SHAYKUL-ISLAM IBN TAYMIYYAH (661–728A.H)
“مِّنَ ٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ رِجَالٌۭ صَدَقُوا۟ مَا عَـٰهَدُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ عَلَيْهِ ۖ فَمِنْهُم مَّن قَضَىٰ نَحْبَهُۥ وَمِنْهُم مَّن يَنتَظِرُ ۖ وَمَا بَدَّلُوا۟ تَبْدِيلًۭا”
Among the believers are men who have proven true to what they pledged to Allah.1 Some of them have fulfilled their pledge ˹with their lives˺, others are waiting ˹their turn˺. They have never changed ˹their commitment˺ in the least.
INTRODUCTION
His full name is ‘Taqi ud-Din Abu’l-Abbas Ahmad ibn al-Halim ibn Abd-as-Salaam Ibn Taymiyyah al-Hanbali’. He was given the name Shaikhul-Islam because of the fame he enjoyed among other scholars. He was born on Monday the 10th of Rabee’ Al-Awwal 66l A.H./22nd of January 1263 A.C in Harran which is now part of eastern Turkey. His family fled to Damascus when he was 7 years old. His father, grandfather and uncle were great scholars. He had the opportunity to learn from the best hands.
HIS EARLY LIFE AND EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND
Ibn Taymiyyah received all his early education and schooling in the Sukkariya Madrasa, Damascus. He became a Hafidh of the Quran in his early teens. He learned Fiqh and Usool-ul-Fiqh from his father. He was brilliant as a teen and had a very good memory. He became an haafidh at a young age and started issuing fatwahs (religious verdicts) at the age of 19. He literarily completed his education at the age of 20. He learnt from nothing less than 200 scholars according to a narration.
His initial sources of knowledge centred around diverse sciences like Tafsir; Sciences of the Qur’an; the Sunnah; the Six books; Musnad Imam Ahmad; Sunan ad-Darimi; Mu’jam at-Tabarani; Sciences of Hadith and narrators; Fiqh and it’s Usul; Usul ad-Din and sects. He also even studied Math, Algebra, calligraphy, theology, philosophy, and history etc.
HIS WORKS
Shaykh Ibn Taymiyyah wrote his first book at age 29 about ‘Manasik al-Hajj’ (Rites of the Pilgrimage). It contained criticism about all the innovations he noticed during his pilgrimage. He landed in prison because of his protest against a Christian cleric who was blasphemizing the prophet which led him to his second book which was written in prison titled; ‘as-Sarim al-Maslul ‘ala Shatim ar-Rasul’ (The Drawn Sword against those who insult the Messenger),
He took many stances against the Sufiyyah sect,especially certain acts and beliefs of some Sufi orders, like worshipping saints, visiting their graves, and throwing themselves in the fire. His attack on the Sufis caused him a lot of trouble with the authorities whose rulers were under the influence of certain Sufi leaders. He contributed a lot to the development of the Islamic world. He stood over the leaders of the Islamic world on the principle of ruling justly and encouraging good and forbidden evil.
HIS JIHAD
He contributed a lot in terms of Jihad. When the Tartars begin the invasion of the Islamic world. The people of Syria sent him to Egypt to urge the Mamluk Sultan, who was the Sultan of Egypt and Syria to lead his troops to Syria in order to save it from the invading Tatars. This led to the battle of Shaqbah in which he also played an important role. They were granted victory and they defeated the Tartars. Ibn Taymiyyah’s courage was expressed when he went with a delegation of scholars to talk to Qazan, the Khan of the Tatars, to stop his attack on the Muslims. An action which no scholar was able to carry out.
He also fought against the Christians who were invading the Muslim lands. Al-Bazzar mentions the following when discussing the bravery and strength of heart of Ibn Taymiyyah:
“They relate that they saw of him at the conquest of ‘Acre, such a display of bravery that was beyond description. They say that he was a reason behind it’s seizure by the Muslims because of his deeds, advice and sharp perception.” (Al’-Alam al-’Aliyyah, p. 68.
HIS LATER LIFE
Ibn Taymiyyah was imprisoned a lot of times due to his fatwah and his forbidding of widespread evils and also, his preaching against the misdeed of the rulers. He was among the best of the contemporary scholars of his time; this led to envy from some of them who caused him a lot of trouble, there were instances when he was waylaid and beaten up by hoodlums.
Ibn Taymiyyah had the chance to punish his opponents among the scholars who caused him all kinds of trouble and put him in jail many times, but he forgave them when Sultan An-Naasir Qalawun gave him the chance to punish them. Ibn Taymiyyah said: “If you kill them, you will never find scholars like them. “ The Sultan said: “They harmed you many times and wanted to kill you! “Ibn Taymiyyah said: “Whoever harmed me is forgiven, and who harmed the cause of Allah and His Messenger, Allah will punish him.”
Even with his controversial fame, he was the humblest man to come across. He gave everyone he came across equal respect and never behaved or dressed extravagantly. He never married or had a family.
HIS DEATH
Towards the latter part of his life, he was not on good terms with the Sultan and he was imprisoned. He was also banned from having any books, papers and pens during the latter stage of his final imprisonment, Ibn Taymiyyah then devoted all of his time to worshipping and reciting the Qur’an. He remained in this state for a short period of time until he passed away on the twentieth of Dhul-Qa’dah of the year 728A.H after a short period of sickness.
Upon his death in prison, the whole city of Damascus shut down, and the crowd of people who came to attend his funeral exceeded 500,000 in number. He was honoured with one of the largest funeral prayers in history. He received praise from a lot of people and scholars. After praying on him, someone shouted out, ‘This is how the janazah of the Imams of the Sunnah is to be!’ At that, the people started to cry… The majority of the people from different other regions also gathered together to observe Solatul Ghaib for him.
His most prominent student Ibn Al-Qayyim Al-Jawziyyah (who also rose to fame after Ibn Taymiyyah’s death), compiled a list of the works of Ibn Taymiyyah which totalled around 350 works. May Allah’s Mercy and Forgiveness be upon him.
May Allah accept this great servant of his in the highest position in Paradise.\
BELOW ARE SOME OF HIS MOST PROMINENT BOOKS
- Minhaj as-Sunnah an-Nabawiyyah
- Dar Ta’arud al-’Aql wa’n-Naql
- Al-Istiqamah
- Iqtida’ as-Sirat al-Mustaqim li Mukhalafah Ashab al-Jahim
- Naqd Maratib al-Ijma’
- As-Sarim al-Maslul ‘ala Shatim ar-Rasul
- Al-Jawab as-Sahih li man baddala Din al-Masih
- Ar-Rad ‘ala al-Mantiqiyyin
- Ar-Rad ‘ala al-’Akhnan’i
- Naqd at-Ta’sis
- An-Nubuwat
