Information about Ibn Taymiyyah
| Syrian scholar Medieval era Syria | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Ibn Taymiyyah |
| Birth: | 1263 CE [1] in Harran[2] |
| Death: | 1328 CE [1] in Damascus[3] |
| School/tradition: | Hanbali [1] |
| Influenced: | Ibn al-Qayyim (d 1350 CE), al-Mizzi (d 1341 CE), al-Dhahabi (d 1347 CE) [4], Ibn Kathir (d 1373 CE) [5], Ibn Abi al-Izz (d 1390 CE, Ibn Abd al Wahhab (d 1792AD) [1] |
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 Abu 'Abbās Ahmad ibn 'Abd al-Halim ibn 'Abd as-Salam Ibn Taymiya al-Harrānī (Arabic: أبو عباس 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. 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 had 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 are Muslim and you have with you Mu'adhdhins, Muftis, Imams and Shaykh but you invaded us and reached our country for what? While your father and you grandfather, Hulagu were non-believers, they did not attack and they kept their promise. But you promised and broke your promise." [6]
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
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 (Arabic: Salaf) -- 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 had "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." [7] His opponents charged that he taught anthropomorphism that is, that he took reference's 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 Sufi's have adopted.
A minority of non-Muslim academics, however, have contested this point. In 1973 , George Makdisi published an article, “Ibn Taymiya: A Sufi of the Qadiriya Order,” in the American Journal of Arabic Studies, which argued that Ibn Taymiya was a Qadiri Sufi himself, and only opposed antinomian versions of Sufism. In support of their views, these historians cite his work Sharh Futuh al-Ghayb, which is a commentary on the famous Sufi Sheikh Abdul Qadir Jilani’s work, Futuh al-Ghayb “Revelations of the Unseen.” Ibn Taymiyyah is cited in the literature of the Qadiriyyah order as a link in their chain of spiritual transmission. He himself said, in his Al-Mas'ala at-Tabraziyya, "I wore the blessed Sufi cloak of Shaikh Abdul Qadir Jilani, there being between him and me two Sufi shaikhs."
Shrines
Since he was a strong proponent of Tawhid, ibn Taymiyyah was highly skeptical of 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).[8]Quotes
- “What can my enemies possibly do to me? My paradise is in my heart; wherever I go it goes with me, insepaÂrable from me. For me, prison is a place of (religious) retreat; exÂecution is my opportunity for martyrdom; and exile from my town is but a chance to travel.” [9]
- "The perfection of tawhid is found when there remains nothing in the heart except 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.[10]
- "Sins are like chains and locks preventing their perpetrator from roaming the vast garden of tawhid and reaping the fruits of righteous actions." [11]
- "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." [12]
Legacy
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 (A Muslim theologian's response to Christianity) - 7 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)
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
Students and intellectual heirs
- Ibn Kathir (1301 - 1372)
- Ibn al-Qayyim (1292 - 1350)
- al-Dhahabi (1274 - 1348) (see for further information)
- Muhammad ibn Abd-al-Wahhab (1703 - 1792)
Chapter two contains the view of Ahl as-Sunnah wal-Jamm'ah regarding the attributes of Allah based on the Qur'an and Sunnah without ta'teel (rejection), tamtsil (anthropomorphism), tahreef (changing Allah's attributes), and takyif (questioning Allah's attributes). This book also contains the Six articles of belief for Muslims.
Shi'a view
Ibn Taymiyyah holds Shi'as in a negative light, which in turn causes Shi'as have an extremely negative view of him. Many individuals are known for labeling him a nasibi, for example "Imam of the Nasibis, Ibn Taymiyya" [13].Historical Views
Throughout history, some scholars and thinkers have praised ibn Taymiyyah for his works.- Ibn Taymiyyah's student and renowned scholar in his own right, Ibn Kathir stated:
He (Ibn Taymiyyah) was knowledgeable in fiqh. And it was said that he was more knowledgeable of fiqh of the madh'habs than the followers of those very same madh'habs, (both) in his time and other than his time. He was a scholar of the fundamental issues, the subsidary issues, of grammar, language, and other textual and intellectual sciences. And no scholar of a science would speak to him except that he thought the science was of speciality of Ibn Taymiyyah. As for Hadith, then he was the carrier of its flag, a Hafidh, able to distinguish the weak from the strong and fully acquainted with the narrators.[14] - Ibn Taymiyyah's other student, Al-Dhahabi stated:
Ibn Taymiyyah...the matchless individual of the time with respect to knowledge, cognizance, intelligence, memorisation, generosity, asceticism, excessive braveness and abundancy of (written) works. May Allah rectify and direct him. And we, by the praise of Allah, are not amongst those who exagerrate about him and nor are we of those who are harsh and rough with him. No one with perfection like that of the Imams and Tabieen and their successors has been seen and I did not see him (Ibn Taymiyyah) except engrossed in a book.[15] - The widely-known Hanbali scholar, Ibn Rajab stated :
He (Ibn Taymiyyah) is the Imam, the legal jurist, the Mujtahid, the Scholar of Hadith, the Hafiz, the Explainer of the Quran, the Ascetic, Taqi ad-Din Abu al-Abbas Shaykh al-Islam, the most knowledgable of the knowledgable. It is not possible to exaggerate his renown when he is mentioned and his fame does not require us to write a lengthy tract on him. He, may Allah have mercy upon him, was unique in his time and with respect to understanding the Quran and knowledge of the realties of faith...[16] - The famed Shafi scholar, Al-Mizzi stated:
I have not seen the likes of him (Ibn Taymiyyah) and his own eye had not seen the likes of him. I have not seen one who has more knowledge than he of the Book of the Sunnah of his Messenger, nor one who followed them more closely. [17] - The famous muhaddith, Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani stated:
The acclaim of Taqi ad-Din (Ibn Taymiyyah) is more renown then that of the Sun and titling him Shaykh al-Islam of his era remains until our time upon the virtuous tongues. It will continue tomorrow just as it was yesterday. No one refutes this but a person who is ignorant of his prestige or one who turns away from justice...[18]
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.See also
References
1. ^ [2]
2. ^ [3]
3. ^ [4]
4. ^ Mountains of Knowledge, pg 222
5. ^ Mountains of Knowledge, pg 220
6. ^ [5]
7. ^ Encyclopedia of Islam and the Modern World, Macmillan Reference, 2004, p.339
8. ^ "A Muslim Iconoclast (Ibn Taymiyyeh) on the 'Merits' of Jerusalem and Palestine", by Charles D. Matthews, Journal of the American Oriental Society, volume 56 (1935), pp. 1-21. [Includes Arabic text of manuscript of Ibn Taymiyya's short work Qa'ida fi Ziyarat Bayt-il-Maqdis قاعدة في زيارة بيت المقدس]
9. ^ [6]
10. ^ Ibn Qayyim, al-Madarij (3/485
11. ^ Majmu Fatawa 14/49
12. ^ Ibn Qayyim, al-Wabil, pg 69
13. ^ [7]
14. ^ Mountains of Knowledge, pg. 220, quoting Al-Bidaayah wan-Nihaayah'(14/118-119)
15. ^ Mountains of Knowledge, pg. 222-223
16. ^ Relief from Distress, pg. xxiii, footnote ibn Rajab, [2/387-392]
17. ^ Bahajtul Baitar, Hayat Shaykh Al Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, pg 21
18. ^ Relief from distress, pg. xx-xxi, quoting Radd al-Wafir in footnote
Also:- 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 p. 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 p. 94-107.
- 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.
External links
Academic links
- Britannica Concise Encyclopedia
- Biography by George Makdisi
- French translations of an important selection of Taymiyyan texts
- Ibn Taymiyya by Ted Horton
- Ibn Taymiyya from About.com Site
- Ahmed Ibn Taymiyya by Trevor Stanley
- Collection of internet articles/resources
Pro-Ibn Taymiyyah links
- The Life, Struggles, Works and Impact of Shaikh ul-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah
- Another biography
- Introduction to the Compilation of Letters of Ibn Taymiyya
- Refuation of Accusation Against Ibn Taymiyya by Abu Rumaysah
- Who Was Ibn Taymiyya by Aisha bint Muhammad
- Shaykh Al Islaam Ibn Taymiyya from Fatwa-online.com
- Ibn Taymiyya from Personalities of Islam
- Ibn Taymiyya by James Palvin
- The Role of Sheikh-ul Islam Ibn Taymiyah in Jihad Against the Tatars by Muhammad El Halaby
- Shaykh ul-Islâm ibn Taymiyyah by Abu Safwan Farid Ibn Abdulwahid Ibn Haibatan
- - Downloadable Articles and Books of Shaikh ul-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah
Criticism
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..... Click the link for more information.Damascus
دمـش?
Damascus Skyline
Seal
Nickname: (Al Fayhaa) The Fragrant City
Damascus' location within Syria
Syria
..... Click the link for more information.Hanbali (Arabic: حنبلى ) is one of the four schools (Madhhabs) of Fiqh or religious law within Sunni Islam (the other three being Hanafi, Maliki and Shafii).
..... Click the link for more information.Ibn al-Qayyim
Birth: 691 AH (1292–1293) near Damascus [1]
Death: 751 AH (1349–1350) [1]
School/tradition: Hanbali [2]
Main interests:
Influences: Ibn Taymiya (teacher) [1]
Influenced: Ibn Kathir
..... Click the link for more information.1350 in other calendars
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..... Click the link for more information.Yusuf al-Mizzi
Birth: 654 AH [1] in Mizza (now is part of Damascus)
Death: 742 AH [1]
School/tradition: Shafi'i
Main interests: Ilm ar-Rijal
Influences: Ibn Taymiya [2]
Yusuf ibn Abd al-Rahman al-Mizzi
..... Click the link for more information.1341 in other calendars
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Bah' calendar -503 – -502
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..... Click the link for more information.Al-Dhahabi
Birth: 673 AH
Death: 748 AH[1]
School/tradition: Shafi'i or Salafi[2]
Main interests: Al-Dhahabi (1274-1348[3] or 1374)[4][5]
..... Click the link for more information.1347 in other calendars
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MCCCXLVII
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..... Click the link for more information.Ibn Kathir
Birth: 1301
Death: 1373
School/tradition: Shafi'i
Ismail ibn Kathir (Arabic: ابن كثير) was an Islamic scholar.
..... Click the link for more information.1373 in other calendars
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MCCCLXXIII
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..... Click the link for more information.Ibn Abi al-`Izz (Arabic: ابن أبي العز), was a Syrian born Sunni Hanafi jurist and theologian.
He came from a family that had been strong supporters of the Hanafi school of jurisprudence.
..... Click the link for more information.13rd century - 14th century - 15th century
1360s 1370s 1380s - 1390s - 1400s 1410s 1420s
1387 1388 1389 - 1390 - 1391 1392 1393
:
Subjects: Archaeology - Architecture -
..... Click the link for more information.Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahab
Birth: 1703
Death: 1792
School/tradition: Sunni
Main interests:
Influences: Ibn Taymiyyah
Influenced: Bin Baz
Uthaymeen
al-Albaanee Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab at-Tamimi (1703–1792) (Arabic:
..... Click the link for more information.17th century - 18th century - 19th century
1760s 1770s 1780s - 1790s - 1800s 1810s 1820s
1789 1790 1791 - 1792 - 1793 1794 1795
:
Subjects: Archaeology - Architecture -
..... Click the link for more information.January 22 is the 1st day of the year (2nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 0 days remaining.Events
- 565 - Eutychius is deposed as Patriarch of Constantinople by John Scholasticus.
..... Click the link for more information.1263 in other calendars
Gregorian calendar 1263
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Ab urbe condita 2016
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Bah' calendar -581 – -580
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..... Click the link for more information.1328 in other calendars
Gregorian calendar 1328
MCCCXXVIII
Ab urbe condita 2081
Armenian calendar 777
ԹՎ ՉՀԷ
Bah' calendar -516 – -515
Buddhist calendar 1872
..... Click the link for more information.Sunni Muslims are the largest denomination of Islam. Sunni Islam is also referred to as Sunnism or as Ahl as-Sunnah wa’l-Jamā‘h (Arabic:
..... Click the link for more information.Editing of this page by unregistered or newly registered users is currently disabled due to vandalism.
If you are prevented from editing this page, and you wish to make a change, please discuss changes on the talk page, request unprotection, log in, or .
..... Click the link for more information.Carrhae redirects here.Harran, is a district of Şanlıurfa Province in the southeast of Turkey, also known eponymously as Carrhae after the defunct ancient town (now an valuable archaelogical site) of that name which gave its name to the Roman
..... Click the link for more information.Motto
Yurtta Sulh, Cihanda Sulh
Peace at Home, Peace in the World
Anthem
İstiklâl Marşı
The Anthem of Independence
..... Click the link for more information.Anthem
Homat el Diyar
Guardians of the Land
Capital
(and largest city) Damascus
..... Click the link for more information.Mongols (Mongolian: Монгол Mongol) specifies one or several ethnic groups largely located now in Mongolia, China, and Russia.
..... Click the link for more information.Ahmad ibn Hanbal
Birth: 164 AH [1] in Khorasan[2]
Death: 241 AH [2] in Baghdad [3]
School/tradition: Hanbali or Salafi[4]
Main interests: Fiqh, Hadith, and Aqeedah [5]
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..... Click the link for more information.The Qur’ān [1] (Arabic: القرآن
..... Click the link for more information.The Sunnah
Sunnah (سنة) literally means “trodden path”, and therefore, the sunnah of the prophet means “the way of the prophet”.
..... Click the link for more information.al-‘Arabiyyah in written Arabic (Kufic script):
Pronunciation: /alˌʕa.raˈbij.ja/
Spoken in: Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman,
..... Click the link for more information.
- The famous muhaddith, Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani stated:
- The famed Shafi scholar, Al-Mizzi stated:
- The widely-known Hanbali scholar, Ibn Rajab stated :
- Ibn Taymiyyah's other student, Al-Dhahabi stated:
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