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Improvement work

[edit]

Points to consider for Ibn Taymiyyah article

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  • Death first line R.e. divorce - is this true? Citation? Reliable source? ----> sources now found (06/02/2015); did in fact run into trouble regarding divorce issue
  • Get input from other editors on how we can make the article GA status after editing completed with available sources
  • Go through current source then continue with source list below --> all done but two source are in red and need correction (how?)

Sources

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  • Ibn Taymiyya and his Times (Studies in Islamic Philosophy) [ISBN: 0195478347] -----> possible well written orientalist source; search university archives
  • Read rest of page 72 --> Encyclopaedia of religion and ethics
  • Possible good/reliable source at Oxford Islamic Studies Online ----> source

Views section

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  • Al-Hilli and Ibn Taymiyyah polemics --> Ibn Taymiyyah and his times (whole chapter on this)
  • The correct answer to the Christian faith book and polemics against Christianity --> Ibn Taymiyyah and his times (whole chapter on this)
  • God's attributes --> keep eye on repetitive information as it is discussed in biography section
  • Innovation --> needs a complete rewrite
  • Jihad ---> extensive literature on this; also needs rewrite (currently mostly quotes)
  • Madh'hab --> see if there are sources on current version, if not delete and rewrite if given weight in sources
  • Non-Muslims ---> he may have wrote a book on this; have Orientalist analysed this?
  • Mosques ---> not sure
  • Analogical reasoning ---> use H.Gibb supervised thesis
  • Include new section of "logic" ---> IT had total distaste for logic
  • Include new section of "philogosphy" ---> IT had total distaste for philosophy (see view of Hanbal, Malik, Shafi'i and Abu Hanaifa)
  • Include new section of "Theology" ---> IT rejected theology
  • Economic views ---> First learn Foundation of Economics: A Beginner's Companion
  • Modern assessment ---> this could possibly warrant its own article once work is done (many sources on the topic)
  • Three different books list extant an possibly lost works --> "Works" section needs further work


Current impression

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  • Does not feel encyclopaedic enough
  • Mongol invasion section of biography maybe lacking in full description and context
  • Mostly used orientalist source upto now ---> to maintain NPOV maybe find Muslim sources and also mention their account
  • Some words not yet wiki linked
  • Clarify what calender to use in article; currently I have only used Georgian calender (someone will object eventually that it should be Hijri calender)
  • Legacy section needs further work -->Senuri movement + Wahhabi movement + possibly Sayyed Qutb + also nearly every possible islamist organisation
  • Influences needs further clarification
  • Teachers ----> new information states 200 may be exageration. Use list of 50 named teachers from IT&his times and maybe incorporate into a list on the page?

Ibn Taymiyyah

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Ibn Taymiyyah
TitleSheikh ul-Islam
Personal life
Born10 Rabi' al-awwal 661 AH, or
January 22, 1263 CE[1]
Died20 Dhu al-Qi'dah 728 AH, or
September 26, 1328 (aged 64–65)[2]
Damascus[1]
EraHigh Middle Ages
RegionMiddle Eastern Scholar
Religious life
DenominationSunni Islam[3]
JurisprudenceHanbali madhhab[3][4]
CreedHanbali theology[5]
MovementAhl al-Hadith
Senior posting
Influenced by
Influenced

Taqî ad-Dîn Aḥmad ibn Taymiyyah (born in Harran on 22 January 1263; died in Damascus on 20 September 1328), full name: Taqī ad-Dīn Abu 'l-`Abbās Aḥmad ibn `Abd al-Ḥalīm ibn `Abd as-Salām ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Khidr ibn Muhammad ibn al-Khidr ibn `Ali ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Taymiyyah al-Ḥarrānī[8] (Arabic: تقي الدين أبو العباس أحمد بن عبد الحليم بن عبد السلام بن عبد الله بن الخضر بن محمد بن الخضر بن على بن عبد الله ابن تيمية الحراني), was a controversial [9]Sunni Islamic scholar (alim), Sunni Islamic philosopher, Sunni theologian and logician. He lived during the troubled times of the Mongol invasions. He was a member of the school founded by Ahmad ibn Hanbal, and is considered by his followers, along with Ibn Qudamah, as one of the two most significant proponents of Hanbalism. In the modern era, his adherents often refer to the two as "the two sheikhs" and Ibn Taymiyyah in particular as "Sheikh ul-Islam".[10][11] Ibn Taymiyyah was notable for having sought the return of Sunni Islam to what he viewed as earlier interpretations of the Qur'an and the Sunnah, and is considered to have had considerable influence in contemporary Wahhabism, Salafism, and Jihadism.[12][13] He is renowned for his fatwa (takfir) issued against the Mongol rulers declaring jihad by Muslims against them compulsory, on the grounds that they did not follow Sharia and as such were not Muslim, their claims to have converted to Islam notwithstanding.[12][14] His teachings had a profound influence on Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, and other later Sunni scholars.[4] He also influenced the Sanusism movement in North Africa and other similar reform movements within the Islamic world.[8]

Early years

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Background

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Ibn Taymiyya was born in 1263 in Harran into a well-known family of theologians. Harran was a city in Şanlıurfa province of modern day Turkey, a place to which Moses was reportedly sent to provide guidance.[15] Before its destruction by the Mongols, Harran was also well known since the early days of Islam, for its Hanbali school and tradition,[16] to which Ibn Taymiyya's family belonged.[15] His grandfather, Abu al-Barkat Majd ad-Din ibn Taymiyyah al-Hanbali (d. 1255) and his uncle, Fakhr al-Din (d. 1225) were reputable scholars of the Hanbali school of law.[17] Likewise, the scholarly achievements of ibn Taymiyyah's father, Shihab al-deen 'Abd al-Halim ibn Taymiyyah (d. 1284) were also well known.[18]

His name

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Ibn Taymiyyah's name is unusual in that it is derived from a female member of his family as opposed to a male member which was the normal custom at the time and still is now. Taimiyatu was a woman, famous for her scholarship and piety, and as a result, the name Ibn Taymiyyah was taken up by many of her male descendent.[19]

Immigration to Damascus

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In 1269, Ibn Taymiyyah at the age of seven together with his father, and three brothers left the city of Harran which was completely destroyed by the ensuing Mongol invasion.[18][17] Ibn Taymiyyah's family moved and settled in Damascus, which was then ruled by the Mamluks of Egypt.

Education

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In damascus his father served as the director of the Sukkariyya madrasa, a place where Ibn Taymiyyah also received his early education.[20] Ibn Taymiyyah acquainted himself with thereligious and secular sciences of his time. His religious studies began in his early teens, when he committed the entire Qur'an to memory and later on came to learn the islamic disciplines of the Qur'an.[18] From his father he learnt the religious science of Fiqh (jurisprudence) and Usul al-Fiqh (principles of jurisprudence).[18] The number of scholars under which he studied Hadith is said to number more than two hundred,[18][21] four of whom were women.[22] One of his teachers was the first Hanbali Chief Justice of Syria, Shams ud-Din Al-Maqdisi who held the newly created position instituted by Baibars as part of a reform of the judiciary.[17] Al-Maqdisi later on, came to gave Ibn Taymiyyah permission to issue Fatawa (legal verdicts) when he had reached the age of 17.[23]

Ibn Taymiyyah's secular studies led him to devote attention to Arabic language and Arabic literature by studying under Ali ibn `Abd al-Qawi.[18] He went on to master the famous book of arabic grammer, Al-Kitab, by the persian grammarian Sibawayhi.[18] He also studied lexicography, mathematics, calligraphy, theology (kalam), philosophy, and Sufism.[24] At the age of 20 in the year 1282, Ibn Taymiyyah completed his education.[25]

Life as a scholar

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After his father died in 1284, he took up the then vacant post at the Sukkariyya madrasa and began giving lessons a year later in 1285.[17] That same year he also started giving lesson at the Umayyad Mosque on the subject of tafsir (exegesis of Qur'an).[17] In November 1292, Ibn Taymiyyah performed the Hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca) and when he returned 4 months later, he criticized the bid‘ah's (innovations) which he saw take place there.[17] Ibn Taymiyyah represented the Hanbali school of thought during this time. He remained faithful throughout his life to this school, whose doctrines he had mastered, but he nevertheless called for ijtihad (independent reasoning by one who is qualified).[25]

Relationship with the political establishment

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Ibn Taymiyyah's emergence into the public and political sphere began in 1293 at the age of 30, when he was asked by the authorities to give an Islamic legal verdict (Fatwa) on Assaf al-Nasrani, a christian cleric accused of insulting the Islamic prophet Muhammad.[17][26][27] He accepted the invitation and delivered his fatwa, which stated that the man was to receive the death penalty.[26] Public opinion was very much on Ibn Taymiyyah's side, with an infuriated public demanding Al-Nasrani's be put to death.[20] In this climate, the Governor of Syria at the time attempted to resolve the situation and asked Assaf to accept Islam in return for his life, to which he agreed.[20] This resolution was not acceptable to Ibn Taymiyyah who then, together with his followers, protested outside the Governor's palace.[20] Ibn Taymiyyah did not see the pardon as valid and stated that, any person who insults Muhammad, whether Muslim or non-Muslim should be given the same verdict.[20] This unwillingness to compromise coupled with his attempt to protest against the Governor's actions, resulted in him being punished with a prison sentence, the first of many such imprisonments to come.[17] The French orientalist Henri Laoust says that during this incarceration Ibn Taymiyyah "worte his first great work, al-Ṣārim al-maslūl ʿalā s̲h̲ātim al-Rasūl (The Drawn Sword against those who insult the Messenger)."[17]

A few years later in 1296, he took over the position of one of his teachers (Zayn al-Din Ibn al-Munadjdjaal), to start a teaching job at the Hanbaliyya madrasa, the oldest such institution of this tradition in Damascus.[17][28] The year he began his post at the Hanbaliyya madrasa, was a time of political turmoil. The Mamluk sultan Al-Adil Kitbugha was deposed by his vice-sultan Al-Malik al-Mansur Lajin who then ruled from 1297 to 1299.[29] Lajin had a desire to commission an expedition against the Christians of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia and for that purpose he urged Ibn Taymiyya to call the Muslims to Jihad.[17][20]

In 1298 Ibn Taymiyya wrote an explanation of the ayat al-mutashabihat (the unclear verses of the Qur'an) called Al-`Aqidat al-Hamawiyat al-Kubra (The creed of the great people of Hama).[30] The book is about divine attributes and it served as an answer to a question from the city of Hama, Syria.[30] At that particular time Ash'arites held prominent positions within the Islamic scholarly community in both Syria and Egypt, and they held a certain position on the divine attributes of God.[30] Ibn Taymiyyah in his book strongly disagreed with their views and this heavy opposition to the common Ash'ari position, caused considerable controversy.[30]

Mongol invasion of Syria

Ibn Taymiyya collaborated once more with the Mamluks in 1300, when he himself joined the expedition against the Alawite Shi'as, in the Kasrawan region of the Lebanese mountains.[17][26] Ibn Taymiyyah thought of the Alawites as "more heritical yet than Jews and Christians,"[31] and according to Carole Hillenbrand, the confrontation with the Shia's resulted because they "were accused of collaboration with Christians and Mongols."[26]

Image of Ghazan Khan, a historical figure harshly rebuked by Ibn Taymiyyah, mainly due to his constant state of hostility towards the Mamluks of Egypt.

Resisting the Mongol invasion of 1303

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The year 1303 saw the third Mongol invasion of Syria by Ghazan Khan, who was the Khan of the Mongol Ilkhanate of Iran, and his army.[32][33] Ibn Taymiyyah went with a delegation of ulama (Islamic scholars) to talk to Ghazan Khan, to stop his attack on the Muslims. It is reported that none of the ulama dared to say anything to the Khan except Ibn Taymiyyah who said:

"You claim that you are Muslim and you have with you Mu'adhdhins, Muftis, Imams and Shaykhs but you invaded us and reached our country for what? While your father and your grandfather, Hulagu were non-believers, they did not attack and they kept their promise. But you promised and broke your promise."[34]

What has been called Ibn Taymiyyah's "most famous" fatwā[14] was issued against the Mongols in the Mamluk's war. Ibn Taymiyyah declared that jihad upon the Mongols was not only permissible, but obligatory. He based this ruling his argument that the Mongols could not, in his opinion, be true Muslims despite the fact that they had converted to Sunni Islam because they ruled using what he considered 'man-made laws' (their traditional Yassa code) rather than Islamic law or Sharia. Because of this, he reasoned they were living in a state of jahiliyyah, or pre-Islamic pagan ignorance.[12][35]

Ibn Taymiyya once again, called on the Muslims to Jihad and he also personally joined the eventual battle of Marj al-Saffar against the Mongol army.[26][32] The battle began on 20 April of that year.[32] On the same day, Ibn Taymiyyah declared a fatwa which exempted Mamluk soldiers from the fast during the month of Ramadan so that they could maintain their strength.[17][26][32] Within two days the Mongols were severely defeated and the battle was won.[32]

Second expedition against the Alawites of Kasrawan

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Ibn Taymiyyah in 1305 at the age of 42, took part in a second military offensive against the Alawites and the Isma`ilis in the Kasrawan region of the Lebanese mountains where they were defeated.[17][31][36] The Alawis eventually left the region to settle in southern Lebanon.[37]

Facing charges against his creed (`Aqidah)

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Ibn Taymiya was imprisoned several times for conflicting with the ijma of jurists and theologians of his day. He faced troubles for the book Al-Aqidah Al-Waasitiyyah, a work on his view of the creed (`aqidah) of the salaf which included reference to the divine attributes of God. He stated that this was the universally correct view because it was the view held by the early Muslim community (salaf).[38] This created problems for the Islamic scholars of the time as it meant they all had to adhere to it.[38] Within the space of two years (1305-1306) four separate religious council hearings were held to assess the correctness of his creed.[38]

1305 hearing

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The first hearing was held with the Shafi'i scholars who accused Ibn Taymiyyah of anthropomorphism.[38] At the time Ibn Taymiyyah was 42 years old. He was protected by the then Governor of Damascus, Aqqush al-Afram, during the proceedings.[38] The scholars suggested that he accept that his creed was simply that of the Hanbalites and offered this as a way out of the charge.[38] The issue being, if Ibn Taymiyyah ascribed his creed to the Hanbali school of law then it would be just one view out of the four schools which one could follow rather than a creed everybody must adhere to.[38] Ibn Taymiyyah was uncompromising and maintained that it was obligatory for all scholars to adhere to his creed.[38]

1306 hearings and imprisonment

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Two separate councils were held in 22 and 28 of January 1306.[17][38] At the time Ibn Taymiyyah was forty three years old. The first council was in the house of the Governor of Damascus Aqqush al-Afram, who had protected him the year before when facing the Shafi'i scholars.[17] A second hearing was held six days later where the Indian scholar Safi al-Din al-Hindi found him innocent of all charges and accepted that his creed was in line with the "Qur'an and the Sunna".[17][38] Still not happy with the situation, in April of 1306 the chief Islamic judges of the Mamluk state declared Ibn Taymiyyah guilty and he was incarcerated.[38] He was released four months later in September.[38]

Further objections after release

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After his release in Damascus, the doubts regarding his creed seemed to have resolved but his was not the case.[17] A Shafi'i scholar by the name of Ibn al-Sarsari was insistent on starting another hearing against Ibn Taymiyyah which was held once again at the house of the Governor of Damascus Al-Afram.[17] His book Al-Aqidah Al-Waasitiyyah was still not found at fault.[17] At the conclusion of this hearing, Ibn Taymiyyah and Ibn al-Sarsari were sent to Cairo to settle the problem.

Life in Egypt

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Objections to his creed in Egypt and imprisonment

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On arrival of Ibn Taymiyyah and the Shafi'ite scholar in Cario in 1306, an open meeting was was held.[36] The Sultan of Egypt at the time was Al-Nasir Muhammad and his deputy attended the open meeting.[36] Ibn Taymiyyah was found innocent.[36]

Despite the open meeting, objections regarding his creed continued and he was summoned to the Citadel in Cairo for a Munazara (legal debate), which took place on 8 April 1306. During the Munazara his views on divine attributes, specifically whether a direction could be attributed to God, were debated by the Indian Scholar Safi al-Din al-Hindi, in the prescence of Islamic judges.[39][17] Ibn Taymiyyah failed to convince the judges of his position and so on the recommendation of Al-Hindi was incarceration for the charge of anthropomorphism.[39][17] Thereafter he, together with his two brothers were imprisoned in the Citadel of the mountain (Qal‘at al-Jabal), in Cairo until 25 September 1307.[40][17][39] He was freed due the help he received from two Amir's (ruler or military ruler); Salar and Muhanna ibn Isa, but he was not allowed to go back to Syria.[17] He was then, again summoned for a legal debate but this time he convinced the judges of his views and he was allowed to go free.[39]

Ibn Taymiyyah on trial for views on intercession and imprisonment

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Ibn Taymiyyah continued to face troubles for his views which were found to be at odds with those of his contemporaries. His strong opposition to any innovation (bid‘ah) in the religion, which he regarded as heretical, caused upset among the prominent Sufis of Egypt including Ibn `Ata'Allah and Karim al-Din al-Amuli, and the locals who started to protest against Ibn Taymiyyah.[17] The nature of the point under contention was Ibn Taymiyyah's stance on tawassul (intercession).[17] In his view a person could not ask anyone other than God for help except on the day of judgement when intercession in his view would be possible. At the time, the people did not restrict intercession to just the day of judgement but rather they said it was allowed in other cases. Due to this Ibn Taymiyyah, now 45, was ordered to appear before the Shafi'i judge Badr al-Din in March 1308 and was questioned on his stance regarding intercession.[17] Thereafter he was incarcerated in the prison of the judges in Cairo for some months.[17] After his release, he was allowed to return to Syria, should he so wish.[17] Ibn Taymiyyah however stayed in Egypt for a further 5 years.

After release from prison

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The year after his release in 1309 saw a change of power to a new Sultan in Egypt, Baibars al-Jashnakir whose reign was marked by economical and political unrest.[17] His hold on power was short lived and lasted only a year. During this time, in August of 1309, Ibn Taymiyyah was arrested and kept under house arrest for seven months in the new sultan's palace.[17] He was freed when Al-Nasir Muhammad retook the position of sultan on 4 March 1310.[17] Having returned to Cairo a week later, he was received by the sultan Al-Nasir.[17] The sultan would sometimes consult Ibn Taymiyyah during the rest of his three year where he stayed in Cairo.[17] During this time he continued to teach and wrote his famous book Al-Kitab al-Siyasa al-shar'iyya (Treatise on the Government of the Religious Law) which was a book noted for its account of the role of religion in politics.[17][41][42]

Return to Damascus and later years

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Ibn Taymiyyah at the age of 50 returned to Damascus on 28 February 1313 by way of Jerusalem.[17] Damascus was now under the governership of Tankiz. In Damascus Ibn Taymiyyah continued his teaching role as professor of Hanbali fiqh. This is when he taught Ibn Qayyim Al-Jawziyya, who went on to become a noted scholar in Islamic history.[17]

He wrote polemics against Christians and Sufis.[43] His student Ibn Qayyim Al-Jawziyya wrote the famous poem "O Christ-Worshipper" which examined the dogma of the Trinity propounded by many Christian sects.

He spent his last fifteen years in Damascus. The most famous of his students, 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 divorce his wife.

Death

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When he was ultimately banned from having any books, further charges of heresy were brought against Ibn Taymiyya for his assertion that a divorce pronounced in innovative fashion does not take effect, against the consensus of the scholars which stipulated that it does, though innovative. After spending the years 1319-21 in jail, he was jailed again in 1326 until his death two years later for declaring that one who travels to visit the Prophet's grave commits innovation (bidah). He was buried in the Sufi cemetery in Damascus where other members of his family had been buried before him.[44][45]

Legacy

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His student al-Dhahabi praised him lavishly as "the brilliant shaykh, imam, erudite scholar, censor, jurist, mujtahid, and commentator of the Qur'an," but acknowledged that Ibn Taymiyya's disparaging manners alienated even his admirers. For example, the grammarian Abu Hayyan al-Gharnati praised Ibn Taymiyya until he found out that he believed himself a greater expert in the Arabic language than Sibawayh, whereupon he disassociated himself from his previous praise. Ibn Taymiyyah's admirers often deemed him as Sheikh ul-Islam, an honorific title with which he is sometimes still termed today.[46][47][48] He may be considered at the root of Wahhabism, the Senussi order and other later reformist movements.[8][49]

Influences

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Ibn Taymiyyah was taught by scholars who were renowned in their time.[50] However there is no evidence that any of the contemporary scholars influenced him.[50]

A strong influence on Ibn Taymiyyah was the the founder of the Hanbali school of Islamic jurisprudence, Ahmad ibn Hanbal.[50] Ibn Taymiyyah was trained in this school and he had studied Ibn Hanbal's Musnad in great detail, having studied it over multiple times.[51] Though he spent much of his life following this school, in the end he renounced taqlid (blind following).[25]

His work was most influenced by the sayings and actions of the Salaf (first 3 generation of Muslims) and this showed in his work where he would give preference to the Salaf over his contemporaries.[50] The modern Salafi movement derives its name from this school of thought.[50]

Views

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God's Attributes

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Ibn Taymiyyah's highly intellectual discourse at explaining "The Wise Purpose of God, Human Agency, and the Problems of Evil & Justice" using God's attributes as a means has been illustrated by Dr. Jon Hoover in his work "Ibn Taymiyyah's Theodicy of Perpetual Optimism".[52]

In 1299 Ibn Taymiyyah wrote the book Al-Aqida al-hamawiyya al-kubra, which dealt with, among other topics, theology and creed. When he was accused of anthropomorphism, a private meeting was held between scholars in the house of Al-Din `Umar al-Kazwini who was a Shafi`i judge.[17][53] After careful study of this book, he was cleared of those charges.[17]

Innovation (Bid`ah)

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Main article: Bid‘ah

A pious ruler, Sabuktegin grew concerned over the increasing amount of innovation (commonly known as bidah) in the Islamic creed, and consequently censured those who he believed were promulgating heretical doctrines or beliefs that contravened orthodox Sunni principles.[54] Ibn Taymiyyah duly eulogizes Sebüktegin, stating that he:

"commanded that Ahlul Bidah be publicly cursed on the minbars, and as a result the Jahmiyyah, Rafida, Hululiyah, Mu'tazilah, and Qadariyah were all publicly cursed, along with the Asharites."[55]

Polemics

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Ibn Taymiyyah engaged in intensive polemic activity against:

  1. the Rifa'i Sufi order,
  2. the ittihadiyah school, a school that grew out of the teaching of Ibn Arabi, whose views were widely denounced as heretical[citation needed].

Ibn Taymiyyah rejected two views associated with Sufism. For one he said that some Sufis insulted God with their monism, a doctrine (seemingly similar to pantheism) that God "encompasses all things".[43] This rejection included denouncing the views of the monist Ibn Arabi.[56] For the second he said that the view that spiritual enlightenment is of a greater importance than obeying the sharia was a failure to properly follow the example of Muhammad.[43] Henri Laoust however says, "He never condemned Ṣūfism in itself, but only that which he considered to be, in the case of too many Ṣūfis, inadmissible deviations in doctrine, ritual or morals."[57]

Jihad

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Ibn Taymiyyah was noted for emphasis he put on the importance of jihad. He wrote that

"It is in jihad that one can live and die in ultimate happiness, both in this world and in the Hereafter. Abandoning it means losing entirely or partially both kinds of happiness."[58]

He gave a broad definition of what constituted "aggression" against Muslims and what actions by non-believers made jihad permissible. He declared

"It is allowed to fight people for (not observing) unambiguous and generally recognized obligations and prohibitions, until they undertake to perform the explicitly prescribed prayers, to pay zakat, to fast during the month of Ramadan, to make the pilgrimage to Mecca and to avoid what is prohibited, such as marrying women in spite of legal impediments, eating impure things, acting unlawfully against the lives and properties of Muslims and the like. It is obligatory to take the initiative in fighting those people, as soon as the Prophet's summons with the reasons for which they are fought has reached them. But if they first attack the Muslims then fighting them is even more urgent, as we have mentioned when dealing with the fighting against rebellious and aggressive bandits."[59][60]

Madh'hab

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Ibn Taymiyyah witnessed conversions to Islam as a growing trend among many Mongols.

Ibn Taymiyyah censured the scholars for blindly conforming to the precedence of early jurists without any resort to the Qur'an and Sunnah. He contended that although juridical precedence has its place, blindly giving it authority without contextualization, sensitivity to societal changes, and evaluative mindset in light of the Qur'an and Sunnah can lead to ignorance and stagnancy in Islamic Law. Ibn Taymiyyah likened the extremism of Taqlid (blind conformity to juridical precedence or school of thought) to the practice of Jews and Christians who took their rabbis and ecclesiastics as gods besides God.

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:

  1. Revive the Islamic faith's understanding of true adherence to Tawhid,
  2. Eradicate beliefs and customs that he held to be foreign to Islam, and
  3. To rejuvenate correct Islamic thought and its related sciences.

Ibn Taymiyyah believed that the best role models for Islamic life were the first three generations of Islam (Salaf); which constitute Muhammad and his companions (first generation), followed by the generation of Muslims born after the death of Muhammad known as the Tabi'un (second generation) which is then followed lastly by the next generation after the Tabi'un known as Tabi' Al-Tabi'in (third generation). Their practice, together with the Qur'an, constituted a seemingly infallible guide to life. Any deviation from their practice was viewed as bid‘ah, or innovation, and to be forbidden. He also praised and wrote a commentary on some of the speeches of Abdul-Qadir Gilani.[61] He criticized the views and actions of the Rafaiyah.

Non-Muslims

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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 observance of the birthday of the Islamic prophet Muhammad or the construction of mosques around the tombs of Sufi saints saying: "Many of them (the Muslims) do not even know of the Christian origins of these practices."[62]

Mosques

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Ibn Taymiyyah opposed giving any undue religious honours to mosques except for three; Masjid al-Haram (in Mecca), Al-Masjid al-Nabawi (in Medina) and Al-Aqsa mosque (in Jerusalem).[63] Ibn Taymiyyah uses a saying (hadith) of the Islamic prophet Muhammad in Bukhari and Muslim to justify his view that it is not permitted to journey exclusively to any other mosque.[63]

Analogical reasoning

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Later, Ibn Taymiyyah argued against the certainty of syllogistic arguments and in favour of analogy (qiyas). He argues that concepts founded on induction are themselves not certain but only probable, and thus a syllogism based on such concepts is no more certain than an argument based on analogy. He further claimed that induction itself depends on a process of analogy. His model of analogical reasoning was based on that of juridical arguments.[64][65] Work by John F. Sowa has used Ibn Taymiyyah's model of analogy.[65]

Economic views

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He elaborated a circumstantial analysis of market mechanism, with a theoretical insight unusual in his time. His discourses on the welfare advantages and disadvantages of market regulation and deregulation, have an almost contemporary ring to them.[66]

Ibn Taymiyyah commenting on the power of supply and demand:

"If desire for goods increases while its availability decreases, its price rises. On the other hand, if availability of the good increases and the desire for it decreases, the price comes down."[67]

Modern assessment

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In 2010 a group of Islamic Scholars in Mardin argued that Ibn Taymiyya's famous fatwa against the Mongols was misprinted into an order to "fight" the ruler who is not applying Islamic law, but rather it means to "treat."[68] They have based their understanding on the original manuscript in the Al-Zahiriyah Library, and the transmission by Ibn Taymiyya's student Ibn Muflih.[69]

Works

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Ibn Taymiyyah left a considerable body of work (350 works listed by his student Ibn Qayyim Al-Jawziyya[70] and 500 by his student al-Dhahabi[71]) that has been republished extensively in Syria, Egypt, Arabia, and India. Extant books and essays written by ibn Taymiyyah include:

  • A Great Compilation of Fatwa—(Majmu al-Fatwa al-Kubra) This was collected centuries after his death, and contains several of the works mentioned below.
  • Minhaj as-Sunnah an-Nabawiyyah—(The Pathway of as-Sunnah an-Nabawiyyah)—Volumes 1–4.[72]
  • Al-Aqidah Al-Waasitiyyah—(The Creed to the People of Wāsiṭ)
  • Darʾ taʿāruḍ al-ʿaql wa al-naql (The rejection of the conflict between reason and revelation)—10 Volumes. Also called Al-Muwāfaqa ("harmony").
  • Majmoo' al-Fatawa—(Compilation of Fatawa) Volumes 1–36
  • al-Aqeedah Al-Hamawiyyah—(The Creed to the People of Hama, Syria)
  • 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.
  • as-Sarim al-Maslul ‘ala Shatim ar-Rasul—The Drawn Sword against those who insult the Messenger. Written in response to an incident in which Ibn Taymiyyah heard a Christian insulting Muhammad.
  • Fatawa al-Kubra
  • Fatawa al-Misriyyah
  • ar-Radd 'ala al-Mantiqiyyin (Refutation of Greek Logicians)
  • Naqd at-Ta'sis
  • al-Uboodiyyah—(Subjection to God)
  • Iqtida' as-Sirat al-Mustaqim'—(Following The Straight Path)
  • al-Siyasa al-shar'iyya
  • at-Tawassul wal-Waseela
  • Sharh Futuh al-Ghayb—(Commentary on Revelations of the Unseen by Abdul-Qadir Gilani)

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
  • Muslims Under Non-Muslim Rule

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Ibn Taymiyya, Taqi al-Din (661-728 AH)/ (1263–1328 CE)". Muslimphilosophy.com. Retrieved 2010-06-09.
  2. ^ "Ibn Taymiyyah: Profile and Biography". Atheism.about.com. 2009-10-29. Retrieved 2010-06-09.
  3. ^ a b c Ibn Taymiyyah, Aḥmad ibn ʻAbd al-Ḥalīm (1999). Kitab Al-Iman. Kuala Lumpur: Islamic Book Trust. ISBN 978-967-5062-28-5. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
  4. ^ a b "Ibn Taymiyyah". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
  5. ^ "Ibn Taymiyya - Brill Reference". BrillOnline Reference Works. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
  6. ^ Abu Talhah Dawood Burbank, Mountains of Knowledge, pg. 222. Salafi Publication, 2013. ISBN 1902727096
  7. ^ Johnson, Toni (2011-12-27). "Backgrounder - Boko Haram". www.cfr.org. Council of Foreign Relations. Retrieved March 12, 2012.
  8. ^ a b c Haque, Serajul (1982). Imam Ibn Taimiya and his projects of reform. Islamic Foundation Bangladesh.
  9. ^ Ibn Taymiyyah, Taqi al-Din Ahmad, Oxford Islamic Studies Online. http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t125/e959
  10. ^ Abu Zayd Bakr bin Abdullah, Madkhal al-mufassal ila fiqh al-Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal wa-takhrijat al-ashab. Riyadh: Dar al 'Aminah, 2007
  11. ^ Reynolds, Gabrield Said (2012). The Emergence of Islam: Classical traditions in contemporary perspective. Minneapolis: Fortress Press. p. 178. ISBN 9780800698591.
  12. ^ a b c Kepel, Gilles, The Prophet and the Pharaoh, (2003), p.194
  13. ^ Kepel, Gilles (2003). Jihad: The Trail of Political Islam. ISBN 9781845112578.
  14. ^ a b Janin, Hunt. Islamic law : the Sharia from Muhammad's time to the present by Hunt Janin and Andre Kahlmeyer, McFarland and Co. Publishers, 2007 p.79
  15. ^ a b Hastings, James (1908). Encyclopædia of Religion and Ethics. Vol. Volume, 7. Morrison and Gibb Limited. p. 72. {{cite book}}: |volume= has extra text (help)
  16. ^ Al-Dhahabi, Muhammad ibn Ahmad. Tadhkirat al-huffaz. Haidarabad. p. 48.
  17. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am Laoust, Henri (2012). ""Ibn Taymiyya." Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition". BrillOnline. BrillOnline. Retrieved 2015-01-28.
  18. ^ a b c d e f g Haque 1982, p. 6.
  19. ^ Haque 1982, p. 5.
  20. ^ a b c d e f Michel, Thomas (1985). "Ibn Taymiyya: Islamic Reformer". Studia missionalia. Vol. Volume 34. Rome, Italy: Pontificia Università Gregorian. {{cite book}}: |volume= has extra text (help)
  21. ^ Al-Dimashqi al-Hanbali, Ibn `Abdul-Hadi. Al-'Uqud ad-Dariat. p. 3.
  22. ^ Al-Hanbali, Ibn al-`Imad (1932). Shadharat al-Dhahab. Cairo. pp. 385, 383, 404.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  23. ^ Ibn Taimiya, Taqi ad-Din (1996). Sharh Al-Aqeedat-il-Wasitiyah. Dar-us-Salam. p. 9.
  24. ^ see aqidatul-waasitiyyah daarussalaam publications
  25. ^ a b c Haque 1982, p. 8.
  26. ^ a b c d e f Hillenbrand, Carole (1999). The Crusades: Islamic Perspectives. Edinburgh University Press. p. 242. ISBN 0748606300.
  27. ^ Schmidt-Leukel, Perry (2007). slam and Inter-Faith Relations: The Gerald Weisfeld Lectures 2006. SCM Press. p. 125. ISBN 978-0334041320.
  28. ^ K. S. Lambton, Ann (2004). "The extinction of the caliphate: Ibn Jama'a and Ibn Taymiyya". State and Government in Medieval Islam: An Introduction to the Study of Islamic Political Theory. Routledge. p. 143. ISBN 0197136001.
  29. ^ Williams Clifford, Winslow (2013). State Formation and the Structure of Politics in Mamluk Syro-Egypt, 648-741 A.H./1250-1340 C.E. V&r Unipress. p. 163. ISBN 978-3847100911.
  30. ^ a b c d Haque 1982, p. 9.
  31. ^ a b Rougier, Bernard (2008). Everyday Jihad: The Rise of Militant Islam Among Palestinians in Lebanon. Harvard University Press. p. 162. ISBN 978-0674030664.
  32. ^ a b c d e Aigle, Denise (2007). "The Mongol Invasions of Bilād al-Shām by Ghāzān Khān and Ibn Taymīyah's Three "Anti-Mongol" Fatwas" (PDF). Mamluk Studies Review. The University of Chicago: 105. Retrieved 29/01/2015. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
  33. ^ Hawting, Gerald (2005). Muslims, Mongols and Crusaders. Routledge. p. 116. ISBN 070071393X.
  34. ^ "SCHOLARS BIOGRAPHIES \ 8th Century \ Shaykh al-Islaam Ibn Taymiyyah". Fatwa-online.com. Retrieved 2010-06-09.
  35. ^ "Taqi al-Deen Ahmad Ibn Taymiyya". Pwhce.org. Retrieved 2010-06-09.
  36. ^ a b c d Haque 1982, p. 10.
  37. ^ Lebanon Country Study Guide Volume 1 Strategic Information and Developments. Int'l Business Publications. 2012. p. 44. ISBN 978-0739739136.
  38. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Bearman, Peri (2007). The Law Applied: Contextualizing the Islamic Shari'a. I.B.Tauris. pp. 263–264. ISBN 978-1845117368.
  39. ^ a b c d Haque 1982, p. 11.
  40. ^ Haque 1982, p. VII.
  41. ^ Jackson, Roy (2006). Fifty Key Figures in Islam. Routledge. p. 130. ISBN 0415354684.
  42. ^ Cooper, Barry (2005). New Political Religions, Or an Analysis of Modern Terrorism. University of Missouri Press. pp. 96–97. ISBN 0826216218.
  43. ^ a b c Reynolds 2012, p. 174.
  44. ^ George Makdisi, A Sufi of the Qadiriya Order, p 123.
  45. ^ Juan Eduardo Campo, Encyclopedia of Islam, p 340. ISBN 1438126964
  46. ^ R. Hrair Dekmejian, Islam in revolution: fundamentalism in the Arab world, pg. 40. Part of the Contemporary issues in the Middle East series. Syracuse University Press, 1995. ISBN 9780815626350
  47. ^ Index of Al Qaeda in its own words, pg. 360. Eds. Gilles Kepel and Jean-pierre Milelli. Harvard University Press, 2008. ISBN 9780674028043
  48. ^ David Bukay, From Muhammad to Bin Laden: Religious and Ideological Sources of the Homicide Bombers Phenomenon, pg. 194. Transaction Publishers, 2011. ISBN 9781412809139
  49. ^ "He has strongly influenced modern Islam for the last two centuries. He is the source of the Wahhābīyah, a strictly traditionist movement founded by Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhāb (died 1792), who took his ideas from Ibn Taymiyyah’s writings. Ibn Taymiyyah also influenced various reform movements that have posed the problem of reformulating traditional ideologies by a return to sources.[1]
  50. ^ a b c d e Haque 1982, p. 7.
  51. ^ Al-Kutubi, Shakir (1881). Fawat al-Wafayat. p. 35.
  52. ^ Hoover, Jon (2007). Ibn Taymiyya's Theodicy of Perpetual Optimism ([Online-Ausg.]. ed.). Leiden: Brill. pp. xii, 276. ISBN 9789004158474.
  53. ^ Krawietz, Birgit (2012). Islamic Theology, Philosophy and Law: Debating Ibn Taymiyya and Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya. de Gruyter. p. 195. ISBN 978-3110285345.
  54. ^ The Ash'aris: in the Scales of Ahlus Sunnah, Shaykh al-Jasim, pg. 155
  55. ^ al-Jasim, pg. 155
  56. ^ Laoust 1986, p. 92.
  57. ^ Laoust, H. (1986). "Ibn Taymiyya". In Lewis, B.; Ménage, V. L.; Pellat, Ch.; Schacht, J. (eds.). Encyclopedia of Islam. Vol. 3 (2 ed.). Leiden: Brill. p. 953. ISBN 9004081186.
  58. ^ Peters, Rudolph (1996). Jihad in Classical and Modern Islam: A Reader. Princeton: Marcus Wiener. p. 48.
  59. ^ DeLong-Bas, Natana J. (2004). Wahhabi Islam: From Revival and Reform to Global Jihad (First ed.). New York: Oxford University Press, USA. pp. 252–3. ISBN 0-19-516991-3.
  60. ^ Peters, Rudolph (1996). Jihad in Classical and Modern Islam: A Reader. Princeton: Marcus Wiener. p. 52.
  61. ^ G. F. Haddad (1996-03-20). "IBN TAYMIYYA ON FUTOOH AL-GHAYB AND SUFISM". Retrieved 2011-03-24.
  62. ^ Muhammad `Umar Memon, Ibn Taymiyya's Struggle against Popular Religion, with an annotated translation of Kitab Iqitada, the Hague, (1976) p.78, 210
  63. ^ a b Haque 1982, p. 84.
  64. ^ Ruth Mas (1998). "Qiyas: A Study in Islamic Logic" (PDF). Folia Orientalia. 34: 113–128. ISSN 0015-5675.
  65. ^ a b John F. Sowa; Arun K. Majumdar (2003). "Analogical reasoning". Conceptual Structures for Knowledge Creation and Communication, Proceedings of ICCS 2003. Berlin: Springer-Verlag., pp. 16–36
  66. ^ Baeck, Louis (1994). The Mediterranean tradition in economic thought. Routledge. p. 99. ISBN 0-415-09301-5.
  67. ^ Hosseini, Hamid S. (2003). "Contributions of Medieval Muslim Scholars to the History of Economics and their Impact: A Refutation of the Schumpeterian Great Gap". In Biddle, Jeff E.; Davis, Jon B.; Samuels, Warren J. (ed.). A Companion to the History of Economic Thought. Malden, MA: Blackwell. pp. 28–45. doi:10.1002/9780470999059.ch3. ISBN 0-631-22573-0.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: editors list (link)
  68. ^ al-Turayri, Shaykh Abd al-Wahhab. "The Mardin Conference – Understanding Ibn Taymiyyah's Fatwa". MuslimMatters. Retrieved 29 May 2011.
  69. ^ "A religious basis for violence misreads original principles". thenational.ae. Retrieved 2012-10-04.
  70. ^ "Ibn Taimiyah". Usc.edu. Retrieved 2010-06-09.
  71. ^ M.M. Sharif, A History of Muslim Philosophy, Pakistan Philosophical Congress, p. 798
  72. ^ See "Ibn Taymiyya’s Critique of Shī‘ī Imāmology. Translation of Three Sections of his "Minhāj al-Sunna", by Yahya Michot, The Muslim World, 104/1-2 (2014), pp. 109-149.

Further reading

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  • Kepel, Gilles – Muslim extremism in Egypt: The Prophet and pharaoh. With a new preface for 2003. Translated from French by Jon Rothschild. Berkeley & Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2003. See pp. 194–199.
  • Little, Donald P. – "Did Ibn Taymiyya have a screw loose?", Studia Islamica, 1975, Number 41, pp. 93–111.
  • Makdisi, G. – "Ibn Taymiyya: A Sufi of the Qadiriya Order", American Journal of Arabic Studies, 1973
  • Sivan, Emmanuel – Radical Islam: Medieval theology and modern politics. Enlarged edition. New Haven & London: Yale University Press, 1990. See pp. 94–107.
  • Michot, Yahya – Ibn Taymiyya: Against Extremisms. Texts translated, annotated and introduced. With a foreword by Bruce B. LAWRENCE. Beirut & Paris: Albouraq, 2012, xxxii & 334 p. — EAN 9782841615551.
  • Michot, Yahya – Ibn Taymiyya: Muslims under non-Muslim Rule. Texts translated, annotated and presented in relation to six modern readings of the Mardin fatwa. Foreword by James Piscatori. Oxford & London: Interface Publications, 2006. ISBN 0-9554545-2-2.
  • Michot, Yahya – Ibn Taymiyya’s “New Mardin Fatwa”. Is genetically modified Islam (GMI) carcinogenic?, in "The Muslim World", 101/2, April 2011, pp. 130–181.
  • Michot, Yahya – From al-Ma’mūn to Ibn Sab‘īn, via Avicenna: Ibn Taymiyya’s Historiography of Falsafa, in F. OPWIS & D. REISMAN (eds.), "Islamic Philosophy, Science, Culture, and Religion". Studies in Honor of Dimitri Gutas (Leiden – Boston: Brill, 2012), pp. 453–475.
  • Michot, Yahya – Between Entertainment and Religion: Ibn Taymiyya’s Views on Superstition, in "The Muslim World", 99/1, January 2009, pp. 1–20.
  • Michot, Yahya – Misled and Misleading… Yet Central in their Influence: Ibn Taymiyya’s Views on the Ikhwān al-Safā’, in "The Ikhwān al-Safā’ and their Rasā’il. An Introduction". Edited by Nader EL-BIZRI. Foreword by Farhad DAFTARY (Oxford: Oxford University Press, in association with the Institute of Ismaili Studies, « Epistles of the Brethren of Purity »), 2008, pp. 139–179.
  • Michot, Yahya – Ibn Taymiyya’s Commentary on the Creed of al-Hallâj, in A. SHIHADEH (ed.), "Sufism and Theology" (Edinburgh, Edinburgh University Press, 2007), pp. 123–136.
  • Michot, Yahya – A Mamlûk Theologian’s Commentary on Avicenna’s "Risāla Aḍḥawiyya". Being a Translation of a Part of the "Dar’ al-Ta‘āruḍ" of Ibn Taymiyya, with Introduction, Annotation, and Appendices, Part I, in "Journal of Islamic Studies", 14:2, Oxford, 2003, pp. 149–203.
  • Michot, Yahya – A Mamlûk Theologian’s Commentary on Avicenna’s "Risāla Aḍḥawiyya". Being a Translation of a Part of the "Dar’ al-Ta‘āruḍ" of Ibn Taymiyya, with Introduction, Annotation, and Appendices, Part II, in "Journal of Islamic Studies", 14:3, Oxford, 2003, pp. 309–363.
  • Michot, Yahya – Ibn Taymiyya on Astrology. Annotated Translation of Three Fatwas, in "Journal of Islamic Studies", 11/2, Oxford, May 2000, pp. 147–208.
  • Michot, Yahya – Ibn Taymiyya’s Critique of Shī‘ī Imāmology. Translation of Three Sections of his "Minhāj al-Sunna", in "The Muslim World", 104/1-2, Hartford, Jan. - April 2014, pp. 109–149.
  • Michot, Yahya – An Important Reader of al-Ghazālī : Ibn Taymiyya, in "The Muslim World", 103/1, Hartford, January 2013, pp. 131–160.
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Category:Sunni imams Category:1263 births Category:1328 deaths Category:Muslim theologians Category:Hanbalis Category:People who died in prison custody Category:Salafis

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