Everything about Ibn Taymiyyah totally explained
Taqi ad-Din Ahmad ibn Taymiyyah (
January 22,
1263 –
1328), was a
Sunni Islamic scholar born in
Harran, located in what is now
Turkey, close to the
Syrian border. He lived during the troubled times of the
Mongol invasions. As a member of the school founded by
Ibn Hanbal, he sought the return of
Islam to its sources, the
Qur'an and the
Sunnah.
Full name:
Taqī ad-Dīn Abul Abbās Ahmad ibn 'Abd al-Halim ibn 'Abd as-Salam Ibn Taymiya al-Harrānī (
Arabic: أبو العباس تقي الدين أحمد بن عبد السلام بن عبد الله ابن تيمية الحراني)
Biography
Ibn Taymiya was born in 1263 at
Harran into a well-known family of theologians. The 15th century biographical dictionary
At-Tibyan li badi'at al-Bayan (التبيان لبديعة البيان) reports that he was a descendant of the
Arab tribe of
Banu Numayr. His grandfather, Abu al-Barkat Majd ad-deen ibn Taymiyyah al-Hanbali (d.
1255) was a reputed teacher of the
Hanbali school of thought. Likewise, the scholarly achievements of ibn Taymiyyah's father, Shihabuddeen 'Abd al-Haleem ibn Taymiyyah (d.
1284) were well known.
Because of the
Mongol invasion, ibn Taymiyyah's family moved to
Damascus in 1268, which was then ruled by the
Mamluks of
Egypt. It was here that his father delivered sermons from the pulpit of the
Umayyad Mosque, and ibn Taymiyyah followed in his footsteps by studying with the great scholars of his time, among them a woman scholar by the name Zaynab bint Makki from whom he learned
Hadith.
Ibn Taymiyyah was an industrious student and acquainted himself with the secular and religious sciences of his time. He devoted special attention to
Arabic literature and gained mastery over grammar and lexicography as well as studying mathematics and calligraphy.
As for the religions sciences, he studied jurisprudence from his father and became a representative of the
Hanbali school of thought. Though he remained faithful throughout his life to that school, whose doctrines he'd decisively mastered, he also acquired an extensive knowledge of the
Islamic disciplines of the
Qur'an and the
Hadith. He also studied dogmatic theology (
kalam), philosophy, and
Sufism, which he later heavily critiqued.
His courage was expressed when he went with a delegation of ulamaa to talk to
Qazaan, the
Khan of the
Tartars, to stop his attack on the Muslims. Not one of the ulamaa dared to say anything to him except Ibn Taymiyyah who said: "You claim that you're Muslim and you've with you Mu'adhdhins, Muftis, Imams and Shaykh but you invaded us and reached our country for what? While your father and your grandfather,
Hulagu were non-believers, they didn't attack and they kept their promise. But you promised and broke your promise."
Persecution
Due to Ibn Taymiya's outspokenness, puritanical views, and literalism, he was imprisoned several times for conflicting with the opinions of prominent jurists and theologians of his day.
As early as 1293 he came into conflict with local authorities for protesting a religious ruling against a
Christian accused of insulting
Muhammad. In 1298 he was accused of
anthropomorphism and for having questioned the legitimacy of dogmatic theology (
kalam).
He led the resistance of the
Mongol invasion of
Damascus in 1300 . In the years that followed, Ibn Taymiyyah was engaged in intensive polemic activity against: (1) the Kasrawan
Shi'a in
Lebanon, (2) the
Rifa'i Sufi order, and (3) the
ittihadiyah school, a school that grew out of the teaching of
Ibn 'Arabi, whose views he denounced as heretical.
In 1306 Ibn Taymiyyah was imprisoned in the citadel of
Cairo for eighteen months on the charge of
anthropomorphism. He was incarcerated again in 1308 for several months.
Ibn Taymiyyah spent his last fifteen years in
Damascus where a circle of disciples formed around him from every social class. The most famous of these,
Ibn Qayyim, was to share in Ibn Taymiyyah's renewed persecutions. From August
1320 to February
1321 Ibn Taymiyyah was imprisoned on orders from
Cairo in the citadel of
Damascus for supporting a doctrine that would curtail the ease with which a
Muslim man could traditionally divorce his wife.
In July
1326 the government in
Cairo again ordered him confined to the citadel for having continued his condemnation of popular visitations of saints' tombs despite the prohibition forbidding him to do so. He died in confinement in
Damascus on the night of Sunday-Monday 26–27 September 1328 at the age of 65, and was buried at the
Sufi cemetery in
Damascus, where his mother was also buried.
Ibn Taymiyyah was known for his prodigious memory and encyclopedic knowledge.
Views
Jihad
Ibn Taymiyyah is known for his devotion to
jihad, or what he called
the best of the forms of voluntary service man can devote to God. The ulema agree in proclaiming it superior to pilgrimage and to the `umra, as well as to prayer and supererogatory fasts, as is shown in the Book and in the Sunna.
In the
Mamluk's war against the
Mongols (or Tartars), he issued a fatwa declaring jihad upon the Mongols not only permissible, but
obligatory as the Mongols were not true Muslims. He based this ruling on the grounds that although the Mongols had converted to Sunni Islam they ruled using 'man-made laws' (their traditional
Yassa code) rather than Islamic law or
Shari'ah, and thus were living in a state of
jahiliyya, or pre-Islamic pagan ignorance. `Every group of Muslims that transgresses Islamic law ... must be combated, even when they continue to profess the credo.`
Madh'hab
Ibn Taymiyyah held that much of the
Islamic scholarship of his time had declined into modes that were inherently against the proper understanding of the
Qur'an and the
Sunnah. He strove to:
- revive the Islamic faith's understanding of "true" adherence to "Tawhid",
- eradicate beliefs and customs that he held to be foreign to Islam, and
- to rejuvenate correct Islamic thought and its related sciences.
Ibn Taymiyyah believed that the first three generations of
Islam –
Muhammad, his
companions, and the followers of the companions from the earliest generations of
Muslims – were the best role models for
Islamic life. Their practice, together with the
Qur'an, constituted a seemingly infallible guide to life. Any deviation from their practice was viewed as
bidah, or innovation, and to be forbidden.
Qur'anic literalism
Ibn Taymiyyah favored an extremely literal interpretation of the
Qur'an. He affirmed Allah's attributes – that he'd "a hand and a face, that he loves and hates, and that he ascends and descends while remaining risen above in a throne over the heavens." His opponents charged that he taught
anthropomorphism, that is, that he took references to
Allah's hand, foot, shin, and face as being literally true – even though he insisted that
Allah's "hand" was nothing comparable to hands found in
creation. Some of his
Islamic critics contend that this violates the
Islamic concept of
tawhid.
Sufism
Ibn Taymiyyah was a stern critic of
antinomian interpretations of Islamic mysticism (
Sufism). He believed that
sharia applied to ordinary
Muslim and mystic alike.
Most scholars believe that he rejected the creed used by most
Sufis entirely (the
Ash`ari creed). This seems supported by his works, especially
al-Aqeedat al-Waasittiyah wherein he refuted the
Asha'ira, the Jahmiyya and the
Mu'tazila – the methodology of whom latter day
Sufis have adopted.
Shi'a
Ibn Taymiyyah believed
Shia Islam to be a heresy and developed a formal refutation of Shiism that's popular with modern day Sunni opponents of Shiaism. He sanctioned violence against Shia and has been said to "set the tone" for much later conflict between the two movements.
Ibn Taymiyyah rejected the Shia idea of the
Imamate on the grounds that there's no mention of Imams in the Quran or the hadith of the Prophet. He argued the Quran has no esoteric meaning since it should be read literally.
Shi'as in turn have an extremely negative view of him. Some have labeled him a
nasibi, for example "Imam of the Nasibis, Ibn Taymiyya" .
Non-Muslims
Ibn Taymiyyah strongly opposed borrowing from
Christianity or other non-Muslim religions. In his text
On the Necessity of the Straight Path (
kitab iqtida al-sirat al-mustaqim) he preached that the beginning of Muslim life was the point at which `a perfect dissimilarity with the non-Muslims has been achieved.` To this end he opposed the celebration of the
Prophet Muhammad's birthday or the construction of
mosques around the tombs of
Sufi "saints" saying: `Many of them [theMuslims] don't even know of the Christian origins of these practices. Accursed be Christianity and its adherents!`
Shrines
Since he was a strong proponent of
Tawhid, ibn Taymiyyah opposed giving any undue religious honors to shrines (even that of Jerusalem,
Al-Aqsa), to approach or rival in any way the
Islamic sanctity of the two most holy
mosques within
Islam,
Mecca (
Masjid al Haram) and
Medina (
Masjid al-Nabawi).
Quotes
“What can my enemies possibly do to me? My paradise is in my heart; wherever I go it goes with me, inseparable from me. For me, prison is a place of (religious) retreat; execution is my opportunity for martyrdom; and exile from my town is but a chance to travel.”
"The perfection of tawhid is found when there remains nothing in the heart except [theremembrance of] Allah, the servant is left loving those He loves and what He loves, hating those He hates and what He hates, showing allegiance to those He has allegiance to, showing enmity to those He shows enmity towards, ordering what He orders and prohibiting what He prohibits."
"Sins are like chains and locks preventing their perpetrator from roaming the vast garden of tawhid and reaping the fruits of righteous actions."
"The one who is (truly) imprisoned is the one whose heart is imprisoned from Allah, and the captivated one is the one whose desires have enslaved him."
Legacy
Analogical Reasoning
Ibn Taymiyyah made significant contribution to the formalization of Analogical Reasoning. He believed reasoning of real world, universal propositions can only be derived by induction while admitting logical deductions when applied to purely mental constructions in mathematics. The IBM research scientist John Safa published his thesis describing Ibn Taymiyyah's influence on Analogical Reasoning in the International Conference on Conceptual Structures in Dresden, Germany.
Works written by ibn Taymiyyah
Ibn Taymiyyah left a considerable body of work that has been republished extensively in Syria, Egypt, Arabia, and India. His work extended and justified his religious and political involvements and was characterized by its rich content, sobriety, and skillful polemical style. Extant books and essays written by ibn Taymiyyah include:
A Great Compilation of Fatwa—(Majmu al-Fatwa al-Kubra)
Minhaj as-Sunnah an-Nabawiyyah—(The Pathway of as-Sunnah an-Nabawiyyah)—Volumes 1–4
Majmoo' al-Fatawa—(Compilation of Fatawa) Volumes 1–36
al-Aqeedah Al-Hamawiyyah—(The Creed to the People of Hamawiyyah)
al-Aqeedah Al-Waasittiyah—(The Creed to the People of Waasittiyah)
al-Asma wa's-Sifaat—(Allah's Names and Attributes) Volumes 1–2
'al-Iman—(Faith)
al-Jawab as Sahih li man Baddala Din al-Masih (Literally, "The Correct Response to those who have Corrupted the Deen (Religion) of the Messiah"; A Muslim theologian's response to Christianity)—seven volumes, over a thousand pages.
Fatawa al-Kubra
Fatawa al-Misriyyah
ar-Radd 'ala al-Mantiqiyyin (Refutation of Greek Logicians)
Naqd at-Ta'sis
al-Uboodiyyah—(Subjection to Allah)
Iqtida' as-Sirat al-Mustaqim'—(Following The Straight Path)
at-Tawassul wal-Waseela
Sharh Futuh al-Ghayb—(Commentary on Revelations of the Unseen by Abdul Qadir Jilani)
Many of his books are now available in Arabic language online at: http://arabic.islamicweb.com/Books/taimiya.asp
Some of his other works have been translated to English. They include:
The Friends of Allah and the Friends of Shaytan
Kitab al Iman: The Book of Faith
Diseases of the Hearts and their Cures
The Relief from Distress
Fundamentals of Enjoining Good & Forbidding Evil
The Concise Legacy
The Goodly Word
The Madinan Way
Ibn Taymiyya against the greek logicians
Students and intellectual heirs
Ibn Kathir (1301 – 1372)
Ibn al-Qayyim (1292 – 1350)
al-Dhahabi (1274 – 1348) (see (External Link
) for further information)
Muhammad ibn Abd-al-Wahhab (1703 – 1792)
Historical views
Throughout history, many scholars and thinkers have praised ibn Taymiyyah and his works.
Ibn Taymiyyah's student and renowned scholar in his own right, Ibn Kathir stated:
Ibn Taymiyyah's other student, Al-Dhahabi stated:
The widely-known Hanbali scholar, Ibn Rajab stated :
The famed Shafi scholar, Al-Mizzi stated:
The famous muhaddith, Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani stated:
More modern thinkers include an 18th century Arabian scholar named Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab, who studied the works of ibn Taymiyyah and aimed to revive his teachings.
Ibn Taymiyyah is also revered as an intellectual and spiritual exemplar by many contemporary Salafis.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Ibn Taymiyyah'.
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