The chapters

The book “The chapters” (Fosul) is the name of a theological book composed in Arabic by the prominent scholar Khajeh Nasir Tousi, concerning criticism of philosophers and “Ashariyya” (the school of orthodox theology founded by al-Ashari.

The Ashariya became the dominant school in the Arabic- speaking parts of the Abbasid caliphate) and honoring “Imamiya” (the term indicates the Twelver shia and as such is distinguished from the Ismailiya, which branched off from the Imamiya after death of Imam Jafar Sadeq –the 6^th shia Imam) and “Mutazila” (name of a religious movement founded at Basra by wasil by Ibn Ata).  

The author

Muhammad Ibn Muhammad Tusi, outstanding scholar, known as “Nasir al-Din”, “Khajeh Tusi”, “The master of man”, “the 11^th intellect” and “The 3^rd master” (1201 - 1247), Mashhad – Iran.

He was an astronomer and Shia politician, in 1256 lured the assassin leader Rukn al-Din Khurshah into the hands of the Ilkhan Hulegu, accompanied the latter to Baghdad and founded the observatory of Maragha.

He had a strong sympathy with the Twelver Shia, to him a certain degree of mercy was shown during the Mongol holocaust and whose sanctuaries were spared. He wrote on dogmatics, logic and philosophy, law and belles – lettres, and above all on the sciences, in particular on astronomy.

Khajeh Nasir was fully versed at all the common sciences of his own time: theology, philosophy, mathematics, astronomy and literature.

He also wrote some poems in Arabic and Persian. He followed the Peripatetic philosophers (pshilosophers who follow Aristotle) and his own philosophy was based on Avicenna’s.

His masters:

1. Muhammad Ibn Hasan Tusi “his father” (in transmitted sciences)
2. Ibn Meytham Bahrani
3. Muhaghegh Helli
4. Qutb al-Din Mesri
5. Farid al-Din Damad

Students:

1. Qutb al-Din Shirazi
2. Allameh Helli
3. Ibn Fuwati
4. Ibn Heytham Bahrani
5. Seyyed Rukn al-Din Astar Abaadi,  etc.

Works:

70 works in Arbaic and Persian have been attributed to him but it is doubtfull that some of them to be written by Khajeh Nasir. The following list are some of his works:

1. Abstraction of beliefs (on theology)
2. Explanation of the book “Isharat” (written by Avicenna, on philosophy)
3. The rules of beliefs (on the principles of beliefs)
4. The Tusi ethics (on ethics and the practical philosophy)
5. The beginning and the end (on the creation and resurrection, in Persian)
6. Almagest (on mathematics)
7. Euclid (on geometry)
8. Abstraction of logic
9. The base of extraction (on logic, in Persian)

10- The Ilkhani astronomical tables (on astronomy)

11- The rules of discussions

12- the 20 sections on the knowledge of astrolabe

13- The treatise remonstrances

14- Abstraction of geometry

15- Proving the essence

16- Proving the intellect

17- The stereoscopic cup (on astronomy, in Persian)

18- Proving the existence of God

The book structure

It includes the principles of Islam religion. The chapters (Fosul) are as follows:

1- Monotheism

2-Justice

3-Prophecy and Imamate

4-Resurrection

Sources

Keywords