The Disputed Name and Origin of Abū al-Fatḥ al-Karājikī (d. 449/1057)

This study examines the various historical attempts to explain nisbah—the denominal adjectival appellation—al-Karājikī, of Abū al-Fatḥ Muḥammad b. ʿAlī ʿUthmān al-Karājikī, well-known Twelver Shiite theologian and jurist who studied under al-Shaykh al-Mufīd (d. 413/1022) died in 449/1057. Several biographical sources that al-Karājikī’s nisbah means “tent-maker” or “tent-seller,” evidently interpreting karājik as a word non- Arabic origin denoting tents. view has been generally accepted studies intellectual history, but few scholars have noted al-Karājikī might be connected with toponym. birth date is not known, nor his native region. His writings demonstrate he Baghdad spent most life Syria Egypt, reports one passage was Mayyāfāriqīn (modern Silvan, Turkey) year 399/1008–9, when must fairly young. argues geographical derives from Karacık, village what now district Bismil province Diyarbakır, Turkey. It suggests this youth, before traveling undertake advanced law theology.