allow al-Razi to defend himself against the calumnies of his nameless critics. The defense goes beyond mere exculpation to an explanation of philosophy itself. Thus, as part of his final self-justification, al-Razi asserts that philosophy consists of two parts, knowledge and practice, and that anyone who fails to achieve both cannot be called a philosopher.
Al-Razi is considered to be the most original thinker and the keenest clinical observer of all the medieval Muslim physicians, al-Razi produced the first clinical account of smallpox and measles, a twenty-four volume compendium of medical knowledge, and set new standards for medical ethics, the clinical observation of disease, and the testing of medical treatment.
There is little authentic information about the life of al-Razi. He was born around 864 in Rayy, a few miles from modern Tehran, administered a hospital in that town as well as in Baghdad, and died in his hometown about 925. In his youth, music was his chief interest. He played the lute and studied voice. Upon reaching adulthood, he rejected this pursuit, however, asserting that music produced by grown men lacked charm. He then turned to the study of philosophy, a lifelong interest, and developed decidedly egalitarian views, a keen interest in ethics, and a profoundly questioning stance toward received dogmas, both religious and scientific. In his thirties, he began to pursue medical studies and a career as a physician.
His interest in medicine reportedly arose after a visit to a sick home in Baghdad, where he was so moved by the suffering of the sick and maimed patients that he determined to devote the rest of his life to alleviating human misery through the practice of medicine. Exactly where he acquired his medical training is unknown, although it was most likely in Baghdad, where he lived from 902 to 907. At that time, the city was the leading center of learning in the Middle East and contained fully equipped hospitals, well-stocked libraries, and a sound tradition of research. Successive ‘Abbasid caliphs, from al-Mansur (754-775) and Harun al-Rashid (786-809) to al-Ma’mun (813-833), had generously endowed institutes for the study of ancient Greek arts and sciences as well as those of Persia and India. Some scholars suggest that al-Razi, who spent most of his life in Iran, probably studied medicine at the University of Jondisabur, a Sassanid-founded institution, which remained a major medical center in the medieval Muslim East.
Al-Razi, an outstanding clinician and a brilliant diagnostician and medical practitioner, was probably the most learned and original of all the medieval Muslim physicians. His scientific and philosophical writings total some 113 major and twenty-eight minor works, of which twelve discuss alchemy. While chief physician and master teacher of the hospital in Rayy, he produced the ten-volume encyclopedia Kitab al-tibb al-Mansuri (c. 915), named for his patron Mansur ibn Ishaq al-Samani of Sijistan: a Latin translation, Liber Almansoris, was first published in Milan in the 1580's. Al-Razi was invariably described as a generous and gracious man wiht a large head, full beard, and imposing presence. His lectures, which attracted full-capacity crowds of students, were organized so that his senior students handled all questions they could answer, deferring to him only those issues beyond their knowledge.
Early in his career he earned a reputation as an effective and compassionate healer, which resulted in his appointment in 918 by the ‘Abbasid caliph al-Muqtadir as physician in chief of the great hospital at Baghdad. In choosing a new site for this main hospital, al-Razi is said to have had pieces of meat hung in different quarters of Baghdad, finally selecting the spot where the meat was slowest to decompose, which he deemed the area with the healthiest air. As a result of his compassion for the sick and his contributions to medical ethics, al-Razi is justifiably compared to Hippocrates. In his Baghdad hospital, he provided patients with music, storytelling, recitations of the Qur’an, and separate convalescent quarters. He not only treated poor patients free of charge but also supported them with his own funds during their convalescence at home. He emphasized a holistic approach to treating illness -- that the mind as well as the body must be treated -- but above all insisted that the art of healing must rest on a scientific basis. In his treatise on medical ethics, Upon the Circumstances Which Turn the Head of Most Men from the Reputable Physician (c. 919), al-Razi warns physicians that laymen think doctors know all and can diagnose a problem with a simple examination. He laments that frustrated patients turn to quacks who may alleviate some symptoms but not effect a cure. Al-Razi advises reputable physicians not to despair or promise cures but to use their critical judgment, apply tested treatments to appropriate cases, and be thoroughly familiar with the available medical literature.
Al-Razi, like Hippocrates, based his diagnoses on observation of the course of a disease. In administering treatments, he paid serious attention to dietetics and hygienic measures in conjunction with the use of closely monitored drug therapy. His fine powers of observation and detailed clinical descriptions are evident in his best known monograph, al-Judari w-al-hasbah (A Treatise on the Smallpox and Measles -- c. 922), which is the first clinical account of smallpox. In this work, he describes the types of human bodies most susceptible to each disease, the season in which each disease most often occurs, and the varied symptoms indicating the approaching eruption of smallpox and measles. These symptoms included fever, back pain, nausea, anxiety, itching in the nose, and nightmares. Since al-Razi believed that these diseases were caused by fermentation of the blood, his remedy was purification of the blood. The therapeutic measures he employed were based upon his readings of the ancient Greeks and his own clinical trials. He devised two different approaches to treatment: to counteract the disease with antidotes such as camphor mixtures, purgatives, bloodletting, and cooling with cold sponges or baths; and to effect a cure with heat, especially steam, to stimulate the eruption of pustules and hasten healing. The choice of treatment depended on the degree of fever and the patient’s general condition. Bloodletting, which was a common practice, he recommended using with caution and not on the very young, the very old, or those with a weak constitution. Al-Razi also developed detailed measures for preventing secondary effects from these diseases, such as damage to the eyes, ears, and throat and scarring of the skin.
Possessing an extensive knowledge of pharmacology and therapeutics, al-Razi claimed to have acquired much valuable information from women healers and herbalists in his own country and from his travels to Syria, Palestine, Egypt, and Muslim Spain. Other medieval physicians added little to his vast knowledge of drugs. His drug therapy was similar to contemporary practice in that dosage was based on age and weight. Drugs with which he was acquainted included nux vomica, senna, camphor, cardamom, salammoniac, and arrack as well as other alcoholic drinks. He used oils, powders, infusions, syrups, liniments, plasters, suppositories, compresses, and fumigations. His diligent search for drugs of therapeutic value and his methods of clinical observation laid the foundation on which future physicians would build.
Al-Razi’s extensive medical and pharmacological knowledge is contained in his most important work, al-Kitab al-hawi fi’il tibb (The Comprehensive Book -- c. 930), a twenty-four volume encyclopedia which summarized the medical knowledge of the time, that is, the knowledge of the Greeks, Persians, Indians, and Arabs. It was completed posthumously by his students. First translated into Latin in 1279, it was repeatedly printed from 1486 onward under the title Continens Medicinae and exercised considerable influence in the Latin West. Medieval Muslim knowledge of anatomy and physiology was limited by the Qur’anic prohibition against dissection of the human body. Thus, most information on anatomy and surgery in al-Kitab al-hawi fi’l tibb was drawn from Greeks such as Galen and Hippocrates. Al-Razi provided numerous descriptions of his own surgical procedures, however, including those for intestinal obstructions, various forms of hernia, vesical calculi, tracheotomy, and cancer. In treating cancer, he stressed that there should be no surgical removal of cancerous tissue unless the entire cancer could be removed.
Much of al-Razi’s philosophical thinking can be gleaned from two of his treatises on ethics: Kitab al-tibb al-ruhani (The Book of Spiritual Physick -- c. 920) and Sirat al-faylasuf (The Philosopher’s Way of Life -- c. 920). He propounded egalitarian views, rejecting a contemporary argument that humans can be stratified according to innate abilities. Rather, he believed that all people possess the capacity to reason and do not need the discipline imposed by religious leaders. The latter he accused of deception, and the miracles of prophets he regarded as trickery. His critical attitude toward religious authority carried over to the established dogmas of science. Only by questioning and testing received knowledge, he argued, could there be continuing progress in science.
Al-Razi asserted that he did not accept Aristotle’s philosophy and that he was a disciple of Plato, with whom he shared certain ideas on matter. His egalitarianism, however, was anti-thetical to Plato’s political ideas. Al-Razi’s attitude toward animals was also part of his ethics. He believed that only carnivores and noxious animals such as snakes should be killed, for he endorsed the doctrine of transmigration, according to which a soul may pass from an animal to a person. Killing an animal set the soul on a path of liberation, while al-Razi maintained that only souls occupying human bodies should be liberated. Toward the end of his life, al-Razi became blind from cataracts. He reportedly rejected surgery, remarking that he had seen too much of the world already. Some biographers have argued that his interest in alchemy contributed to his blindness. Others ascribed it to his excessive consumption of beans. He died around 925 in abject poverty, having given all of his wealth to his impoverished patients.
Al-Razi’s anti-religious attitude and his interest in alchemy caused other Muslim intellectuals to criticize his work and question his medical competence. To his credit, his principal work on alchemy, Kitab al-asrar wa-sirr al asrra (The Book of Secrets -- c. 916), which was translated into Latin in 1187 (De spiritibus et corporibus), was a chief source of chemical knowledge through the fourteenth century. Later, more talented medieval physicians such as Moses Maimonides found fault with his philosophy but not with his medicine. As Aristotelians they were intolerant of his disavowal of Aristotle and his readiness to accept empirical evidence that upset established doctrines. It was in his insistence on rigorous scientific research and valid evidence, however, that al-Razi anticipated the position of modern medicine. Moreover, as a conscientious practitioner who stressed qualitative medicine -- devising the best therapy, based on an evaluation of the patient’s physical and mental condition -- he set high standards for physicians and paved the way for modern medical practice.
As a result of his many achievements -- the application of chemistry to medical treatment, the earliest study of smallpox and other epidemiological studies, the elaboration of medical ethics and scientific trials, the invention of the seton for surgery -- al-Razi secured the historical reputation of the medieval Muslim Arab world as the primary center of science and medicine. His Muslim predecessors introduced clinics, hospitals, and pharmacies, but al-Razi established more rigorous ethical, clinical and scientific standards, free from dogmatic prejudices, which foreshadowed those of modern science. For that reason, al-Razi’s portrait is one of only two portraits of Muslim physicians (the other being that of Avicenna) which were hung long ago in the great hall of the School of Medicine at the University of Paris as permanent testimony to the West’s debt to the science of medieval Islam.
Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Zakariyya’ al-Razi see Razi, Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Zakariyya’ al-
Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Zakariya ar-Razi see Razi, Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Zakariyya’ al-
Rhazes see Razi, Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Zakariyya’ al-
Muhammad ibn Zakariyā Rāzī see Razi, Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Zakariyya’ al-
Mohammad-e Zakariā-ye Rāzi see Razi, Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Zakariyya’ al-
Rasis see Razi, Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Zakariyya’ al-
Razi, Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Zakariyya’ al- (Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Zakariyya’ al-Razi) (Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Zakariya ar-Razi) (Rhazes) (Muhammad ibn Zakariyā Rāzī) (Mohammad-e Zakariā-ye Rāzi) (Rasis) (August 26, 865, Rey – 925, Rey). Greatest physician of Islam, and a noted alchemist and philosopher. A number of his works, among them his large medical encyclopedia in Arabic, called al-Hawi, were translated into Latin. Indeed, al-Hawi was commonly used in Europe and up to the seventeenth century al-Razi’s medical authority was undisputed.
In chemistry, al-Razi rejected all occult and symbolical explanations of natural phenomena. Of his metaphysical works only a few fragments have been preserved in later authors. He was an opponent of the Aristotelians and relied on the authority of Plato and the pre-Socratic philosophers. He had a critical attitude to established religion, refuted the Mu‘tazila, the extreme Shi‘a and the Manichaeans, and denied the possibility of a reconciliation between philosophy and religion. One of his writings was read among the Carmathians, and seems to have influenced the famous theme of the “De Tribus Impostoribus.”
Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Zakariyya’ al-Razi was born in Rayy in what is now Iraq. He lived in Baghdad in his early thirties and again from about 901 to 907, while the Abbasid caliph al-Muktafi was in office. Just as earlier, so later, he returned to Rayy as soon as possible, and it was there that he died. A man of imposing stature, al-Razi was predominantly a physician and teacher of medicine, but he also served as a sometime adviser to various rulers and was a prolific author. Indeed, his writings include over 200 treatises, pamphlets, and books. Though his writing apparently led to a paralysis of the hand and impaired eyesight, he nonetheless continued with the help of secretaries and scribes.
It is said that early in his life Ar-Razi was interested in singing and music besides other professions. Because of his eagerness for knowledge, he became more interested in the study of alchemy and chemistry, philosophy, logic, mathematics and physics. It was in the field of medicine that he spent most of his life, practicing it, studying and writing about it. Due to his fame in medicine, Ar-Razi was appointed head of the physicians of the Rayy Hospital, and later put in charge of the Baghdad main Hospital during the reign of the Adud-Dawla.
An interesting episode of Ar-Razi’s remarkable method of choosing the right spot for the Baghdad main hospital is described as follows: When Adud-Dawla asked Ar-Razi to build a hospital, he had pieces of fresh meat placed at various parts of the city of Baghdad. Some time later, he checked each piece to find out which one was less rotten than the others, and he chose the spot of the least rotten pieces of meat a site for the hospital.
Ar-Razi was a pioneer in many areas of medicine and treatment and in the health sciences in general. In particular, he was a pioneer in the fields of pediatrics, obstetrics and ophthalmology. In medicine, his contribution was so significant that it can only be compared to that of Ibn Sina (Avicenna). Some of his works in medicine, e.g., Kitab al-Mansoori; Al-Hawi; Kitab al-Mulooki and Kitab al-Judari wa al-Hasabah earned everlasting fame. A special feature of his medical system was that he greatly favored cures through correct and regulated food. This was combined with his emphasis on the influence of psychological factors on health. He also tried proposed remedies first on animals in order to evaluate in their effects and side effects. Ar-Razi was the first person to introduce the use of alcohol (in Arabic, al-kuhl) for medicinal purposes. He was also an expert surgeon and was the first to use opium for anesthesia.
Ar-Razi was the first to give an account of the operation for the extraction of a cataract and also the first scientist to discuss the pupillary reaction or the widening and narrowing of the pupil of the eye. He explained that the reaction was due to the presence of small muscles which act according to the intensity of light.
The greatest medical work of Ar-Razi (Rhazes) and perhaps the most extensive ever written by a medical man, is al-Hawi, i.e., the Comprehensive Book, which includes indeed Greek, Syrian, and early Arabic medical knowledge in their entirety. Throughout his life, Ar-Razi must have collected extracts from all the books available to him on medicine. In his last years, he combined these with his medical experience into an enormous twenty volume medical encyclopedia. Al-Hawi was the largest medical encyclopedia composed by then. It was translated into Latin under the auspices of Charles I of Anjou by the Sicilian Jewish physician, Faraj ibn Salim (Farragut) in 1279 and was repeatedly printed from 1488 onwards. Al-Hawi was known as Continens in its Latin translation. By 1542, five editions of Continens had appeared, while parts of it were more publicly availaable than the five editions might suggest. Another scholar points out that Ar-Razi’s al-Hawi was one of the nine volumes constituting the whole library of the Paris Faculty of Medicine in 1395.
Ar-Razi’s Kitab al-Mansoori, which was translated into Latin (and is known by the title Liber Almansoris) in the 1480s in Milan, comprised ten volumes and dealt exhaustively with Greco-Arab medicine. Some of its volumes have been published separately into German and French. The ninth volume of the translation made by Gerard of Cremona -- the Nonus al-Mansuri was a popular text in Europe until the sixteenth century. Ar-Razi in al-Mansoori devoted a whole chapter on anatomy. In it Ar-Razi has presented a detailed description of the various organs of the human body, and sensory and motor parts. He has also given elaborate descriptions of the intervertebral foramina and spinal chord, and correctly asserted that an injury either to the brain or spinal chord would lead to paralysis of the parts of the organs whose nerve supply was damaged or destroyed.
Ar-Razi’s al-Judari wa al-Hasabah was the first treatise on smallpox and chickenpox, and is largely based on Ar-Razi’s original contribution. It was first translated into Latin in 1565 and later into several European languages and went into forty editions between 1498 and 1866. It was translated into English by William Greenhill of London in 1848. Through his treatise Ar-Razi became the first to draw clear comparisons between smallpox and chickenpox.
Ar-Razi gave many valuable pieces of advice to practicing physicians:
A physician should not forget to ask his patient all sorts of questions pertaining to the possible causes of his illness, both internal and external. ...
If a physician can treat a patient through nutrition rather than medicine he has done the best thing.
A physician should always try to convince his patient of improvement and hope in the effectiveness of treatment, for the psychological state of the patient has a great effect on his physical condition.
Whoever seeks treatment with too many physicians might suffer the risk of the faults of each of them. A patient should restrict consultation to one trustworthy physician.
Ar-Razi also compounded medicines and took keen interest in experimental and theoretical sciences. It is conjectured that he developed his chemistry independently of Jabir ibn Hayyan (Geber). He has discussed several chemical reactions and also given full descriptions of and designs for about twenty instruments used in chemical investigations. His description of chemical knowledge is in plain and plausible language. One of his books Kitab-al-Asrar deals with the preparation of chemical materials and their utilization. Another one was translated into Latin under the name Liber Experimentorium. He went beyond his predecessors in dividing substances into plants, animals and minerals, thus in a way opening the way for inorganic and organic chemistry. By and large, this classification still holds. As a chemist, Ar-Razi was the first to produce sulfuric acid together with some other acids, and he also prepared alcohol by fermenting sweet potatoes.
Ar-Razi’s contribution as a philosopher is also well-known. The basic elements in his philosophical system are the creator, spirit, matter, space and time. He discusses their characteristics in detail and his concepts of space and time as constituting a continuum is well ahead of his time.
Ar-Razi was a prolific author, who has left monumental treatises on numerous subjects. He has more than two hundred outstanding scientific contributions to his credit, out of which about half deal with medicine and twenty-one on alchemy. He also wrote on physics, mathematics, astronomy and optics, but these writings could not be preserved. A number of his other books, including Jami-fi-al-Tib, Maqalah fi al-Hasat fi Kuli wa al-Mathana, Kitab al-Qalb, Kitab al-Mafasil, Kitab al-‘Ilaj al-Ghoraba, Bar al-Sa’ah, and al-Taqseem wa al-Takhsir, have been published in various European languages. About 40 of his manuscripts are still extant in the museums and libraries of Iran, Paris, Great Britain, and Rampur (India). His contribution has greatly influenced the development of science, in general, and medicine in particular.
In recognition of his great contributions to science and, especially to medicine, Ar-Razi’s portrait adorns the great hall of the Faculty of Medicine in the University of Paris.
Al-Razi was also a major contributor to philosophy. The two major philosophical works of al-Razi are the Book of the Philosophic Life and Book of Spiritual Medicine. In his Book of the Philosophic Life, al-Razi focuses on the life of Socrates. The Book of Spiritual Medicine describes (1) how we can rid ourselves of bad moral habits and (2) the extent to which someone aspiring to be philosophical may concern himself with the gaining of a livelihood, acquisition, expenditure and the seeking of rulership. For al-Razi, philosophy consists of three basic concerns: moral virtue or ethics, household management or economics, and political rule. As al-Razi notes almost in passing, it is perfectly justifiable to distinguish between human beings in terms of how essential they are to the well-being of the community.
Such reflections allow al-Razi to defend himself against the calumnies of his nameless critics. The defense goes beyond mere exculpation to an explanation of philosophy itself. Thus, as part of his final self-justification, al-Razi asserts that philosophy consists of two parts, knowledge and practice, and that anyone who fails to achieve both cannot be called a philosopher.
Al-Razi is considered to be the most original thinker and the keenest clinical observer of all the medieval Muslim physicians, al-Razi produced the first clinical account of smallpox and measles, a twenty-four volume compendium of medical knowledge, and set new standards for medical ethics, the clinical observation of disease, and the testing of medical treatment.
There is little authentic information about the life of al-Razi. He was born around 864 in Rayy, a few miles from modern Tehran, administered a hospital in that town as well as in Baghdad, and died in his hometown about 925. In his youth, music was his chief interest. He played the lute and studied voice. Upon reaching adulthood, he rejected this pursuit, however, asserting that music produced by grown men lacked charm. He then turned to the study of philosophy, a lifelong interest, and developed decidedly egalitarian views, a keen interest in ethics, and a profoundly questioning stance toward received dogmas, both religious and scientific. In his thirties, he began to pursue medical studies and a career as a physician.
His interest in medicine reportedly arose after a visit to a sick home in Baghdad, where he was so moved by the suffering of the sick and maimed patients that he determined to devote the rest of his life to alleviating human misery through the practice of medicine. Exactly where he acquired his medical training is unknown, although it was most likely in Baghdad, where he lived from 902 to 907. At that time, the city was the leading center of learning in the Middle East and contained fully equipped hospitals, well-stocked libraries, and a sound tradition of research. Successive ‘Abbasid caliphs, from al-Mansur (754-775) and Harun al-Rashid (786-809) to al-Ma’mun (813-833), had generously endowed institutes for the study of ancient Greek arts and sciences as well as those of Persia and India. Some scholars suggest that al-Razi, who spent most of his life in Iran, probably studied medicine at the University of Jondisabur, a Sassanid-founded institution, which remained a major medical center in the medieval Muslim East.
Al-Razi, an outstanding clinician and a brilliant diagnostician and medical practitioner, was probably the most learned and original of all the medieval Muslim physicians. His scientific and philosophical writings total some 113 major and twenty-eight minor works, of which twelve discuss alchemy. While chief physician and master teacher of the hospital in Rayy, he produced the ten-volume encyclopedia Kitab al-tibb al-Mansuri (c. 915), named for his patron Mansur ibn Ishaq al-Samani of Sijistan: a Latin translation, Liber Almansoris, was first published in Milan in the 1580's. Al-Razi was invariably described as a generous and gracious man wiht a large head, full beard, and imposing presence. His lectures, which attracted full-capacity crowds of students, were organized so that his senior students handled all questions they could answer, deferring to him only those issues beyond their knowledge.
Early in his career he earned a reputation as an effective and compassionate healer, which resulted in his appointment in 918 by the ‘Abbasid caliph al-Muqtadir as physician in chief of the great hospital at Baghdad. In choosing a new site for this main hospital, al-Razi is said to have had pieces of meat hung in different quarters of Baghdad, finally selecting the spot where the meat was slowest to decompose, which he deemed the area with the healthiest air. As a result of his compassion for the sick and his contributions to medical ethics, al-Razi is justifiably compared to Hippocrates. In his Baghdad hospital, he provided patients with music, storytelling, recitations of the Qur’an, and separate convalescent quarters. He not only treated poor patients free of charge but also supported them with his own funds during their convalescence at home. He emphasized a holistic approach to treating illness -- that the mind as well as the body must be treated -- but above all insisted that the art of healing must rest on a scientific basis. In his treatise on medical ethics, Upon the Circumstances Which Turn the Head of Most Men from the Reputable Physician (c. 919), al-Razi warns physicians that laymen think doctors know all and can diagnose a problem with a simple examination. He laments that frustrated patients turn to quacks who may alleviate some symptoms but not effect a cure. Al-Razi advises reputable physicians not to despair or promise cures but to use their critical judgment, apply tested treatments to appropriate cases, and be thoroughly familiar with the available medical literature.
Al-Razi, like Hippocrates, based his diagnoses on observation of the course of a disease. In administering treatments, he paid serious attention to dietetics and hygienic measures in conjunction with the use of closely monitored drug therapy. His fine powers of observation and detailed clinical descriptions are evident in his best known monograph, al-Judari w-al-hasbah (A Treatise on the Smallpox and Measles -- c. 922), which is the first clinical account of smallpox. In this work, he describes the types of human bodies most susceptible to each disease, the season in which each disease most often occurs, and the varied symptoms indicating the approaching eruption of smallpox and measles. These symptoms included fever, back pain, nausea, anxiety, itching in the nose, and nightmares. Since al-Razi believed that these diseases were caused by fermentation of the blood, his remedy was purification of the blood. The therapeutic measures he employed were based upon his readings of the ancient Greeks and his own clinical trials. He devised two different approaches to treatment: to counteract the disease with antidotes such as camphor mixtures, purgatives, bloodletting, and cooling with cold sponges or baths; and to effect a cure with heat, especially steam, to stimulate the eruption of pustules and hasten healing. The choice of treatment depended on the degree of fever and the patient’s general condition. Bloodletting, which was a common practice, he recommended using with caution and not on the very young, the very old, or those with a weak constitution. Al-Razi also developed detailed measures for preventing secondary effects from these diseases, such as damage to the eyes, ears, and throat and scarring of the skin.
Possessing an extensive knowledge of pharmacology and therapeutics, al-Razi claimed to have acquired much valuable information from women healers and herbalists in his own country and from his travels to Syria, Palestine, Egypt, and Muslim Spain. Other medieval physicians added little to his vast knowledge of drugs. His drug therapy was similar to contemporary practice in that dosage was based on age and weight. Drugs with which he was acquainted included nux vomica, senna, camphor, cardamom, salammoniac, and arrack as well as other alcoholic drinks. He used oils, powders, infusions, syrups, liniments, plasters, suppositories, compresses, and fumigations. His diligent search for drugs of therapeutic value and his methods of clinical observation laid the foundation on which future physicians would build.
Al-Razi’s extensive medical and pharmacological knowledge is contained in his most important work, al-Kitab al-hawi fi’il tibb (The Comprehensive Book -- c. 930), a twenty-four volume encyclopedia which summarized the medical knowledge of the time, that is, the knowledge of the Greeks, Persians, Indians, and Arabs. It was completed posthumously by his students. First translated into Latin in 1279, it was repeatedly printed from 1486 onward under the title Continens Medicinae and exercised considerable influence in the Latin West. Medieval Muslim knowledge of anatomy and physiology was limited by the Qur’anic prohibition against dissection of the human body. Thus, most information on anatomy and surgery in al-Kitab al-hawi fi’l tibb was drawn from Greeks such as Galen and Hippocrates. Al-Razi provided numerous descriptions of his own surgical procedures, however, including those for intestinal obstructions, various forms of hernia, vesical calculi, tracheotomy, and cancer. In treating cancer, he stressed that there should be no surgical removal of cancerous tissue unless the entire cancer could be removed.
Much of al-Razi’s philosophical thinking can be gleaned from two of his treatises on ethics: Kitab al-tibb al-ruhani (The Book of Spiritual Physick -- c. 920) and Sirat al-faylasuf (The Philosopher’s Way of Life -- c. 920). He propounded egalitarian views, rejecting a contemporary argument that humans can be stratified according to innate abilities. Rather, he believed that all people possess the capacity to reason and do not need the discipline imposed by religious leaders. The latter he accused of deception, and the miracles of prophets he regarded as trickery. His critical attitude toward religious authority carried over to the established dogmas of science. Only by questioning and testing received knowledge, he argued, could there be continuing progress in science.
Al-Razi asserted that he did not accept Aristotle’s philosophy and that he was a disciple of Plato, with whom he shared certain ideas on matter. His egalitarianism, however, was anti-thetical to Plato’s political ideas. Al-Razi’s attitude toward animals was also part of his ethics. He believed that only carnivores and noxious animals such as snakes should be killed, for he endorsed the doctrine of transmigration, according to which a soul may pass from an animal to a person. Killing an animal set the soul on a path of liberation, while al-Razi maintained that only souls occupying human bodies should be liberated. Toward the end of his life, al-Razi became blind from cataracts. He reportedly rejected surgery, remarking that he had seen too much of the world already. Some biographers have argued that his interest in alchemy contributed to his blindness. Others ascribed it to his excessive consumption of beans. He died around 925 in abject poverty, having given all of his wealth to his impoverished patients.
Al-Razi’s anti-religious attitude and his interest in alchemy caused other Muslim intellectuals to criticize his work and question his medical competence. To his credit, his principal work on alchemy, Kitab al-asrar wa-sirr al asrra (The Book of Secrets -- c. 916), which was translated into Latin in 1187 (De spiritibus et corporibus), was a chief source of chemical knowledge through the fourteenth century. Later, more talented medieval physicians such as Moses Maimonides found fault with his philosophy but not with his medicine. As Aristotelians they were intolerant of his disavowal of Aristotle and his readiness to accept empirical evidence that upset established doctrines. It was in his insistence on rigorous scientific research and valid evidence, however, that al-Razi anticipated the position of modern medicine. Moreover, as a conscientious practitioner who stressed qualitative medicine -- devising the best therapy, based on an evaluation of the patient’s physical and mental condition -- he set high standards for physicians and paved the way for modern medical practice.
As a result of his many achievements -- the application of chemistry to medical treatment, the earliest study of smallpox and other epidemiological studies, the elaboration of medical ethics and scientific trials, the invention of the seton for surgery -- al-Razi secured the historical reputation of the medieval Muslim Arab world as the primary center of science and medicine. His Muslim predecessors introduced clinics, hospitals, and pharmacies, but al-Razi established more rigorous ethical, clinical and scientific standards, free from dogmatic prejudices, which foreshadowed those of modern science. For that reason, al-Razi’s portrait is one of only two portraits of Muslim physicians (the other being that of Avicenna) which were hung long ago in the great hall of the School of Medicine at the University of Paris as permanent testimony to the West’s debt to the science of medieval Islam.
Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Zakariyya’ al-Razi see Razi, Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Zakariyya’ al-
Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Zakariya ar-Razi see Razi, Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Zakariyya’ al-
Rhazes see Razi, Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Zakariyya’ al-
Muhammad ibn Zakariyā Rāzī see Razi, Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Zakariyya’ al-
Mohammad-e Zakariā-ye Rāzi see Razi, Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Zakariyya’ al-
Rasis see Razi, Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Zakariyya’ al-
Razi, Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Musa al-
Razi, Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Musa al- (Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Musa al-Razi) (888-955). First in date of the great historians of al-Andalus. He was surnamed “The Chronicler.” His description of al-Andalus is of great importance for the period of ‘Abd al-Rahman III.
Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Musa al-Razi see Razi, Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Musa al-
Razi, Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Musa al- (Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Musa al-Razi) (888-955). First in date of the great historians of al-Andalus. He was surnamed “The Chronicler.” His description of al-Andalus is of great importance for the period of ‘Abd al-Rahman III.
Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Musa al-Razi see Razi, Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Musa al-
Razi, Amin Ahmad
Razi, Amin Ahmad (Amin Ahmad Razi). Persian biographer of the sixteenth century. He owes his fame to a great collection of biographies of famous men, which is arranged geographically according to the seven climes.
Amin Ahmad Razi see Razi, Amin Ahmad
Razi, Amin Ahmad (Amin Ahmad Razi). Persian biographer of the sixteenth century. He owes his fame to a great collection of biographies of famous men, which is arranged geographically according to the seven climes.
Amin Ahmad Razi see Razi, Amin Ahmad
Razi, Fakhr al-Din al-
Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī (Fakhruddin Razi) (1149 or 1150 – 1209) often known by the sobriquet "Sultan of the Theologians", was a Persian polymath, an influential Islamic scholar and one of the pioneers of inductive logic. 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 and skeptics that came up with the concept of the Multiverse, and compared it with the astronomical teachings of Qur'an. An ardent opponent to the geocentric model and the Aristotelian notions of a single universe revolving around a single world, Al-Razi argued for the existence of an 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 influences from the works of Ibn Sina (Avicenna), Abu'l-Baralat al-Baghdadi, and al-Ghazali. Two of his works titled Mabāhith al-mashriqiyya fī ‘ilm al-ilāhiyyāt wa-'l-tabi‘iyyāt (Eastern Studies in Metaphysics and Physics) and al-Matālib al-‘Aliya (The Higher Issues) are usually regarded as his most important works.
Fakhr al-Din al-Razi, whose full name was Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn ʿUmar ibn al-Ḥusayn, was born in 1149 or 1150 CC (543 or 544 AH) in Ray (close to modern day Tehran), whence his nisba (an adjective indicating the person's place of origin, tribal affiliation, or ancestry), "al-Razi". According to Ibn al-Sha' 'ar al-Mawsili (died 1256), one of al-Razi's earliest biographers, al-Razi's great-grandfather had been a rich merchant in Mecca. Either his great-grandfather or his grandfather migrated from Mecca to Tabaristan (a mountainous region located on the Caspian Sea coast of northern Iran) in the 11th century of the Christian calendar, and some time after that the family settled in Ray. Having been born into a family of Meccan origin, al-Razi claimed descent from the first caliph Abu Bakr (c. 573–634 CC), and was known by medieval biographers as al-Qurashī (a member of the Quraysh, the tribe of the prophet Muhammad to which also Abu Bakr belonged). However, it is not clear from which precise lines of descent al-Razi envisioned his purported ties with Abu Bakr, and the poet Ibn 'Unayn (d. 1233 CC) actually praised al-Razi for being a descendant of the second caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab (d. 644 CC).
Fakhr al-Din first studied with his father, Ḍiyāʾ al-Dīn al-Makkī, himself a scholar of some repute who wrote a magnum opus in Kalam (Islamic scholastic theology). Al-Razi later studied 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.
Fakhr al-Din became a leading proponent of the Ash'ari school of theology. His commentary on the Qur'an 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 Afghanhistan), and became head of the university founded by Mohammed ibn Tukush at Herat (western Afghanistan).
In his later years, Fakhr al-Din also showed interest in mysticism, although this never formed a significant part of his scholastic work. He died in Herat (Afghanistan) in 1209 CC (606 AH), where his tomb is still venerated today.
One of al-Razi's outstanding achievements was his unique interpretive work on the Qur'an called Mafātiḥ al-Ghayb (Keys to the Unseen) and later nicknamed Tafsīr al-Kabīr (The Great Commentary). It was called Tafsir al-Kabir because it was 32 volumes in length. This work contains much of philosophical interest. One of al-Razi's 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 -- his epistemological view the regarded reason as the chief source and test of knowledge -- undoubtedly held an important place in the debate in the Islamic tradition on the harmonization of reason and revelation.
Al-Razi's development of Kalam (Islamic scholastic theology) led to the evolution and flourishing of theology among Muslims. Al-Razi experienced different periods in his thinking, affected by the Ash'ari school of thought and later by al-Ghazali. Al-Razi tried to make use of elements of Mu tazila and Falsafah, and although he had some criticisms of Ibn Sina (Avicenna), al-Razi was, nevertheless, greatly affected by him. The most important instance showing the synthesis of al-Razi's thought may be the problem of the eternity of the world and its relation to God. He tried to reorganize the arguments of theologians and philosophers on this subject, collected and critically examined the arguments of both sides. He considered, for the most part, the philosophers' argument for the world's eternity stronger than the theologians' position of putting emphasis on the temporal nature of the world. It is perhaps best to view al-Razi's theoretical life as a journey from a young dialectician -- a young philosopher who views the world in terms of complementary opposites -- to a more religious condition. Indeed, it appears that al-Razi came to present different thoughts of diverse schools, such as those of Mutazilite and Asharite, in his exegesis, The Great Commentary.
Al-Razi, 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 Quranic verse, "All praise belongs to God, Lord of the Worlds." Al-Razi 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.
Al-Razi states:
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 -- the natural philosophy proposing that the physical universe is composed of fundamental indivisible components known as atoms -- as advocated by the Ash'ari school of Islamic theology. Atomism proposes the existence of vacant space in which the atoms move, combine and separate. Al-Razi discussed more on the issue of the void – the empty spaces between stars and constellations in the universe, that contain few or no stars – in greater detail in volume 5 of the Matalib. There he argued that there exists an infinite outer space beyond the known world, and that God has the power to fill the vacuum with an infinite number of universes.
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)
- Asraar at-Tanzeel wa Anwaar at-Ta'weel (The Secrets of Revelation & The Lights of Interpretation). Tafsir of selected verses from the Qur'an
(Note: This work should not be confused with the book of Tafsir by Nasir al-Din al-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 Allah's Transcendence) -- A refutation of Ibn Khuzayma, the Karramite, 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.
- Muḥaṣṣal Afkār al-Mutaqaddimīn wal-Muta'akhkhirīn (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 the 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'
Raziyya
Raziyya (Raziya). SeeRadiyya, Jalalat al-Din Begum.
Raziyya (Raziya). SeeRadiyya, Jalalat al-Din Begum.
Razmara, Ali
Razmara, Ali (Ali Razmara) (Sepahbod Haj Ali Razmara) (Ḥājī`Alī Razmāra) (1901, Tehran, Iran - March 7, 1951, Tehran). Prominent member of the Iranian elite from a wealthy landowning family and prime minister of Iran from 1950 to 1951, during the critical years of the oil nationalization process. Razmara was allegedly opposed to the oil nationalization bill and as prime minister had completed a new oil concession with the British in 1951. Owing to his pro-British and anti-nationalization tendencies, he was murdered in 1951 by a member of the Fida’iyan-i Islam, an extremist, nationalist religious group founded by Ayatollah Abu al-Qasim Kashani in Qom in 1945.
Razmara (an adopted name loosely translated as "war planner" or more accurately "battle organizer") was born in Tehran and studied at the military academy of Saint-Cyr in France and climbed his way up and eventually became Prime Minister in 1950. He was assassinated by 26 year-old Khalil Tahmassebi of the Fadayan-e Islam organization with 3 bullets in Tehran at the age of 49. Razmara was the second Iranian Prime Minister to be assassinated.
Razmara graduated from the French military academy at Saint-Cyr in 1925. After serving in the pacification campaigns in the Kurdistan and Laristan regions of Iran under Reza Khan (later Reza Shah Pahlavi), he became director of the Tehrān Military Cadet College in 1938. He wrote several books, including a military history of Persia. In 1944, during the Allied occupation of Iran, Reza Shah Pahlavi’s son Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi promoted Razmara to general and ordered him to reorganize the nation’s military forces. Two years later he was appointed chief of staff and was responsible for the entry of the central government forces into Iranian Azerbaijan to supervise the elections that resulted in the collapse of the Soviet-sponsored government there.
In June 1950 the shah appointed Razmara prime minister. Though efficient and hardworking, he had no large personal following, and his efforts to make the rich carry more of the burden of the state earned him many powerful enemies. Despite intense pressure from populist quarters, he opposed the nationalization of Iran’s oil industry on the grounds that, at the time, it would have been impossible to run the industry solely with Iranian technicians. On March 7, 1951, Razmara was assassinated outside the Solṭāneh Mosque by a member of the Fedaʾeyān-e Eslām (Persian: “Self-Sacrificers of Islam”), an extremist religious organization with close ties to the traditional merchant class and the clergy. Within a short time, Mohammad Mosaddeq was elected prime minister, and he nationalized the country’s oil industry.
Ali Razmara see Razmara, Ali
Haji Ali Razmara see Razmara, Ali
Sepahbod Haj Ali Razmara see Razmara, Ali
Razmara, Ali (Ali Razmara) (Sepahbod Haj Ali Razmara) (Ḥājī`Alī Razmāra) (1901, Tehran, Iran - March 7, 1951, Tehran). Prominent member of the Iranian elite from a wealthy landowning family and prime minister of Iran from 1950 to 1951, during the critical years of the oil nationalization process. Razmara was allegedly opposed to the oil nationalization bill and as prime minister had completed a new oil concession with the British in 1951. Owing to his pro-British and anti-nationalization tendencies, he was murdered in 1951 by a member of the Fida’iyan-i Islam, an extremist, nationalist religious group founded by Ayatollah Abu al-Qasim Kashani in Qom in 1945.
Razmara (an adopted name loosely translated as "war planner" or more accurately "battle organizer") was born in Tehran and studied at the military academy of Saint-Cyr in France and climbed his way up and eventually became Prime Minister in 1950. He was assassinated by 26 year-old Khalil Tahmassebi of the Fadayan-e Islam organization with 3 bullets in Tehran at the age of 49. Razmara was the second Iranian Prime Minister to be assassinated.
Razmara graduated from the French military academy at Saint-Cyr in 1925. After serving in the pacification campaigns in the Kurdistan and Laristan regions of Iran under Reza Khan (later Reza Shah Pahlavi), he became director of the Tehrān Military Cadet College in 1938. He wrote several books, including a military history of Persia. In 1944, during the Allied occupation of Iran, Reza Shah Pahlavi’s son Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi promoted Razmara to general and ordered him to reorganize the nation’s military forces. Two years later he was appointed chief of staff and was responsible for the entry of the central government forces into Iranian Azerbaijan to supervise the elections that resulted in the collapse of the Soviet-sponsored government there.
In June 1950 the shah appointed Razmara prime minister. Though efficient and hardworking, he had no large personal following, and his efforts to make the rich carry more of the burden of the state earned him many powerful enemies. Despite intense pressure from populist quarters, he opposed the nationalization of Iran’s oil industry on the grounds that, at the time, it would have been impossible to run the industry solely with Iranian technicians. On March 7, 1951, Razmara was assassinated outside the Solṭāneh Mosque by a member of the Fedaʾeyān-e Eslām (Persian: “Self-Sacrificers of Islam”), an extremist religious organization with close ties to the traditional merchant class and the clergy. Within a short time, Mohammad Mosaddeq was elected prime minister, and he nationalized the country’s oil industry.
Ali Razmara see Razmara, Ali
Haji Ali Razmara see Razmara, Ali
Sepahbod Haj Ali Razmara see Razmara, Ali
No comments:
Post a Comment