A Muʿtazilite Commentary on a Seminal Ashʿarite work: Ibn Abī l-Ḥadīd's Critique of the "K. al-Muḥaṣṣal" by Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī: A Critical Edition and Study

The book consists of an editio princeps of Ibn Abī l-Ḥadīd's (d. 655/1257 or 656/1258) commentary on the "K. al-Muḥaṣṣal" of Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī (d. 606/1209). The polymath Ibn Abī l-Ḥadīd, who spent most of his life in Baghdad shortly before the Mongol conquest of the city, is the last prominent representative of Muʿtazilism in Baghdad. He is primarily known for his commentary on "Nahj al-balāgha" which is published but has so far not been studied in any depth as to the doctrinal predilections of its author. In the realm of theology he also wrote a commentary on Abū l-Ḥusayn al-Baṣrī's (d. 436/1044) "K. al-Ghurar"—both the "Ghurar" and the commentary are lost. However, Ibn Abī l-Ḥadīd's acquaintance with the "K. al-Ghurar" also influenced his "Sharḥ Nahj al-balāgha" where he frequently quotes from the work. This is significant since Abū l-Ḥusayn al-Baṣrī was the founder of the last innovative school of Mu'tazilism which was immensely influential on the later development of theological-philosophical thoughts among the Ashʿarites but also other strands, such as Maturidism and even Ḥanbalism (as well as Twelver Shiʿism and Zaydism). Ibn Abī l-Ḥadīd's commentary on Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī's "Muḥaṣṣal" is of comparable significance. In it, the author again displays his intimate familiarity with the "K. al-Ghurar" and the thought of its author, Abū l-Ḥusayn, and it is a rare testimony of how a Muʿtazilite author of the 13th century relates to Ashʿarite thought. The work is incompletely preserved in a single manuscript, Ms. Istanbul University Library A3297. In addition to a lengthy introduction, in the course of which we discuss the wider intellectual context as briefly laid out above, the book contains a critical edition of the text.