Biography of yazid ibn taymiyyah tolerances

In the meantime, the Mongols invaded Syria three times between and With the passing of the Mongol threat, Ibn Taymiyya agitated against Sufi theology and popular religious practices that he believed deviated from Islam and weakened Muslim society. Three trials held in Damascus in January and February were inconclusive. He was then summoned to Cairo, the Mamluk capital, where he was convicted of corporealism and related issues in April and imprisoned for 18 months.

In April he was imprisoned again in Cairo for another 16 months following a disturbance with Sufis. He was transferred to Alexandria in August and placed under house arrest for eight more months. Ibn Taymiyya then enjoyed three years of calm in Cairo. In he returned to Damascus where he spent the rest of his life writing and teaching a small circle of disciples.

This period was punctuated by disputes with religious scholars that led to Mamluk state intervention. In he was imprisoned for five and one-half months for issuing unorthodox opinions about divorce oaths. He suffered further imprisonment in for teaching against undertaking travel to graves to seek intercession through the dead. He remained in prison until his death in September in the Islamic calendar.

Ibn Taymiyya did not write systematic works of theology or philosophy. He instead left a vast corpus of refutations and fatwas of widely varying lengths and degrees of organization. Nonetheless, it is possible to sequence his three largest theological tomes. These three works take up ten, eleven, and nine volumes, respectively, in their modern Arabic critical editions.

Ibn Taymiyya also wrote large works on law, prophecy, and Christianity. Whatever is not susceptible to perception by the senses does not exist. The unseen, according to Ibn Taymiyya, is not an intellectual world or a world of immaterial images. Instead, the unseen world, like the seen, consists of concrete particulars with temporal and spatial dimensions that may be perceived by the senses when unimpeded.

Among other things, the unseen includes God, angels, the afterlife, and the human soul, which is distinct from the human body but not immaterial. Some things in the unseen world have already been perceived in this life by prophets in visions and dreams, and believers will see God in front of them with their eyes in the hereafter. That God is no more than a concept in the mind Moustafa ; Suleiman 98—; El-Tobgui —5, —2; Hoover —8.

Parallel to this physicalism, Ibn Taymiyya denies that universals exist in extramental reality. Shared meanings and universal notions abstracted from concrete particulars in the extramental world exist only in the mind. Conceptualism acknowledges the existence of universals in the mind whereas nominalism may imply rejection of that as well Suleiman — For Ibn Taymiyya, extramental existents do share in the fact of existing and in the fact of having unique essences and quiddities: Between any two existents is something that they share and something that distinguishes them.

The essence of something is in fact its very existence along with its attributes El-Tobgui — Ibn Taymiyya also maintains that certain rational principles obtain universally, both in the mind and in extramental reality. These principles accord with his physicalist ontology, and they include logical axioms like the law of noncontradiction and the law of the excluded middle.

It is not possible, for example, that something exist and not exist at the same time or that something exist neither inside the world nor outside of it. Likewise, one of two existents cannot be neither suffused within the other nor distinct from it. Ibn Taymiyya also affirms the division of existents into two fundamental types. Every existent is either eternal or originated, necessary or possible, and self-subsisting or subsisting in another.

He insists on the universal applicability of efficient causality as well. Nothing possible or temporal can come into existence without a sufficient cause. It is for this reason, Ibn Taymiyya maintains, that normally functioning human beings perceive directly from their own existence that there must be a God who created them El-Tobgui —60, Epistemology 3.

Sense perception is both outer and inner. Outer sense perception comes through the five senses. It perceives the particulars of the visible world in this life, and it perceives God in the hereafter. Sense perception, according to Ibn Taymiyya, is immediate and necessary in the sense that it cannot be denied. Report is related to sense perception insofar as it derives from the sense perceptions of others who have experienced what they report.

Reports may be of particulars and universals and of the seen and the unseen. Much of what we know comes from reports because our own sense perception is limited in range. Divine revelation constitutes a special category of reports providing knowledge about the unseen world and the hereafter. Reports provide certain knowledge only if they are so abundantly transmitted as to preclude collusion and forgery.

Ibn Taymiyya regards some reports of the early Muslims, the salaf, to be abundantly transmitted as well El-Tobgui —9, — The latter includes logical axioms like those noted above e. The functions of reason as a faculty include forming universals in the mind from the extramental concrete particulars known through the senses and carrying out rational inferences El-Tobgui — God creates human beings with a Godward orientation, and this includes many things known by reason such as the basic rules of thought and fundamental moral intuitions.

The Avicennan logical system is foundationalist. New knowledge is built up from primary knowledge through discursive reasoning. Otherwise, without a foundation of primary knowledge, rational inferences would regress infinitely. Conceptualization is the formation of a notion or concept in the mind. The definition generates a concept in the mind that corresponds to the quiddity of the existing thing in extramental reality.

Assent, the second division of Avicennan logic, affirms the truthfulness of a proposition. Primary assents that are certain include, among other things, primary truths e. Probable primary assents include beliefs about human customs and laws. Acquired assents are derived through induction, analogy, and syllogism. Induction and analogy impart no more than probability, but a valid categorical syllogism with certain premises provides apodictic certainty.

He rejects the ontology underpinning Avicennan definitions: definitions do not delineate real Avicennan quiddities shared by multiple existents outside the mind, and the attributes of extramental realities are not divided into those which are quiddative or essential and those which are not. Ibn Taymiyya maintains instead that definitions are matters of linguistic convention.

I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger. C in Harran in Iraq. His father fled with his family from Harran to Damascus in the year A. In Damascus, the center of Islamic studies at that time, Ahmad Ibn Taymiyyah followed the footsteps of his father who was a scholar of Islamic studies by studying with the great scholars of his time.

He completed his studies when he was a teenager, and at the age of 19, he became a professor of Islamic studies, well versed in Quranic studies, Hadeeth, Fiqh, theology, Arabic grammar and scholastic theology, etc. He defended the authentic Prophetic tradition by arguments which, although taken from the Quran and the Sunnah, were unfamiliar to people of his time.

Rapoport, Yossef, and Shahab Ahmed, eds. Ibn Taymiyya and His Times. Karachi: Oxford University Press, Users without a subscription are not able to see the full content on this page. Please subscribe or login. How to Subscribe Oxford Bibliographies Online is available by subscription and perpetual access to institutions. For more information or to contact an Oxford Sales Representative click here.

Islamic Studies. He was so daringin this that a groupof scholarsfrom Egypt and Syriaturnedagainst him in an unprecedentedway. They accusedhim of being an innovator,they confronted him and treated him with contempt. Yet, he was firm without giving himselfup to flatteryor to favouritism,on the contrary,he utteredthe bitter truth to which he had been led by his independentjudgement,his sharp mind, his vast knowledgeof the Sunna and of the [scholars']opinions.

This was in addition to his celebratedpiety, the completenessof his thought, his swiftnessin learning,his fearof God, and his venerationof the sacredthingsof God. And now turn your attentionto the war-likeclashesand to the Egyptian and Syrian battles! How many times was he unanimouslyaccused,but God rescuedhim;for he was steadyin supplication,frequentin callingfor His help, resolutein [his]trust[in Him]and firm-hearted.

The abridged version by al-Suyfiti Jahd al-qariha fT tarjid al-nasiha or Mukhtasar nasihat ahl al-imanfi 1-radd 'ald mantiq al- Y? A complete version in 11 volumes has been edited by M. There exsists an Italian translation by G. According to H. Laoust the book was composed between and Reinaud and M. The license ijfza here mentioned is also quoted by Ibn 'Abd al-Hddi 'Uqdd, 57 in a long list of Ibn Taymiyya's works in which he mentions the titles and the genre of his writings.

On the other hand, there are people who love him from among the scholars and the pious, the soldiers and the amirs, the tradesmen and the authorities. The rest of the common people love him because he stands up for their benefit, day and night, in his words and his writings. As for his courage, proverbs are made of it and in some of them he resembles the greatest heroes.

Indeed, God has put him in the times of Ghazan and he faced the burdens of the situation himself. Vehemence possessed him when he worked as if he were a fighting lion. One like me is unworthy of calling attention to his qualities. Had I walked around between the corner [of the Ka'ba] and the tomb [of Abraham], I would had sworn that I had not seen by my eyes anybody like him.

No, by God! Not even he ever saw anybody like himself in knowledge! He was frequently tactless and argumentative, may God forgive him. He was poor, having no money and his clothing-like any other jurist-was a 29 Ibn Taymiyya's activism against the Mongols is indeed one of the most celebrated aspect of his personality. Ibn Taymiyya is said to have actively participated in the event by taking part in the fight and encouraging the troops.

Zetterst6en Leiden: E. Brill, , ; Baybars al-Mansu-ri,Zubdat al-fikra Jf ta'rikh al-hijra, ed. Raff, Remarks on an Ibn Ibn Taymiyya is said to have stayed in Mulay's camp for three days. L6winger and J. Al-Yunini, Dhayl, ed. Texte arabe publi6 et traduit en francais par E. As for Qutlutshah,he was commander in chief of the Mongol troops during the three Syrian invasions and Ghazan's substitute after the former left Damascus.

The account is usually reported directly by Ibn Taymiyya on the authority of al-BirzalI. For biographical information about Qutlushah cf. Morgan, art. He was reappointed governor of Damascus in by Ghazan, but returned to the Mamluks after the Mongol withdrawal from the Syrian capital. According to Ibn Hajar he played a very important role in the Muslim victory at Shaqhab.

The Third Reign of Leiden: E. Brill, , He had short hair and was of daunting aspect with sparse grey hair, a 'round' beard and complexion between fair and the colour of grain. He was of medium height and it was as if his eyes were two eloquent toungues above his shoulders. He led people in the longest of prayers, bowing and prostration.

Sometimes he got up to greet a person who had arrived from a journey, or else he turned away from him. When he arrived somewhere people sometimes rose to greet him, but for him it was all the same because he was unconcerned with formalities. He never bowed to anybody, restricting himself to greeting, shaking hands and smiling. He could honour his companion on occasion and then offend him repeatedly in conversation.

The affair evolved to such an H. In the year , the order came from Egypt that he should be questioned about his creed. For this reason the governor of Damascus, al-Afram,35gathered the judges and scholars Ifol. So he asked for it [to be brought] from his house, whereupon it was brought forth, and he read it. They discussed two or three points from it, but the session lasted a long time, so they rose.

They met twice more in order to complete [the discussion] of the volume and they affirmed its truth, whereupon agreement was reached that this was a creed that conformed properly to that of the Pious Ancestors, although some people said that reluctantly. The Egyptians had stepped into the affair of the shaykh and clamoured before the amir Rukn al-Din al-Jashankir36whom they had made Sultan.

So he was summoned to Egypt by courier. The second day after his arrival the judges and jurists gathered together for him in the Citadel. Ibn 'Adlan37was 33 Al-Farajiyya: a wide, sideless garment to be worn over other clothes, with long sleeves which usually fell beyond the finger tips. It was typical of men of religion.

Biography of yazid ibn taymiyyah tolerances

See R. Miiller, , ; and L. Mayer, Mamluk Costume. A Survey Geneva: A. Kundig, , According to Mayer, the farajiyya was typical of lower-rank ecclesiastics who used to wear it in place of the dilq. Yet Ibn Taymiyya, who is depicted as being such, is here said to be wearing both. The dilq is defined by Mayer as 'a wide coat, without a slit, and open over the shoulders', Mayer, Mamluk Costume, 50, n.

See also R. Dozy, Dictionnaire DetaillWdes Vetements, British Library, Or. See G. Wiet, art. Then spoke the judge: 'What do you have to say, jurist? So, [Ibn Taymiyya] took to praising and commending God, whereupon he was told: 'Hurry up! We did not make you come here to give a khutba! You have already praised Him. He became enraged, taunted and silenced the judge, so the shaykh and his brothers were made to stand up and were imprisoned in the well in the mountain citadel Ifol.

A regal edict was written [and sent to] Syria in which he was criticized. It was read in the Mosque of Damascus and people grieved for him. After that, he remained in prison for one year and a half, and was freed [only] when he wrote for them words that they chose for him, under threat and menace of being killed had he not written them.

He stayed in Egypt teaching science, and people used to gather with him until he spoke about the Ittihadi who profess the doctrine of the Unity of Being. For this reason the Sufis and the ascetics formed a party against him and accused him of offending the most elect Saints. So, a meeting was convened for him, hence they took him out by courier, but called him back at a day's distance from Cairo as they saw advantage in his detention.

So, they jailed him in the Prison of Judges40for one year and a half. His followers took to paying visits to him [at first] clandestinely, then openly. Rumours spread, more than once, that he had been killed or that he had drowned. He met with him, spoke with him and congratulated him in the presence of the judges and the leading men and honoured him further.

Then, he settled in Cairo, living in a house, and met with the Sultan after that time. When the Sultan set off to ward off the enemy from Rahba, the shaykh arrived in Damascus, in the year Ayalon, 'Discharges from service, banishments and imprisonments in Mamluk society' in IOS 2, , Perhaps also: 'then they protested' thumma tazaharu. An extended version of this detail can be found in Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghiyani: Jami', Al-Malik al-Nasir Muhammad ibn Qalawun d.

For his biography see P. Holt, art. On his third reign in particular see A. Levanoni, 41 42 41 Turning Point. For a history of the town see E. Honigman Th. Bianquis , art. On the contrary, the Syrian historian al-Birzall pays much more attention to the siege of the town: al-Birzall, Ta'rikh al-Birzali, Ms. Leiden, Or a, pp. The Ms. Thus, it will be quoted by page and not by folio.

His followersweakenedand he involvedhimselfin weightyquestionsthat neitherthe intellectsof his contemporariesnor theirlearningcould bear, such as: the questionof the expiationof the oath of repudiation,the question that repudiationuttered three times is valid only once, the questionthat repudiationduringmenstruationis not valid. He composed writingsabout these topics in the order of some forty quires.

Because of this, he was forbidden to issue legal opinions. And it seemsthat this was some consolationfor him, for God was on the verge of grantinghim rest and successin his aims. Now he gives lecturesand teachesreligiousscience. He does not issue legal opinions except verbally,and says: I cannot conceal knowledge. He has courage and valour and his wilfulnessgets him into difficultsituations,may God preservehim!