Sheikh ul-Islam ibn Taymiyyah (1263–1328) is an Islamic Sunni theologian born in Harran, located on the territory of modern Turkey near the Syrian border. He lived in difficult times of the Mongol invasions. As a member of the Ibn Khanbal school, he sought to return Islam to its sources: the Qur'an and the Sunnahs (the prophetic traditions of Muhammad). Sheikh ibn Taymiyyah did not consider the Mongols to be true Muslims and called for a war against them. He believed that true Islam is based on the lifestyle and faith of the Salaf (early Muslims). He criticized Shiites and Sufis for honoring their imams and sheikhs and believing in their divinity. He also condemned the worship of the relics of saints and the pilgrimage to them.
Sheikh al-Islam ibn Taymiyah was intolerant of Christians. He claimed that this religion distorted the teachings of Jesus, which was the message of Islam. He also criticized Islamic philosophy and accused Ibn Rushd, Ibn Sina and al-Frabi of disbelief for their statements about the eternity of the world, which leave no room for Allah. Ibn Taymiyyah, in collaboration with the authorities, often clashed with them. The same rulers appointed him to high posts and imprisoned him, disagreeing with his views. However, he had many followers and about 100 thousand people, including many women, mourned him at the funeral.
Ibn Taymiyyah did much to revive the popularity of Hanbali Law School. It is often quoted by Islamists. His belief that Muslims who do not abide by Sharia regulations live in ignorance was adopted by such thinkers of the twentieth century as Sayyid Qutb and Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi.
Biography
Sheikhul-Islam ibn Taymiyah was born on 01.22.1263 in Harran (Mesopotamia) in a family of famous theologians. His grandfather, Abu al-Barkat Majiddin ibn Taymiyyah Al-Khanbali (died 1255), taught at the Hanbali fiqh school. The achievements of his father Shihabuddin Abdulkhalim ibn Taymiya (d. In 1284) are also well known.
In 1268, the Mongol invasion forced the family to move to Damascus, which was then ruled by the Egyptian Mamelukes. Here his father preached from the department of the Umayyad Mosque. Following in his footsteps, the son learned from the great scholars of his time, among whom was Zaynab bint Mackey, from whom he learned the hadith (sayings of the prophet Muhammad).
Sheikh ul-Islam ibn Taymiyyah was a diligent student and became acquainted with the secular and religious sciences of his time. He paid special attention to Arabic literature and, in addition to mathematics and calligraphy, mastered grammar and lexicography. He was taught jurisprudence by his father, he became a representative of the Hanbali Law School, although he remained faithful to her throughout his life, he acquired extensive knowledge of the Qur'an and Hadith. He also studied dogmatic theology (kalam), philosophy, and Sufism, which he later criticized heavily.
The biography of Ibn Taymiyy is marked by constant conflicts with the authorities. As early as 1293, he came into conflict with the ruler of Syria, who pardoned the Christian, who was accused of insulting the Prophet, to whom he passed the death sentence. The act of disobedience ended with the first in a series of many conclusions of Ibn Taymiyah. In 1298, he was accused of anthropomorphism (attributing human qualities to God) and contemptuous criticism of the legality of dogmatic theology.
In 1282, Ibn Taymiyyah was appointed a professor of law at Hanbali, and also preached at the Grand Mosque. He began to condemn both the Sufis and the Mongols, whose Islam he did not recognize. Ibn Tamiya endured a fatwa in which he accused the Mongols of preferring not the Sharia, but their own law of Yasa, and therefore lived in ignorance. For this reason, it is the duty of every believer to conduct jihad against them. After the Mongols were defeated by the Abbasids in 1258, the Muslim world fell apart into smaller political units. Ibn Taymiyah wanted to reunite Islam.
In 1299, he was dismissed from his post after a fatwa (legal opinion), which other lawyers did not like. However, the next year, the Sultan hired him again, this time to support the anti-Mongol campaign in Cairo, for which he was well suited. However, in Cairo, he lost his favor due to his literal understanding of the verses of the Qur'an in which God was described as having parts of the body, and he was imprisoned for 18 months. Freed in 1308, the theologian was soon again imprisoned for condemning Sufi prayers to saints. Ibn Taymiyah was kept in prisons of Cairo and Alexandria.
In 1313, he was allowed to resume teaching in Damascus, where he spent the last 15 years of his life. Here he gathered a circle of his students.
In 1318, the sultan forbade him to make any judgments about divorce, since he did not agree with the widespread opinion about the validity of unilateral divorce. When he continued to speak on this subject, he was imprisoned. Released again in 1321, he was re-imprisoned in 1326, but continued to write until he was denied re-writing and paper.
The last arrest in Ibn Taymiy’s biography in 1326 was caused by his condemnation of Shiite Islam at a time when the authorities tried to establish relations with its representatives. He died in custody on September 26, 1328. Thousands of his supporters, including women, attended his funeral. His grave has been preserved and is widely revered.
Political activity
The biography of Sheikh ibn Taymiyyah speaks of his political activity. In 1300, he participated in resistance to the Mongol occupation of Damascus and personally went to the camp of the Mongolian general to negotiate the release of prisoners, insisting that Christians as “protected people” and Muslims be released. In 1305, he took part in the battle against the Mongols at Shahava, where he fought with various Shiite groups in Syria.
Controversy
Sheikh ul-Islam ibn Taymiyyah intensely polemicized regarding:
- Keservan Shiites in Lebanon;
- Order of the Rifai Sufis;
- Ittihadi school, which developed on the basis of the teachings of Ibn Arabi (died in 1240), whose views he condemned as heretical and anti-Christian.
Views
Sheikh Islam ibn Taymiyah believed that most Islamic theologians of his time departed from a correct understanding of the Qur'an and sacred tradition (Sunna). He sought:
- restore understanding of true adherence to Tawhid (monotheism);
- to eradicate beliefs and customs that he considered alien to Islam;
- revive true thought and related disciplines.
Ibn Taymiyah believed that the first three generations of Islam - Muhammad, his companions and their followers from the earliest generations of Muslims were the best role models in Islamic life. Their practice, along with the Qur'an, was, in his opinion, an unmistakable guide to life. Any deviation from them was considered by him as a bid, or innovation, and should have been prohibited.
The following statement of ibn Taymiyyah is known: “What can my enemies do to me? My paradise is in my heart; wherever I go, he is with me, inseparable from me. For me, prison is a hermit cell; execution - a chance to become a martyr; exile is an opportunity to travel. ”
Quranic literalism
The Islamic theologian preferred an extremely literal interpretation of the Qur'an. His opponents attribute anthropomorphism to the errors of Ibn Taymiyyah. He considered the metaphorical references to the hand, foot, lower legs and face of Allah to be true, although he insisted that the hand of Allah is incomparable with the hands of his creations. His statement is known that Allah will descend from heaven on Judgment Day, just as he descends from the pulpit. Some of his critics have argued that this violates the Islamic concept of Tawhid (divine unity).
Sufism
Ibn Taymiyah was a stern critic of the antinomian interpretations of Islamic mysticism (Sufism). He believed that Islamic law (Sharia) should apply to ordinary Muslims and mystics alike.
Most theologians (including Salafists) believed that he rejected the religion used by most Sufis (al-Ashari’s creed). This, apparently, is confirmed by some of his works, especially in the work Al-Akidat al-Vaasithiya, in which he refuted the methodology of asharites, jahmites and mutazilites adopted by the Sufis regarding the approval of the Attributes of Allah.
However, some non-Muslim scholars have disputed this point. In 1973, George McDeady published an article in the American Journal of Arab Studies, Ibn Taymiyyah: Sufi of the Order of Qadiriya, in which he argued that the Islamic theologian himself was a Sufi Kadarite and spoke only against antinomic versions of Sufism. In support of their views, his followers cite the work of Sharh Futuh al-Gayb, which is a commentary on the work of the famous Sufi sheikh Abdul Kadir Jilani, “Revelations of the Invisible.” Ibn Taymiyah is mentioned in the literature of the Order of Qadiriya as a link in their chain of spiritual tradition. He himself wrote that he wore the blessed Sufi cloak of Sheikh Abdul Kadir Jilani, between which there were two Sufi Sheikhs and him.
About the shrines
Being a supporter of Tawhid, Ibn Taymiyah is extremely skeptical about rendering any unreasonable religious honors to the shrines (even Jerusalem Al-Aqsa), so that they would not be equal in any way and would not compete with the holiness of the two most revered Islamic mosques - the Meccan (Masjid al Haram) and Medina (Masjid al-Nabawi).
About christianity
Islam ibn Taymiyah wrote a long response to the letter of the Bishop of Antioch, Paul (1140-1180), which was widely spread in the Muslim world. He rejected the often cited hadith that one who harms the dhimmi (a member of a protected community) harms him as false, claiming that this hadith was "absolute protection for unbelievers" and, moreover, was a parody of justice, for like in the case of Muslims, there are times when they deserve punishment and physical harm to them. Christians should “feel subjugated” from this point of view when they pay jizyah tax.
Muslims must separate and distance themselves from other communities. Dissimilation should concern all aspects of life, practice, clothing, prayer and worship. Ibn Taymiyyah gives a hadith that one who cultivates resemblance to the people is one of them. Some Muslims actually joined some Christian holidays, participating in processions and painting Easter eggs, preparing special foods, dressing new clothes, decorating houses and lighting lights. In his opinion, the faithful should not only not participate in any such celebration, but should not even sell anything that might be necessary for this or give gifts to Christians.
Ibn Taymiyah maintained rules prohibiting infidels from wearing the same clothes as Muslims. He also advocated the collection of jizyas from monks engaged in agriculture or commerce, while in some places all monks and priests were exempted from this tax.
Imam ibn Taymiyah emphasized that Muslims should not enter into alliances with Christians, as happened during the wars against the Mongols. Everything that could ruin the strict monotheism of Islam should have been rejected.
Christians complained that the closure of their churches was a violation of the Umar Pact, but Ibn Taymiyah ruled that if the sultan decides to destroy every church in Muslim territory, he will have the right to do so.
The Shiite Fatimids, who were too lenient in dealing with Christians, were subjected to many accusations on his part. They ruled outside the Sharia, therefore, in his opinion, it is not surprising that they were defeated by the crusaders. It was better, Taimiya advised, to hire a less capable Muslim than a more capable Christian, although many caliphs practiced the opposite. In his opinion, Muslims do not need Christians, they should "be independent from them." Practices such as visiting the tombs of saints, praying to them, preparing banners, forming processions for leaders of Sufi orders, were borrowed innovations (bidu). The Trinity, the crucifix, and even the Eucharist were Christian symbols.
Ibn Taymiyah claimed that the Bible was distorted (subjected to tahrif). He denied that the Qur'anic verse 2: 62 could give Christians hope for comfort, arguing that it refers only to those who believed in the message of Muhammad. Only those who accept Muhammad as a prophet can count on them being among the righteous.
Heritage
The fruitful creative biography of Sheikh-ul-Islam ibn Taymiyyah left a significant collection of works, which is widely reprinted in Syria, Egypt, Arabia and India. His works expanded and justified his religious and political activities and were characterized by rich content, sobriety and skillful polemical style. Among the many books and essays written by ibn Taymiyyah, the following works stand out:
- “Majmu al-Fatwa” (“The Great Collection of Fatwas”). For example, legal volumes explaining Sufism and ethics are compiled in volumes 10–11.
- “Minhaj al-Sunnah” (“The Way of the Sunnah”) is a polemic with a Shiite theologian Allame Hilli, in which the author criticizes Shiism, Kharijits, mutazilites and asharites.
- “Refutation of Logicians" is an attempt to challenge the Greek logic and theses of Ibn Sina, al-Farabi, Ibn Sabina. In the book, the author condemns the Sufis for using dance and music to achieve religious ecstasy.
- Al-Furkan is the work of Ibn Taymiyyah on Sufism criticizing contemporary practice, including the cult of saints and miracles.
- Al-Asma wa's-Sifaat (Names and Attributes of Allah).
- Al-Iman (Faith).
- Al-Ubudiyah (Subject of Allah).
Al-Akida Al-Vaasithiya (“Creed” is one of Taimiya’s most famous books, which was written in response to a request from a judge from Washita to express her views on Islamic theology. This book consists of several chapters. In the first chapter, the author outlined a group of believers, which he called “Al-Firka al-Najiya” (“The Party of Deliverance”). He quotes a hadith in which Muhammad promised that only one group of his faithful followers would remain until the day of the Resurrection. Here ibn Taymiyah defines Jama'a and says that only one sect out of 73 will go into Jennu (heaven) The second chapter contains the point of view of Ahus Sunnah, which lists the attributes of Allah based on the Qur'an and the Sunnah without denial, anthropomorphism, tachyph (changes) and takif (doubt) .In addition, the book describes 6 pillars of faith Muslims - faith in Allah, his angels, prophets, Scripture, Judgment Day, and Predestination.
Ibn Taymiy biography: students and followers
They are Ibn Katir (1301–1372), ibn al-Qayyim (1292–1350), al-Dahabi (1274–1348), Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab (1703–1792).
Throughout history, Sunni scholars and thinkers have praised Ibn Taymiyah.
According to Ibn Qatir, he knew the fiqh of the madhhabs so well that he orientated himself better than contemporary followers of this Muslim movement. He was a specialist in fundamental and auxiliary matters, grammar, language and other sciences. Each scientist who spoke with him considered him an expert in his field of knowledge. As for the hadith, he was a hafiz, able to distinguish between his weak and strong transmitters.
Another student of ibn Taymiyyah Al-Dahabi called him a man unsurpassed in terms of knowledge, cognition, intelligence, memorization, generosity, asceticism, excessive courage and an abundance of written works. And this was not an exaggeration. He had no equal among the imams, nor the followers, nor their successors.
A more modern Sunni thinker, an 18th-century Arab reformer, Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, studied the work and biography of ibn Taymiyyah and sought to revive his teachings. His students in 1926 took control of the territory of modern Saudi Arabia, where only Ibn Khanbal Law School was recognized. The works of ibn Taymiyyah became the basis of modern Salafism. He was quoted by Osama bin Laden.
Other followers of ibn Taimiya include the thinker Sayyid Qutba, who used some of his writings to justify the rebellion against Muslim rule and society.
An Islamic theologian is revered as an intellectual and spiritual model of many Salafists. Also, Taymiyyb is the source of Wahhabism, a strictly traditional movement founded by Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, who derived his ideas from his works. He influenced various movements that seek to reform traditional ideologies by returning to sources. Terrorist organizations such as the Taliban, Al Qaeda, Boko Haram and the Islamic State often cite Ibn Taymiyah in their propaganda, justifying their crimes against women, Shiites, Sufis and representatives of other religions.