Maalim Usul al-Din
- Author died
- 606 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-Kitāb al-ʿArabī
Maalim Usul al-Din (The Landmarks of the Principles of Religion), also known as al-Maalim fi Usul al-Din, is a concise treatise on Islamic theology (kalam) authored by the Shafi'i jurist and Ash'ari scholar Fakhr al-Din al-Razi (543/544–606 AH / 1149/1150–1210 CE) .
Structure and Scope
The work opens with the doxology: «الحمد لله فالق الإصباح وخالق الأرواح» ("Praise be to God, Splitter of the dawn and Creator of spirits") . In classical cataloging, the work is described as encompassing five essential disciplines :
- The science of the principles of religion (usul al-din) .
- The science of legal theory (usul al-fiqh) .
- The science of substantive jurisprudence (fiqh) .
- Established principles regarding juridical disagreement (al-khilaf) .
- Principles governing the etiquette of dialectical inquiry and disputation (adab al-nazar wa-al-jadal) .
Al-Razi authored a companion text dedicated specifically to legal theory titled al-Maalim fi Usul al-Fiqh, and both treatises are frequently referred to together in biographical and bibliographic sources as al-Maalimayn ("the two Landmarks") .
Commentaries and Abridgments
The treatise received attention through commentaries and epitomes:
- Najm al-Din al-Lubudi produced an abridgment that combined both of al-Razi's Maalim treatises on theology and legal theory (al-Maalimayn fi al-aslayn) .
- A single-volume commentary on the work was authored by Najm al-Din (d. 663 AH), which commenced with the phrase: «الحمد لله الذي خلق النفس فسواها» ("Praise be to God who created the soul and fashioned it"); he commented on the theological portions of the book without transcribing the complete original text .
- Ibn al-Tilimsani (Sharaf al-Din Abu Muhammad Abd Allah ibn Muhammad al-Fihri, d. 644 AH) authored two commentaries on al-Razi's al-Maalim .
Publication History
The work was printed in Cairo on the margins of al-Razi's theological survey Muhassal Afkar al-Mutaqaddimin wa-al-Muta'akhkhirin . It was also published in an edition edited by Taha Abd al-Ra'uf Sa'd .
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