Hawl Tafsir al-Fakhr al-Razi wa Takmilatihi - ضمن "Athar al-Muallimi
- Author died
- 1386 AH
- Editions
- Dar Alam al-Fawa'id lil-Nashr wal-Tawzi'
Hawl Tafsir al-Fakhr al-Razi wa Takmilatihi (On the Exegesis of al-Fakhr al-Razi and Its Supplement) is a critical bibliographic treatise by the Yemeni scholar Abd al-Rahman al-Muallimi al-Yamani (1313–1386 AH / 1896–1966 CE) analyzing the authorship and composition of the famous Quranic commentary Mafatih al-Ghayb by Fakhr al-Din al-Razi (d. 606 AH) and identifying the portions written by its continuator .
Background and Purpose
The treatise was prompted by a discussion between al-Muallimi and the Najdi scholar Muhammad ibn Abd al-Aziz ibn Mani' (d. 1385 AH) . Ibn Mani' noted that standard biographical and bibliographical references—such as Kashf al-Zunun, Tabaqat al-Shafi'iyya al-Kubra by Taj al-Din al-Subki, and al-Durar al-Kaminah by Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani—recorded that al-Razi had not completed his commentary and that continuations (takmila) were written by subsequent scholars, whereas the commercially printed editions attributed the entire commentary seamlessly to al-Razi without distinguishing between the original text and its additions . Al-Muallimi composed the work between 1372 and 1375 AH during his tenure at the Library of the Grand Mosque in Mecca .
Core Inquiries and Findings
Al-Muallimi organized his study around three central questions: whether al-Razi had completed the exegesis; who authored the continuation printed alongside the original; and how to demarcate the exact boundaries between the original work and the supplement .
Because al-Razi did not comment on the Quran in standard sequential order, determining the boundaries required an inductive reading (istiqra'), stylistic evaluation, and examination of internal textual evidence across the exegesis . Al-Muallimi concluded that:
- The printed exegesis is not entirely the work of al-Razi .
- The supplement incorporated into the standard printed edition was authored by Shams al-Din Ahmad ibn Khalil al-Khuwayyi (d. 639 AH), rather than Najm al-Din Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Qamuli (d. 727 AH) .
- The authentic portions authored directly by al-Razi comprise: from the beginning of the Quran to the end of Surah al-Qasas; from the beginning of Surah al-Saffat to the end of Surah al-Ahqaf; Surahs al-Hadid, al-Mujadila, and al-Hashr; and from the beginning of Surah al-Mulk to the end of the Quran . The remaining surahs and accompanying marginal commentaries belong to al-Khuwayyi's completion .
Manuscript and Publication History
The original holograph manuscript consists of 13 folios preserved in the Library of the Grand Mosque in Mecca (photocopy no. 4745) . The text originally lacked a formalized title and began with the Basmala .
The study was first published during al-Muallimi's lifetime in Mecca in Majallat al-Hajj in 1376 AH across three installments under the title Hawl Tafsir al-Fakhr al-Razi . It was also translated into Urdu by Diya' al-Din al-Islahi and published in the Indian monthly journal Ma'arif (Azamgarh) in August and September 1957 . Later, it appeared within a collection of al-Muallimi's treatises edited by al-Ziyadi in 1417 AH, before being incorporated into the exegesis volume of Athar Abd al-Rahman al-Muallimi al-Yamani under the expanded title Hawl Tafsir al-Fakhr al-Razi wa Takmilatihi .
Answer updated