IBN TAYMIYYAH

Ibn Taymiyyah (1263-1328) is a Sunni Islamic scholar who has had a significant influence on several Islamic movements in today's world.

He is considered an influential scholar, known for his extensive knowledge and his controversial views on various theological and legal issues of his time. He was born into a family of scholars in the Hanbali school of Jurisprudence and he grew up studying religious and secular sciences. He was known for his prodigious memory and even memorized the entire Quran as a teenager.

He was also only seven years old when he was forced to flee the city of Haran—before it was invaded by the Mongols—to settle in Damascus under Mamluk rule. This was an event that would no doubt influence him profoundly for the rest of his life, as he would later speak out against and fight the Mongols.

Ibn Taymiyyah dedicated his life to learning, writing, and teaching. He never married and was not known to have a female companion throughout his years. His life was that of a religious scholar and a political activist. In his efforts he was persecuted and imprisoned on 6 occasions. Some sources say he spent a total of 6 years in prison. Other sources say it was 12 years. Eventually he would die in prison.

The Courage of Ibn Taymiyyah in the Face of the Mongols

As the Mongols were pillaging and sacking Muslim lands in the 13th and 14th century, Ibn Taymiyyah had the courage to speak up and fight.

At the time, Ghazan Khan was leader of the Mongol Ilkhanate Empire. Taymiyyah openly rejected Ghazan Khan's claim to "pādishāh al-islām" (King of Islam), a title which Ghazan Khan took to legitimize his military campaigns, Ibn Taymiyyah denounced him and issued numerous fatwas condemning the political order of the Mongols.

The Mongol Ilkhanate army managed to defeat the Mamluk Sultanate in The Third Battle of Homs and reach Damascus by the end of December 1299 AD. Fearful of Mongol atrocities, many scholars, intellectuals and officers fled Damascus in panic. Ibn Taymiyyah, however, stood firm alongside the vulnerable citizens of the city and called for an uncompromising resistance to the invaders. Ibn Taymiyyah also severely rebuked the cowardice of the officials who fled their people.

Taymiyyah even had the courage to criticize the Mongol leadership right to his face. Ibn Taymiyyah also successfully negotiated the release of Syrian prisoners held by the Mongols.

By the year 1303, Ghazan Khan invaded Syria a third time. Taymiyyah issued his third fatwa against the Mongols and called for jihad against them. Ghazan Khan's forces were utterly defeated by the Mamluks just south of Damascus at the decisive Battle of Marj al-Saffar in April 1303. And it was the last Mongol invasion of the Levant.

Some of Taymiyyah's Key Theological Views

One of Ibn Tamiyyah's core teachings was that the Quran and Hadith literature should be the ultimate sources of guidance for Muslims, rather than relying solely on the interpretations of Islamic scholars, and he believed the Quran and Hadith should be interpreted literally.

Another critical view in Ibn Taymiyyah's time was his teaching that Muslims were permitted to fight other people who call themselves Muslims if that group abandoned key principles of Islamic Law and went against the widespread Muslim consensus. There are more details in his third fatwa against the Mongols, which he released the third time the Mongols invaded Syria. This would become one of his most famous fatwas.

Tamiyyah became very controversial in his time for rejecting the process of seeking the intercession of saints at their graves (which is still a common practice in the Islamic world today).

Because Ibn Taymiyyah denounced this practice of seeking intercession from saints, he was imprisoned on several occasions. He ended up dying in prison and was buried in a Sufi cemetery. His tomb still exists and is widely visited today.

Taymiyyah's Third Fatwa Against the Mongols

Read It Here

Influences on Global Islam

About four hundred years later, the teachings of Ibn Taymiyyah would become highly influential to a key individual in the Muslim world. That individual is Ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab (1703-1792).

In Wahhab's time, he made a call for drastic social reform to refocus Islam on the doctrine of Tahwid (the oneness of God). Like Taymiyyah, Wahhab rejected seeking intercession at the graves of saints, and considered it a form of heresy and idol worship. And he promoted a strict adherence to Islamic Law, a return to direct literal interpretation of the Quran and Hadith literature, rather than relying on medieval interpretations.

Wahhab's teachings came to be known as "Wahhabism." However, many people inside this movement don't actually use the term "Wahhabism." Many feel that to call themselves "Wahhabis" is to deify Muhammad Ibn Abd al-Wahhab, which is against the principle of Tawhid.

There is no denying Wahhab's global influence today. His teachings have reached Muslims worldwide, from Saudi Arabia, to Nigeria, to Indonesia, to Kosovo, and elsewhere.