Abu Bakr al-Razi
Abū Bakr al-Rāzī | |
---|---|
inorganic and organic chemistry , also the author of several philosophical works. |
Abū Bakr al-Rāzī (full name: أبو بکر محمد بن زکریاء الرازي, Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn Zakariyyāʾ al-Rāzī),
A comprehensive thinker, al-Razi made fundamental and enduring contributions to various fields, which he recorded in over 200 manuscripts, and is particularly remembered for numerous advances in medicine through his
Through translation, his medical works and ideas became known among medieval European practitioners and profoundly influenced medical education in the Latin West.[5] Some volumes of his work Al-Mansuri, namely "On Surgery" and "A General Book on Therapy", became part of the medical curriculum in Western universities.[5] Edward Granville Browne considers him as "probably the greatest and most original of all the Muslim physicians, and one of the most prolific as an author".[9] Additionally, he has been described as the father of pediatrics,[10][11] and a pioneer of obstetrics and ophthalmology.[12]
Biography
Al-Razi was born in the city of
In his youth, al-Razi moved to
He spent the last years of his life in his native Rey suffering from
The lectures of al-Razi attracted many students. As
Ibn al-Nadim recorded an account by al-Razi of a Chinese student who copied down all of Galen's works in Chinese as al-Razi read them to him out loud after the student learned fluent Arabic in 5 months and attended al-Razi's lectures.[27][28][29][30]
After his death, his fame spread beyond the Middle East to Medieval Europe, and lived on. In an undated catalog of the library at Peterborough Abbey, most likely from the 14th century, al-Razi is listed as a part author of ten books on medicine.[31]
Contributions to medicine
This section needs additional citations for verification. (May 2012) |
Psychology and psychotherapy
Al-Razi was one of the world's first great medical experts. He is considered the father of psychology and psychotherapy.[32]
Smallpox vs. measles
Al-Razi wrote:
Smallpox appears when blood "boils" and is infected, resulting in vapours being expelled. Thus juvenile blood (which looks like wet extracts appearing on the skin) is being transformed into richer blood, having the color of mature wine. At this stage, smallpox shows up essentially as "bubbles found in wine" (as blisters)... this disease can also occur at other times (meaning: not only during childhood). The best thing to do during this first stage is to keep away from it, otherwise this disease might turn into an epidemic.
Al-Razi's book al-Judari wa al-Hasbah (On Smallpox and Measles) was the first book describing smallpox and measles as distinct diseases.[33] It was translated more than a dozen times into Latin and other European languages. Its lack of dogmatism and its Hippocratic reliance on clinical observation show al-Razi's medical methods. For example, he wrote:
The eruption of smallpox is preceded by a continued fever, pain in the back, itching in the nose and nightmares during sleep. These are the more acute symptoms of its approach together with a noticeable pain in the back accompanied by fever and an itching felt by the patient all over his body. A swelling of the face appears, which comes and goes, and one notices an overall inflammatory color noticeable as a strong redness on both cheeks and around both eyes. One experiences a heaviness of the whole body and great restlessness, which expresses itself as a lot of stretching and yawning. There is a pain in the throat and chest and one finds it difficult to breathe and cough. Additional symptoms are: dryness of breath, thick spittle, hoarseness of the voice, pain and heaviness of the head, restlessness, nausea and anxiety. (Note the difference: restlessness, nausea and anxiety occur more frequently with "measles" than with smallpox. At the other hand, pain in the back is more apparent with smallpox than with measles). Altogether one experiences heat over the whole body, one has an inflamed colon and one shows an overall shining redness, with a very pronounced redness of the gums. (Rhazes, Encyclopaedia of Medicine)
Meningitis
Al-Razi compared the outcome of patients with
Pharmacy
Al-Razi contributed in many ways to the early practice of pharmacy[35] by compiling texts, in which he introduces the use of "mercurial ointments" and his development of apparatus such as mortars, flasks, spatulas and phials, which were used in pharmacies until the early twentieth century.[citation needed]
Ethics of medicine
On a professional level, al-Razi introduced many practical, progressive, medical and psychological ideas. He attacked charlatans and fake doctors who roamed the cities and countryside selling their nostrums and "cures". At the same time, he warned that even highly educated doctors did not have the answers to all medical problems and could not cure all sicknesses or heal every disease, which was humanly speaking impossible. To become more useful in their services and truer to their calling, al-Razi advised practitioners to keep up with advanced knowledge by continually studying medical books and exposing themselves to new information. He made a distinction between curable and incurable diseases. Pertaining to the latter, he commented that in the case of advanced cases of cancer and leprosy the physician should not be blamed when he could not cure them. To add a humorous note, al-Razi felt great pity for physicians who took care for the well being of princes, nobility, and women, because they did not obey the doctor's orders to restrict their diet or get medical treatment, thus making it most difficult being their physician.
He also wrote the following on medical ethics:
The doctor's aim is to do good, even to our enemies, so much more to our friends, and my profession forbids us to do harm to our kindred, as it is instituted for the benefit and welfare of the human race, and God imposed on physicians the oath not to compose mortiferous remedies.[36]
Books and articles on medicine
This 23-volume set medical textbooks contains the foundation of gynaecology, obstetrics and ophthalmic surgery[32]
- The Virtuous Life (al-Hawi الحاوي).
This monumental medical encyclopedia in nine volumes—known in Europe also as The Large Comprehensive or Continens Liber (جامع الكبير)—contains considerations and criticism on the Greek philosophers Aristotle and Plato, and expresses innovative views on many subjects.[37][38][39] Because of this book alone, many scholars consider al-Razi the greatest medical doctor of the Middle Ages.
The al-Hawi is not a formal medical encyclopedia, but a posthumous compilation of al-Razi's working notebooks, which included knowledge gathered from other books as well as original observations on diseases and therapies, based on his own clinical experience. It is significant since it contains a celebrated monograph on smallpox, the earliest one known. It was translated into Latin in 1279 by Faraj ben Salim, a physician of Sicilian-Jewish origin employed by Charles of Anjou, and after which it had a considerable influence in Europe.
The al-Hawi also criticized the views of
- For One Who Has No Physician to Attend Him (Man la Yahduruhu Al-Tabib) (من لا يحضره الطبيب)—A medical adviser for the general public
Al-Razi was possibly the first Persian doctor to deliberately write a home medical manual (
Some of the illnesses treated were headaches, colds, coughing, melancholy and diseases of the eye, ear, and stomach. For example, he prescribed for a feverish headache: " 2 parts of duhn (oily extract) of
- Book for al-Mansur (Kitāb al-Manṣūrī)
Al-Razi dedicated this work to his patron
- Doubts about Galen (al-Shukūk ʿalā Jalīnūs)
In his book Doubts about Galen,[43] al-Razi rejects several claims made by the Greek physician, as far as the alleged superiority of the Greek language and many of his cosmological and medical views. He links medicine with philosophy, and states that sound practice demands independent thinking. He reports that Galen's descriptions do not agree with his own clinical observations regarding the run of a fever. And in some cases he finds that his clinical experience exceeds Galen's.
He criticized Galen's theory that the body possessed four separate "humors" (liquid substances), whose balance are the key to health and a natural body-temperature. A sure way to upset such a system was to insert a liquid with a different temperature into the body resulting in an increase or decrease of bodily heat, which resembled the temperature of that particular fluid. Al-Razi noted that a warm drink would heat up the body to a degree much higher than its own natural temperature. Thus the drink would trigger a response from the body, rather than transferring only its own warmth or coldness to it. (Cf. I. E. Goodman)
This line of criticism essentially had the potential to completely refute Galen's theory of humors, as well as Aristotle's theory of the
Al-Razi's challenge to the current fundamentals of medical theory was quite controversial. Many accused him of ignorance and arrogance, even though he repeatedly expressed his praise and gratitude to Galen for his contributions and labours, saying:
I prayed to God to direct and lead me to the truth in writing this book. It grieves me to oppose and criticize the man Galen from whose sea of knowledge I have drawn much. Indeed, he is the Master and I am the disciple. Although this reverence and appreciation will and should not prevent me from doubting, as I did, what is erroneous in his theories. I imagine and feel deeply in my heart that Galen has chosen me to undertake this task, and if he were alive, he would have congratulated me on what I am doing. I say this because Galen's aim was to seek and find the truth and bring light out of darkness. I wish indeed he were alive to read what I have published.[44]
- The Diseases of Children
Al-Razi's The Diseases of Children was the first monograph to deal with pediatrics as an independent field of medicine.[10][11]
Alchemy
This section needs additional citations for verification. (September 2021) |
The transmutation of metals
Al-Razi's interest in alchemy and his strong belief in the possibility of
Apparently al-Razi's contemporaries believed that he had obtained the secret of turning iron and copper into gold. Biographer Khosro Moetazed reports in Mohammad Zakaria Razi that a certain General Simjur confronted al-Razi in public, and asked whether that was the underlying reason for his willingness to treat patients without a fee. "It appeared to those present that al-Razi was reluctant to answer; he looked sideways at the general and replied":
I understand alchemy and I have been working on the characteristic properties of metals for an extended time. However, it still has not turned out to be evident to me, how one can transmute gold from copper. Despite the research from the ancient scientists done over the past centuries, there has been no answer. I very much doubt if it is possible...
Major works on alchemy
Al-Razi's works present the first systematic classification of carefully observed and verified facts regarding chemical substances, reactions and apparatus, described in a language almost entirely free from mysticism and ambiguity.
The Secrets (Al-Asrar)
'The Secrets' (al-Asrar, Kitāb al-Asrār, 'Book of Secrets') was written in response to a request from al-Razi's close friend, colleague, and former student, Abu Muhammad ibn Yunis al-Bukhari, a Muslim mathematician, philosopher, and natural scientist.
Secret of Secrets (Sirr al-Asrar)
This is al-Razi's most famous book. Here he gives systematic attention to basic chemical operations important to the history of pharmacy. In this book al-Razi divides the subject of "matter' into three categories, as in his previous book Al-Asrar.
- Knowledge and identification of the medical components within substances derived from plants, animals, and minerals, and descriptions of the best types for medical treatments.
- Knowledge of equipment and tools of interest to and used by either alchemists or apothecaries.
- Knowledge of seven shells, and waxing.
- This last category contains additional descriptions of other methods and applications used in transmutation:
- The added mixture and use of solvent vehicles.
- The amount of heat (fire) used, 'bodies and stones', (al-ajsad and al-ahjar) that can or cannot be transmuted into corporal substances such of metals and salts (al-amlah).
- The use of a liquid mordant which quickly and permanently colors lesser metals for more lucrative sale and profit.
Similar to the commentary on the 8th century text on
Al-Razi classified minerals into six divisions:
- Four spirits (al-arwah): ).
- Seven bodies (al-ajsad): silver, gold, copper, iron, black lead (plumbago), zinc (kharsind), and tin.
- Thirteen , and glass (then identified as made of sand and alkali of which the transparent crystal damascene is considered the best).
- Seven vitriols (al-zajat): alum (al-shabb الشب), and white (qalqadis القلقديس), black, red (suri السوري), and yellow (qulqutar القلقطار) vitriols (the impure sulfates of iron, copper, etc.), green (qalqand القلقند).
- Seven borates: natron, and impure sodium borate.
- Eleven salts (al-amlah): including brine, common salt, ashes, naphtha, live lime, and urine, rock, and sea salts. Then he separately defines and describes each of these substances, the best forms and colours of each, and the qualities of various adulterations.
Al-Razi gives also a list of apparatus used in alchemy. This consists of 2 classes:
- Instruments used for the dissolving and melting of metals such as the blacksmith's hearth, bellows, crucible, thongs (tongue or ladle), macerator, stirring rod, cutter, grinder (pestle), file, shears, descensory, and semi-cylindrical iron mould.
- Utensils used to carry out the process of transmutation and various parts of the distilling apparatus: the retort, phials, beakers, glass funnel, crucible, aludel, heating lamps, mortar, cauldron, hair-cloth, sand- and water-bath, sieve, flat stone mortar and chafing-dish.
Philosophy
Although al-Razi wrote extensively on philosophy, most of his works on this subject are now lost.[45] Most of his religio-philosophical ideas, including his belief in five "eternal principles", are only known from fragments and testimonies found in other authors, who were often strongly opposed to his thought.[46]
Metaphysics
Al-Razi's metaphysical doctrine derives from the theory of the "five eternals", according to which the world is produced out of an interaction between God and four other eternal principles (
Views on religion
A number of contradictory works and statements about religion have been ascribed to al-Razi. Many sources claim that al-Razi viewed prophecy and revealed religion as unnecessary and delusional, claiming that all humans have the ability to access and discover truth (including the existence of God) through God-given reason.[48][49][50][51] According to these sources, his skepticism of prophecy and view that no one group or religion has privileged access to the truth is driven by his view that all people have an equal basic capacity for rationality and discovery of truth, and that apparent differences in this capacity are simply a feature of interest, opportunity, and effort.[52][50] Because of his supposed rejection of prophecy and acceptance of reason as the primary method for accessing the truth, al-Razi came to be admired as a freethinker by some.[53][51]
According to al-Biruni's Bibliography of al-Razi (Risāla fī Fihrist Kutub al-Rāzī), al-Razi wrote two "heretical books": "Fī al-Nubuwwāt (On Prophecies) and "Fī Ḥiyal al-Mutanabbīn (On the Tricks of False Prophets). According to Biruni, the first "was claimed to be against religions" and the second "was claimed as attacking the necessity of the prophets."[54] However, Biruni also listed some other works of al-Razi on religion, including Fi Wujub Da‘wat al-Nabi ‘Ala Man Nakara bi al-Nubuwwat (Obligation to Propagate the Teachings of the Prophet Against Those who Denied Prophecies) and Fi anna li al-Insan Khaliqan Mutqinan Hakiman (That Man has a Wise and Perfect Creator), listed under his works on the "divine sciences".[54] None of his works on religion are now extant in full.
Sarah Stroumsa has argued that al-Razi was a freethinker who rejected all revealed religions.[55] However, Peter Adamson, Marwan Rashed and others hold that al-Razi did not reject revealed religion, on the basis of more recent evidence found in the writings of the theologian and philosopher Fakhr al-Din al-Razi (died 1210).[56] Adamson states:
It is worth noting that Stroumsa’s work predates Rashed’s discovery of this evidence in Fakhr al-Dīn, so that she did not have the benefit of being able to consider how this new information could be reconciled with the Proofs. That is the goal I will set for myself in this chapter. I should lay my cards on the table and say that I am persuaded by Rashed’s account, and do not believe that Razi was staging a general attack on prophecy or religion as Abū Ḥātim would have us think.[57]
Debate with Abu Hatim
The views and quotes that are often ascribed to al-Razi where he appears to be critical of religion are found in a book written by
According to Abdul Latif al-'Abd, Islamic philosophy professor at Cairo University, Abu Hatim and his student,
In contrast, earlier historians such as Paul Kraus and Sarah Stroumsa accepted that the extracts found in Abu Hatim's book were either said by al-Razi during a debate or were quoted from a now lost work. According to the debate with Abu Hatim, al-Razi denied the validity of prophecy or other authority figures, and rejected prophetic miracles. He also directed a scathing critique on revealed religions and the miraculous quality of the Quran.[47][61] They suggest that this lost work is either his famous al-ʿIlm al-Ilāhī or another shorter independent work called Makharīq al-Anbiyāʾ (The Prophets' Fraudulent Tricks).[62][63] Abu Hatim, however, did not explicitly mention al-Razi by name in his book, but referred to his interlocutor simply as the mulḥid (lit. "heretic").[47][59]
Criticism
Al-Razi's religious and philosophical views were later criticized by
Or from Muhammad ibn Zakariyya al-Razi, who meddles
in metaphysics and exceeds his competence. He should have remained confined to surgery and to urine and stool testing—indeed he exposed himself and showed his ignorance in these matters.[68]
Legacy
The modern-day Razi Institute in Karaj and Razi University in Kermanshah were named after him. A "Razi Day" ("Pharmacy Day") is commemorated in Iran every 27 August.[70]
In June 2009,
George Sarton remarked him as "greatest physician of Islam and the Medieval Ages".[74]
See also
- List of Iranian scientists
- Medical Encyclopedia of Islam and Iran
- Medical literature
References
Notes
- ^ For the spelling of his Arabic name, see for example Kraus 1939. Sometimes it is also spelled زکریا (Zakariyyā) rather than زکریاء (Zakariyyāʾ), as for example in Dānish-pazhūh 1964, p. 1 of the edition, or in Mohaghegh 1993, p. 5. In modern Persian his name is rendered as ابوبکر محمدبن زکریا رازی (see Dānish-pazhūh 1964, p. 1 of the introduction), though instead of زکریا one may also find زکریای (see Mohaghegh 1993, p. 18).
- ^ For his date of birth, Kraus & Pines 1913–1936 give 864 CE / 250 AH (Goodman 1960–2007 gives 854 CE / 250 AH, but this is a typo), while Richter-Bernburg 2003 and Adamson 2021a give 865 CE / 251 AH. For his date of death as 925 or 935 CE / 313 or 323 AH, see Goodman 1960–2007; some sources only give 925 CE / 313 AH (Walker 1998; Richter-Bernburg 2003; Adamson 2021a).
Citations
- ^ Walker 1998; Iskandar 2008; Adamson 2021a.
- ^ Majid Fakhry, A History of Islamic Philosophy: Third Edition, Columbia University Press (2004), p. 98.
- ^ Adamson 2021a
- ^ Hakeem Abdul Hameed, Exchanges between India and Central Asia in the field of Medicine Archived 6 October 2008 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b c d e f Iskandar 2008.
- ^ Influence of Islam on World Civilization" by Prof. Z. Ahmed, p. 127.
- ^ Rāzī, Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn Zakarīyā, Fuat Sezgin, Māzin ʻAmāwī, Carl Ehrig-Eggert, and E. Neubauer. Muḥammad ibn Zakarīyāʼ ar-Rāzī (d. 313/925): texts and studies. Frankfurt am Main: Institute for the History of Arabic-Islamic Science at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University, 1999.
- JSTOR 20847003.
- ^ Browne 1921, p. 44.
- ^ a b Tschanz David W., PhD (2003). "Arab(?) Roots of European Medicine". Heart Views. 4 (2).
- ^ ISBN 978-1-108-01588-2.
By writing a monograph on 'Diseases in Children' he may also be looked upon as the father of paediatrics.
- ^ "Ar-Razi (Rhazes), 864–930 C.E." www.unhas.ac.id. Archived from the original on 20 February 2020. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
Ar-Razi was a pioneer in many areas of medicine and treatment and the health sciences in general. In particular, he was a pioneer in the fields of pediatrics, obstetrics and ophthalmology.
- ^ a b Adamson 2021a.
- ^ Kahl 2015, p. 6
Ruska 1937, p. 4
Ullmann 1997, p. 29
Sarton 1927, p. 590
Hitti 1969, p. 188
Walzer 1962, p. 18 - ^ Rāzī, Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn Zakarīyā. "The Book of Medicine Dedicated to Mansur and Other Medical Tracts – Liber ad Almansorem". World Digital Library (in Latin). Retrieved 2 March 2014.
- ^ Rāzī, Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn Zakarīyā. "The Book on Medicine Dedicated to al-Mansur – الكتاب المنصوري في الطب". World Digital Library (in Amharic and Arabic). Retrieved 2 March 2014.
- ^ "Commentary on the Chapter Nine of the Book of Medicine Dedicated to Mansur – Commentaria in nonum librum Rasis ad regem Almansorem". World Digital Library (in Latin). 1542. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
- PMID 23661862.
- ^ Magner, Lois N. A History of Medicine. New York: M. Dekker, 1992, p. 140.
- ISBN 978-0-8247-4360-4.
- ^ Pococke, E. Historia Compendosia Dynastiarum. Oxford, 1663, p. 291.
- ^ Long, George (1841). The Penny cyclopædia of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, Volume 19. C. Knight. p. 445.
rhazes.
- ^ "Saab Medical Library – كتاب في الجدري و الحصبة – American University of Beirut". Ddc.aub.edu.lb. 1 June 2003. Archived from the original on 25 April 2012. Retrieved 15 October 2012.
- ^ Porter, Roy. The Greatest Benefit to Mankind: A Medical History of Humanity. New York: W. W. Norton, 1997, p. 97.
- ^ Kamiar, Mohammad. Brilliant Biruni: A Life Story of Abu Rayhan Mohammad Ibn Ahmad. Lanham, Md: Scarecrow Press, 2009.
- ^ a b Ruska, Julius. Al-Birūni als Quelle für das Leben und die Schriften al-Rāzi's. Bruxelles: Weissenbruch, 1922.
- ISBN 978-0-521-05799-8.
- ISBN 978-0-521-49781-7.
- ^ غليزان, فيزياء. "الرازي". Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 24 December 2015.
- ^ "قلم لنكبرده ولساكسه , قلم الصين". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
- ^ Gunton, Simon. The History of the Church of Peterborough. London, Richard Chiswell, publisher, 1686. Facsimile edition published by Clay, Tyas, and Watkins in Peterborough and Stamford (1990). Item Fv. on pp. 187–8.
- ^ ISBN 9783319216805.
- ^ Fuat Sezgin (1970). Ar-Razi. In: Geschichte des arabischen Schrifttums Bd. III: Medizin – Pharmazie – Zoologie – Tierheilkunde = History of the Arabic literature Vol. III: Medicine – Pharmacology – Veterinary Medicine. Leiden: E. J. Brill. pp. 276, 283.
- PMID 22171402.
- ^ "The valuable contributions of Al-Razi (Rhazes) in the history of pharmacy during the middle ages". Archived from the original on 4 December 2017. Retrieved 16 June 2017.
- ^ Islamic Science, the Scholar and Ethics Archived 22 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine, Foundation for Science Technology and Civilisation.
- ^ Rāzī, Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn Zakarīyā. "The Comprehensive Book on Medicine – كتاب الحاوى فى الطب". World Digital Library. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
- ^ "The Comprehensive Book on Medicine – كتاب الحاوي". World Digital Library (in Arabic). 1674 [Around 1674 CE]. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
- ^ Rāzī, Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn Zakarīyā (1529). "The Comprehensive Book on Medicine—Continens Rasis". World Digital Library (in Latin). Retrieved 2 March 2014.
- ^ Emilie Savage-Smith (1996), "Medicine", in Roshdi Rashed, ed., Encyclopedia of the History of Arabic Science, Vol. 3, pp. 903–962 [917]. Routledge, London and New York.
- ^ Adamson 2021b, p. 17.
- ^ "Rāzī, Liber Almansoris (Cambridge, University Library, MS Add. 9213)". Cambridge Digital Library. Retrieved 22 November 2023.
- ^ Edited and translated into French by Koetschet 2019. An older edition is Mohaghegh 1993.
- ISBN 9781118002261, page
- ^ See the list of 35 works given by Daiber 2017, pp. 389–396. Of these, only three are extant in full (see p. 396), though fragments of many other works also survive (edited by Kraus 1939).
- ^ Adamson, Peter (2021), Zalta, Edward N. (ed.), "Abu Bakr al-Razi", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Summer 2021 ed.), Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University, retrieved 21 December 2023,
While we have ample surviving evidence for his medical thought, his philosophical ideas mostly have to be pieced together on the basis of reports found in other authors, who are often hostile to him.
- ^ ISBN 9780195379488.
- ISBN 0-521-40224-7.
In keeping with the Epicureanism he might have imbibed from Galenic sources, he rejects special prophecy as imposture, arguing that reason, God's gift to all alike, is sufficient guidance.
- ISBN 9780748620890.
Accordingly, al-Razi takes a rather dim view of prophecy, which in his view is both unnecessary and delusional, and indeed he criticizes all revealed religions as provincial and divisive. No one individual or group can legitimately claim a monopoly on the truth; each succeeding generation has the ability to improve upon and even transcend its predecessor's insights through rational argumentation and empirical inquiry.
- ^ ISBN 0-415-22364-4.
Chief among his positive contributions is his advocacy of a doctrine of equal aptitude in all humans, which grants no special role for unique and divinely favoured prophets and which recognizes the possibility of future progress in the advancement of knowledge.
- ^ a b Goodman 1960–2007.
- ISBN 9780748620890.
Elsewhere, he argues that all human beings have the same fundamental capacity for reason and that the apparent inequality of people in this respect is ultimately a function of opportunity, interest and effort. Accordingly, al-Razi takes a rather dim view of prophecy, which in his view is both unnecessary and delusional, and indeed he criticizes all revealed religions as provincial and divisive. No one individual or group can legitimately claim a monopoly on the truth; each succeeding generation has the ability to improve upon and even transcend its predecessor's insights through rational argumentation and empirical inquiry.
- ISBN 9780748620890.
More specifically, freethinking might be defined as independent thinking within an Islamicate context which (1) relies upon natural reason alone as a means to reach the truth, and (2) rejects the authority and veracity of revelation, prophecy and tradition... See belief; Ibn al-Rawandi; Islam; prophecy; rationalism; al-Razi (Abu Bakr)
- ^ a b Deuraseh, Nurdeng (2008). "Risalat Al-Biruni Fi Fihrist Kutub Al-Razi: A Comprehensive Bibliography of the Works of Abu Bakr Al-Rāzī (d. 313 A.h/925) and Al-Birūni (d. 443/1051)". Journal of Aqidah and Islamic Thought. 9: 51–100.
- ^ Adamson 2021b, p. 122.
- ^ Adamson 2021a, Rashed 2008, Güngör 2023.
- ^ Adamson 2021b, p. 123.
- ^ a b Seyyed Hossein Nasr, and Mehdi Amin Razavi, An Anthology of Philosophy in Persia, vol. 1, (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999), p. 353, quote: "Among the other eminent figures who attacked Rāzī are the Ismāʿīlī philosopher Abū Ḥatem Rāzī, who wrote two books to refute Rāzī's views on theodicy, prophecy, and miracles; and Nāṣir-i Khusraw. Shahrastānī, however, indicates that such accusations should be doubted since they were made by Ismāʿīlīs, who had been severely attacked by Muḥammad ibn Zakariyyā Rāzī"
- ^ a b c Abdul Latif Muhammad al-Abd (1978). Al-ṭibb al-rūḥānī li Abū Bakr al-Rāzī. Cairo: Maktabat al-Nahḍa al-Miṣriyya. pp. 4, 13, 18.
- ISBN 9789004255371.
- ISBN 9780932885074.
- ^ Stroumsa 1999.
- ^ Kraus, P; Pines, S (1913–1938). "Al-Razi". Encyclopedia of Islam. p. 1136.
- William Montgomery Watt (14 April 2004). "BĪRŪNĪ and the study of non-Islamic Religions". Archived from the originalon 10 February 2009. Retrieved 25 January 2008.
- ISBN 0-7914-1516-3.
- ISBN 978-965-223-626-5
- ISBN 978-965-223-626-5
- ^ Rafik Berjak and Muzaffar Iqbal, "Ibn Sina—Al-Biruni correspondence", Islam & Science, December 2003.
- ISBN 9781556432699.
Al-Razi was posthumously accused of having plagiarized his master in Nasr-i-Khosraw polemics, and the latter did not hide his sympathy for Iranshahri.
- ^ qhu.ac.ir[permanent dead link], Razi commemoration day
- ^ UNIS. "Monument to Be Inaugurated at the Vienna International Centre, 'Scholars Pavilion' donated to International Organizations in Vienna by Iran".
- ^ "Permanent mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations office – Vienna". Archived from the original on 14 September 2019. Retrieved 6 January 2015.
- ^ Hosseini, Mir Masood. "Negareh: Persian Scholars Pavilion at United Nations Vienna, Austria".
- ^ George Sarton, Introduction to the History of Science (1927–48), 1.609
Sources
- Adamson, Peter (2021a). "Abu Bakr al-Razi". In Zalta, Edward N. (ed.). The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
- ISBN 9780415438872.
- OCLC 808169546.
- Dhanani, Alnoor (2013). "Atomism". In Fleet, Kate; Krämer, Gudrun; Matringe, Denis; Nawas, John; Rowson, Everett (eds.). Encyclopaedia of Islam, Three. .
- ISBN 978-1-4875-0917-0.
- ISBN 978-0-521-20093-6.
- Goodman, L.E (1960–2007). "al-Rāzī". In Bearman, P.; Bianquis, Th.; Bosworth, C.E.; van Donzel, E.; Heinrichs, W.P. (eds.). Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition. .
- Hitti, Philip Khuri(1 January 1969). Makers of Arab History. St. Martin's Press.
- Iskandar, Albert Z. (2008). "Al-Rāzī". In ISBN 978-1-4020-4559-2.
- Kahl, Oliver (2015). The Sanskrit, Syriac and Persian Sources in the Comprehensive Book of Rhazes. BRILL. ISBN 978-90-04-29024-2.
- Oxford Reference (2022). "Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Zakariyya al- Razi". Oxford Reference. Retrieved 3 March 2022.
- .
- ISBN 978-0674362758.
- Richter-Bernburg, Lutz (2003). "Ḥāwi, al-". In ISBN 978-0-933273-74-0.
- ISBN 978-0443092060.
- ISBN 978-90-04-11374-9.
- ISBN 9780748609079.
- Walker, Paul E. (1998). "al-Razi, Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Zakariyya' (d. 925)". In ISBN 9780415250696.
- ISBN 978-0521520690.
Further reading
Primary literature
By al-Razi
- Arberry, A.J. (1950). The Spiritual Physick of Rhazes.
{{cite book}}
:|work=
ignored (help) - Brockelmann, Carl. Geschichte der arabischen Litteratur, I, pp. 268–71 (second edition), Suppl., Vol. I, pp. 418–21. (overview of extant manuscripts of al-Razi's works)
- Butterworth, Charles E., "The Book of the Philosophic Life". Interpretation: A Journal of Political Philosophy.
- Dānish-pazhūh, Muḥammad Taqī (1964). Kitāb al-asrār wa-Sirr al-asrār. Tehran: Commission Nationale Iranienne pour l'UNESCO. (edition of the Kitāb al-asrār and fascimile of the Sirr al-asrār in ms. Goharshad 953)
- Karimov, Usmon I. (1957). Neizvestnoe sochinenie ar-Razi "Kniga taĭny taĭn". Tashkent: Izd-vo Akademii nauk Uzbekskoĭ SSR. OCLC 246883935. (fascimile of the Sirr al-asrār in a Tashkent ms., with Russian translation)
- Review in Figurovsky, N.A. (1962). "Review of Karimov 1957". Ambix. 10 (3): 146–149.
- Koetschet, Pauline (2019). Abū Bakr al-Rāzī: Doutes sur Galien. Introduction, édition et traduction. Scientia Graeco-Arabica. Vol. 25. Berlin: De Gruyter. S2CID 189234965. (critical edition and French translation of al-Shukūk ʿalā Jalīnūs)
- OCLC 496583777. (edition of extant philosophical works)
- )
- Ruska, Julius (1937). Al-Rāzī's Buch Geheimnis der Geheimnisse. Mit Einleitung und Erläuterungen in deutscher Übersetzung. Quellen und Studien zur Geschichte der Naturwissenschaften und der Medizin. Vol. VI. Berlin: Springer. (German translation of the Kitāb al-asrār)
- Taylor, Gail Marlow (2015). The Alchemy of Al-Razi: A Translation of the "Book of Secrets". CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. ISBN 9781507778791. (English translation of Ruska 1937's translation of the Arabic)
- Taylor, Gail Marlow (2015). The Alchemy of Al-Razi: A Translation of the "Book of Secrets". CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.
- Stapleton, Henry E.; Azo, Rizkallah F. (1910). "An Alchemical Compilation of the 13th Century". Memoirs of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. 3 (2): 57–94. (contains edited extracts from the Kitāb al-Shawāhid at 68ff.)
- OCLC 706947607. (pp. 369–393 contain an English translation of two introductory sections of the Kitāb al-asrār; contains an edition of al-Madkhal al-Talʿlīmī)
By others
- Ibn Al-Nadim, Fihrist, (ed. Flugel), pp. 299 et sqq.
- Translated in .
- Sa'id al-Andalusi, Tabaqat al-Umam, p. 33
- Ibn Juljul, Tabaqat al-Atibba w-al-Hukama, (ed. Fu'ad Sayyid), Cairo, 1355/1936, pp. 77–78
- J. Ruska, Al-Biruni als Quelle fur das Leben und die Schriften al-Razi's, Isis, Vol. V, 1924, pp. 26–50.
- Al-Biruni, Epitre de Beruni, contenant le repertoire des ouvres de Muhammad ibn Zakariya ar-Razi, publiee par P. Kraus, Paris, 1936
- Al-Baihaqi, Tatimmah Siwan al-Hikma, (ed. M. Ghafi), Lahore, 1351/1932
- Al-Qifti,Tarikh al-Hukama, (ed. Lippert), pp. 27–177
- Ibn Abi Usaibi'ah,Uyun al-Anba fi Tabaqat al-Atibba, Vol. I, pp. 309–21
- Abu Al-Faraj ibn al-'Ibri (Bar-Hebraeus),Mukhtasar Tarikh al-Duwal, (ed. A. Salhani), p. 291
- Ibn Khallikan, Wafayat al-A'yan, (ed. Muhyi al-Din 'Abd al-Hamid), Cairo, 1948, No. 678, pp. 244–47
- Al-Safadi, Nakt al-Himyan, pp. 249–50
- Ibn al-'Imad, Shadharat al-Dhahab, Vol. II, p. 263
- Al-'Umari, Masalik al-Absar, Vol. V, Part 2, ff. 301-03 (photostat copy in Dar al-Kutub al-Misriyyah).
Secondary literature
- Adamson, Peter (2016). "Atomismus bei ar-Rāzī". In Buchheim, Thomas; Meißner, David; Wachsmann, Nora (eds.). Sōma: Körperkonzepte und körperliche Existenz in der antiken Philosophie und Literatur. Archiv für Begriffsgeschichte, Sonderheft 13. Hamburg: Meiner. pp. 345–360.
- Adamson, Peter (2017). "Abū Bakr al-Rāzī (d. 925), The Spiritual Medicine". In El-Rouayheb, Khaled; Schmidtke, Sabine (eds.). The Oxford Handbook of Islamic Philosophy. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 63–82.
- ISBN 9780197555033.
- Badawi, Abdurrahman, Min Tarlkh al-Ilhad fi al-Islam Islamica, Vol. II, Cairo, 1945, pp. 198–228.
- Daiber, Hans (2017) [2012]. "Abū Bakr al-Rāzī". In Rudolph, Ulrich; Hansberger, Rotraud; ISBN 978-90-04-32316-2.
- Eisen, A. Kimiya al-Razi, RAAD, DIB, 62/4.
- JSTOR 1595324.
- Goodman, Lenn E. (1972). "Razi's Psychology". Philosophical Forum. 4: 26–48.
- Goodman, Lenn E. (1975). "Razi's Myth of the Fall of the Soul: Its Function in His Philosophy". In Hourani, G. (ed.). Essays in Islamic Philosophy and Science. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press. pp. 25–40.
- Goodman, Lenn E. (2015). "How Epicurean was Rāzī?". Studia graeco-arabica. 5: 247–280.
- Güngör, Hüseyin (2023). "Razian prophecy rationalized". British Journal for the History of Philosophy: 1–25. .
- Heym, Gerard (1938). "Al-Rāzī and Alchemy". Ambix. 1 (3): 184–191. .
- Hirschberg,Geschichte der Augenheilkunde, p. 101.
- Karpenko, Vladimír; Norris, John A. (2002). "Vitriol in the History of Chemistry". Chemické listy. 96 (12): 997–1005.
- Leclerc, Lucien (1876). Histoire de la medicine arabe, Paris, Vol. I, pp. 337–54.
- Meyerhof, M. Legacy of Islam, pp. 323 et seq.
- Mieli, Aldo (1938). La science arabe, Leiden, 1938, pp. 8, 16.
- Moureau, Sébastien (2020). "Min al-kīmiyāʾ ad alchimiam. The Transmission of Alchemy from the Arab-Muslim World to the Latin West in the Middle Ages". Micrologus. 28: 87–141. hdl:2078.1/211340. (a survey of all Latin alchemical texts attributed to authors writing in Arabic, including Latin texts attributed to al-Razi)
- OCLC 977570829.
- .
- Pines, S. Die Atomenlehre ar-Razi's in Beitrage zur islamischen Atomenlehre, Berlin, 1936, pp. 34–93.
- Pormann, Peter E.; Selove, Emily (2017). "Two New Texts on Medicine and Natural Philosophy by Abū Bakr al-Rāzī". Journal of the American Oriental Society. 137 (2): 279–299. .
- Ranking, G. S. A. (1913). The Life and Works of Rhazes, in Proceedings of the Seventeenth International Congress of Medicine, London, pp. 237–68.
- Rashed, Marwan (2008). "Abū Bakr Al-Rāzī Et La Prophétie". MIDÉO: 169–182.
- Renaud, H. P. J. (1931). A propos du millenaire de Razes, in Bulletin de la Société Française d'Histoire de la Médicine, Mars-avril, pp. 203 et seq.
- Rockey, Denyse and Johnstone, Penelope (1979). "Medieval Arabic views on speech disorders: Al-Razi (c. 865–925)", in: Journal of Communication Disorders, 12(3):229-43.
- .
- .
- S2CID 161271862.
- pseudepigraphs)
- S2CID 161055255. (contains a comparison of Jabir ibn Hayyan's and Abu Bakr al-Razi's knowledge of chemical apparatus, processes and substances)
- Shader, H. H., ZDMG, 79, pp. 228–35 (see translation into Arabic by Abdurrahman Badawiin al-Insan al-Kamil, Islamica, Vol. XI, Cairo, 1950, pp. 37–44).
- OCLC 706947607. (contains an in-depth analysis of the Kitāb al-asrār)
- Taylor, Gail (2010). "The Kitab al-Asrar: An Alchemy Manual in Tenth-Century Persia". Arab Studies Quarterly. 32 (1): 6–27. JSTOR 41858601.
- Von Lippmann, E. O. Entstehung und Ausbreitung der Alchemie, Vol. II, p. 181.
- Wüstenfeld, F., Geschichte der Arabischen Arzte und Naturforscher, ftn. 98.
External links
- "Dr Al Razi's city tour of Baghdad." Educational podcast released by the Leiden Learning & Innovation Centre as part of the Massive Open Online Course "Cosmopolitan Medieval Arabic World."
- Peter Adamson. "Abu Bakr al-Razi". In Zalta, Edward N. (ed.). Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
- "al-Razi" on Islamic Philosophy Online, encyclopedia article about al-Razi by Paul E. Walker.
- Lives of the Physicians, dating from 1882, features a biography, in Arabic, about Rhazes.