سعد بن معاذ
11-07-2005, 09:55 AM
Shaikh al-Islam Ibn-Taymiyah
One of the best Muslim scholars
Sheikh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah is a very famous Muslim scholar. To understand Ibn Taymiyah we need to understand the time that Ibn Taymiyah came at. Ibn Taymiyah came at a time when many people came into Islam but unfortunately wanted to bring some of the stuff from their old religions into Islam and make a mix. The result of that appeared as groups like the Shi3a & the Sufis and so on. At that time Islam was drifting away and the people started clinging to the things that were added to Islam not to Islam itself. Ibn Katheer in his most famous book "al-bidayah wal-nihayah (The starting and the beginning)" says that deviation and misguidance speed so much that Sunnah and true Islam was hard to find (much worst than today), and he actually gives examples of places and such. He said "and when we come to see the state of the people of Damascus that time, the people there were worst than the polytheist Kafirs like Christians and Sabians. Innovations and Shirk spread so commonly that it was thought to be Sunnah and it was defended vigorously against any kind of reform or return to the sundae."
At these times Ibn Taymiyah came. Obviously, this was around the time of the Crusader presence. Also, you have a significant of the Christian population becoming Muslim or forming certain sects and certain people who were already Muslims were forming certain sects. As one says, you are a product of your environment. A very large percentage of Syrians were Christian and joining Islam and they were bad influences. Ibn Taymiyah attacked the idea of having saints. The idea of saints originated from Catholicism and Christian Orthodoxy. As for Druze (1) and Alawite (2), Ibn Taymiyah call for their persecution since they are worse polytheist than Christians are. The Mamelukes were not interested in the piety of Orthodox Sunni style. They favored the Mystical Dervish styles of the Sufis etc.... Today, with Mamelukes and Fatimite influence, Egypt still has heavy mystical influence and Sufism.
Ibn Taymiyah had one little magnificent idea: Islam was perfect and complete at the days of the companion, a lot of stuff was added to Islam afterwards by Sufis and others, since Islam WAS perfect before then these things we do no need. So, he wanted to revive the understanding of Islam according to what the Companions of the prophet (or al-Salaf al-Salih7) understood. Of course Ibn Taymiyah did not come up with that concept by himself, the concept was started by the prophet who used to say in every Friday that people will come and they will add to Islam, and that these additions are evil and are rejected, and that those who add them will not be forgiven and there will not get reward for their worship. The Companions understood that and they followed it perfectly. The guidelines of the concept are very apparent in all the 4 schools especially the last school (mathhab), the Hanbali which came at a time when deviations and innovations were many so It had a solid and clear methodology in fighting such things, Imam Ahmad Bin Hanbal spent several years in the jails of Bani al-3abbas because of his stand against the deviant mu3tazillah when they claimed that the text of Quran was uttered by Gabriel not by Allah (fitnat khaliq al-Quran).
Anyway as Muslims got deeper and deeper into these deviations, Allah made their situation worse and worse. First Allah gave the shi3a the upper hand on the Sunnis and they founded states in Yemen (Zaidiya), eastern Arabia (Qaramita), Iran (Ismailis and Twelvers) and Egypt (Fatimites). Ibn Katheer says in the same book (al-bidayah wal-nihayah) that this was indeed the long due punishment that the people deserved with their leaving Islam. But the people still insisted on deviation and innovation so Allah sent both the Mongol and the Crusaders as punishments on the Muslims. At such times, came Ibn Taymiyah.
Ibn Taymiyah was a follower of the Hanbali School, his father was the head of that school but he died when Ibn Taymiyah was 17. When Ibn Taymiyah became 20 he was acknowledged to be the head of the Hanbali School by all Hanbali major scholars. The nature of the Hanbali school and the fact that it was the last lead remain away from all the innovation and deviation aground them. Many Hanbalis deviated too but for some time the only groups that slicked to pure Islam were a small group among the Hanbalis and the ever-small group of the students of Hadeeth. The rest were in dissension. Ibn Taymiyah started a revolution. He was sick and tired of all the innovation and deviation aground him, so he started a merciless war against everything that is not Islam yet claiming to be Islam. He attacked many people that the people considered holy like al-Ghazali, Ibn Arabi, Ibn Seena (philosopher from the Mu3tazila (3)) and many others. Ibn Taymiyah was set on living Islam like the Companions understood it and lived it, without the additions that people added and without taking anything away from Islam. He was able with his great ability at speech and great knowledge to gain a huge number of supporters in a short time. Indeed, Ibn Taymiyah enemies had no argument at all, anyone who studies Quran and Sunnah sees that everything Ibn Taymiyah called for was good and everything he fought was bad. The guy was so careful not to do or say anything unless he is sure of the strength of his argument.
Ibn Taymiyah attacked Ibn 3arabi, the famous Sufi that claimed for the first time that Allah exists everywhere and he
One of the best Muslim scholars
Sheikh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah is a very famous Muslim scholar. To understand Ibn Taymiyah we need to understand the time that Ibn Taymiyah came at. Ibn Taymiyah came at a time when many people came into Islam but unfortunately wanted to bring some of the stuff from their old religions into Islam and make a mix. The result of that appeared as groups like the Shi3a & the Sufis and so on. At that time Islam was drifting away and the people started clinging to the things that were added to Islam not to Islam itself. Ibn Katheer in his most famous book "al-bidayah wal-nihayah (The starting and the beginning)" says that deviation and misguidance speed so much that Sunnah and true Islam was hard to find (much worst than today), and he actually gives examples of places and such. He said "and when we come to see the state of the people of Damascus that time, the people there were worst than the polytheist Kafirs like Christians and Sabians. Innovations and Shirk spread so commonly that it was thought to be Sunnah and it was defended vigorously against any kind of reform or return to the sundae."
At these times Ibn Taymiyah came. Obviously, this was around the time of the Crusader presence. Also, you have a significant of the Christian population becoming Muslim or forming certain sects and certain people who were already Muslims were forming certain sects. As one says, you are a product of your environment. A very large percentage of Syrians were Christian and joining Islam and they were bad influences. Ibn Taymiyah attacked the idea of having saints. The idea of saints originated from Catholicism and Christian Orthodoxy. As for Druze (1) and Alawite (2), Ibn Taymiyah call for their persecution since they are worse polytheist than Christians are. The Mamelukes were not interested in the piety of Orthodox Sunni style. They favored the Mystical Dervish styles of the Sufis etc.... Today, with Mamelukes and Fatimite influence, Egypt still has heavy mystical influence and Sufism.
Ibn Taymiyah had one little magnificent idea: Islam was perfect and complete at the days of the companion, a lot of stuff was added to Islam afterwards by Sufis and others, since Islam WAS perfect before then these things we do no need. So, he wanted to revive the understanding of Islam according to what the Companions of the prophet (or al-Salaf al-Salih7) understood. Of course Ibn Taymiyah did not come up with that concept by himself, the concept was started by the prophet who used to say in every Friday that people will come and they will add to Islam, and that these additions are evil and are rejected, and that those who add them will not be forgiven and there will not get reward for their worship. The Companions understood that and they followed it perfectly. The guidelines of the concept are very apparent in all the 4 schools especially the last school (mathhab), the Hanbali which came at a time when deviations and innovations were many so It had a solid and clear methodology in fighting such things, Imam Ahmad Bin Hanbal spent several years in the jails of Bani al-3abbas because of his stand against the deviant mu3tazillah when they claimed that the text of Quran was uttered by Gabriel not by Allah (fitnat khaliq al-Quran).
Anyway as Muslims got deeper and deeper into these deviations, Allah made their situation worse and worse. First Allah gave the shi3a the upper hand on the Sunnis and they founded states in Yemen (Zaidiya), eastern Arabia (Qaramita), Iran (Ismailis and Twelvers) and Egypt (Fatimites). Ibn Katheer says in the same book (al-bidayah wal-nihayah) that this was indeed the long due punishment that the people deserved with their leaving Islam. But the people still insisted on deviation and innovation so Allah sent both the Mongol and the Crusaders as punishments on the Muslims. At such times, came Ibn Taymiyah.
Ibn Taymiyah was a follower of the Hanbali School, his father was the head of that school but he died when Ibn Taymiyah was 17. When Ibn Taymiyah became 20 he was acknowledged to be the head of the Hanbali School by all Hanbali major scholars. The nature of the Hanbali school and the fact that it was the last lead remain away from all the innovation and deviation aground them. Many Hanbalis deviated too but for some time the only groups that slicked to pure Islam were a small group among the Hanbalis and the ever-small group of the students of Hadeeth. The rest were in dissension. Ibn Taymiyah started a revolution. He was sick and tired of all the innovation and deviation aground him, so he started a merciless war against everything that is not Islam yet claiming to be Islam. He attacked many people that the people considered holy like al-Ghazali, Ibn Arabi, Ibn Seena (philosopher from the Mu3tazila (3)) and many others. Ibn Taymiyah was set on living Islam like the Companions understood it and lived it, without the additions that people added and without taking anything away from Islam. He was able with his great ability at speech and great knowledge to gain a huge number of supporters in a short time. Indeed, Ibn Taymiyah enemies had no argument at all, anyone who studies Quran and Sunnah sees that everything Ibn Taymiyah called for was good and everything he fought was bad. The guy was so careful not to do or say anything unless he is sure of the strength of his argument.
Ibn Taymiyah attacked Ibn 3arabi, the famous Sufi that claimed for the first time that Allah exists everywhere and he