The Eminent Status of Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (رحمۃ اللہ علیہ)

Refutation of False Allegations Against the Great Imam of Ahl al-Sunnah and Testimonies of Deobandi & Hanafi Scholars


Source: Fatāwā ‘Ilmiyyah, Vol.1 – Principles, Takhrīj and Verification of Narrations, p.631

❀ Question​

Was Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Taymiyyah (رحمۃ اللہ علیہ) among the scholars of Ahl al-Sunnah wal-Jamā‘ah or not?
On this subject, Muḥammad Abū Bakr Ghāzīpūrī (Deobandi) wrote a treatise titled:
“Kya Ibn Taymiyyah (رحمۃ اللہ علیہ) ‘Ulamā’ Ahl al-Sunnah wal-Jamā‘ah mein se hain? Ibn Taymiyyah ke ba‘ḍ ‘Aqā’id par ek Ṭā’irānah Nazar”


In this booklet, Ghāzīpūrī attempted to prove that Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Taymiyyah (رحمۃ اللہ علیہ) was outside of Ahl al-Sunnah, claiming that he believed the Prophets (عليهم السلام) were not protected from sins. (See pp. 34, 36)


This risālah was published by the Ilyās Ghumman group (Ḥayātī faction) from their Maktabah, 87 South Lahore Road, Sargodha.


A request has been made to clarify the truth regarding this booklet.

❀ Answer​

Alḥamdulillāh, waṣ-ṣalātu was-salāmu ‘alā Rasūlillāh, ammā ba‘d!


Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Taymiyyah (رحمۃ اللہ علیہ) was not only among the great scholars of Ahl al-Sunnah wal-Jamā‘ah, but he was honored with the magnificent title of “Shaykh al-Islām.”
This is affirmed through the testimonies of various reliable scholars and ḥadīth authorities. A few important references are listed below.

◈ The Scholarly Rank and Eminence of Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Taymiyyah (رحمۃ اللہ علیہ)​

① Ḥāfiẓ al-Dhahabī (رحمۃ اللہ علیہ) – Student​

• Tadhkirat al-Ḥuffāẓ (4/1496, no.1175):
  "الشيخ ، الإمام ، العلامة ، الحافظ ، الناقد ، الفقيه ، المجتهد ، المفسر البارع ، شيخ الإسلام ، علَم الزهاد ، نادرة العصر”
• Dhail Tārīkh al-Islām, p.324:
  "الشيخ الإمام العالم، المفسر، الفقيه، المجتهد، الحافظ، المحدث، شيخ الإسلام، نادرة العصر، ذو التصانيف الباهرة، والذكاء المفرط”
• Mu‘jam al-Shuyūkh (1/56, no.40):
  "شيخنا الامام”

② Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Kathīr (رحمۃ اللہ علیہ) – Student​

• al-Bidāyah wan-Nihāyah (14/141 & p.146):
  "وفاة شيخ الاسلام ابي العباس تقي الدين احمد بن تيميه”

③ Shaykh ‘Ilm al-Dīn al-Barzalī al-Shāfi‘ī (رحمۃ اللہ علیہ)​

• al-Bidāyah (14/141), al-‘Uqūd al-Durriyyah (p.246):
  "الشيخ الإمام، العالم العلّم، العلامة الفقيه، الحافظ، الزاهد العابد المجاهد، القدوة شيخ الإسلام”

④ Ḥāfiẓ Ibn ‘Abd al-Hādī al-Maqdisī al-Ḥanbalī (رحمۃ اللہ علیہ) – Student​

• al-‘Uqūd al-Durriyyah (p.3):
  "هو الشيخ الإمام الربابي إمام الأئمة ومفتي الأمة وبحر العلوم… شيخ الإسلام…”

⑤ Ḥāfiẓ Abū al-Fatḥ Ibn Sayyid al-Nās (رحمۃ اللہ علیہ)​

• al-‘Uqūd al-Durriyyah, p.9:
  "وهو الذي حداني على رؤية الشيخ الإمام شيخ الإسلام تقي الدين أبي العباس أحمد”

⑥ Kamāl al-Dīn al-Zamalkānī (رحمۃ اللہ علیہ)​

• al-‘Uqūd al-Durriyyah, p.8; al-Radd al-Wāfir, Ibn Nāṣir al-Dīn, p.104:
  "سيدنا وشيخنا وقدوتنا الشيخ الإمام… شيخ الإسلام سيد العلماء…”

⑦ Abū ‘Abd Allāh Muḥammad ibn al-Ṣafī al-Anṣārī al-Ḥanafī (رحمۃ اللہ علیہ)​

• al-Radd al-Wāfir, p.56 & 98:
  "إن لم يكن ابن تيمية شيخ الإسلام فمن ؟”

⑧ Ibn ‘Abd al-Dā’im al-Maqdisī al-Ṣāliḥī (رحمۃ اللہ علیہ)​

• al-Radd al-Wāfir (p.61): referred to Ibn Taymiyyah as "Shaykh al-Islām.”

⑨ Ibn al-Muḥibb al-Ṣāliḥī al-Ḥanbalī (رحمۃ اللہ علیہ)​

• al-Radd al-Wāfir, p.91:
  "على شيخنا الإمام الرباني شيخ الإسلام إمام الأئمة الأعلام بحر العلوم والمعارف”

⑩ Ḥāfiẓ Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyyah (رحمۃ اللہ علیہ) – Student​

• I‘lām al-Muwaqqi‘īn (2/241, Dār al-Jīl, Beirut):
  "شيخ الاسلام”

❀ Other Scholars’ Testimonies​

• Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Rajab al-Ḥanbalī (رحمۃ اللہ علیہ) – Dhail ‘alā Ṭabaqāt al-Ḥanābilah (2/387, no.395)
• Ibn al-‘Imād al-Ḥanbalī – Shadharāt al-Dhahab (6/81)
• Ḥāfiẓ Abū al-Ḥajjāj al-Mizzī (رحمۃ اللہ علیہ) – al-‘Uqūd al-Durriyyah (p.7)

❀ Sectarian Bias of the Barelwi Group and Other Innovators​

The Barelwi sect and some other innovators, such as Abū Bakr Ghāzīpūrī Deobandi, oppose Ibn Taymiyyah (رحمۃ اللہ علیہ) with falsehood, distortion, and misleading propaganda. Examples include:

• Qāfila Ḥaqq (actually Qāfila Bāṭil) – Vol.1, Issue 2, pp.20–33 by Maḥmūd ‘Ālam Ṣafdar Okāṛwī Deobandi.
• Zāhid al-Kawtharī – who called Kitāb al-Tawḥīd “Kitāb al-Shirk.” (Maqālāt al-Kawtharī, p.330)
• al-Ishfāq ‘alā Aḥkām al-Ṭalāq, p.89: “If despite this he is still called Shaykh al-Islām, then Islām is in peril.”

❀ Praise for Ibn Taymiyyah (رحمۃ اللہ علیہ) by Deobandi & Ḥanafī Scholars​

➊ Mullā ‘Alī Qārī (Ḥanafī):
"They both (Ibn Taymiyyah and Ibn al-Qayyim) were among the elders of Ahl al-Sunnah wal-Jamā‘ah.”
(Jam‘ al-Wasā’il fī Sharḥ al-Shamā’il, 1/207)


➋ Sarfraz Khān Ṣafdar (Deobandi):
"Shaykh al-Islām Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Taymiyyah (رحمۃ اللہ علیہ).”
(Aḥsan al-Kalām, Vol.1, p.94; also Rāh-e-Sunnat, p.187)


➌ Muḥammad Manẓūr Nu‘mānī (Deobandi):
"Shaykh al-Islām Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Taymiyyah (رحمۃ اللہ علیہ), the mujaddid of the 7th and 8th centuries.”
(Monthly Bayyinat Karachi, p.11; also Khumaynī wa Shī‘iyyat Kya Hai, p.84)


➍ Ibn ‘Ābidīn al-Shāmī:
"In Kitāb al-Ṣārim al-Maslūl by Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Taymiyyah al-Ḥanbalī.”
(Radd al-Muḥtār, 3/305)


➎ Ashraf ‘Alī Thānvī (Deobandi):
"He is a great man, a scholar, a pious servant… he served the religion immensely.”
(Malfūẓāt, Vol.10, pp.49–50; also Vol.26, p.287)


➏ Muḥammad Taqī ‘Uthmānī (Deobandi):
"‘Allāmah Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Taymiyyah (رحمۃ اللہ علیہ) writes…”
(Ḥaḍrat Mu‘āwiyah (RA)… p.117)


➐ ‘Atīq al-Raḥmān Sanbhalī (Deobandi):
"Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Taymiyyah (رحمۃ اللہ علیہ) stated…”
(Wāqi‘ah Karbalā… p.239)


➑ Basheer Aḥmad Qādrī (Deobandi):
"Fatwā of Shaykh al-Islām Imām Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Taymiyyah (رحمۃ اللہ علیہ).”
(Tajalliyāt Ṣafdar, Vol.3, p.105)


➒ Master Amīn Okāṛwī (Deobandi):
"Nailvī cites from Shaykh al-Islām Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Taymiyyah (رحmۃ اللہ علیہ).”
(Tajalliyāt Ṣafdar, Vol.7, p.162)


➓ Maḥmūd ‘Ālam Ṣafdar Okāṛwī (Deobandi):
"Shaykh al-Islām Imām Ibn Taymiyyah (رحmۃ اللہ علیہ) writes…”
(Qāfila Bāṭil, Vol.1, Issue 4, p.8)

❀ Conclusion​

Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Taymiyyah (رحمۃ اللہ علیہ) was undoubtedly among the great scholars of Ahl al-Sunnah wal-Jamā‘ah, honored by countless scholars and ḥadīth masters with the lofty title of “Shaykh al-Islām.”


All objections, fabrications, and distortions against him are utterly false and baseless, stemming only from prejudice, ignorance, and enmity.


He passed away on 20 Dhul-Qa‘dah 728H in the prison of the Damascus citadel.
(11 December 2008 CE)


ھذا ما عندي واللہ أعلم بالصواب