ʻAḍud al-Dīn ʻAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Aḥmad Ījī

Lineage He was a descendant of a family which traced its genealogy back to the first caliph Abū Bakr.

Early life Birth He was born in a town called Īj near Shiraz, located in the Fars province in the year of 680 AH/1281 AD.

Education During his early years, al-Ījī moved to Tabriz and studied grammar and the rational sciences under Fakr al-Din al-Jarbadadi, a pupil of the distinguished scholar, al-Baydawi. Additionally, al-Ījī studied under Qutb al-Din al-Shirazi, who was a prominent pupil of Nasir al-Din al-Tusi. It is also documented that, as a young man, he studied philosophy at Sultaniyya, the Ikhanid capital, with the vizier Rashid al-Din Hamadani as his sponsor.

Career When he was younger, he attempted to pursue a career at the court of the Il-khanids, the Mongol dynasty that ruled Iran in Tabriz. He was successful in gaining the respect of the influential vizier, Rashid al-Din Hamadani, who was a Jew who had converted to Islam when the Mongols themselves eventually abandoned their inherited beliefs in Shamanism or Buddhism. Al-Ījī was a Sunni, therefore his status may have been in jeopardy when Öljaitü converted to Shiism in 1310. Nevertheless, it has been reported al-Ījī served as the judge in Sultaniyya and Rashīd al-Dīn offered him a teaching position at a mobile "university" that accompanied the Il-khanid monarch Öljaitü throughout his expeditions. Eventually, he appears to have settled back in Shābankārah, where he was left to manage substantial lands that protected his family's riches in the form of a charitable trust (waqf) following the death of his father in 1317. Al-Ījī broke off his ties to the court after Rashīd al-Dīn was put to death in 1318 and didn't re-establish them until Ghiyāth al-Dīn, his son, succeeded his father as vizierate in 1327 and rose to the position of chief judge of the empire. But when the Ilkhanate dynasty came to an end in 1335, he relocated to Shiraz, where he was given protection by the provincial ruler Abū Isḥāq Injü and rose to the position of chief judge in the town. Despite his reduced salary, he relished the ambiance of an art-loving court and the companionship of poets like Hafez.

Students He produced great students who became horizons as described by biographers: The book sets out in the style of a summa theologica, in concise language, the traditional ideas of late Asḥʿarite theology; it is based mainly on the of Fakhr al-Din al-Razi and the of Sayf al-Din al-Amidi. Al-Akhlaq al-Adudiyya, a book on moral philosophy. Aqaid al-Adudiyya ("Creed of al-Adudiyya"), a famous treatise on the Ash'ari creed according to the author. Jawahir al-Kalam ("Jewels of Kalam") Sharh Mukhtasar al-Muntaha, a book on jurisprudential principles and it is considered one of the best commentaries of Mukhtaṣar al-Muntahá al-uṣūlī by Ibn al-Hajib Taḥqīq al-tafsīr fī takṯīr al-tanwīr, it's a commentary on Anwar al-Tanzil wa-Asrar al-Ta'wil by al-Baydawi. Al- Fawāʾed al-ḡīāṯīya, a book on rhetoric. Ādāb al-baḥṯ ("Ethics of discussion") Ešrāq al-tawārīḵ, a treatise on the history of religion.