Ibn Taymiyyah

Key Accomplishments

• Authored extensive works on theology, jurisprudence, and political theory from a strict scripturalist perspective
• Issued the landmark fatwa permitting jihad against the Mongol Ilkhans despite their nominal Islam
• Challenged the mainstream Ash'ari theological establishment with his literalist approach
• Profoundly influenced later Islamic reform movements including Wahhabism and modern Salafism

The Full Story

Born in Harran in present-day Turkey, Ibn Taymiyyah's family fled the Mongol invasions when he was a child, settling in Damascus. He studied in the Hanbali tradition and quickly gained a reputation for his exceptional memory, sharp intellect, and confrontational temperament. He issued fatwas against practices he considered innovations, including the veneration of saints' tombs, certain Sufi practices, and the metaphysical doctrines of Ibn Arabi.

His theology emphasized a strict return to the Quran and Sunnah, rejecting the speculative theology (kalam) that had become mainstream in Sunni Islam. He criticized the Ash'ari school's use of Greek philosophical categories and argued for a literalist reading of divine attributes. He also issued his controversial fatwa declaring that the Mongol Ilkhans, despite their nominal conversion to Islam, could be fought as unbelievers because they governed by the Yasa code rather than Sharia.

Ibn Taymiyyah was imprisoned six times in Damascus and Cairo for his controversial rulings. He died in the citadel prison of Damascus in 1328. Despite his contentious legacy, his voluminous writings, spanning theology, jurisprudence, logic, and political theory, have exerted enormous influence on later Islamic thought. Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab drew heavily on his ideas, as have various modern reformist and revivalist movements.

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Sources

• [1]Hoover, Jon. Ibn Taymiyya's Theodicy of Perpetual Optimism. Brill, 2007.
• [2]Rapoport, Yossef, and Shahab Ahmed, eds. Ibn Taymiyya and His Times. Oxford University Press, 2010.
• [3]Michot, Yahya. Muslims under Non-Muslim Rule: Ibn Taymiyya. Interface Publications, 2006.