Abū al-Faḍl Aḍud al-Din 'Abd al-Raḥman b. Aḥmad b. Abd al-Ghaffar al-Ījī, better known as Aḍud al-Din al-Ījī () was an

Islamic Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

scholar A scholar is a person who is a researcher or has expertise in an academic discipline. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researcher at a university. An academic usually holds an advanced degree or a termina ...

from the Ilkhanate period. He was an influential

judge A judge is a person who wiktionary:preside, presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a judicial panel. In an adversarial system, the judge hears all the witnesses and any other Evidence (law), evidence presented by the barris ...

Shafi'i The Shafi'i school or Shafi'i Madhhab () or Shafi'i is one of the four major schools of fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), belonging to the Ahl al-Hadith tradition within Sunni Islam. It was founded by the Muslim scholar, jurist, and traditionis ...

jurist A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyzes and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal education in law (a law degree) and often a Lawyer, legal prac ...

, legal theoretician,

linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...

rhetorician Rhetoric is the art of persuasion. It is one of the three ancient arts of discourse (trivium) along with grammar and logic/dialectic. As an academic discipline within the humanities, rhetoric aims to study the techniques that speakers or write ...

and is considered the leading

Ash'arite Ash'arism (; ) is a school of theology in Sunni Islam named after Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari, a Shāfiʿī jurist, reformer (''mujaddid''), and scholastic theologian, in the 9th–10th century. It established an orthodox guideline, based on ...

theologian Theology is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of ...

of his time.

Lineage

He was a descendant of a family which traced its genealogy back to the first

caliph A caliphate ( ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with Khalifa, the title of caliph (; , ), a person considered a political–religious successor to the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a leader of ...

Abū Bakr.

Early life

Birth

He was born in a town called Īj near

Shiraz Shiraz (; ) is the List of largest cities of Iran, fifth-most-populous city of Iran and the capital of Fars province, which has been historically known as Pars (Sasanian province), Pars () and Persis. As of the 2016 national census, the popu ...

, located in the

Fars province Fars Province or Pars Province, also known as Persis or Farsistan (فارسستان), is one of the 31 provinces of Iran. Its capital is the city of Shiraz. Pars province has an area of 122,400 km2 and is located in Iran's southwest, i ...

in the year of 680 AH/1281 AD.

Education

During his early years, al-Ījī moved to Tabriz and studied grammar and the rational sciences under Fakr al-Din al-Jarbadadi, a pupil of the distinguished scholar,

al-Baydawi Qadi Baydawi (also known as Naṣir ad-Din al-Bayḍawi, also spelled Baidawi, Bayzawi and Beyzavi; d. June 1319, Tabriz) was a jurist, theologian, and Quran commentator. He lived during the post-Seljuk Empire, Seljuk and early Mongol Empire, Mon ...

. Additionally, al-Ījī studied under

Qutb al-Din al-Shirazi Qotb al-Din Mahmoud b. Zia al-Din Mas'ud b. Mosleh Shirazi (; 1236–1311) was a 13th-century Persian polymath and poet who made contributions to astronomy, mathematics, medicine, physics, music theory, philosophy and Sufism.Sayyed ʿAbd-Allā ...

, who was a prominent pupil of

Nasir al-Din al-Tusi Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan al-Ṭūsī (1201 – 1274), also known as Naṣīr al-Dīn al-Ṭūsī (; ) or simply as (al-)Tusi, was a Persians, Persian polymath, architect, Early Islamic philosophy, philosopher, Islamic medicine, phy ...

. It is also documented that, as a young man, he studied philosophy at Sultaniyya, the Ikhanid capital, with the vizier

Rashid al-Din Hamadani Rashīd al-Dīn Ṭabīb (;‎ 1247–1318; also known as Rashīd al-Dīn Faḍlullāh Hamadānī, ) was a statesman, historian, and physician in Ilkhanate Iran.

Scholarly life

Scholastic specialization

Aḍud al-Din al-Ījī was primarily known for his contributions to

theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

despite this, he was noted to be well-versed in several academic fields. He specialized in

Islamic jurisprudence ''Fiqh'' (; ) is the term for Islamic jurisprudence.Fiqh
Encyclopædia Britannica ''Fiqh'' is of ...

and given his title, Shaykh al-Shafi'iyya of Persia, it was evident that he was the foremost Shafi'i jurist of the Ilkhanate realm during that period.

Al-Suyuti Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti (; 1445–1505), or al-Suyuti, was an Egyptians, Egyptian Sunni Muslims, Muslim polymath of Persians, Persian descent. Considered the mujtahid and mujaddid of the Islamic 10th century, he was a leading Hadith studies, muh ...

in his famous

biographical dictionary A biographical dictionary is a type of encyclopedic dictionary limited to biographical information. Many attempt to cover the major personalities of a country (with limitations, such as living persons only, in ''Who's Who'', or deceased people o ...

''Bughyat al-Wuʻāh fī Ṭabaqāt al-Lughawīyīn wa-al-Nuḥāh'' counted al-Ījī as among the scholars of

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

science and recognized his eminence in having extensive knowledge on the principles and meanings in the Arabic language. He was proficient in

Quranic exegesis Tafsir ( ; ) refers to an exegesis, or commentary, of the Quran. An author of a ''tafsir'' is a ' (; plural: ). A Quranic ''tafsir'' attempts to provide elucidation, explanation, interpretation, context or commentary for clear understanding ...

and excelled in the rational sciences, such as

legal theory Jurisprudence, also known as theory of law or philosophy of law, is the examination in a general perspective of what law is and what it ought to be. It investigates issues such as the definition of law; legal validity; legal norms and values ...

kalam ''Ilm al-kalam'' or ''ilm al-lahut'', often shortened to ''kalam'', is the scholastic, speculative, or rational study of Islamic theology ('' aqida''). It can also be defined as the science that studies the fundamental doctrines of Islamic fai ...

logic Logic is the study of correct reasoning. It includes both formal and informal logic. Formal logic is the study of deductively valid inferences or logical truths. It examines how conclusions follow from premises based on the structure o ...

and

Islamic philosophy Islamic philosophy is philosophy that emerges from the Islamic tradition. Two terms traditionally used in the Islamic world are sometimes translated as philosophy—''falsafa'' (), which refers to philosophy as well as logic, mathematics, and p ...

. He was a highly skilled debater and dialectician who mastered the arts of

disputation Disputation is a genre of literature involving two contenders who seek to establish a resolution to a problem or establish the superiority of something. An example of the latter is in Sumerian disputation poems. In the scholastic system of e ...

. He was known for his scrutinization, research skills and meticulousness.

Career

When he was younger, he attempted to pursue a career at the court of the Il-khanids, the Mongol dynasty that ruled

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

Tabriz Tabriz (; ) is a city in the Central District (Tabriz County), Central District of Tabriz County, in the East Azerbaijan province, East Azerbaijan province of northwestern Iran. It serves as capital of the province, the county, and the distric ...

. He was successful in gaining the respect of the influential vizier,

Rashid al-Din Hamadani Rashīd al-Dīn Ṭabīb (;‎ 1247–1318; also known as Rashīd al-Dīn Faḍlullāh Hamadānī, ) was a statesman, historian, and physician in Ilkhanate Iran.Jew Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...

who had converted to

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

when the

Mongols Mongols are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, China ( Inner Mongolia and other 11 autonomous territories), as well as the republics of Buryatia and Kalmykia in Russia. The Mongols are the principal member of the large family o ...

themselves eventually abandoned their inherited beliefs in

Shamanism Shamanism is a spiritual practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with the spirit world through altered states of consciousness, such as trance. The goal of this is usually to direct spirits or spiritual energies into ...

Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

. Al-Ījī was a

Sunni Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr () rightfully succeeded him as the caliph of the Mu ...

, therefore his status may have been in jeopardy when

Öljaitü Öljaitü, also known as Mohammad-e Khodabandeh (24 March 1282 – 16 December 1316), was the eighth Ilkhanid dynasty ruler from 1304 to 1316 in Tabriz, Iran. His name 'Öjaitü' means 'blessed' in the Mongolian language and his last name 'Khod ...

converted to

Shiism Shia Islam is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib () as both his political successor (caliph) and as the spiritual leader of the Muslim community (imam). However, his right is understood to ...

in 1310. Nevertheless, it has been reported al-Ījī served as the

in Sultaniyya and Rashīd al-Dīn offered him a teaching position at a mobile "university" that accompanied the Il-khanid monarch Öljaitü throughout his expeditions. Eventually, he appears to have settled back in Shābankārah, where he was left to manage substantial lands that protected his family's riches in the form of a charitable trust (waqf) following the death of his father in 1317. Al-Ījī broke off his ties to the court after Rashīd al-Dīn was put to death in 1318 and didn't re-establish them until Ghiyāth al-Dīn, his son, succeeded his father as vizierate in 1327 and rose to the position of chief judge of the empire. But when the Ilkhanate dynasty came to an end in 1335, he relocated to

, where he was given protection by the provincial ruler Abū Isḥāq Injü and rose to the position of chief judge in the town. Despite his reduced salary, he relished the ambiance of an art-loving court and the companionship of poets like

Hafez (), known by his pen name Hafez ( or 'the keeper'; 1325–1390) or Hafiz, “Ḥāfeẓ” designates someoone who has learned the Qurʾān by heart" also known by his nickname Lisan al-Ghaib ('the tongue of the unseen'), was a Persian lyri ...

Students

He produced great students who became horizons as described by biographers: * Sa'ad al-Din al-Taftazani *

Al-Sharif al-Jurjani Ali ibn Mohammed al-Jurjani (1339–1414) (Persian ) was a Persian encyclopedic writer, scientist, and traditionalist theologian. He is referred to as "al-Sayyid al-Sharif" in sources due to his alleged descent from Ali ibn Abi Taleb. He was bor ...

Shams al-Din al-Kirmani Abū 'Abd Allāh Shams al-Din Muḥammad b. Yūsuf b. ʿAlī al-Kirmāni, better known as Shams al-Din al-Kirmani (; 1317 – 1384) was a Sunni Muslim scholar originally from Kerman. He was a distinguished scholar who specialized in a number of Is ...

* Diya' al-Din al-Afifi

Death

After nearly two decades of this peaceful period, al-Ījī's patron was ousted from

in 1354 by Mubāriz al-Dīn, a rival monarch whose domain also included Shābankārah. Consequently, al-Ījī wisely established secret ties with a new ally and made his way back to his hometown just before Shiraz was apprehended. But no one overlooked his betrayal. He was imprisoned in a fortress near Īj and died there in 1356, presumably at the instigation of a former follower of Abū Isḥāq Injü.

Legacy

After

al-Ghazali Al-Ghazali ( – 19 December 1111), archaically Latinized as Algazelus, was a Shafi'i Sunni Muslim scholar and polymath. He is known as one of the most prominent and influential jurisconsults, legal theoreticians, muftis, philosophers, the ...

, Aḍud al-Din al-Ījī finally rose to prominence as one of the key thinkers of what might be referred to as the post-classical (Muta'akhirin) era of Islamic thinking. One of the key features of al-Scholarly Ījī's work is his verification work, or "Tahqiq." Verification was an academic discipline in which previous Islamic literature was re-examined and commentaries were composed to determine whether the theological content of those earlier works could withstand the critical examination of logical arguments made in the subject of Islamic philosophy., the text on Islamic theology that al-Ījī wrote, is his most enduring contribution. Although he wrote several texts in a variety of fields such as legal hermeneutics, grammar (usul al-Din, Usul al-Fiqh, and Usul al-Lugha), and trivium philosophical theology, his two most renowned students, Sayyid Sharif al-Jurjani and Sa'ad al-Din al-Taftazani, wrote insightful commentary on this work, ensuring that the framework established by kitab al-Mawaqif would become fundamental to

theology for centuries to come. Al-Ījī's theological views are considered the final image of the Ash`ari thought, which did not receive any renewal or addition after him. ''al-Akhlaq al-Adudiyya'' is one of Al-Ījī's other works that, although not considered theological classics, had a major influence on the study of moral philosophy in the Islamic world.

Works

Al-Ījī was a prolific writer who covered several fields including scholastic theology, jurisprudence (according to the Shāfiʿī school), Qurʾanic exegesis, rhetoric and dialectics, ethics, and, to some extent, historiography. Their widespread appeal is demonstrated by the abundance of commentary on them. Some of the works are still used today in religious universities such as

al-Azhar Al-Azhar Mosque (), known in Egypt simply as al-Azhar, is a mosque in Cairo, Egypt in the historic Islamic core of the city. Commissioned as the new capital of the Fatimid Caliphate in 970, it was the first mosque established in a city that ...

in Cairo. * ' ("Stations of the Discipline of Kalām"), is a multivolume work on the discipline of theology (kalam). The book sets out in the style of a summa theologica, in concise language, the traditional ideas of late Asḥʿarite theology; it is based mainly on the ' of

Fakhr al-Din al-Razi Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī () or Fakhruddin Razi () (1149 or 1150 – 1209), often known by the sobriquet Sultan of the Theologians, was an influential Iranian and Muslim polymath, scientist and one of the pioneers of inductive logic. He wrote var ...

and the ' of

Sayf al-Din al-Amidi Sayf al-Din al-Amidi or Muhammad al-Amidi (b. 1156; Diyarbakır - d. 1233 in Damascus) was an influential Muslim jurist. Initially a Hanbalite, Al-Amidi belonged to the Shafi`i school and worked to combine ''kalam'' (theology) with existing metho ...

. * ''Al-Akhlaq al-Adudiyya'', a book on moral philosophy. * ''Aqaid al-Adudiyya'' ("Creed of al-Adudiyya"), a famous treatise on the Ash'ari creed according to the author. * ''Jawahir al-Kalam'' ("Jewels of Kalam") * ''Sharh Mukhtasar al-Muntaha'', a book on jurisprudential principles and it is considered one of the best commentaries of Mukhtaṣar al-Muntahá al-uṣūlī by

Ibn al-Hajib Jamāl al-Dīn abū ʿAmr ʿUthmān ibn ʿUmar ibn Abī bakr al-Mālikī (died in 1249 in Alexandria), known as Ibn al-Ḥājib, was a Kurdish grammarian and jurist who earned a reputation as a prominent Maliki faqīh. Life Ibn al-Hajib was ...

* ''Taḥqīq al-tafsīr fī takṯīr al-tanwīr'', it's a commentary on Anwar al-Tanzil wa-Asrar al-Ta'wil by

. * ''Al- Fawāʾed al-ḡīāṯīya'', a book on rhetoric. * ''Ādāb al-baḥṯ'' ("Ethics of discussion") * ''Ešrāq al-tawārīḵ'', a treatise on the history of religion.

References

Bibliography

* {{Authority control 1281 births 1354 deaths Asharis Shafi'is Sunni Muslim scholars of Islam 14th-century Muslim theologians 14th-century Iranian philosophers 14th-century jurists 14th-century linguists Quranic exegesis scholars Medieval grammarians of Arabic Logicians