from the Traditions. For a lecture on any subject he would refer to verses of the Qur’ān and discuss their meanings with cross references from the Qur’ān. He would also note evidence from traditions of the Prophet and check their authenticity. He would then expound the relevant opinions of the four schools of jurisprudence and of other famous experts in jurisprudence. Having discussed the matter fully in this way, the problem and its solution would become clear in the minds of his listeners. Ibn Taimīyah had a prodigiously good memory which helped him overwhelm his adversaries in polemic.46
His style is clear and elegant. His writings are so richly steeped in references to the Qur’ān, to Tradition, to the sayings of the Companions and their followers, and to opinions of other experts in jurisprudence, that any Muslim reader must feel that he is living in the blessed age. From the literary point of view too, his writings have great merit. Because of their clear expression and choice of idiom even his technical works seem to be literary ones.
But in contrast to these merits, it is claimed that Ibn Taimīyah’s writings have some shortcomings as well, in particular their frequent digressiveness.
When Ibn Taimīyah died he left a number of pupils and disciples who were second to none. His disciples were of two kinds as were his teaching sessions. One kind consisted of those who learned from him through his speeches after the Friday prayers, and through his public lectures.47 In such meetings he presented to the audience the pure and simple teachings of Islam; urged them to follow the good and the just, and forbade to them evils and innovations.
The other kind of disciples were those who attended his special sessions; they were disciples in the true sense of the word. They possessed the ability necessary to grasp the broader meaning of their master’s teaching; they inherited his knowledge and way of thinking.
Ibn Taimīyah’s disciples spread from Syria to Egypt and Cairo to Alexandria. Some of them scattered to very far-off places.48 They preached and developed his intellectual heritage, and shared their master’s persecutions. One of the most famous of them was Ibn Qayyim al-Jawzīyah (d. 1350), a great writer in his own right. He so mingled his personality with that of his teacher that we find in his books echoes of Ibn Taimīyah’s thought. Among other distinguished disciples were Ibn ‘Abd al-Hādī (d. 1343), who died at the age of forty but left valuable works. He wrote a biography of his master, al-‘Uqūd al-Durrīyah; Ibn Kathīr (d. 1373), the famous historian and commentator of the Qur’ān, whose book al-Bidāyah wa al-Nihāyah contains a detailed biography of his teacher; Ḥāfiẓ Dhahabī (d. 1348), the great Islamic historian of traditions; al-Mizzī (d. 1341), another expert on traditions; Muḥammad bin Mufliḥ (d. 1362), writer of many books; Abū Ḥafṣ al-Bazzār (d. 1349), the author of a biography of Ibn Taimīyah; Ibn al-Wardī (d. 1348), expert in literature, grammar and some other branches of learning; and Qāḍī Ibn Faḍl Allāh (d. 1349), a famous writer.
F. Impact of Ibn Taimīyah through the ages
Ibn Taimīyah created a climate of revolutionary thinking both through his ideas and his reformist endeavours whose impact was felt not only in his own time but ever since. In his lifetime people were divided either into those who were strong opponents or strong supporters fully in agreement with him, or uncommitted, those who agreed with some views and disagreed with others. Ibn Taimīyah left behind a large number of books and disciplines. His opponents soon sank into anonymity, while the value of and appreciation for his works has increased. He had a great influence over Sultān Nāṣir Muḥammad bin Qalāwūn, who often consulted him during his stay at Cairo from 1309 to 1312.49 The Sultan appointed the Amīr Shams al-Dīn Afram as Governor of Tripoli on his advice.50
Ibn Taimīyah had a great influence among amīrs and high-ranking officials. During his stay in Egypt and Syria, and even when he was imprisoned, amīrs and other responsible persons, as well as ordinary people, used to consult him.51 Ḥusām al-Dīn Muhannā Amīr of ‘Arab, Kitbughā al-Manṣūr (d. 1321), and Ṣaif al-Dīn Arghūn al-Nāṣirī (d. 1330) who held the office of viceroy and governor of Aleppo, are described as his friends and admirers.52 When he was imprisoned in Egypt, several amīrs used to visit him and bring gifts of the best food. The Qāḍī disapproved of this and complained to the Sultan who had Ibn Taimīyah tranferred to the prison at the fort.53
In his own lifetime Ibn Taimīyah’s fame and influence extended beyond the boundaries of Egypt and Syria. When he was imprisoned for the last time in the citadel of Damascus, many letters came from the inhabitants of Baghdad protesting against his arrest and demanding his release.54 When he died, funeral prayers in absentia were performed even as far as China.55
One of his disciples, Altama ‘Abd al-‘Azīz Ardabīlī, went from Damascus to the court of the Sultan, Muḥammad Tughluq.56 Professor K. A. Nizami writes: ‘Ibn Taimīyah’s disciples reached India at a time when the country was in the grip of pantheistic doctrines. The policies of Sultan Muḥammad bin Tughlaq and Fīrūz Shāh seem to have been very greatly influenced by these tendencies of the age.’57
Ibn Taimīyah’s influence continued to be deeply felt long after his death, as acknowledged by Maqrīzī (d. 1441) the historian of the second Mamluk period.58 It continued much later, as exemplified in Ibn Taimīyah’s biography written by al-Marā‘ī (d. 1623), in the Ottoman period. And almost all historians have recognized his deep impact on the most prominent reformer of the eighteenth century, Muḥammad bin ‘Abd al-Wahhāb (d. 1792).59
Some of Ibn Taimīyah’s rulings (fatāwā) have survived in the legal codes of some modern Muslim countries. A conspicuous example is the case of divorce under duress in the Egyptian and Syrian laws.60
G. Economic views in his writings
It is inconceivable that economic matters could have escaped the attention of such a versatile genius as Ibn Taimīyah. He had witnessed ruined families and destroyed economic life since his very earliest years. His own family had faced migration and suffered loss of property. He observed a general economic decline at the Mongols’ hands. He had contact with every class of person – from the fallāḥin and artisans up to amīrs and sultans. He had seen the agony of the poor classes and the exploitation by the ruling class. So deeply did this impress his dynamic and conscientious spirit that he could not keep silent. What also inspired him was that Islam as a religion does concern itself with economic problems and holds certain fundamental principles in regard to them.
Ibn Taimīyah emphasized that every person must be assured a minimum standard of living sufficient for him to fulfil his obligations to the Almighty and to his brethren.61 Equally, he emphasized justice; that is, he sought to point out the responsibilities of the individual as well as the state, so that both could co-operate with each other and neither was abused. According to him, justice is a value recognized by all nations. He says: ‘All people agreed that the consequences of injustice are gloomy, and the fruit of justice is admirable.’62
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