Ibn Taymiyya

The question of jihad is fundamental to Ibn Taymiyya since he is one of the theologians of the Mamluk period-and probably of the entire medieval period-who wrote the most on this subject. Jihad was an essential part of the life of the famous theologian of Damascus, who took part in the Mamluk war effort as a volunteer in various expeditions. Over the last decades, scholars have been interested in the issue of jihad in Ibn Taymiyya and have highlighted several elements. These works have helped us learn more about the ideology of jihad in Ibn Taymiyya. However, it should be noted that those works focus on the jihad against a particular enemy (Mongols, heretics of the Kisrawān, Shi'ites) in a particular context and do not deal much with Ibn Taymiyya's general conception of jihad, for which several grey areas remain. This article will discuss Ibn Taymiyya and his general conception of jihad. My method is broken down into two steps to provide new elements and research perspectives. In the first instance, I will identify the maximum of Ibn Taymiyya's writings and passages related to jihad, making the beginning of a type of inventory. Then I will analyze their content and cross-check them to bring to light general aspects of Ibn Taymiyya's conception of jihad.

The fundamental stand of the Sunnite traditionalists from the 9th century onward was a devout adherence to the sacred texts of the Quran and Hadith (traditional accounts of what the Prophet Muhammad said); notwithstanding, this stand was challenged by the concept of a transcendent God, who is different from all existing things, as stated in Quran 42:11 "Like Him there is naught". One of the solutions of the traditionalists was to apply literal interpretations on the anthropomorphic descriptions of God in the Quran and Hadith. The traditionalistic motto, as the theologian al-Shaharastani (d. 1153) put it, was: "We believe in what is written in the Quran and Sunna. We do not interpret the text."
The cases of God's laughter and the Prophet's laughter reflect the complexity of the traditionalistic predicament. These were described by I. I. Goldziher (1910), J. Van Ess (1991-6), L. Ammann (1993) and Ch. Melchert (2002). God's laughter is not mentioned in the Quran as such, however the canonical and non-canonical compilations of Hadith abound in descriptions of God's laughter, which is intimidating on the one hand and compassionate on the other. For example, God laughs after He promises the Prophet, that He shall replace every Muslim sinner in Hell with a Jew or a Christian. He also laughs lovingly when a repentant sinner arrives in Heaven. Another set of traditions which causes uneasiness to Islamic traditionalists, altogether from different reasons, describes the Prophet laughing in various occasions.
This paper aims to determine the role of the accounts on God's laughter and the Prophet's laughter and to analyze the problematics of these accounts, not only from a theological point of view, while examining the writings of the traditionalists Ahmad ibn Hanbal (d. 855), Abu Khuzayma (d. 924) and Abu Bakr al-Ajurri (d. 971). A tendency to reject these accounts will be presented through the stand of Ibn al-Jawzi (d. 1201). The interesting approach of the prolific Damascene theologian Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya (d. 1350) will be demonstrated through his remarkable work on death and the afterlife Hadi al-arwah ila bilad al-afrah (The Leader of Souls to the Land of Joys). We shall see that Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya detects the literal value of these accounts. He does not hesitate to set them in his Hadi al-arwah, thus dismissing the theological difficulties posed by these anthropomorphic accounts as irrelevant.

'Proto-Salafist' 14th century theologian Ibn Taymiyya is recognised as the intellectual forefather of contemporary Salafism and Jihadism. This volume offers a unique approach to the study of Ibn Taymiyya, by offering an English translation of his fundamental political treatise, The Office of Islamic Government, and shorter collections from The Collected Fatwas and The Prophetic Way, and Islamic Governance in Reconciling between the Ruler and the Ruled. The volume not only sheds light on these primary sources through translation and annotation, but also offers a theoretical analysis of Ibn Taymiyya's thought and how his legal viewpoint can be reconciled with current trends in Islamic political theory. The analysis provides an overview of Ibn Taymiyya's geo-political context, and offers an original study of his normative political thought. In examining the contemporary implications of Ibn Taymiyya's political theology, the authors explore his doctrine of the Islamic state in the context of Islamic decolonial theory.

Islam and the State in Ibn Taymiyya will appeal to academics in the fields of political science and religious studies, particularly within the field of Islamic history.

This article examines the canonization of the Prophetic hadith, " Whoever imitates a people becomes one of them, " which became the keynote expression of tashabbuh (reprehensible imitation), a Sunni doctrine commonly invoked by religious authorities to distinguish Muslims from non-Muslims. First, I analyze how the Partisans of Hadith transmitted and classified the hadith, highlighting the pivotal role of Abū Dāwūd (d. 275/889) in canonizing the tradition. I then trace the divergent trajectories of its interpretation over time, especially the glosses of two brilliant Damascenes: Ibn Taymiyya (d. 728/1328) and Najm al-Dīn al-Ghazzī (d. 1061/1651). This study draws not only from hadith commentaries but also from treatises on law, ethics, and Sufism, illustrating how hadith interpretation takes place in multiple Islamic literary genres. A detailed appendix catalogues the collections of hadith that transmit the tradition; compares different narrations in order to date and locate its circulation; and visually maps its isnād networks.

A synthesis and extension of the theology of al-Māturīdī and Ibn Taymiyya. In this essay I propose a way of reconciling free will, predestination and divine foreknowledge in Islam by asking a question that no Muslim theologian has asked before as far as I am aware: Is God powerful enough to create a creature whose choices are intrinsically unpredictable?

""Abstract:

Inherited from 19th century Orientalism and enhanced by the advent of Wahhabism and Salafism,Ibn Taymiyya’s anti-sufi reputation has continued to obscure the mystical aspect of his work. The Hanbali scholar, described as the sworn enemy of Sufism, however, would have belonged to the Qāddiriyya Sufi order. Prejudice concerning Ibn Taymiyya and his Hanbali school, as well as specific difficulties in the approach towards Islamic mysticism, have been major obstacles to a comprehensive study on the relationship of Ibn Taymiyya in Sufism. The epistle al-Ṣufiyya wa-l-fuqarā, which is the
subject of this work, reveals not only his explicit approval of Sufism, but also a vigorous defense of this discipline aimed at those who would have it condemned as such. In addition, a careful reading of this epistle, combined with historical facts and other writings of the Hanbali scholar, reveal a mystical doctrine in the tradition of great Sufi masters such as, Ğunayd, Abū Bakr al-Kalābāḏī, Abū Ṭālib al-Makkī, ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Sulamī, etc.

Résumé

Héritée de l’orientalisme du XIXe siècle, et accentuée par l’avènement du wahhabisme et du salafisme, la réputation anti-soufie d’Ibn Taymiyya n’a cessé de voiler la réalité de son oeuvre à portée mystique. Celui que l’on présente comme l’ennemi juré du soufisme aurait pourtant appartenu à la
confrérie soufie Qādiriyya. Les préjugés sur Ibn Taymiyya et son école hanbalite, d’une part, et les difficultés spécifiques à l’approche de la mystique musulmane, d’autre part, ont été des obstacles majeurs à une étude approfondie sur les relations du savant hanbalite au taṣawwuf. L’épître al-Ṣūfiyya wa-al-fuqarāʾ, qui fait l’objet du présent travail, révèle, non seulement son approbation explicite du soufisme, mais encore une défense énergique de cette discipline contre ceux qui la condamneraient
en tant que telle. En outre, une lecture attentive de cette épître, associée aux faits historiques et à d’autres écrits du šayḫ al-islām, laisse transparaître une doctrine mystique dans la lignée des grands maîtres soufis, tels Ğunayd, Abū Bakr al-Kalābāḏī, Abū Ṭālib al-Makkī, ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Sulamī, etc.""

Uno de los aspectos en la historia del Islām que no ha sido tenido en cuenta en los diferentes trabajos e investigaciones y que a menudo ha sido ignorado, es la vida del erudito Ibn Taymiyya, quien aunque es conocido en diferentes círculos, sobre todo religiosos, mucho se ignora de su vida, pensamiento y doctrina. Criticado por unos y alabado por otros, se trató de un importante pensador que si bien fue muy cercano a la corriente Ḥanābila, fue alguien que conoció a la perfec- ción las demás corrientes jurídicas en el Islām (maḏāhib sing. maḏhāb): Ḥanafiyya, Šāfiʿyya y Mālikiyya. Fue además, un hombre que no solo tenía conocimientos de teología, sino también de derecho y diferentes ciencias islámicas como el tafsīr (exé- gesis), ḥadīṯ (Narraciones del profeta plr. aḥādīṯ) y el fiqh (jurisprudencia). En razón a lo anterior, se dice que escribió más de 500 libros y tratados en diferentes campos del conocimiento.

El aura de respetabilidad de este personaje hizo que sus enseñanzas fuesen di- fundidas por algunos de sus alumnos, y futuros eruditos, como lo fueron Ibn ʿAbd al-Hādī, Ibn Qayyim al-Ŷawziya, e Ibn aḏ-Ḏahabi1̄ . Años más tarde, algunas de sus ideas en un contexto histórico y con espíritu diferente, serían recuperadas en la pe- nínsula arábiga por personajes como Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd-al-Wahāb y el polémico movimiento Wahābí (al-Wahābiyya), que se terminaría extendiendo e imponiendo en otras zonas de la región y, por el movimiento Salafi (as-Salafiyya) y de reforma (Iṣlāḥ) principalmente en cabeza de Rašid Riḍā. Sin embargo, a lo que se le hace más publicidad entre algunos medios de comunicación y académicos (incluso en el mundo árabe), es el aparente uso que grupos y organizaciones extremistas como al-Qāʿida, los Talibán, Boko Haram y el Estado Islámico le han dado a sus escritos y enseñanzas, al punto de llegar a afirmar que Ibn Taymiyya es el “padre ideológico de muchas organizaciones terroristas”.

El presente capítulo pretende alejarse de esta última afirmación, y se propone situar en contexto y discusión a este erudito al ofrecer una introducción de su vida, de sus obras más importantes y una breve reflexión de su legado, advirtiendo que reviste de una complejidad importante, que no es un trabajo exhaustivo sobre sus escritos, y tampoco intenta abarcar la totalidad de su pensamiento. El texto propone servir de preludio sobre diferentes aspectos de su vida y doctrina, situando el debate en el campo de las ideas, sobre un personaje del que incluso muchos en la región del Medio Oriente y Norte de África tienen prejuicios, y América Latina no es la excep- ción. Queremos este texto siembre la inquietud, enriquezca el debate, el intercambio de ideas y la reflexión sobre la vida y legado de este erudito.

Pada akhir abad ke-7 di Damaskus, munculah seorang ulama Taqiyuddin Ahmad bin Abdul Halim bin Abdus Salam bin Taimiyah yang sering dikenal dengan Ibnu Taimiyah. Pandangan-pandangannya memberikan pengaruh yang sangat besar dalam masyarakat, disamping itu pula terdapat beberapa pandangannya yang bertentangan dengan pandangan ulama lain pada masanya sehingga banyak ulama yang menentangnya. Salah satu pandangan Ibnu Taimiyah yang bertentangan dengan ulama lainnya adalah pandangannya dalam konsep pemilihan dan pengangkatan khalifah, serta kritikannya terhadap konsep Ahlu al-Hal wa al-Aqd yang dikemukakan oleh mayoritas ulama. Berangakat dari hal di atas, penulis mengkaji pemikiran Ibnu Taimiyah tentang kedudukan Ahlu al-Hal wa al-Aqd dalam pemilihan khalifah.

With this work, Justyna Nedza presents the rst comprehensive analysis of the theologically charged legal practice of "declaring someone an unbeliever" (tak r) in militant Sala st thought. Her investigation zooms in on the role of tak r in the formal legitimization of militant jihad against government institutions. Investigating both the Egyptian and Saudi Arabian case, Nedza demonstrates the importance of the regional context in shaping consistent legal arguments for the legitimacy of tak r of collectives. The careful analysis of the arguments of four selected militant Sala st authors brings out that this contextuality plays also a decisive role for the respective textual references, as well as shaping the conclusions drawn by the Egyptian and Saudi Arabian authors, respectively. In dieser Arbeit präsentiert Justyna Nedza die erste umfassende Analyse der theologisch aufgeladenen Rechtspraxis des "Apostasievorwurfs" (takfīr) im Milieu des militanten "Sala smus". Dabei liegt ein besonderer Fokus auf der rechtlichen Begründung von gewaltsamen Widerstand (ǧihād) gegen staatliche Organe in muslimischen Mehrheitsgesellschaften, sowie die hiermit verbundene Ausweitung dieses Rechtsmittels vom Individuum auf Kollektive. Anhand der komparatistischen Untersuchung der Schriften von vier ausgewählten Autoren aus Ägypten und Saudi-Arabien zeigt Nedza, dass deren divergenter nationaler Kontext eine entscheidende Rolle sowohl für ihre jeweiligen textlichen Referenzrahmen als auch ihre entsprechenden Schlussfolgerungen spielt. Damit wird die bisher weithin akzeptierte These vom "Sala smus" als global einheitlichem Phänomen auf den Prüfstand gehoben.

This article provides a short overview of thoughts of the medieval muslim theologian Ibn Taymiyya, it offers the history of appeal to his ideas and the reasons why they are in demand. To a great extent the teaching of Ibn Taymiyyah became widely known through his influence on the formation of the Wahhabi movement. The demand for Ibn Taymiyyah’s thoughts in Modern and Contemporary History allows to draw a conclusion about timelessness of the issues he considered and the enhancement of the value of religion in the transition periods
in the history of Muslim society.

Traduction intégrale, introduite et annotée, de pages consacrées par Shihāb al-Dīn Ibn Faḍl Allāh al-‘Umarī (m. Damas, 749/1349) à Ibn Taymiyya dans son “Masālik al-abṣār fī mamālik al-amṣār”, telles qu’éditées in SHAMS, M. ‘U. & AL-‘UMRĀN, ‘A. b. M. (éds), “al-Jāmi‘ li-sīra shaykh al-islām Ibn Taymiyya khilāl sab‘a qurūn.” Introduction de B. b. ‘A. A. ABŪ ZAYD, 2e édition, La Mecque, Dār ‘Ālam al-Fawā’id, « Āthār shaykh al-islām Ibn Taymiyya wa mā laḥiqa-hā min a‘māl, 8 », 1422[/2001-2], p. 312-342.

In a curious passage in his Kitāb al-i‘tiṣām (The Adherence), the Granadan Mālikī scholar Abū Isḥāq al-Shāṭibī (d. 790/1388) introduces a relatively long citation with the following words: “Some of the Ḥanbalī scholars have said” (qāla ba‘ḍ al-ḥanābila). Upon first reading, al-Shāṭibī's omission of his source could simply be considered as an example of a fairly common scholarly practice, whereby opinions are grouped together according to schools, particularly in cases of opinions of rival schools. However, upon closer inspection of the statement, it becomes clear that al-Shāṭibī cites the unnamed Ḥanbalī's view in order to support his own argument. It also becomes clear that he was not simply omitting his source for the sake of brevity but, on the contrary, deliberately concealing his identity. The source of the cited passage was in fact no other than the Damascene theologian and Ḥanbalī jurist Ibn Taymiyya (d. 728/1328) and, upon closer inspection, it turns out that this is not the only passage that al-Shāṭibī quotes from him. In fact, nowhere in this book or in his other legal work, al-Muwāfaqāt fī uṣūl al-sharīʿa (The Reconciliation of the Fundamentals of the Shari‘a), does al-Shāṭibī mention him explicitly, but Ibn Taymiyya's views appear in several places. Why would a Malīkī jurist, who lived and died in Granada, at a great remove from Damascus and Cairo, and who had never met Ibn Taymiyya, cite him and engage with his views without mentioning his name? This study attempts to give some answers.

Fitrah: the Islamic Concept of Human Nature explores what such luminaries as Ibn Abd al-Barr, the great scholar of Spain, ar-Raghib al-Isfahani and Ibn Taymiyyah have said about this pivotal term from the Qur’an and the Sunnah. Yasien Mohamed tackles the work of writers closer to our own day, Ali Shariati and Sayyid Qutb, the dualism of whose views the author exposes with great courtesy and honesty. He contrasts fitrah with other views of human nature such as those of Freud, and B.F. Skinner and opens up the exciting possibility of Muslim thinkers throwing an entirely new light on the workings of the human soul.

مصر کے قاضی القضاۃ علامہ تقی الدین ابن دقیق العید کا ایک مکالمہ امام ابن تیمیہؒ کے ساتھ تاریخ نے محفوظ کیا ہے
"(امام ابن تیمیہؒ کہتے ھیں) مجھے سے ابن دقیق نے بیان کیا کہ تاتاریوں نے بلاد مشرق (اسلامی بلاد مشرق توران  ، ایران ، عراق) میں محض فلسفہ کے غالب ہونے اور شریعت کے کمزور ہونے کیوجہ سے غلبہ حاصل کیا ہے ، تو میں نے کہا کہ آپ کے علاقہ (مصر) میں بھی وجودیوں کا مذھب پایا جاتا ہے جو کے فلسفیوں کے مذھب سے بدتر ہے تو وہ فرمانے لگے کہ وجودیوں کے مذھب کو کوئی عقل مند قبول نہیں کرتا کیونکہ اس مذھب کا فاسد ہونا ظاہر ہے اور ہر عقل مند اسکے فساد واقف ہے یہی وجہ ہے کہ یہ عقل مندوں کے سامنے اپنا مذھب پیش ہی نہیں کرتا برخلاف فلسفہ کے ، جو کے خود بھی باطل ہے مگر پھر بھی اس میں وجودیت کے مقابلے پر تھوڑی سی معقولیت موجود ہے "

Studies of Christian-Muslim polemics often disregard medieval Mediterranean Muslim contributions to the analysis of the biblical tradition. An early golden era of Muslim-Christian engagement in Baghdad is replaced by a decline in the Middle Ages which is only to be reversed with the advent of modernity. In this article, I contend that Ibn Taymiyya (d. 728/1328) and Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya (d. 751/1350) critically engage the biblical tradition based on their backgrounds as hadith scholars. Both question whether the Bible was accurately narrated by pointing to perceived gaps in its transmission. Similarly, drawing on theological underpinnings of hadith, they make an analogy between the Disciples of Jesus and the Companions of Muhammad. Just as the Disciples spread the message of Christ, the Companions disseminated the message of Muhammad. Nevertheless, even though the Disciples and Companions were favored by God and spread their Prophet's teachings, they were not divinely protected messengers (rusul) and could have erred in transmitting the message.

هذا الكتاب ألفه فضيلة الشيخ محمد بن صالح العثيمين وترجمته أنا وسيطبع هذا الكتاب من قبل هيئة الطلاب المسلمين بنوغام سرينغر كشمير۔
کتاب ( مکارم اخلاق) ابن عثیمین صاحب نے لکھی ، اور اس کا ترجمہ میرے ہاتھوں ہوا ، یہ اللہ کا فضل ہے۔ یہ کتاب جلد ہی ایم ایس بی کی جانب سے نشر کی جائے گی۔

Abstract
This article aims at revisiting the famous claim that the doctrine of the Andalusian philosopher Ibn Rushd (Averroes, d. 595/1198) has no echo in Muslim contexts after his death and that there his thought had no impact in the philosophical works of the Islamic East, let alone in other disciplines. This reconsideration will take the form of a partial survey of the kinds of transmission that Ibn Rushd’s texts have known into Egypt and the Levant, in circles generally considered as antagonistic to philosophy. This paper tries to show how Ibn Rushd’s texts and philosophical ideas, immediately after his death, were received by some scholars of Egypt and the Levant, such as Ibn Taymiyya (d. 728/1328). I presume that this reception could help us on two levels: the first is to rewrite the history of Ibn Rushd’s thought after his death; the second is to shed new light on the intellectual and doctrinal evolution that he experienced during his life.

هذا الكتاب نسخةٌ مُنقحةٌ ومَزيدةٌ عن محاضرات روث بِندكت التي ألقيتها في قسم الأنثروبولوجيا في جامعة كولومبيا في نيسان/إبريل عام 2017، وهو استكشاف يقع في ثلاثة مقالات مترابطة، ويتناول موضوعًا شغلني أعوامًا عدة، ألا وهو الخطاب العلماني.
    إنني أهتم باستكشاف ما تفعله اللغة بنا، وليس فقط ما نفعله باللغة، وأحاول أن استكشف تعبير المشاعر
والتصورات والتوجهات عن خطابات "العلماني" و"الديني" في حياتنا المعاصرة.
طلال أسد

In this article, I discuss the theological problems raised by the Kalām Cosmological Argument that has resulted in criticisms of its utility by some Muslim philosophers and theologians, most notably Ibn Taymiyya. I briefly describe the responses to these problems by Ibn Sīna and two kalām sects, the Ashʿarites and the Muʿtazilites, and highlight the problems each of them. I then contrast them with the view fervently argued by Ibn Taymiyya, but also defend an alternative theory for those who are not willing to accept the proposition of an infinite temporal regress in God's actions.

(Note: This is a draft of an essay I wrote almost five years ago.  There are a few things I wish to amend and add.  However, since I am not likely to get around to those soon, I decided to go ahead and post a draft of it for now.)

Presentation of Taqī al–dīn Aḥmad ibn Taymiyya‘s Al–risāla al–qubruṣiyya, a letter written to a crusader baron in Cyprus, probably John II of Giblet, sometime between early 1303 and mid–1304. In his letter – to which Ibn Taymiyya appends a long exposition on religious history with a view to convincing his interlocutor of the supremacy of Islam over other religions of the book –, the famous Ḥanbalite jurist requests humanitarian treatment for the Muslim captives in John‘s power while they await ransom.

“Corresponding across Religious Borders: Letter from Ibn Taymiyya to a Crusader in Cyprus”, Islamochristiana 36 (Roma: PISAI, 2010) 187-212.

‘Between the God of the Prophets and the God of the Philosophers’ is unique, since, to my knowledge, this is the first book of its kind in the English language, where Dr Hatem al-Haj – an author well-versed not just from an Islamic point of view, but from a Western one too – attempts to directly address an array of Islamic theological topics related to the nature of God from an Athari perspective, with special focus on 'Shaikh al-Islam' Ibn Taymiyyah.

This book review provides a detailed breakdown of the subjects covered, which revolves around the apophatic god of negative theology, charges of anthropomorphism against the 'scripturalists' vis-a-vis God's divine attributes, etc.

I also seek to ask a number of probing questions re the author's position on Ibn Taymiyyah's weltanschauung when it comes to the doctrine of creatio ex-nihilo against that of Shaykh al-Islam’s position of God having perpetually created from eternity, his view on time (A-theory vs B-theory), and more.

As the religion of Islam spread through conquest and missionary efforts to become a major, new world religion, various theories arose as to how the umma should be governed and what the Islamic state should consist of politically. Never before had such a large state guided by religious laws been established. Since there was no precedent to follow, theories by scholars arose as to how the state should be governed. All believed that the Shari'a and the Qur'an needed to be utilized and should serve as a guide. They had different beliefs on what the ideal state should consist of, all writing in different eras, where Muslims were affected by various internal and external factors. While all four authors believed that it was important to have a strong ruler who was well versed in Islam who would put the interests of the umma first, they differed in where that ruler should come from, and how that person became head of state. The rise of Islam was a significant development that would affect millions of converts and people devoted to other faiths who lived within its state borders. The various political theories that arose with this new monotheistic faith, impacted rulers and government officials who sought to create a united Islamic empire. One of the first divisive issues was whether or not the caliph should be a descendant of the prophet. This issue would eventually divide the Islamic community, splitting the religion into two separate branches.

Traduction intégrale annotée d’Ibn Taymiyya, « Fetwa sur les Fāṭimides » (« Majmū‘ al-fatāwā », t. XXXV, p. 120-144), avec plusieurs corrections du texte arabe et, dans les notes, la traduction d’extraits d’al-Ghazālī, « Faḍā'iḥ al-bāṭiniyya ».

The focus of the present study is Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya’s (d. 1350) al-Kāfiya al-Shāfiya fī al-Intiṣār li-l-Firqa al-Nājiya (The Sufficient and Healing [Poem] on the Vindication of the Saved Sect), a long didactic poem of nearly six-thousand verses. The poem is usually perceived as a theological-polemical work, which was meant to address Muʿtazilī and Ashʿarī attacks on the traditionalist perception of the divine attributes. However, the present study shows that the poem is a rendition of the 1306-1307 trials that were held in Damascus and Cairo against Ibn Taymiyya (d. 1328). The reading of al-Kāfiya al-Shāfiya presented here is intended to place the poem among Ibn al-Qayyim’s most conspicuous works, and draw more attention to the genre of didactic verses in the Mamluk period.

Over the past two decades, the growing number of works on Ibn Taymiyya (d. 728/1328) confirms the ever-growing interest of scholars in the famous Ḥanbalī theologian of Damascus who is undeniably one of the most studied and well-known medieval Muslim theologians both in the Arab world and in the West. This is due to his numerous works on a wide range of subjects, in which a rich and complex writings which still influence to a certain extent contemporary Islam. As a result, Ibn Taymiyya is more often (mis)quoted than understood in addition to be often wrongly described as “fanatical”, “rigorist” and “radical” (Makdisi, L’Islam hanbalisant, 57-58, 61, 67; Rapoport and Shahab, Ibn Taymiyya and His Time, 4; Michot, “Ibn Taymiyya et le mythe du grand méchant barbu”, 35-54.).
The flowering of studies on the shaykh over the last two decades has broadened our knowledge of his work and thought, including his position in matters of dogma, Sufism, logic, philosophy, politics but also the reading and reception of his writings after his death and during the modern period (Caterina Bori). There nevertheless remains much ground to be covered in all these topics of research.
This conference seeks to contribute to a better understanding of the “Ibn Taymiyya phenomenon” (Little, “Did Ibn Taymiyya Have a Screw Loose?”) by providing a platform for specialists in the field to present and share their latest findings. The frame of the conference is widely defined and may include papers on Ibn Taymiyya himself, his students and followers, or the influence of his intellectual legacy in later times. Participants are encouraged to propose a paper on any new or little-studied aspect related to Ibn Taymiyya’s thought and legacy.

The status of women in today’s Muslim world continues to spur debates regarding their role not just today but during the entire history of Islam. It also raises questions as to whether Muslim women have experienced greater or declining rights and benefits along with that history.
A critical checkpoint for this debate takes place in medieval times, as between the ninth and the thirteenth-century thoughts and views about women were shaped by scholars such as al-Ghazālī’, Ibn Rushd, and Ibn Taymiyya.
The school of al-Ghazālī’ emerged from the Ash’ari school of religious thought, and is considered the representative of Al-Ash’ari in today’s primary scholastic school in the Muslim world, Al-Azhar.
Ibn Rushd is viewed as a progressive thinker among Muslim and Western scholars, and, by al-Ghazālī’’s followers, as a rival. This is largely a result of his book Tahafut al-Tahafut, which Ibn Rushd wrote in response to al- Ghazālī’’s Tahafut al-Falasifa.
Whereas the debate took the form of refuting or not refuting philosophy in the first place, it continued among followers from both schools into what each of the scholars (al-Ghazālī’ and Ibn Rushd) stood for, and thus refuted or supported all of what one student preached or taught.
In this sense, many Islamic scholars didn’t do justice to the thought of Ibn Rushd that was beyond the Tahafut, and hence, much of his thought stayed in the unopened drawer of “different” discourse.
Ibn Rushd’s progressiveness is demonstrated not in his jurisprudence books. In many ways, he adapted in his case law, and his fatwa’s to the general line of Islamic law voice of his time. His philosophical works, however, were a demonstration of his true ideals. His views on women were
challenging then, and still, are challenging in today’s Islamic world. His view on the development of the society as a whole is portrayed from a growing understanding that was far from application in his time. It is true, however, that his views were mainly a revision, as well as influenced by his predecessors such as Ibn Sina and Al-Kindi, a school of thought that integrate Aristotelian philosophy with Islamic thought.
Ibn Taymiyya, on the other hand, leaves behind him a school at the opposite extreme of Ibn Rushd’s progressiveness, one that in today’s religious approach is followed by Salafists and Wahhabis in Saudi Arabia. His followers include Ahl al-Sunna wal Jama’a1, the same branch of Islamic schools that stands opposite the Shiite2. Ibn Taymiyya, according to his supporters, is considered the “Man of Awakening.” It was his view that many a stream of Muslims, mainly in Arab countries, decided to take after the failure of Arab Nationalism following the Arab defeat in the 1967 war.
The importance of these three thinkers’ work lies in their continuing effect on today’s Islamic lifestyle, and that includes the perception of women in the Islamic world.
This study attempts to discuss and explore the following: 1) the status of Muslim women in that period of al-Ghazālī’, Ibn Taymiyya, and Ibn Rushd (ninth through thirteenth centuries), with particular focus on these men’s views on women, and 2) comparing the effect of their views on today’s thought in regards to women, through a) discussing the general status of Muslim women today, and b) examining different Islamic feminist scholars, namely Fatima Mernissi, who in her works has excessively criticized al-Ghazālī’’s views on
1 When mentioning Ahl al-Sunna, it also includes the same stream that al-Ghazali and Ibn Rushd come from.
2 After the death of the Prophet, and by the time Ali ibn Abi Talib became caliph. Split among the Islamic world started when Shiite; those who believed that Ali is the natural heir of the Prophet since he was his cousin, the first to believe in him, and his son-in-law. And those who came from the Umayyad tribe, led by Mu’awiya ibn Abi Sufyan, who saw that their strong tribal ties and the power they acquired in the Levant made them the deserving caliphs of Islam. From that moment on Islam was firmly fractioned between Shiites and Sunnis. Their faith in what defines Islam as
religion is the same. The differences are not in the belief but certain behaviors in the schools of jurisprudence. But originally their difference is political.

Women, and Nawal Sa’dawi, who has discussed women’s status from a different perspective relevant to the medieval era and its scholars. And last, but not least, this paper will attempt to show the effects of the teachings of al- Ghazālī and Ibn Rushd and Ibn Tamiya on the role of woman in Muslim societies,
This research will highlight the thought of both Mernissi and Sa’dawi, measuring their direct discours​e against medieval thought and how it shaped women’s status.

In "Ibn Taymiyya on Reason and Revelation," Carl Sharif El-Tobgui offers the first comprehensive study of Ibn Taymiyya's ten-volume magnum opus, Darʾ taʿāruḍ al-ʿaql wa-l-naql (Refutation of the contradiction of reason and revelation). In his colossal riposte to the Muslim philosophers and rationalist theologians, the towering Ḥanbalī polymath rejects the call to prioritize reason over revelation in cases of alleged conflict, interrogating instead the very conception of rationality that classical Muslims had inherited from the Greeks. In its place, he endeavors to articulate a reconstituted "pure reason" that is both truly universal and in full harmony with authentic revelation.

Based on a line-by-line reading of the entire Darʾ taʿāruḍ, El-Tobgui's study carefully elucidates the "philosophy of Ibn Taymiyya" as it emerges from the multifaceted ontological, epistemological, and linguistic reforms Ibn Taymiyya carries out in this pivotal work.