Ibn Taymiyyah
He is the Imām, the Faqih, the Mujtahid, the Muhaddith, the Hāfidh, the Mufassir, the Mujāhid, the Zāhid, the Scholar of the Scholars, Shaikh al-Islām Abul-‘Abbās Ahmad bin Abdul-Halīm bin Abdus-Salām bin Abdullah bin Abi Qāsim ibn Taymiyyah. He was born in the month of Rabi’ ul-Awwal, 661H in Harrān, a city between Shām and Iraq. His father, grandfather and three of his brothers were all scholars. Later he and his family fled to Damascus due to the invasion of the Tartars.
If there is any Islamic scholar who is not in need of any introduction then that would be Ibn Taymiyyah for his knowledge and scholarship is well-known to both Muslims and non-Muslims alike. He was considered an encyclopedia of knowledge due to his expertise in every Islamic science and the various creeds and ideologies.
In addition to his physical defense of Allah’s religion, he also launched knowledge-based defenses against the deviant sects and heretical beliefs. He refuted the Shi’a, the Sufi’s, the Jahmiyyah, the Mu’tazilah, the Ashā’irah and also the adherents of other religions like Christianity and Greek philosophies.
Consequently, his refutations earned him many enemies and a result he was attacked, maligned and even repeatedly imprisoned and you find the foolish innovators still spreading slanders about him today despite centuries of scholars chronicling his life in detail and attesting to encountering none who reached his level of knowledge, let alone surpassing him.
He died while imprisoned in a castle on the night of Monday, the 20th of Dhūl-Qa’dah, 728H and so many people attended his funeral none save Allah can enumerate them. Some reports number over fifty thousand, they prayed over him immediately after the Zhuhr prayer in the Masjid of Damascus.
His students were many, and included the likes of Imam Ibn ul-Qayyim, Imām adh-Dhahabī and Imām Ibn Kathir which suffices as a clear indication of his prominence in scholarship.
Books available by him in English:
• Concise Advice’s of Ibn Taymiyyah explained by Sulayman ar-Ruhaylī
• The Principle of Love and Desire
• Ibn Taymiyyah’s Essay on Servitude: English translation of al-Uoodiyah
• The Decisive Criterion Between the Friends of Allah and the Friends of Shaytaan
• The Relief From Distress: An Explanation to the Du’a of Yunus
• The Essential Pearls and Gems of Ibn Taymiyyah
• The Waasitah Between Allah and His Creation
• Diseases of the Hearts & Their Cures
• The Creed of al-Wasitiyah: A Textbook on Orthodox Sunni Creed
• Commentary on Ibn Taymiyyah’s al-Aqidah al-Wasitiyah by al-‘Uthaymeen
• Explanation of al-Aqidah al-Wasitiyah by Bin Baz
• Sharh al-Aqeedat il Wasitiyah explained by Muhammad Khalil Harras
• Explanation of the Poem al-Lamiyah by Ahmad an-Najmi
• Seeking Forgiveness
• The Outstanding Answer on Visiting the Graves: al Jawab al Bahir
• The Right Way: Mukhtasar Iqtidaa as-Siraat al-Mustaqeem
• Ibn Taymiyyah Against the Greek Logicians
• Public Duties in Islam: The Institution of the Hisba
• Letters From Prison
• Helpful Guidelines in Enduring People’s Harm
• A Principle Concerning Patience and Gratitude
• An Explanation of the Qur’anic Soorah al-Kawthar: A River in Paradise
• An Explanation of Shaikh al- Islam Ibn Taymiyyah’s Introduction two the Principles of Tafsir explained by al-‘Uthaymeen
• An Answer Regarding Swearing by Other than Allah & Prayer Towards Graves, including a Chapter on al-Istighaathah
• A Muslim Theologian’s Response to Christianity: Ibn Taymiyyah’s al- Jawab as-Sahih
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