Rukn al-dën Maḥmà «d ibn Muḥammad al-MalÃÂḥimë al-KhuwÃÂrazmë (died 19 October 1141) was a KhwÃÂrazmian Islamic theologian of the Muÿtazilë and Ḥanafë schools. He wrote six works known by title, but of these only one is completely preserved and two partially; the rest are lost.
Ibn al-MalÃÂḥimë was born before 1090 in KhwÃÂrazm. He was probably active in GurgÃÂnj, the capital of KhwÃÂrazm. In his time, Muÿtazila was popular among the KhwÃÂrazmian Ḥanafë, whereas it had been suppressed in most Muslim countries. He initially belonged to the Bahshamiyya branch of Muÿtazila, but adopted the theology of Abu þl-Ḥusayn al-Baá¹£rë after its introduction to KhwÃÂrazm. He helped turn the school of al-Baá¹£rë into a serious rival to the Bahshamiyya in KhwÃÂrazm. He taught theology to al-Zamakhsharë, who in turn instructed him in Qurþanic exegesis.
Ibn al-MalÃÂḥimë was a staunch opponent of metaphysics. He saw in the teachings of Ibn Sënàa dilution of Islam's prophetic character. Christianity, in his view, was the paradigm of a religion of divine revelation and prophecy compromised by Greek philosophy. He wrote a compendium of the Muÿtazilë theology of al-Baá¹£rë, The Reliable Book on the Principles of Religion, but only the first section and part of another have been preserved. He wrote an abridged version of his compendium, The Excellent Book on the Principles of Religion, completed in December 1137. This work survives complete. In it he mentions two other works of his that are not known to have been preserved.
Between 1137 and 1141, Ibn al-MalÃÂḥimë completed a third book, The Gift to the Theologians Concerning the Refutation of the Philosophers, a comprehensive attack on Hellenistic philosophy, especially those used in the teachings of Ibn SënÃÂ. For al-MÃÂlahimë, excessive use of Hellenistic philosophy could risk being misused to justify false beliefs, as the Christians do with the Trinity and Incarnation. This work once circulated as far afield as Yemen, but is now lost. His last work, The Abstract, is an abridged version of a work by al-Baá¹£rë on legal method completed by June 1140. It survives in a single incomplete manuscript.