View source for Abd Allah ibn Yazid al-Fazari

{{Short description|8th-century Islamic scholar}}
{{Infobox academic|birth_date=c. 748|death_date=c. 795|era=[[Abbasid Caliphate|Abbāsid]]|main_interests=[[theology]]|name=Abd Allah ibn Yazid al-Fazari|notable_works=Kitab al-Qadr ({{lang|ar|كتاب القدر}}); ‘Book of Predetermination’|occupation=[[Theologist]]|birth_place=[[Kufa]]|native_name={{lang|ar|عبدالله بن يزيد الفزاري}}|influences=Abu Ubayda Muslim ibn Abi Karima, [[Jabir ibn Zayd]]|school_tradition=[[Ibadi]]}}'''Abū Muḥammad ʿAbdallāh ibn Yazīd al-Fazārī''' ({{Langx|ar|أبومحمد عبدالله بن يزيد الفزاري}}) (<abbr>c.</abbr> 748–795), was an [[Ibadi Islam|Ibadi]] scholar of [[Kalam|theology]] hailing from the Arab tribe of [[Banu Fazara]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Madelung|first=Wilferd|date=2016-09-01|title=al-Fazārī, ʿAbdallāh b. Yazīd|url=https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-3/al-fazari-abdallah-b-yazid-COM_30960?s.num=91&s.start=80|journal=Encyclopaedia of Islam, THREE|language=en}}</ref> His works comprise the earliest extant body of Islamic theology and considered by scholars as an important source for studying the first development of rational theology in Islam.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|url=https://brill.com/view/title/12923|title=Early Ibāḍī Theology: Six kalām texts by 'Abd Allāh b. Yazīd al-Fazārī|date=2014-07-03|publisher=Brill|isbn=978-90-04-27459-4|language=en}}</ref>
== Biography ==
Abd Allah was born to a family of the [[Banu Fazara]] tribe in the city of [[Kufa]],<ref name=":0" /> at the time a flourishing city under the rule of the [[Abbasid Caliphate]]. Abd Allah is known to have been a silk trader in Kufa. He most probably travelled to pursue his studies of theology in the Ibadi sect in the port city of [[Basra]]. Abd Allah most likely took his knowledge in theology under the Ibadite scholar Abu Ubayda Muslim ibn Abi Karima (d. 775).<ref name=":0" /> Abu Ubayda played a leading role among the growing Ibadi community in Basra. Abd Allah consider Abu Ubayda as the second spiritual leader of the early Ibadi sect, only after the Imam [[Jabir ibn Zayd|Jabir ibn Zayd al-Azdi]] (d. 712) one of the founding figures of the [[Ibadi]]s.<ref name=":0" /> Abd Allah had many followers in the North African Ibadi community later known as the [[Nukkari|Nukkar]], one of the main Ibadi branches.<ref name=":1" /> A collection of six texts in theology dating to the 8th century attributed to Abd Allah was recently discovered in the majority Ibadi region of [[M'zab|Mzab]] in [[Algeria]]. In these manuscripts, the sophisticated treatment of the divine related attributes show that this subject has been greatly in constant development even earlier in Islamic theology contrary to what had been formerly proposed by modern scholars.<ref name=":1" />
== Works ==
There are six works attributed to Abd Allah al-Fazari:<ref name=":1" />
* ''Kitab al-Qadr'' ({{Langx|ar|كتاب القدر}}, ''Book of Predetermination'')
* ''Kitab fi al-Rad 'ala Ibn 'Umayr'' ({{Lang|ar|كتاب في الرد على ابن عمير}}, ''Book on Refutation of Ibn ʿUmayr'')
* ''Kitab fi al-Rad 'ala al-Mujassima'' ({{Lang|ar|كتاب الرد على المجسمة}}, ''Book of Refutation of the Corporalists'')
* ''Kitab al-Fatya'' ({{Lang|ar|كتاب الفتيا}}, ''Book of Legal Opinion'')
* ''Kitab al-Tawhid fi Ma'rifat Allah'' ({{Lang|ar|كتاب التوحيد في معرفة الله}}, ''Book of Monotheism in the Recognition of God'')
* ''Kitab fi man Raja' 'an 'Elmeh wa Faraq al-Nabi wa Huwa 'ala Deneh'' ({{Lang|ar|كتاب في من رجع عن علمه وفارق النبيّ وهو على دينه}}, ''Book about Whoever Reneges on his Knowledge and Departs from the Prophet while Remaining in his Religion'')
== See also ==
* [[List of pre-modern Arab scientists and scholars]]
== References ==
{{Reflist}}
{{Islamic theology}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:748 births]]
[[Category:795 deaths]]
[[Category:8th-century Arab people]]
[[Category:8th-century Muslim theologians]]
[[Category:8th-century people from the Abbasid Caliphate]]
[[Category:Scholars from the Abbasid Caliphate]]
[[Category:Ibadi Muslims]]
[[Category:People from Kufa]]