Ibn Taymiya

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Abu al-Abbas Taqi al-Din Ahmad ibn Abd al-Salaam ibn Abdullah ibn Taymiya al-Harrani (Arabic: أبو عباس تقي الدين أحمد بن عبد السلام بن عبد الله ابن تيمية الحراني) (January 22, 1263 - 1328), was an 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.

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Life

He is said to have been born on Monday the 10th of Rabi' al-Awwal 661 H. (January 22, 1263 C.E.) at Harran. Hence his sobriquet of al-Harrani. In 1268 his family fled Mongol invaders and took refuge in Damascus. The elder Taymiya was an Islamic scholar and, subsequently, Ibn Taymiya would follow in his father's footsteps.

He was an outspoken and controversial scholar. Ibn Taymiya asserted his right to ijtihad, or independent judgement; he denounced many Muslims of his time for the practice of idolatry (shirk) and innovation (bidah). He is also said to have preached that resistance to the Mongol ruler Ghazan Khan was jihad, required of all faithful Muslims, even though the khan had ostensibly converted to Islam.

The Mameluke rulers of Egypt, of which Damascus was a dependency, considered his views heretical and dangerous. Ibn Taymiya was repeatedly imprisoned by the Cairo authorities. His last fifteen years were spent in Damascus, where he had many disciples. He died behind prison walls, in 1328.

Ibn Taymiya was notable -- and controversial -- in his own time, but he cannot be said to have founded a school in his lifetime. A few of his students, such as Ibn al-Qayyim, Ibn Kathir, al-Dhahabi, and Ibn Nasir al-Din are still remembered.

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Teachings of Ibn Taymiya

Ibn Taymiya believed that the first three generations of Islam -- the prophet Muhammad, his Companions, and the children and grandchildren of the first Muslims -- were the best role models for Islamic life. Their Sunnah, or 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.

He favored an extremely literal interpretation of the Qur'an. His opponents charged that he taught anthropomorphism -- that is, that he took metaphorical reference's to God's hand, foot, shin, and face as being literally true -- even though he insisted that God's "hand" was nothing comparable to hands found in creation. Some of his Islamic critics contend that this violates the Islamic concept of tawhid, divine unity.

Ibn Taymiya 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), Medina (Masjid al-Nabawi).

He is known for this saying: “What can my enemies possibly do to me? My paradise is in my breast; 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.”

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Controversy over his views on Sufism

Ibn Taymiya was a stern critic of antinomian interpretations of Islamic mysticism (Sufism). He believed that Islamic law (sharia) applied to ordinary Muslim and mystic alike.

Some Wahhabi and Salafi scholars believe that he rejected Sufism entirely.

Other scholars have contested this statement. In 1973, G. 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 Qadiriyyah Sufi himself, and only opposed antinomian versions of Sufism.

In support of their views, these Ibn Taymiya scholars cite his work Sharh Futuh al-Ghayb, which is a commentary on the famous Sufi Shaykh Abdul Qadir Jilani’s work, Futuh al-Ghayb “Revelations of the Unseen.” Ibn Taymiya 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."

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Salafi reading of Ibn Taymiya

An 18th century Arabian cleric named Muhammad ibn Abd al Wahhab studied the works of Ibn Taymiya and aimed to revive his teachings. Abd' Al-Wahhab acquired a large following thanks to his association with the Saudi royal family. Ibn Taymiya's works became the basis of the contemporary Wahhabi or Salafi school of thought in Sunni Islam.

The Islamist thinker Sayyid Qutb also used Ibn Taymiyyah's writings to justify rebellion against a Muslim ruler and society (see below: Sivan; Kepel).

Ibn Taymiya is now revered as a spiritual guide by many Salafis.

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Ibn Taymiyya's students and intellectual heirs

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References

  • 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.
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See also

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External links

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Academic links

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Pro-Salafi links

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Anti-Salafi links

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His views on Sufism

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