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Ibn Taymiyya was born in HARRAN, in 1263 in northern Syrian [but now Turkey] to a family of
Jurists. Here’s what was going on
1258 Baghdad had fallen to the Mongols
1260 the Mongols were stopped by the Mamluks in Cairo
1295 the conversion of Ghazan Khan to Islam
what this meant is that second waves of Mongol invasions
were by Muslims.
UNLIKE almost everyone else in Robinson’s book, Ibn
Taymiyyas life is well documented, and we have his writings, as well:
We know that
Taymiyya wrote 80 pages a day, and published 500 volumes in all. We also know his handwriting was terrible.
He died in prison in
Damascus where he had been denied pen and paper
Interestingly he
seems to only have become important in the 19th and then especially
in the 20th century.
But the readings him
in modern times have been opportunistic.
OPPORTUNISTIC: the
taking of opportunities when they arise, regardless of planning or principle: And
so we see him as a basis of Wahabim; He was also used by Osama Bin Laden
What made them love
him? Why did he become popular? And why
did his popularity make governments nervous?
So nervous that His books were banned in Egypt and Jordan following the
Arab spring.
Mainly it was
because he was a radical reactionary : wanting a radical return to the
past.
A reactionary
is a person who holds political views that favor a return to the status quo ante,
the previous political state of society, which they believe possessed
characteristics (discipline respect for authority, etc.) that are negatively
absent from the contemporary status quo of a society. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reactionary]
They are on the
right wing
He was also a Fundamentalist
sucn that only original scriptures and time period are authoritative, here the
Qur’an and Hadith literature. Thus Muhammad’s
Islam was the true Islam and anything that was not practiced at the time of
Muhammad or by Muhammad was INNOVATION or “Bid’a”. This is assigning something to religion that
wasn’t there at the beginning.
He was against
Shiism
He was against
what he saw as pernicious influence of Christianity and Judaism
He was
against all manner of popular piety
To him these were INTERNAL THREATS, especially due toi in government and life of popular religion
But there were also
EXTERNAL THREATS.
At this time, this referred
to the military might of the Mongols…
Like RUMI 100 years
earlier, Ibn Tayiyya;s family left HARRAN for Damascus. He was 7 years
old. Harran was then destroyed. [[How
do Refugee children feel?]
As a scholar in a
family of jurists, he could have just become a well paid teacher, like
his father, but he was fanatic in his beliefs and wanted to spread them.
1294: demanded the death of a Christian scribe who had
insulted the prophet
His career as a public
agitator began in 1294. He was
31. He led mobs to demand the death of a
Christian scribe who had insulted the Prophet.
The authorities tried to mediate, but the mobs kept up till the scribe
converted. This was the only way to stop
it. This ability to stir up trouble and mobs was not appreciated and he was in
and out of prison for the next 6 years.
Until his last imprisonment, however, he used his time to write.
Ibn Taymiyya was not
on unfriendly terms with the Mamluk leaders,
and with scholars and religious leaders, but most were moderates and he
was radical.
One example of this was the results of a protest march by
500 sSufis who went to the citadel of Cairo, where the Mamluk army barracks
were, to protest Taymiyya’s criticism of
some of their leaders.
But mostly his stance against Sufism had to do with the
concept of Tawassul or intercession. He
believed that a person could not ask anyone other than God for help except on
the day of judgment when intercession in his view would be possible.
After the protest, Taymiyya was tried and imprisoned.
He said provocative things, such as when he spoke during
Friday prayers from the pulpit, saying,
“God comes down to the sky of the world just as I come down
now”
And he took a step down on the minbar .
A jurist from a different law-school reproached him for
saying this.
Why? It
anthropomorphizes God, which is forbidden.
The crowd went at Ibn Taymiyya and attacked him such that
his turban fell of.
Underneath his turban was a silk skull cap. Oh
oh. SOME Interpretations of the Quran
say it forbidden for mean to wear silk.
He was taken to prison again.
What were his real fears ?
1 Logic,
because it was an
alternative to belief
2 Sufism
because it led to esoteric practices
SUFISM, in terms of
mysticism and asceticism was ok. Taymiyya may have belonged to a Sufi order
himself..
What was wrong was
that Sufi practices were often INNOVATIVE
BID’H
And thus
abominable. Such as Music, Dance, and Saint
veneration or practices at their tombs, which
he saw this as Idolatry
3 the idea of the
UNITY OF BEING.
Confusing the cosmos with the creator.
Government and War
Shari’a and Jihad
What his reactionary fundamentalism called for was a
religious government. Before the Mondols
there had been CALIPHS. These were
gone. So now where was religious
authority? In laws. But who was to make
those laws? A ha!
As a part of these laws, a new idea of JIHAD evolved FROM
him.
And the use of his writing is why he is felt to be so
dangerous and is censored and lead to ISLAMISM
Fundamentalists
want to cling to originary texts, that
is the Quran and the Hadith.
They want to go to those writings and use them as the basis
of all true relgion.
ISLAMISTS are opportunists in that their interest in proof
texts is selective and strategic. They
are rarely interested in the entire corpus, but scout for portions that support
their ideology.
What they have taken from Taymiyya about JIHAD is an example
JIHAD can be
fundamentalist, Islamist or part of considered,
culturally contexxtualied juristic interpretation
jIHAD is a theory of struggle for “the right.
It includes internal struggle to be good person
But external struggle against wrong often means a struggle
against WRONG BELIEF
As wrong belief, jihad can be a struggle against NONMUSLIMS.
However, it is forbidden by the Qur’an to fight against
MUSLIMS.
But in Ibn Taymiyyas world, many of the Mongols, whom he
wanted to fight against, had become Mulims.
And this leads us to JIHAD and Ibn Taymiyya
As I said, it was a time of war and invasions.
The Mongols were on the move but Ghazan khan had made a political conversion to Islam in
1295, so now they are Muslims.
The first military Mongol action in this wave was toward
Damascus. Ibn Tyaymiyya was when they occupied Damascus for the first four
months of 1303
Most of the military
had fled the city, including most of the civilians.[
Ibn Taymiyyah however, stayed and was one of the leaders of
the resistance inside Damascus. In fact he went to speak directly to the Mongol
Ilkhan Mahmud Ghazan and his vizier Rashid al-Din.
An
artist illustrated of Ghazan Khan, a historical figure harshly rebuked by Ibn
Taymiyyah, mainly due to his constant state of hostility towards the Mamluks of
Egypt.
INTERESTINGLY He sought the release of Muslim and DhimmI {people of the book. i.e. Jews and Christian]i
prisoners whom the Mongols had taken in Syria, and after discussion, he secured
their release.
Ibn Taymiyyah at this time began giving sermons on Jihad at
the Umayyad mosque He also
spoke to and encouraged the Governor of Damascus to fight against the
Mongols and he, himself went to get reinforcements from Cairo.
In 1303 there was a 3rd Mongol invasion of Syria by Ghazan
Khan.
This led to what has been called Ibn Taymiyyah's "most
famous" fatwa.
In it he declared that jihad against the Mongols was not only
permitted, but obligatory as Jihad..
Why Jihad?
The reason was that the Mongols could not, in his opinion, be
true Muslims despite the fact that they had converted to Sunni Islam because they
ruled using what he considered 'man-made laws' (their traditional Yassa code) rather than
Islamic law or Sharia.Because of this, he reasoned they were living in a state of
jahiliyyah, or pre-Islamic
pagan ignorance.
In other words, they
were not really Muslims at all.
“The fatwa broke new Islamic legal ground because "no
jurist had ever before issued a general authorization for the use of lethal
force against Muslims in battle," and was to influence modern Islamists in the use of
violence against self-proclaimed Muslims.
It even exempted Mamluk soldiers from the fast during the
month of Ramadan so that they could maintain their strength. They won!
“It is allowed to fight people for (not observing)
unambiguous and generally recognized obligations
and prohibitions, until they undertake to perform
the explicitly prescribed prayers, to pay zakat,
to fast during the month of Ramadan, to make the pilgrimage
to Mecca
and to avoid what is prohibited, such as marrying women
in spite of legal impediments, eating impure things, acting
unlawfully
against the lives and
properties of Muslims and the like.
It is obligatory to take the initiative in fighting those
people,
as soon as the Prophet's summons with the reasons
for which they are fought has reached them.
But if they first
attack the Muslims then fighting them
is even more urgent, as we have mentioned
when dealing with the fighting against
rebellious and aggressive bandits."
“Ibn Taymiyyah was noted for emphasis he put on the
importance of jihad and for
the "careful and lengthy attention" he gave "to the questions of
martyrdom" in jihad, such as benefits and blessings to be had for
martyrs in the afterlife.] He asserted that
martyrdom and eternal rewards and blessings, . He wrote that, "It is in
jihad that one can live and die in ultimate happiness, both in this world and
in the Hereafter.
ONE SIDE says he was not merely unpopular among the scholars
of his day, but somewhat of an embarrassment.
ANOTHER SIDE says he was an influential leader.
ALL AGREE his influence was greatest with the rise of Sunni
revivalism in the modern period.
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