Francis of Marchia
Francis of Marchia (also known as Franciscus de Esculo, de Apponiano, or de Pignano, called sometimes Franciscus Rubeus, either a nickname or a family name) was a Franciscan theologian, who became doctor theologiae in Paris and taught also in other Franci
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tract One of the most influential exponents of Islamic philosophy and theology in the era after al-G˙aza¯lı¯ (d. 1111), Fakhr al-Dı¯n al-Ra¯zı¯ (c. 1150–1210) rearranged the structure of the philosophical summa in the Islamic East and thus also the curriculum of philosophical studies. His work completes the process of integrating the discourse of Aristotelian philosophy (falsafa) into Muslim rationalist theology (kala¯m), a process that started shortly before al-G˙aza¯lı¯. Original in his own thinking, Fakhr al-Dı¯n al-Ra¯zı¯ was influenced by the systematic philosophy of Avicenna (Ibn Sı¯na¯, d. 1037). His works were widely studied, particularly during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. His commentaries on Avicenna’s works, in which he often keeps a critical distance to falsafa, became the subject of super-commentaries that are among the most influential texts in Arabic philosophy and Islamic theology. Most influential, however, was his monumental Qurʾa¯n commentary Keys to the Unknown (Mafa¯tih: al-g˙ayb), in which through a well-structured rationalist analysis he aims at resolving most questions that are brought up in the text of revelation.
Biographical Information Muh: ammad ibn ʿUmar Fakhr al-Dı¯n al-Ra¯zı¯ was born either in 1149 or 1150 in Rayy, a city in central Iran that is now incorporated into Tehran, into a family of Muslim religious scholars. His father was a well-educated theologian, known as the ‘‘preacher of Rayy’’ due to his popular sermons. Thus, Fakhr al-Dı¯n is also known as Ibn alKhat:¯ıb, ‘‘the preacher’s son.’’ After studying with his father, who may have died in 1163, Fakhr al-Dı¯n continued his education with famous teachers at Nishapur in
northeastern Iran. In Nishapur, he is said to have come into contact with the works of Ibn Sı¯na¯, which set him on a path to study philosophy. Back in Rayy, he became close to Majd al-Dı¯n ʿAbd al-Razza¯q al-Jı¯lı¯, a philosophical scholar and the author of a book on logic. When al-Jı¯lı¯ was invited to teach at the famous Muja¯hidiyya madrasa in Maragha in northwestern Iran, Fakhr al-Dı¯n went with him. He studied with al-Jı¯lı¯ at the same time that another influential philosopher in Islam, Shihab al-Dı¯n Yah: ya¯ al-Suhrawardı¯ (d. 587/1191), is said to have learned from him. After completing his studies in Maragha, Fakhr al-Dı¯n taught at madrasas in Marand (Azerbaijan), Hamadan (central Iran), and in his hometown Rayy. Fakhr al-Dı¯n began to write books early in his life. One of his earliest works is The Instruction in the Science of kala¯m (al-Isha¯ra fı¯ ʿilm al-kala¯m), a handbook of rationalist theology in Islam (kala¯m). Another early work is his influential The Limitations to Rationality (Niha¯yat al-ʿuqu¯l, MS Istanbul, Reisu¨lku¨ttap 564), a full-fledged summa of kala¯m that established his fame as a rationalist theologian. In January 1184, he finished The Summary in Philosophy and in Logic (al-Mulakhkhas: fı¯ l-h: ikma wa-l-mant:iq, MS London, British Library, Or. 2360), a work based on his earlier Eastern Investigations (al-Maba¯h:
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