Abū Ḥātim Aḥmad ibn Ḥamdān al-Rāzī ( fa, ابو حاتم احمد بن حمدان الرازی) was a
Persian
Persian may refer to:
* People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language
** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples
** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
Ismaili philosopher of the 9th century, who died in 322 AH (935 CE). He was also the
Da'i al-du'at
The term ''bāb'' ( ar, باب, , gateway) was used in early Shia Islam for senior disciples, and authorised deputies, of the current Imam. Less commonly, the term is also applied to the Imams themselves, as well as to Muhammad and other prophets ...
''(chief missionary)'' of
Ray and the leader of the
Ismaili da'wah
Dawah ( ar, دعوة, lit=invitation, ) is the act of inviting or calling people to embrace Islam. The plural is ''da‘wāt'' (دَعْوات) or ''da‘awāt'' (دَعَوات).
Etymology
The English term ''Dawah'' derives from the Arabic ...
in Central
Persia
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
.
Life
He was born in
Rayy
Shahr-e Ray ( fa, شهر ری, ) or simply Ray (Shar e Ray; ) is the capital of Ray County in Tehran Province, Iran. Formerly a distinct city, it has now been absorbed into the metropolitan area of Greater Tehran as the 20th district of municip ...
near modern
Tehran
Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...
. He was a contemporary of
Muhammad ibn Zakariya al-Razi and engaged in debates with him.
Works
* ''Al-Jāmiʿ'', a book on
jurisprudence
Jurisprudence, or legal theory, is the theoretical study of the propriety of law. Scholars of jurisprudence seek to explain the nature of law in its most general form and they also seek to achieve a deeper understanding of legal reasoning a ...
.
* ''Kitāb aʿlām al-nubuwwa'' (''The Proofs of Prophecy''), a refutation of
Abū Bakr al-Rāzī.
* ''Kitāb al-Iṣlāḥ'' (''Book of the Correction''), “the oldest extant Ismāʾilī work presenting a Neoplatonic world-view.”
[H. Landolt in ''Encyclopedia of Arabic Literature'', volume 1, edited by Julie Scott Meisami, Paul Starkey, p. 34.] Written as a corrective to the views of his contemporary
Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad al-Nasafī
Abu'l-Hasan Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Bazdawi al-Nasafi (or al-Bazdahi, al-Nakhshabi) (died 943/945) was an early 10th-century Isma'ili missionary () and theologian. In he succeeded in converting the Samanid emir, Nasr II, to Isma'ilism, and ushere ...
.
* ''Kitāb al-Zīna'' (''Book of the Ornament''), on the superiority of the Arabic language and on religious terminology.
Bibliography
* Brion, Fabienne, “Philosophie et révélation : traduction annotée de six extraits du ''Kitâb A'lâm an-nubûwa'' d'Abû Hâtim ar-Râzî”, ''Bulletin de philosophie médiévale'' 28, 1986, p. 137-162.
* Brion, Fabienne
“Le temps, l'espace et la genèse du monde selon Abû Bakr al-Râzî. Présentation et traduction des chapitres I, 3 du « Kitâb a'lâm al-nubuwwa » d'Abû Hâtim al-Râzî” ''Revue philosophique de Louvain'', tome 87, n°74, 1989, p. 139-164.
* Khalidi, Tarif, parallel Arabic-English edition of ''Kitāb aʾlām al-nubuwwa'' (''The Proofs of Prophecy''), Brigham Young University Press, 2012, Islamic Translation Series ().
*
Vajda, Georges, “Les lettres et les sons de la langue arabe d'après Abû Hâtim al-Râzî”, ''Arabica'' 8, 1961, p. 113-180.
Notes
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Razi, Abu Hatim Ahmad ibn Hamdan al-
Islamic philosophers
Iranian Ismailis
Ismaili da'is
People from Ray, Iran
9th-century Iranian people
10th-century Iranian philosophers
322 deaths
10th-century Ismailis