THE LIFE OF FAKHRIDIN AL-RAZI, HIS PATRONS, AND HIS SCHOLARLY AND POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

Fakhrdin al-Razi (1149–1209) was a prominent representative of the theological–philosophical school and made a significant
contribution to its development and advancement. The thinker expressed his philosophical and scholarly ideas in such works as
Mabāḥith al-Mashriqiyya, Muḥaṣṣal Afkār al-Mutaqaddimīn wa al-Mutaʾakhkhirīn min al-ʿUlamāʾ wa al-Ḥukamāʾ wa al-
Mutakallimīn, Risālat al-Kamāliyya fī al-Ḥaqāʾiq al-Ilāhiyya, Maṭālib al-ʿĀlīya, Maṭālib al-Uṣūl, as well as Asrār al-Tanzīl,
Kitāb al-Arbaʿīn fī Uṣūl al-Dīn, Barāhīn dar ʿIlm al-Kalām, Mafātīḥ al-Ghayb, Jāmiʿ al-ʿUlūm, and others. Fakhr al-Din al-Razi
was a follower of the philosophical orientation of Muhammad al-Ghazali and directed his theory in opposition to the Peripatetic
(Mashshaʾiyyūn) philosophers. In the history of Islamic thought, al-Razi is regarded as the first and most influential figure of the
second classical period, during which the works and ideas preceding al-Ghazali underwent significant intellectual and conceptual
transformations. Capable of producing works in many fields - especially theology and philosophy - al-Razi, in particular,
identified the defining characteristics of the universal sciences and, for his reform of theology, was honored with the title al-
Imam. Based on the object of the research, this article seeks to provide information about the thinker’s life path, his patrons, and
his scholarly and political connections.