sv: bio: Ibn Taymiyya (d. 728 H. i Damaskus)

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nur.nu
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sv: bio: Ibn Taymiyya (d. 728 H. i Damaskus)

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.

Vem var Ibn Taymiyya?
/bmk
(c) Författaren 2005


Ingress

Älskad och hatad, geniförklarad och förkastad som heretiker, ömsom gynnad av makthavarna och ömsom fängslad, nationens hjälte och dess intoleranta splittrare – vem var egentligen denne märklige man?

Enligt sina beundrare var han
  • “imamen, den noble, mästerlige, gudfruktige, rene, fromme, som behärskade båda vetenskaper (hadith och fiqh) och båda grundpelare (Boken och sunnan) med träffsäkerhet och precision. Han var ett skarpt svärd mot religionsförnyarna, en auktoritet som fastställde de religiösa angelägenheterna, och den store befälhavaren över det goda och undertryckaren av det onda.” /…/ (Badr al-Din al-`Aini)
  • “Vår mästare, vår sheikh, vår imam, vår lärde, den unike, hafizh, mujtahid, zahid, `abid, förebilden, imamernas imam, nationens förebild, de lärdas tecken, profeternas arvtagare, den siste mujtahiden, unik religionslärd, en välsignelse för Islam, de troslärdas bevis, utplånare av heretiker, begåvad med upphöjda och underbara kunskaper, återupplivare av sunnan” (al-Zamalkani)
Andra beskrev honom som
  • “en tjänare som Allah övergivit, vilseledd, förblindad, dövad och förödmjukad” ” (ibn Hajar al-Haytami), som “svalt filosofernas gift många gånger om” (al-Dhahabi), och vars blotta omnämnande som “sheikh al-Islam” leder till kufr (`Ala' al-Din al-Bukhari), “heretiker som är vilseledd och vilseleder ( mubtadi` dall mudill), ignorant och ondskefylld ( jahilun ghalun )…må Allah skydda oss från hans likars väg, lära och handling” (ibn Hajar al-Haytami)
Var han en återupplivare av sunnan, som försvarade imam Ahmad’s rena traditionalistiska arv mot teologisk kalam (så Makdisi) – eller var han (enligt al-Bouti) en innovatör, infekterad av just det sofistiska gift som han han fördömde hos andra?

Var han en lärjunge i Sheikh Abdul Qadir’s tariqa (Maqdisi) eller var han den sufi-fientliga drake som modern "salafiyyah" manar fram?

Var han en andlig befriare från institutionaliserade dogmer (som de mer liberala bland hans sentida beundrare vill se) eller en hård och oböjlig “fundamentalist”?

Kankse var han något däremellan – och kankse var han allt detta samtidigt. Den som möter honom i hans skrifter, och de biografiska anteckningar om hans liv och hans samtid som finns bevarade, slås först av komplexiteten och mängden av tillsynes motstridig information. Men efterhand framträder en mer nyanserad bild av en personlighet som i sig förenat och syntetiserat många motsägelsefyllda drag. Det är denna bild vi här vill försöka teckna, genom att närma oss Ibn Taymiyyah från det historiska hållet – medan vi lämnar de teologiska resongemangen åt dem som är bättre skickade därtill.


Kort levnadsteckning

Ibn Taymiyyah, vars fullständiga namn är: Taqi al-Din Abu al-’Abbas Ahmad ibn ‘Abd al­Halim ibn ‘Abd al-Salam al-Harrani al-Dimashqi; föddes år 661 i en liten by nära den nuvarnde gränsen mellan Turkiet och Iraq, som några år senare invaderades av mongolerna. Familjen flydde till Damascus – den tidens centrum för islamisk lärdom. Hans far var en lärd man, som blev verksam vid Dar al-Hadith i Damascus. Av honom fick Ibn Taymiyyah en god grundutbildning i Hanbali fiqh, samtigt som han undervisades i andra islamiska vetenskaper. Vid faderns död år 682 efterträddes han av sonen – då 22 år gammal – som lärare vid Dar al-hadith och började även undervisa i Koranexeges i Ummayah-mosken. År 691 vallfärdade han till Mekka oich Medina, och några år senare (år 695) efterträdde han sin lärare Zayn al-Din ibn Munajja vid Madrasah Hanbaliyyah i Damascus.

Redan som ung väckte han uppseende genom sitt okonventionella sätt att ge fatwa, där har rörde sig fritt över lagskolornas gränser, samtidigt som han ådrog sig kritik då hans egen Korantolkning frångick den förhärskande Ash`aritiska trosläran.

År 698 skrev han sin Fatwa Hamawiyya , en `aqida-text som var starkt polemisk mot Ash`ari-läran, som företräds av Ahl al-Sunna wa al-Jama`a.

Om vad som sedan hände går beskrivningarna isär.

År 705 kallades han till sultanen igen för att diskutera sin `Aqida-text "al-Wasitiyyah". – “Folket sände honom till Egypten för att utverka skydd från Sultanen” heter det i neo-salafistska historieskrivingen.

Ibn Kathir beskriver i sin krönika "al-Bidaayah wa al-Nihaayah" tre sittningar som ägde rum mellan Ibn Taymiyyah och samtida lärda, som starkt motatte sig hans teser. Bland dem fanns bl.a. hans vän berundrare, al-Zamalkani. Diskussionen gällde främst hur man ska förstå Allah’s Egenskaper. De “salafitiska” levnadsteckningarna tonar ner dessa förhör, och ger istället stort utrymme åt hans insatser i Damascus’ försvaret mot mongolerna under de påföljande åren, som sedan följdes upp med ideologisk och handgriplig strid mot både muslimska och icke-muslimska minoriteter, som gått mongolernas ärenden.

Efter denna konfrontation lämnade han Damascus och reste till Cairo, där han ådrog sig de lärdas vrede med sin tolkning av Allah’s Tron. Sultanen förbjöd allt tal om `aqida för att undvika fitna. Han återvände därefter till Damascus, men förlorade sin ämbete vid Hanbaliyyah. Åren därpå han fänglsades han under ett flertal kortare perioder, tills han till sist fick utstå en längre fängelsevistelser under åren 705-707. Efter ett maktskifte 709 föll han i onåd och tvingades i exil till Alexandria. Då sultanen återinsattes återvände han till Egypten och fick återupprättelse, varpå han återvände till Damascus (~713) och återupptog sin verksamhet vid Hanbaliyyah.

Han hade vunnit – om inte en seger – så åtminstone så mycket acceptans för sina oortodoxa läror, att under en tid kunde arbeta ostört.

Under den påföljande tiden inriktades hans verksamhet mer och mer på frågor kring tasawwuf. Hans mångårige vän och beundrare, hadith-mästaren al-Dhahabi, skrev under denna tid ett brev där han rådde Ibn Taymiyyah till besinning. Det som kom bägaren att rinna över var uttalandena om Profetens (sallAllahu `aleihi wa sallam) status som ledde till hans slutliga fall. al-Dhahabi, som delat hans åsikter på många punkter (om än i mera försiktiga ordalag) motsade honom klart i denna fråga.

Trots de lärdas invändnignar, och makthavarnas ingripanden för att undvika fitna, växte Ibn Taymiyyah’s poplaritet bland allmänheten.

År 726 fängslades Ibn Taymiyyah och fråntogs papper och penna. Hans sista tid bemskrivs i detalj av den då 27-åreige lärjungen Ibn Kathir, som stod vid hans sida under denna tid.

Han gick bort 728 och begravdes på sufi-gravplatsen i Baramke i det som idag är centrala Damascus. Mängden som följde hans sista färd har uppskttades av Ibn Kathir till mellan 60 och 100-tusen, ett anmärkningsvärt antal med hänsyn till att Damaskus' befolkning på den tiden uppgick till mindre än en miljon personer.


Ibn Taymiyyah’s skarpsinne

Al-Dhahabi sade: "Ibn Taymiyya betraktades av sina vänner som en ond Anti-Christ och otrogen, medan större delen av de lärda och eliten ansåg att han var en framstående, lysande och lärd förnyare (mubtadi` fadil muhaqqiq bari `)"

Det går en hårfin gräns mellan oförväget nytänkande och heresi. Ibn Taymiyya provocerade och polariserade hans samtid, både med sitt budskap och med sin personlighet – och fortsätter att göra det in i vår tid.

Få har förnekat ofantliga minne, kunskap, skarpsinne och oförvägenhet.

Hans utomordentliga minne tillät honom att med lätthet lära sig stora mängder hadith och deras överföringskedjor – något som väckte beundran hos hans samtida.
  • "När jag mötte Ibn Taymiyya såg jag en man som hade alla vetenskaper framför sina ögon, had tog vad han ville fråm dem och lämnade vad han ville."
    (Al-Hafidh Ibn Daqiq al-Eid, cit i ‘al-Bidaayah wan Nihaayah’ (14/27) av Ibn Kathir och ‘Dhail `alaa Tabaqat al-Hanabila’ (2/392) av ibn Rajab. )
Han framhölls som hadithvetenskapens fanbärare, och påstods vara mera kunnig i någon rättsskola än deras egna företrädare under någon tid i historien.
  • Ja, han sades vara mera kunnig i de olika lagskolornas rättslära än de som följde dessa rättsskolor, både i hans egen tid och i alla andra tider.
    ( ‘al-Bidaayah wa al-Nihaayah’ (14/118-119) av Ibn Kathir.)
Han var en brilliant talare, övertygande och snabbtänkt - en samtida debattör sade t.ex. om honom:
  • "Du är som en frsik vind, var gång jag försöker fatta tag i dig vid någon punkt går du snabbt vidare till nästa."
    [said by one of the contemporary scholars and a noted debater Shaykh Safiuddin al-Hindi
Men just detta blev honom också till förfång.
  • "Hans kunskap var större än hans förstånd"
    [Waliyy-ud-Din ibn Zayin al-Din al-`Iraqiyy (d. 806 H.) i "al-'Ajwibat-ul-Mardiyyah"]
Till viss del var det kankse
  • “ett resultat av hans (Ibn Taymiyyah’s) arrogans och självgodhet, omåttliga behag i att vara de lärdas ledare, och förakt för stora personligheter” att “folk i Egypten och Sham [började] hata och nedvärdera honom, och anklagade honom för lögn och otro”
Orden al-Din al-Dhahabi's, en av dem som stod honom närmast och kände honom bäst.
Enligt en beskrivning av en annan samtida Hanbali lärd:
  • "På bara en kort stund kunde han ta fram material från Boken och Sunnan, den arabiska språkvetenskapen, och filosofiska tankegångar, som ingen annan skulle kunna ta fram under flera sessioner. Det var somom dessa vetenskaper stod tätt framför hans ögon, och han kunde ta för sig av dem som han ville. Men det kom en tid då hans följeslagare gick till överdrift i att upphöja honom, och dettta drev honom till självgodhet, tills han til slut blev högmodig inför sina medmänniskor. Han var övertygad om att han var en mujtahid (en rättslärd med förmåga att göra egna omdömen baserade på källmaterial), och började motsäga alla små eller stora, tidigare eller samtida lärda, tills han gick tillbala till `Umar (må Allah finna behag i honom) och fann hel hon honom."
    Najm al-Din Sulayman ibn `Abd al-Qawi al-Tufi al-Hanbali, citerad av Ibn Hajar's al Asqalani i al-Durar al-Kamina (1:153-155) [gfh]size]

Han kritiserade inte bara `ulema av sn egen tid, utan även Profeten Muhammad’s (fred och välsignelse var med honom) närmaste följeslagare, särskilt `Ali ibn Abi Talib (må Allah vara nöjd med honom), och diskuterade deras “fel”. Detta tänkande honom ledde till slut till att öppet nedvärdera själva Profetens (fred och välsignelser vare med honom) och ifrågasätta hans rang och ställning. Han påstod t.ex. att den som besöker Profeten i Medina begår en otillåten innovation.

Själv var han övertygad om att han inte gjorde något annat än att försvara Boken och sunnan, och man kan säga att han led martyrdöden för sin övertygelse. Hans följeslagare Ibn Kathir, som stod vid hans sida in i det bittra slutet, bevittnade hans stoiska hållning i fängelset. Bland hans sitat uttalanden finns bl.a.: "I denna världen finns ett paradis att gå in i; den som inte gått in i det kommer inte att gå in i det kommande livets Paradis." Och: "Vad förmår mina fiender mot mig? Mitt paradis är i mitt bröst. Varhelst jag går, går det med mig, oskiljaktigt från mig. För mig är fängelset ett ställe där jag kan dra mig tillbaka. Avrättning är för mig en möjlighet att bli martyr. Att förvisas från min stad ett tillfälle att resa." [cit Makdisi]


-------------

Referenser

Samtida källor och biografier:

Ibn Kathir (701-774 ): al-Bidaya wa al-Nihaya , Volym 14
Den viktigaste källtexten återfinns i Ibn Kathir’s krönika över de lärde i Damascus. Ibn Kathir var lärjunge och ohämmad beundrare av Ibn Taymiyyah, endast 27 år gammal vid den senares bortgång. Han skildrar i korthet några viktiga episoder, som han själv bevittnat eller hört berättas av Ibn Taymiyyah. Till dessa episoder hör: de lärdas konfrontation av Ibn Taymiyyah vid två olika tillfällen (698 och 705), hans fängslande 705 och sista fängelsevistelsen fram till hans bortgång 728.

Shams al-Dim al-Dhahabi (673-748)
Al-Dhahabi – en av de stora mästarna inom hadith- och rijal-vetenskapen, livsläng vän och medarbetare till Ibn Taymiyyah, mot slutet kriitsk men trots detta lojal. Han omnämnt honom i många av sina biografiska och andra verk.

Källhänvisning till al-Dhahabi’s nasiha [gfh]:
Al-Dhahabi, al-Nasiha al-Dhahabiyya , in the margin of his Bayan Zaghl al-`Ilm wa al-Talab , ed. al-Kawthari (Damascus: Qudsi, 1928-1929); also in Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyya , Siratuhu wa Akhbaruhu `inda al-Mu'arrikhin, ed. Salah al-Din al-Munajjid (Beirut: Dar al-Kitab al-`Arabi, 1976) p. 11-14. See n. 1715.

Taqi ad-Din al-Subki (683-756 AH): ‘Rasa`il al-Subkiyyah’
Framstående företrädare för ash`ariyyah, och kritiker till Ibn Taymiyyah
Han var personligne närvarande vid konfrontationerna mellan Ibn Taymiyya och de lärda.

Taj ad-Din al-Subki (727-771 H): ‘Tabaqat ash-Shafi`iyyah’

Ibn Hajar al`Asqalani (773-852 ) al-Durar al-Kamina
Krönika över `ulema under 700-talet H.

Modern forskning:

Henri Laouste & J. Pavlin har skrivit flera artiklar om ibn Taymiyya , bl.a. ”Un célibatair endurci et sa maman”, och översatt en del av hans skrifter.

George Makdisi: har bl.a. intresserat sig för Ibn Taymiyyas förhållande till tasawwuf. Som ung tog Ibn Taymiyya qadiri-tariqan, men tog senare helt avstånd till sufismen. I al-Mas'ala al-Tabriziyya säger Ibn Taymiyya: "Labistu al-khirqa al-mubaraka li al-Shaykh `Abd al-Qadir wa bayni wa baynahu ithnan - I iklädde mit den välsignade manteln av Sheykh `Abd al-Qadir [al-Jilani], och mellan honom och mig fanns det två led." (Dvs. det fanns två led i överföringskedjan, båda ur Qudama-familjen i Damaskus.) [Ref: Damascus, Zahiriyya #1186 H. ]

G.F. Haddad: Har diskuterat de teologiska aspekterna av Ibn Taymiyya's lära, och även skrivit en biografi med utgångspunkt från samtida källor.





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nur.nu
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Re: sv: bio: Ibn Taymiyya (d. 728 H. i Damaskus)

Post by nur.nu »

Image

Image

Ibn Taymiyya's Grave, near Baramkeh, Syria inside Damascus University campus and behind a maternity hospital.

When the Sufi cemetery was razed by Syrian Wahhabis to make way for the University of Damascus and its campus in that city - King Abd al-Aziz Ibn Sa`ud of Saudi Arabia intervened personally to preserve intact the graves and tombs of Ibn Taymiyya and his student Ibn Kathir.
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Re: sv: bio: Ibn Taymiyya (d. 728 H. i Damaskus)

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Ibn Taymiyya's heresier

Översikt med referenser
http://www.correctislamicfaith.com/ibnt ... eliefs.htm

Ibn Taymiyya by Dr. G.F. Haddad
http://www.sunnah.org/history/Innovator ... ymiyya.htm
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Re: sv: bio: Ibn Taymiyya (d. 728 H. i Damaskus)

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Källor till Ibn Taymiyya's heretiska idéer

En artikelserie om ursprunget till de antromorfistiska idéer som cirkulerar i Islams gränsområden:
ON THE ANTHROPOMORPHISM OF 'SALAFIS'
The Sources of Ibn Taymiyya's Ideas
http://www.sunnah.org/aqida/anthro/anthro1.htm
http://www.sunnah.org/aqida/anthro/anthro2.htm
http://www.sunnah.org/aqida/anthro/anthro3.htm

al-Kawthari skriver:
Ibn Taymiyya replicates part and parcel what is found in
(a) `Uthman ibn Sa`id al-Darimi's al-Radd `ala al-jahmiyya, and the
(b) Kitab al-sunna attributed to `Abd Allah ibn Ahmad ibn Hanbal, and
(c) Ibn Khuzayma's al-Tawhid wa sifat al-rabb.
Deras böcker är fulla av de mest osmakliga antroporfismer, av vilka en del återfinns ord för ord hos Ibn Taymiyya. De citeras även flitigt bland dagens wahhabiyya.

Innehållet i (b) är så stötande att man inte kan tro att detta verkligen skulle ha kommeit från imam Ahmad's son.
"He saw Him on a chair of gold carried by four angels: one in the form of a man, another in the form of a lion, another in that of a bull, and another in that of an eagle, in a green garden, outside of which there was a golden dais."

This seems taken verbatim from the Bible, Book of Revelation (4:2-7): "There was someone on the Throne... from it issued lightning, voices, and thunder... in its midst and around it stood four angels... the first was like a lion, the second like a young bull, the third has the face of a man, and the fourth is like an eagle in flight."

Kawthari appropriately calls this "the grossest idol-worship (al-wathaniyya al-kharqa') to which they ("Salafis") are calling the Umma today."
Al-Khallal (d. 310) tillskriver falskeligen Imam Ahmad påståenden som
"If the Lord sits on the chair or foot-stool (kursi), a kind of groaning is heard similar to that of the new camel saddle."
"Allah sits on the kursi and there remains only four spans vacant."

Ibn Kuzayma (d. 311 i Khorasan) var en öppet antromofistisk hadith-berättare. Några axplock ur hans bok "Kitab al-Tawhid" (som av Sunni Ulama benämts "Kitab al-shirk")
Ibn al-Jawzi says the following about him:

I saw that Abu Bakr Ibn Khuzayma compiled a book on Allah's attributes and divided it into chapters such as: "Chapter of the Asserting of His hand"; "Chapter of His Holding the Heavens on His fingers"; "Chapter of the Asserting of His foot, in spite of the Mu`tazila." Then he said: Allah said: "Have they feet wherewith they walk or have they hands wherewith they hold, or have they eyes wherewith they see, or have they ears wherewith they hear?" (7:195); then he informs us that he who has no hand and no foot is like cattle.
al-Kawthar pekar i Maqalat på att ursprnget till Kuzayma's föreställningar bör sökas hos antropomorfisterna i Tabaristan och Isfahan, som företräder åsikten att
"If He does not have eyes, nor ears, nor hand, nor foot, then what we are worshipping is a watermelon!"
citerat av al-Saksaki in his al-Burhan fi ma`rifat `aqa'id ahl al-adyan

Sådant nonsense tillbakavisades en gång för alla av de stora imamerna av Ahl al-Sunna som gav fast form åt Islams troslära på 300-talet H.

De återuppväcktes 400 år senare av Ibn Taymiyya, och ytterligare 400 år senare av heretikern Ibn ´Abd al-Wahhab - och svaren från Ahl al-Sunna är givetvis samma nu som då.
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Re: sv: bio: Ibn Taymiyya (d. 728 H. i Damaskus)

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Imam al-Dhahbi om Ibn Taymiyya

Imam Al-Dhahabi (d. 748 H. i Damascus) var en av Ibn Taymiyya's vänner som senare tog avstånd från honom. Nedan några av de skrifter som bevarats genom hans elever.

Ref: http://www.marifah.net/forums/topic/237 ... -taymiyya/

---------------------------------

1. Hafiz al-Sakhawi (d. 902 H.) ger i "Al-I'lan bi al-Tawbikh li-Man Dhamma al-Ta'rikh" följande citat från al-Dhahabi:
"Though I have spent long years considering and investigating Ibn
Taymiyya, I have found that the only reasons why the Egyptians and
Syrians hated him, scorned him, and called him a liar or even an
unbeliever, were his pride, his vanity, and his pretensions, his
passion to head his fellow Shaykhs, his contempt for the great, and
his love of publicity."
2. Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani (d. 852 H.) ger följande två citat i sin bok "al-Durar al-Kamina" (1,161):
"People who know him well sometimes accuse me of failing to do
justice; his opponents sometimes charge me with puffery. I have
been abused by both parties-his supporters and his adversaries. (His
hair and beard were salt-and pepper coloured, containing little grey,
his hair reaching his ear lobes. His eyes were like eloquent tongues.
Of medium height, he was broad shouldered and had a loud,
expressive voice and was quick of speech). Though anger would
sometimes grip him, he would conquer it with forbearance. I have
not seen his like for supplications and appeals and for his abundant
concern for others. But I do not believe him to be infallible; indeed, I
disagree with him on both basic and secondary issues. For, despite
his vast learning, his extreme courage, his fluid mind, and his regard
for the sanctities of religion, he was but a man."
"In discussion he would be possessed by rage, anger, and
hostility against his adversaries, which implanted enmity in their
spirits. If he had only treated his antagonists with civility, they
would have been reconciled with him, for the most notable of them
deferred to his learning, acknowledged his ardent zeal, and agreed
that his lapses were few."
Al-Hafizh al-Sakhawi (d. 902 H.) var elev till ibn Hajar al-´Asqalani )d. 852 H.
Båda var elever till al-Dhahabi's son Abu Hurayrah.

---------------------------------
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Re: sv: bio: Ibn Taymiyya (d. 728 H. i Damaskus)

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Ett privat brev från al-Hadizh al-Dhahabi till Ibn Taymiyya, känt som
al-Nasiha al-Dhahbaiyya

Brevet har bevarats som en handskrift av Qadi Shuhba (d. 851 H), en känd historiker och författare av biografier över senare generations Shafi'i lärda, vars isnad till Imam al-Dhahabi går genom Qadi Burhan ibn Jama'a (d. 790 H), från Hafiz Abu Sa'eed al-Alai'e (d. 761 H), från al-Hafiz al-Dhahabi. Brevet finns bevrat i Dar al-Kutub al Misriyya (no. 18823), Cairo, Egypt, och i al-Maktaba al-Zahiriyya (no. 1347), Damascus, Syria. Imam Zahid al-Kawthari (d. 1371 H.) kopierade det och publicerade det i sin bok "Bayan Zaghal al-'Ilm" år 1327 H.

Brevet omnämns även i "al-I'lan bi-Tawbikh" av al-Hafizh al-Sakhawi (d. 902 H.), som var elev till ibn Hajar al-´Asqalani (d. 852 H). Båda var elever till al-Dhahabi's son Abu Hurayah.

Nedanståenden översättning finns på
http://www.masud.co.uk/ISLAM/misc/dhahabi.htm

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In the Name of Allah Most Merciful and Compassionate.

Praise be to Allah for my lowliness. O Lord, have mercy on me, diminish my mistakes, and preserve my Iman for me. What sadness at my lack of sadness; what sorrow over the sunna and the departure of its people; what longing for believing brothers to share with me in weeping; what grief over the loss of people who were light-giving lamps of Sacred Knowledge, men of taqwa, and treasure-troves of every good; alas for not finding a dirhem that is halaal or a brother who is loving.

Great good tidings to him whose own faults divert him from those of others, and woe to whom the faults of others divert him from his own.

How long will you see the speck in your brother's eye and forget the log in your own? How long will you praise yourself, your prattle, your style, while blaming religious scholars and searching out people's shameful points, knowing as you do that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) forbade it saying:

"Mention not your dead save with good, for they have gone onto what they have sent ahead."

Of course, I realise that you will defend yourself by telling me the attacks are only for those who've never smelled the scent of Islam and don't know what Muhammad (Allah bless him and give him peace) brought and that is your jihad. Not so, by Allah those who you attack know what is even better than the amount that suffices if the servant acts on it to make him succeed. Moreover, they are ignorant of a great deal that does not concern them. And "the excellence of a person’s Islam includes leaving what does not concern him." By Allah man! Give us respite from you, for you are an eloquent polemicist who neither rests nor sleeps. Beware of doubt-creating, problematic religious questions. Our Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) was offended by too many questions, found fault with them, and forbade excessive asking. He also said:

"The thing I fear most for my people is the eloquent hypocrite."

Too much talking, if free of mistakes, hardens the heart when it concerns the halaal and haraam. So how should it be when it concerns the words of the Yunusiyya, the philosophers, and expressions of kufr, which make hearts go blind? By Allah, we've become a laughing stock in existence. How long will you disinter the details of philosophical expressions of kufr for us to refute with our minds? You've swallowed, man, the poison of the philosophers and of their works more than once; and by too much using of a poison one's constitution gets addicted. It collects, by Allah, in the body.

O, what longing for a group among whom the Qur'an is recited with reflection, where awe is experienced through its meditation, where there is silence from its contemplation. O, what longing for an assembly where the pious are mentioned, for mercy descends where the righteous people are remembered, not where the righteous are spoken of with contempt and curses. The sword of al-Hajjaj and the tongue of Ibn Hazm were brothers [ie no Muslims was safe from them], and now you have joined the family. By Allah, give us a break from talking about "the bid`a of Thursday", and "eating the grains", and rather make a serious effort to remember the bid`as we used to consider the source of all misguidance, which have now become the "genuine sunna" and the "basis of tawhid", and whoever doesn't know them is a Kafir, or a donkey, and whoever doesn't call him a Kafir is a bigger Kafir than Pharaoh. You consider the very Christians like us.

By Allah, there are misgivings in hearts. You are fortunate if your faith in the two shahadahs has remained unscathed. Oh the disappointment of him who follows you, for he is exposed to corruption in basic beliefs and to dissolution. Particularly if he is short of learning and religion, a self-indulgent idler who does well for you by fighting on your behalf with his hand and tongue, while he is actually your enemy in his being and heart. What are your followers but hidebound do-nothings of little intelligence, common liars with dull minds, silent outlanders strong in guile, or dryly righteous without understanding? If you don't believe it, just look at them and honestly assess them.

The donkey of your lusts, O Muslim, has stepped forward to applaud your self. How long will you dote on your ego and attack the finest people? How long will you credit it, and disdain the pious? How long will you exalt it, and despise the devotees? How long will you be its closest friend, and detest the abstinent? How long will you praise your own words in a manner you do not even use for the Sahihs of Bukhari and Muslim? Would that the hadiths of the two Sahihs were safe from you, as you continually attack them, by suggesting weakness, considering them fair game, or with figurative explanations and denial. Hasn't the time come to give up? Is it not it time to repent and atone? Aren't you at that tenth of a man's life when he reaches seventy years and the final departure has drawn near? Indeed, By Allah, I don't recall that you remember death much. You sneer at whoever remembers death. So I don't think you'll take to my words or hear my exhortation. You will, instead, probably show great energy and concern to demolish this piece of paper with weighty volumes, snipping off the ends of my sentences for me until you gain the upper hand and can close the argument with a triumphant "...at all. And he was silent."

If this is how you stand in my eyes, and I am someone sympathetic to you, fond and affectionate, how do you think you stand with your enemies? By Allah among your enemies, there are the righteous and intelligent men and virtuous ones, just as among your friends there are the wicked, liars, ignoramuses, layabouts, the vile, and cattle.

I can accept that you should publicly disparage me, while secretly benefiting from what I have said. "May Allah have mercy on the man who shows me my faults" [words attributed to `Umar (Allah be pleased with him)]. For I have many faults and sins, and woe to me if I myself do not repent, and how enormous my disgrace from Him who knows the Hidden. The sole remedy for me is the forgiveness of Allah and His clemency, His giving success and His guidance.

Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds. Allah bless our lieglord Muhammad, the Last of the Prophets, his folk and companions one and all.
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Re: sv: bio: Ibn Taymiyya (d. 728 H. i Damaskus)

Post by nur.nu »

Artikel om al-Dhahabi's kritik om Ibn Taymiyya:

The following paper gives the complete text (together with English translation) of Ibn Taymiyya's biography written by Dhahabi:

Caterina Bori, A new source for the biography of Ibn Taymiyya, Bulletin of SOAS, 67, 3 (2004), 321-328.
http://www.marifah.net/forums/index.php ... ach_id=899

Utdrag ur artikeln (min emfas):
Two of Ibn Taymiyya's main biographers make very frequent use of the
Nubdha; they are Ibn 'Abd al-Hadi, mentioned above, and the later Ibn Rajab
(d. 795/1392), author of the Dhayl 'ala tabaqat al-Hanbali. The former wrote a
long monograph on his master, the latter included a rather lengthy biographical
note in his collective dictionary.26 Other biographers generally refer
to al-Dhahabi as their main source about the Hanbali faqih, but do not necessarily
derive it from the Nubdha. We are talking in particular about al-Safadi
(d. 764/1362–63)27 and Ibn Hajar (d. 852/1448)28 who quote from the tarjama
(biography) of Ibn Taymiyya included in the Dhayl kitab ta'rikh al-Islam.29

Ibn 'Abd al-Hadi was indeed a loyal disciple of Ibn Taymiyya. This is
shown in the way in which he refers to al-Dhahabi. He usually quotes long
passages from the Nubdha praising Ibn Taymiyya's moral qualities,
his courage and his stunning intellectual endowments; he also reports a brief
account of his trials in Cairo and Damascus, but tends to omit
al-Dhahabi's rather sharp comments on his master's personality.30 In so doing he
cleans Ibn Taymiyya's image of every dissonant element, presenting a picture
that faithfully sticks to the best ideals of Islamic moral representation.31

Ibn Rajab, meanwhile, does not restrain himself from reporting
some of the Nubdha's most critical remarks about Ibn Taymiyya's off-putting
temper, his aggressive mood and his uncongenial mood swings.32 This is not
surprising. If we glance through the whole text of his biography we soon notice
that Ibn Rajab does not confine himself to praise, but expresses some
reservations about Ibn Taymiyya's reputedly excessive zeal in polemicizing
against ascetics, speculative theologians and philosophers as well as against some
important imams.33 Ibn Rajab also seems openly to disregard Ibn Taymiyya, taking
an isolated stand on what he calls 'some irregular issues' (bi-ba'd shudhudh
al-masa'il).34

What is interesting is that two prominent members of the Damascus
Hanbali community, who lived roughly fifty years apart, display
a very different attitude towards its most prominent representative, as if to
express a lack of consensus about this figure within local Hanbalism. Moving one
step further, one may question how far the Damascene hanabila, contemporary
to and after Ibn Taymiyya, identified their affiliation to Hanbalism with
the works and deeds of Ibn Taymiyya
.35 Ibn Rajab seems to reveal a certain
uneasiness which will be confirmed, as we shall see, by al-Dhahabi's
attitude, although the latter was not properly a Hanbali, but still a staunch
traditionalist; a topic which is deserving of further research.

As for the second point, let us examine briefly the structure and
content of the Nubdha. As is typical of Islamic biographies, the Nubdha does
not follow a chronological order, but rather tends to organize the information
thematically. Like any other biography of Ibn Taymiyya, it displays a cluster of
common information: his full name,36 his birth date and death date,37
some honorific titles,38 the escape from Harran to Damascus,39 his outstanding
moral and intellectual qualities,40 his teachers' names,41 the titles of
some of his works,42 and a brief account of his trials (mihan)43 and of his
funeral.44 Al-Dhahabi's text combines such conventional data with a hint of a
personal touch. For example, he describes his master physically45 and
informs the reader of Ibn Taymiyya's celibacy and his mediocrity in composing
poetry. Both of these assertions are unexpected, especially the latter,
and give the impression that al-Dhahabi is in some way trying to undermine his
master's moral and intellectual credibility.46 Finally, he expresses a
series of critical remarks, which again sound somewhat peculiar for a biography
written by a firmly traditionalist disciple of his.

Al-Dhahabi's criticism concerns both Ibn Taymiyya's bad character
and his work. With regard to his character, al-Dhahabi describes him
as being frequently tactless and argumentative, as much able to honour as
insult his companion.47 In describing the attitude of different groups towards Ibn
Taymiyya, he writes: 'there are people among his opponents who believe in
him and in his science, but say: "In him there is fickleness, haste, irascibility
and love for leadership"'.48 These features are also reflected in his assessment of the
master's work, which is characterized, according to him, by polemics and a
dangerous 'originality' that turned into isolating and daring positions against the
scholars' ijma'.49 Thus, al-Dhahabi ends up expressing his open disapproval
of Ibn Taymiyya's opinions on divorce by saying: 'he controlled himself
in a strange way and held firm to his own opinion'.50
In all the picture that emerges is not so exciting. Nevertheless,
if set into a broader context, al-Dhahabi's words prove to be consistent, as on
different occasions he restates the same view about Ibn Taymiyya.
In a brief work entitled Bayan zaghal al-'ilm al-Dhahabi describes Ibn
Taymiyya in a similar way to that of the Nubdha. That is, he
acknowledges his great scholarly value and intelligence, his moderation in dress,
appetite and women as well as his as efforts for truth and jihad, but declares
that the reasons for the strong opposition to him were his insolence and vanity,
his excessive fondness of trying to outdo his fellow shaykhs, his contempt for
influential people, his pretensions, and love of ostentation.51

Another source further strengthens this picture of al-Dhahabi's
attitude. This is a letter written by al-Dhahabi to Ibn Taymiyya, apparently
at the end of the latter's life, and entitled Golden Advice to Ibn Taymiyya
(al-Nasiha al-dhahabiyya li-Ibn Taymiyya).52 The advice takes the form of an
openhearted reproach to Ibn Taymiyya for his excessive engagement in
sterile polemics rather than devoting himself to the fundamental issues of
Islamic theology and jurisprudence, and for his arrogance and lack of tact
in dealing with his fellow 'ulama'. The tone of the letter is at times
sarcastic, at times merely severe: at its core stands a message of sound criticism of
Ibn Taymiyya's self-centredness.

I have dealt elsewhere with the possible reasons for the clash
between al-Dhahabi and Ibn Taymiyya.53 What is important to recall here is
that the Nubdha, the Nasiha, and the rest of the critical opinions
uttered by al-Dhahabi about Ibn Taymiyya, all seem to reflect an embarrassment on
al-Dhahabi's part in being affiliated to him.
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Re: sv: bio: Ibn Taymiyya (d. 728 H. i Damaskus)

Post by nur.nu »

Biografisk not
om Ibn Taymiyyah
From: Nuh Keller: Reliance of the Traveller

Ibn Taymiya is Ahmad Ibn Abd al-Salaam ibn Abdullah, Abu al-Abbas Taqi
al-Din ibn Taymiya al-Harrani, born in Harran, east of Damascus, in
661/1263. A famous Hanbali scholar in Qur'anic exegesis (tafsir),
hadith and jurisprudence, Ibn Taymiya was a voracious reader and
author of great personal courage who was endowed with a compelling
writing style and a keen memory. Dhahabi wrote of him, "I never saw
anyone faster at recalling the Qur'anic verses dealing with subjects
he was discussing, or anyone who could remember hadith texts more
vividly." Dhahabi estimates that his legal opinions on various
subjects amount to three-hundred or more volumes.

He was imprisoned during much of his life in Cairo, Alexandria, and
Damascus for his writings, scholars of his time accusing him of
believing Allah to be a corporeal entity because of what he mentioned
in his al-aqida al-Hamawiyya and al-Wasitiyya and other works, such as
that Allah's 'hand', 'foot', 'shin' and 'face' are literal (haqiqi)
attributes, and that He is upon the Throne in person. The error in
this is suggesting such attributes are literal is an innovation and
unjustifiable inferance from the Qur'anic and hadith texts that
mention them, for the way of early Muslims was mere acceptance of such
expressions on faith without saying how they are meant, and without
additions, subtractions, or substituting meanings imagined to be
synonyms, while acknowledging Allah's absolute transcedence beyond the
characteristics of created things, in conformity with the Qur'anic
verse "There is nothing whatsoever like unto him" [Qur'an 42:11]. As
for figurative interpretations that preserve the divine transcendence,
scholars of tenents of faith have only had recourse to them in times
when men of reprehensible innovation (bid'a), quoting hadiths and
Qur'anic verses, have caused confusion in the minds of common Muslims
as to whether Allah has attributes like those of His creation or
whether He is transcendently beyond any image conceivable to the minds
of men. Scholars' firmness in condemning those who have raised such
confusions has traditionally been very uncompromising, and this is no
doubt the reason that a number of the Imams of the Shafi'i school,
among them Taqi al-Din Subki, Ibn Hajar Haytami and al-Izz ibn Jama'a,
gave formal legal opinions (fatawa) that Ibn Taymiya was misguided and
misguiding in tenents of faith, and warned people from accepting his
theories
. The Hanafi scholar Muhammad Zahid al-Kawthari has written
"Whoever thinks that all the scholars of his time joined in a single
conspiracy against him from personal envy should rather impugn their
own intelligence and understanding, after studying the repugnance of
his deviations in beliefs and works, for which he was asked to repent
time after time and moved from prison to prison until he passed on to
what he'd sent ahead."

While few deny that Ibn Taymiya was a copious and eloquent writer and
hadith scholar, his career, like that of others, demonstrates that a
man may be outstanding in one field and yet suffer from radical
deficiencies in another, the most reliable index of which is how a
field's Imams regard his work in it. By this measure, indeed, by the
standards of all previous Ahl al-Sunnah scholars, it is clear that
despite voluminous and influential written legacy, Ibn Taymiya cannot
be considered an authority on tenents of faith (aqueeda), a field in
which he made mistakes profoundly incompatible with the beliefs of
Islam, as also with a number of his legal views that violated the
scholarly consensus (ijma) of Sunni Muslims. It should be remembered
that such matters are not the province of personal reasoning (ijtihad),
whether Ibn Taymiya considered them to be so out of sincere conviction,
or whether simply because, as Imam Subki said, "his learning exceeded
his intelligence." He died in Damascus in 728/1328.
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Re: sv: bio: Ibn Taymiyya (d. 728 H. i Damaskus)

Post by nur.nu »

BismiAllah
Ahmad ibn Taymiyya (661-728) - A Brief Survey
Compiled by
Sh. G. F. Haddad
http://www.livingislam.org/n/itay_e.html

Introduction
Ah.mad ibn `Abd al-H.alîm ibn `Abd Allâh ibn Abî al-Qâsim ibn Taymiyya, Taqî al-Dîn Abû al-`Abbâs ibn Shihâb al-Dîn ibn Majd al-Dîn al-H.arrânî al-Dimashqî al-H.anbalî (661-728) was one of the most influential scholars of the late H.anbalî school, praised by the h.adîth Master S.alâh. al-Dîn al-`Alâ'î as:

"Our shaykh, master, and Imâm between us and Allâh Almighty, the master of verification, the wayfarer of the best path, the owner of the multifarious merits and overpowering proofs which all hosts agree are impossible to enumerate, the Shaykh, the Imâm and faithful servant of his Lord, the doctor in the Religion, the Ocean, the light-giving Pole of spirituality, the leader of Imâms, the blessing of the Community, the sign-post of the people of knowledge, the inheritor of Prophets, the last of those capable of independent legal reasoning, the most unique of the scholars of the Religion, Shaykh al-Islâm..."

Chapters:
He Was Mostly Self-Taught
His Principal Students
Divided Opinions Concerning Him
Al-Dhahabî's Synopsis of His Case
"He was very learned but lacked intelligence"
Fatwâ Attributing Direction to Allâh Most High
His Several Imprisonments
His Equivocations Under Interrogation
Al-T.ûfî's Summary of the Charges Brought Against Him
His Former Admiration of Ibn `Arabî
His S.ûfi Affiliation With the Qâdirî T.arîqa
His Innovative Nullification of Multiple Divorce
His Innovative Prohibition of Travel to Visit the Holy Prophet
The H.anbalî Rejection of His Fatwâ
Shaykh al-Islâm al-Subkî's Rejection of His Fatwa
Shaykh al-Islâm al-Zayn al-`Irâqî's Rejection of His Fatwa
Shaykh al-Islâm Ibn H.ajar's Rejection of His Fatwa
H.âfiz. al-S.afadî's Rejection of His Fatwa
H.âfiz. al-Qârî's Rejection of His Fatwa
Imâm al-Khafâjî's Rejection of His Fatwa
Ibn `Abd al-Hâdî Fanatic Defense of His Teacher
The h.adîth "Whoever visits my grave, my intercession will be guaranteed for him"
C/f the category of "Ibn Taymiyya and his followers" on this issue
His Final Repentence
His Abandonment by His Former Admirers
His Revival of Ibn H.azm's Vicious Style
His Excessive Involvement in Kalâm and Philosophy
Al-Dhahabî's Bayân Zaghl al-`Ilm and His Nas.îh.a to Ibn Taymiyya
Al-Subkî's Summary of Ibn Taymiyya's Deviations in Doctrine
Al-Haytamî's Summary His Deviations in `Aqîda, Us.ûl, and Fiqh
Al-Kawtharî's Scathing Exposure of His Anthropomorphism
His Denial of the Eternality of Hellfire
His Invention of a Double or Triple Tawh.îd
Al-Tubbânî's Refutation of His Multiple Tawh.îds
His Verbose Methodology in Disputation
His Climbing Down the Pulpit to Illustrate the Divine Descent
The Revival of His Teachings by the Wahhâbî Movement
Recent Literature
Footnotes
http://www.livingislam.org/n/itay_e.html
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Re: sv: bio: Ibn Taymiyya (d. 728 H. i Damaskus)

Post by nur.nu »

Repentance of Ibn Taymiyah (705)
http://www.marifah.net/forums/topic/546 ... -taymiyya/

Ibn Taymiyah's repentance written by his hand:

“Praise to Allah, my belief is that al-Qur’an is one Attribute of the Attributes of the eternal Self of Allah and is not created. It is not a letter and not a sound. It does not settle in any creation, or paper, or ink, or something else.

I believe in the saying of Allah: "الرحمن على العرش استوى" “Ar-Rahmanu `ala-l-`Arsh-i-stawaa” (Taha 5) explained according to the saying of the [Sunni] group attending this hearing. It is not understood according to its ‘haqiqah’ and apparent meaning. I don’t know its reality, only Allah knows the reality of that. The saying about an-Nuzul resembles the saying about al-Istiwa’. I say about the former what I say about the latter. I don’t know its reality, only Allah knows the reality of that. It is not understood according to its ‘haqiqah’ and apparent meaning, as the group attending this hearing said. Anything that contradicts this belief is false and anything I wrote or said which contradicts that is false. Any part of its content that accuses others with misguidance or attributes to Allah what is not befitting to Allah, I hereby clear myself of it and to Allah repent from what disagree with it.

Written by Ahmad bin Taymiyah on Thursday the six of Rabi` al-‘Akhir 705; Everything I wrote and documented in this paper, I said it willingly without compulsion. Written by Ahmad bin Taymiyah. Hasbuna Allah wa ni`ma al-Wakil .”


• On the top of that, the head judge Badr ad-Din bin Jama`ah wrote: “He testified in my presence; all that he wrote was by his own hand on the specified date.”

• At the footnote of the handwriting: “He testified all that which he wrote by his hand. Written by `Abdul Ghaniyy bin Muhammad al-Hanbaliyy.”

• Following the handwriting of Ibn Taymiyah, there are some testifications. Here is a copy of it: “The aforementioned wrote by his hand the above material in my presence and testified its content. Written by Ibn ar-Ruf`ah.”

• A copy of another handwriting: “He admitted that. Written by `Abdul `Aziz an-Nimrawiyy.”

• A copy of handwriting: “He admitted all of that on the date listed. `Aliyy bin Muhammad bin Khattab al-Bajiyy ash-Shafi`iyy.”

• Another copy of handwriting: “This occurred in my presence on the date listed. Written by al-Hasan bin Ahmad bin Muhammad al-Husayniyy.”

• In the footnote, it is written: “The aforementioned wrote by his hand and testified. Written by `Abdullah bin Jama`ah.”

• Another copy of handwriting: “He admitted that and wrote it in my presence, Muhammad bin `Uthman al-Burijibiyy”

All those individuals are from the great scholars during that era. Ibn ar-Ruf`ah alone authored al-Matlab al-`Aliy fi Sharh Wasit al-Ghazaliyy in 40 volumes.

After Ibn Taymiyah wrote the statements by his hand, the head judge al-Badr Ibn Jama`ah stamped his handwriting by the noble mark and a group of the scholars witnessed that. That document was kept in al-Malkiyyah an-Nasiriyyah library



[Najm al-Muhtadiyy documented this statement with the signatures of the scholars who signed it. Ibn Hajar conveyed the record in ad-Durar also but the date he documented was 15th Rabi` al-Awwal 707.]
__________________
Their will come leaders who will not follow my guidance and not follow my Sunnah. Their will be among them men who will have hearts of devils in the bodies of humans. He (the companion of the prophet) asked, "what shall I do, O messenger of Allah, if I reach that?" He replied, "you should hear and obey the ruler even if he flogs your back and takes your wealth, then still hear and obey."
(Saheeh Muslim)
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