Ibn Taymiyyah in the eyes of Sh. Hatim al Awny

Translation of original Arabic Facebook posts written by the esteemed shaykh.

Ibn Taymiyyah: Not the only Shaykh al-Islam

Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah is one of many 'Shaykh al-Islam's. He is not the only one, nor he is the most knowledgeable one. Where is he in comparison to the rightly guided Caliphs or to the Fuqaha of the Sahaba of the likes of Ibn Mas`ud, Ibn `Abbas, `Aishah, Ibn `Umar, Mu`adh bin Jabal, Abud Darda? Allah be pleased with all of them.

Where is Ibn Taymiyyah in comparison to the 'Shaykh al-Islam's from the generation of Tabi`een like the Seven Jurists of Madina, the students of Ibn Mas`ud in Kufa, the students of Ibn `Abbas in Makkah, to al-Hasan al-Basri, Muhammad bin Seereen from Basra and their likes?

And where is he in comparison to the Four Imams - Abu Hanifa, Malik, al-Shafi`ee and Ahmad and their colleagues like al-Awza`ee, al-Layth bin Sa`d, al-Thawree and their likes?

And not a single century or generation has passed where we don't have people who are greater or equal to him. This Ummah is elite, fertile with elites. The Ummah has never gone impotent, neither it has become a mother that only gives birth to stupid children.

Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah like other 'Shaykh al-Islam's surpassed most scholars in receiving this title because he gathered between greatness of knowledge, greatness of personality and greatness of actions. They became worthy of this title for their excellence, and this title was not a state designated position as it was in the case of the `Uthmani empire.

Ibn Taymiyyah is unique in his writings like other great scholars because of his frequent demonstration of freedom in delivering his ideas and idea of others, in building arguments, engaging in critique and establishing proofs. He didn't stop at only quoting from others as is the case of many of the later people. This is why his writings are never empty of addition that compels a researcher to stop and think. His rich authorship manifests his independency. And this is why he will continue to have admirers and haters, and everyone will be coerced to come back to his conclusions. But, people of justice will be in between acceptance and rejection, he will find himself engaging with his ideas either in defence or in refutation.

And with all these, Ibn Taymiyyah does have mistakes, some of them are big. But, he is such an ocean that buckets cannot make it muddy, even if those buckets turn into large vessels.

And this is why it is not advised for beginners to read his books, nor it is advised for intermediate seekers. Rather, this is a task for researchers at the last level who is able to distinguish the right from the wrong. And a very important qualification of this researcher is that he should be able to survive getting drowned and engulfed by him to the point he is swept across by the waves of extremism for him.

Making Excuse for people of Piety: Difference of approach between 𝗮𝗹 𝗗𝗵𝗮𝗵𝗮𝗯𝗶 & 𝗜𝗯𝗻 𝗧𝗮𝘆𝗺𝗶𝘆𝘆𝗮𝗵

al Dhahabi wrote a biography in his book “Tarikh al Islam” for the Damascene scholar - Ismail, son of the honor of the judges 'Ali, son of Muhammad, who passed away in the year 689AH. al Dhahabi writes about him in his book (15/628-631) and mentions his asceticity, his persevernce in rituals. He also mentions that he met one of the Sufis who encouraged him to read the books of Ibn `Arabi and thus he started admiring him with immense admiration. al Dhahabi commented on this, saying:

“He proceeded to reading the books of Ibn Arabi. He wrote them and enjoyed them. He used to always visit his grave and admire him immensely.

The assumption is, he didn’t grasp the reality of Ibn Arabi’s path (madhab). Rather, he used to benefit from his apparent statements and would stop at ambiguous ones. We assume this because it has not been recorded from him that he would turnish his religiosity with any actions or statements. Instead, he was a devout servant of Allah, a man of rituals, praying at night, fearful of God and follower of tradition. He was honest in his search, he venerated the sanctities of Allah. He didn’t enter into the confusions of Ibn Arabi, neither he invited people to it. Upon him was the light of Islam and glow of Sunnah. May Allah be pleased with him.”

After this, al Dhahabi mentions, “Our Shaykh, Ibn Taymiyyah, used to admire him and would go to extremes in admiration until he came across one of his poem, which begins with the following:

‘And Your life is such that I see nothing else.
As You are the essence of the limbs and strengths.’

Ibn Taymiyyah became upset and said, this poem is the essence of Unity of existence (ittihad). But, I think he wanted to make rhymes with what Allah said (in Hadith Qudsi), “With me, he hears, and with me he sees.” But, the context and the continuity of the Hadith debunks what he said, as there is no mention in the Hadith that God Himself becomes the limbs. Allah is far exalted than this!”

al Dhahabi followed Ibn Taymiyyah’s comment with this remark, “I say: I didn’t find these words ‘With me, he hears and with me, he listens.’”

This hadith has been brought up by Ibn Taymiyyah in many places in his books with these words. He even attributed the wording to al Bukhari, but it’s not found in Bukhari and neither in any of the Six books of Sunan. Rather, it has been brought up by al Hakim al Tirmidhi in his book ‘Nawadir al Usul’ without any chain of narration. This is why Sh. al Albani corrected Ibn Taymiyyah and said in his “al Silsilah al Sahihah” (#1640): “And accordingly, Shaykh al Islam Ibn Taymiyyah has brought up this hadith in many places of Majmu’ al Fataawa (5/511, 10/58 , 11/75-76, 17/133-134) with the narration of Bukhari with these extra words – “With me, he hears and with me, he sees and with me, he exerts and with me, he walks” But, I didn’t find these addition - neither Bukhari nor in any other books of Takhreej (Hadith extraction) that I mentioned.”

It’s strange that some contemporary people contributed to the works of Ibn Taymiyyah by finding sources of Hadith narrations in his books, but when it came to Ibn Taymiyyah’s attribution of these wordings to Bukhari, none of them alerted the reader that these words do not appear in Bukhari or other books!

Coming back to our original topic, after this comment about the wording of the Hadith, al Dhahabi completed this unusual biography, with the following remarks:

“He was a man of rituals, pure deeds and fear of God and piety that prevented him going into the fantasies of the Ittihadiya (followers of Ittihad i.e. unity of existence). Also, a sign of his taqwa (fear of God) is that he didn’t closely examine the position and path of this group, neither did he dive into their ocean of meanings. Perhaps, he was saved by Allah due to his observance of rituals and his honesty to God (ikhlaas).

He made copies of ‘Jami’ al Usul’ and benefited from Hadith. Allah will show him mercy.

It appears that he used to interprete the statements of Muhiyuddin Ibn Arabi in positive ways and as experiantal expressions of ‘Arifeen (people with esoteric knowledge of God). Indeded, not everyone who admires a great person is always aware of all his connotations. Rather, you will see him going to extremes in his concise statements, but in his detailed explanations, he will oppose him without actually being aware of his opposition!

And this is the case for all the denominations (firqah)in the Ummah with regards to their Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam). You will see them having full submission to him and yet every group opposes him in some aspects without being aware of their opposition.

And this is also the case of Muqallidun (followers) with regards to their Imams. They encourage others in every way possible, to follow them and yet they themselves oppose them in many aspects of Usul (principles) and Furu’ (branches of knowledge) unknowingly. Rather, they get stubborn and don’t do justice. We ask protection of Allah from whims and attributing to Allah without knowledge. How wonderful is abstinence and silence! How beneficial is piety and fear! The same could be said about the Shia. They go to extremes in their love for Imam Ali. They oppose him a lot and reinterprete his statements or rejects his authentic statements as lies.

Perhaps Allah will pardon a lot of these groups for their good intentions and their veneration of Quran and Sunnah.”

And this is how Imam al Dhahabi concludes his statement regarding various Muslim groups with making such a beautiful excuse on their behalf!

Translated by Sheik Sadi