Sheikh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah

Highlights of his biography and approach

Author's name: Dr. Muhammad Ibrahim Al-Hamad

Taqi al-Din Abu al-Abbas Ahmad ibn Abd al-Halim ibn Abd al-Salam al-Numayri al-Harrani (661-728 AH / 1263-1328 CE), better known by the name Ibn Taymiyyah, was a jurist, hadith scholar, exegete, and a mujtahid Muslim scholar among the scholars of Ahl al-Sunnah wa'l-Jama'ah. He was one of the most prominent Muslim scholars during the second half of the seventh century and the first third of the eighth century AH. Ibn Taymiyyah was raised in the Hanbali school of thought, learning Hanbali jurisprudence and its principles from his father and grandfather. He was also one of the mujtahid imams of the school. He issued fatwas on many issues that differed from the accepted Hanbali school of thought, as he deemed them consistent with evidence from the Qur'an and Sunnah, and with the opinions of the Companions and the traditions of the early Muslims.

Ibn Taymiyyah was born in 661 AH (1263 CE) in Harran to the Hanbali jurist Abd al-Halim ibn Taymiyyah and Sitt al-Ni'am bint Abd al-Rahman al-Harraniyyah. He was raised in Harran. After he reached the age of seven, his family migrated to Damascus due to a Tatar raid in 667 AH. Upon his arrival, his father, Abd al-Halim ibn Taymiyyah, began teaching at the Umayyad Mosque and Dar al-Hadith al-Sukkariyah. While growing up in Damascus, Ibn Taymiyyah devoted himself to seeking knowledge. Historians note that he acquired knowledge from more than two hundred scholars in various fields, including interpretation of the Quran, hadith, jurisprudence, and Arabic. He began writing and teaching at the age of seventeen. After his father's death in 682 AH, he took over his teaching position at Dar al-Hadith al-Sukkariyah. He also taught Quranic interpretation at the Umayyad Mosque and at the Hanbali School in Damascus.

Ibn Taymiyyah faced imprisonment and arrest several times, the first of which was in 693 AH/1294 CE after the Sultan's deputy in Damascus arrested him for a short period on charges of inciting the public. The reason for this was that Ibn Taymiyyah rose up against a Christian who had been told that he had insulted the Prophet Muhammad. In 705 AH/1306 CE, he was imprisoned in Cairo with his two brothers, Sharaf al-Din Abdullah and Zayn al-Din Abd al-Rahman, for eighteen months until 707 AH/1307 CE, due to the issue of the throne, the issue of speech, and the issue of descent. He was also imprisoned for a few days in Shawwal 707 AH/1308 CE due to a complaint from the Sufis, because he spoke about those who believed in the unity of existence, namely Ibn Arabi, Ibn Sab'in, al-Qunawi, and al-Hallaj. He was ordained (2) in Alexandria in 709 AH/1309 CE for a period of eight months, and was released after Sultan al-Nasir Muhammad ibn Qalawun returned to power. In 720 AH/1320 CE, he was imprisoned for about six months for the "issue of swearing to divorce." He was imprisoned in 726 AH/1326 CE until his death in 728 AH/1328 CE for the issue of "visiting graves and traveling to them." In addition, he was harassed by jurists, theologians, and rulers because of his doctrine, which he declared in the Fatwa of Hama in 698 AH/1299 CE and the Wasitiyya Creed in 705 AH/1306 CE, in which he affirmed the audible attributes mentioned in the Qur'an and Sunnah, such as the hand, face, eye, descent, ascension, and supremacy, while denying their modality.

Ibn Taymiyyah witnessed the Mongol invasions of the Levant and played a role in confronting them. In 699 AH/1299 AD, he met with the Tatar Sultan Mahmud Ghazan after his arrival in the Levant and obtained a security agreement from him that postponed the Tatars' entry into Damascus for a period of time. In 700 AH/1300 AD, when rumors spread in Damascus that the Tatars were intending to attack the Levant, Ibn Taymiyyah worked to urge and motivate Muslims in Damascus to fight them. He also approached the Sultan of Egypt and urged him to come and fight them. However, the Tatars withdrew that year. In 702 AH/1303 AD, Ibn Taymiyyah participated in the Battle of Shaqhab, which ended with the Mamluks' victory over the Tatars. He worked to urge Muslims to fight, and went to the Sultan for a second time, urging him to fight, and the Sultan responded. At that time, it was rumored that the Tatars should be fought, as they outwardly pretended to be Muslims. Ibn Taymiyyah issued a fatwa declaring them obligatory to fight, claiming they were a sect that abstained from any of the Islamic laws. Ibn Taymiyyah also went out with the Sultan's deputy in Damascus in 699 AH/1299 AD, 704 AH/1305 AD, and 705 AH/1305 AD to fight the Ismailis, Batinis, Hakimiyas, and Nusayris of Keserwan and Bilad al-Jurd. He stated in a letter to the Sultan that the reason for this was their cooperation with the Crusader and Tatar armies.