Ibn al-Qayyim | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Personal | |
| Born | 7 Saffar 691 AH / January 29, 1292 AD |
| Died | 13 Rajab 751 AH / September 15, 1350 AD (aged 60 years) |
| Resting place | Bab al-Saghīr Cemetery |
| Religion | Islam |
| Era | Mamluk |
| Region | Sham |
| Denomination | Sunni |
| Jurisprudence | Hanbali |
| Creed | Athari |
| Main interest(s) | Ethics, Fiqh, Aqidah, Hadith |
| Alma mater | Al-Madrasa al-Jawziyya |
| Occupation | Scholar |
| Muslim leader | |
| Arabic name | |
| Personal (Ism) | Muhammad محمد |
| Patronymic (Nasab) | ibn Abi Bakr ibn Ayyub ibn Sa'ad بن أبي بكر بن أيوب بن سعد |
| Teknonymic (Kunya) | Abu Abd Allah أبو عبد الله |
| Epithet (Laqab) | Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya ابن قيم الجوزية Ibn al-Qayyim ابن القيم Shams al-Din شمس الدين |
| Toponymic (Nisba) | ad-Dimashqi الدمشقي |
Shams al-Dīn Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Abī Bakr ibn Ayyūb al-Zurʿī l-Dimashqī l-Ḥanbalī (29 January 1292–15 September 1350 CE / 691 AH–751 AH), commonly known as Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya ("The son of the principal of [the school of] Jawziyyah") or Ibn al-Qayyim ("Son of the principal"; ابن قيم الجوزية) for short, or reverentially as Imam Ibn al-Qayyim in Sunni tradition, was an important medieval Islamic jurisconsult, theologian, and spiritual writer.[4] Belonging to the Hanbali school of orthodox Sunni jurisprudence, of which he is regarded as "one of the most important thinkers,"[5] Ibn al-Qayyim is today best remembered as the foremost disciple and student of the controversial fourteenth-century Sunni theologian Ibn Taymiyyah,[6] with whom he was imprisoned in 1326 for dissenting against established tradition during Ibn Taymiyyah's famous incarceration in the Citadel of Damascus.[4]
Of humble origin, Ibn al-Qayyim's father was the principal (qayyim) of the School of Jawziyya, which also served as a court of law for the Hanbali judge of Damascus during the time period.[4] Ibn al-Qayyim went on to become a prolific scholar, producing a rich corpus of "doctrinal and literary" works.[4] As a result, numerous important Muslim scholars of the Mamluk period were among Ibn al-Qayyim's students or, at least, greatly influenced by him, including, amongst others, the Shafi historian Ibn Kathir (d. 774/1373), the Hanbali hadith scholar Ibn Rajab (d. 795/1397), and the Shafi polymath Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani (d. 852/1449).[4] In the present day, Ibn al-Qayyim's name has become a controversial one in certain quarters of the Islamic world due to his popularity amongst many adherents of the Sunni movements of Salafism and Wahhabism,[4] who see in his criticisms of such widespread orthodox Sunni practices of the medieval period as the veneration of saints and the veneration of their graves and relics a classical precursor to their own perspective.[4]
Name
Muhammad Ibn Abī Bakr Ibn Ayyub Ibn Sa'd Ibn Harīz Ibn Makkī Zayn al-Dīn al-Zur'ī (Arabic: محمد بن أبي بكر بن أيوب بن سعد بن حريز بن مكي زين الدين الزُّرعي), al-Dimashqi (الدمشقي), with kunya of Abu Abdullah (أبو عبد الله), called Shams al-Dīn ( شمس الدین). He is usually known as Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah, after his father Abu Bakr Ibn Sa'd al-Zur'ī who was the superintendent (qayyim) of the Jawziyyah Madrasah, the Hanbali law college in Damascus.[7]
Biography
Teachers
Ibn al-Qayyim's main teacher was the scholar Ibn Taymiyyah.[8] Ibn Qayyim first met Ibn Taymiyyah at the age of 21 and spent the rest of his life learning from him.[9] As a result of this union he shared his teacher's views in most issues.[10]
Imprisonment
Ibn al-Qayyim was imprisoned with his teacher Ibn Taymiyyah from 1326 until 1328, when Ibn Taymiyyah died and Ibn al-Qayyim was released.[6] According to the historian al-Maqrizi, two reasons led to his arrest: the first was a sermon Ibn al-Qayyim had delivered in Jerusalem in which he decried the visitation of holy graves, including the Prophet Muhammad's grave in Medina, the second was his agreement with Ibn Taymiyyah's view on the matter of divorce, which contradicted the view of the majority of scholars in Damascus.[11]
The campaign to have Ibn al-Qayyim imprisoned was led by Shafi'i and Maliki scholars, and was also joined by the Hanbali and Hanafi judges.[12]
Whilst in prison Ibn al-Qayyim busied himself with the Qur'an. According to Ibn Rajab, Ibn al-Qayyim made the most of his time of imprisonment: the immediate result of his delving into the Qur'an while in prison was a series of mystical experiences (described as dhawq, direct experience of the divine mysteries, and mawjud, ecstasy occasioned by direct encounter with the Divine Reality).[13]
Spiritual Life
Ibn Qayyim Al-Jawziyya wrote a lengthy spiritual commentary on a treatise written by the Hanbali Sufi Khwaja Abdullah Ansari entitled Madarij al-Salikin.[14][15]
He expressed his love and appreciation for Ansari in this commentary with his statement "Certainly I love the Sheikh, but I love the truth more!'. Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya refers to Ansari with the honorific title "Sheikh al-Islam" in his work Al-Wabil al-Sayyib min al-Kalim al-Tayyab.[1][16]
Death
Ibn al-Qayyim died at the age of 60 years, 5 months, and 5 days, on the 13th night of Rajab, 751 AH (September 15, 1350 CE), and was buried besides his father at the Bab al-Saghīr Cemetery.[17]
Views
Jurisprudence
Like his teacher Ibn Taymiyya, Ibn Qayyim, supported broad powers for the state and prosecution. He argued, for example, "that it was often right to punish someone of lowly status" who alleged improper behavior by someone "more respectable."[18][19]
Ibn Qayyim "formulated evidential theories" that made judges "less reliant than ever before on the oral testimony." One example was the establishment of a child's paternity by experts scrutinizing the faces of "a child and its alleged father for similarities".[18][19] Another was in determining impotence. If a woman sought a divorce on the grounds of her husband's impotence and her husband contested the claim, a judge might obtain a sample of the husband's ejaculate. According to Ibn Qayyim "only genuine semen left a white residue when boiled".[18][19]
In interrogating the accused, Ibn Qayyim believed that testimony could be beaten out of suspects if they were "disreputable".[20][21] This was in contrast to the majority of Islamic jurists who had always acknowledged "that alleged sinners were entitled to remain silent if accused."[22] Attorney and author Sadakat Kadri states that, "as a matter of straightforward history, torture had originally been forbidden by Islamic jurisprudence."[19] Ibn Qayyim however, believed that "the Prophet Muhammad, the Rightly Guided Caliphs, and other Companions" would have supported his position.[19][20][21]
Astrology and alchemy
Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah opposed alchemy and divination of all varieties, but was particularly opposed to astrology, whose practitioners dared to "think they could know secrets locked within the mystery of God's supreme and all-embracing wisdom."[5] In fact, those who believed that human personalities and events were influenced by heavenly bodies, were "the most ignorant of people, the most in error and the furthest from humanity ... the most ignorant of people concerning his soul and its creator".[5]
In his Miftah Dar al-Sa'adah, in addition to denouncing the astrologers as worse than infidels, he uses empirical arguments to refute the practice of alchemy and astrology along with the theories associated with them, such as divination and the transmutation of metals, for example arguing:
And if you astrologers answer that it is precisely because of this distance and smallness that their influences are negligible, then why is it that you claim a great influence for the smallest heavenly body, Mercury? Why is it that you have given an influence to al-Ra's and al-Dhanab, which are two imaginary points [ascending and descending nodes]?"[5]
Christianity
He was very critical of Christians and their beliefs. “Congratulating Christians in their celebrations is as same as congratulating them for worshiping their cross and believing in Jesus as son of the God.”[23] In his book, Kitab Hidayat ul-Hayara, he writes:
“The Christians are misguided cross worshippers. They are those who swear at Allah (swt) the Creator in a way no other human has sworn at Allah (swt).
They are like those before who did not believe that Allah is unique as stated in Surah Ikhlas, nor do they make him greater than everything; rather they say, “the heaven and earth will crack and the mountains will fall down.”
The base of their Aqeedah and their biggest curse against Allah (swt) is the Trinity. According to the Christians Mariam (as) is the lover of Allah (swt) and Isa (as) is His son. They claim the Almighty Allah came down from His great chair and melted in the womb of Mariam (as), until He was killed and buried at the hands of man.
Its Deen is the worship of the cross; its supplication is for the images that are drawn on the wall, in red and yellow colours. They say in their prayer “O mother of God provide for us, forgive us and have mercy on us.”
Their Deen is to drink alcohol, eat pork, desert circumcision, worship with impurity and eat everything, even if it is filthy, whether that be the elephant or the mosquito. What is lawful and unlawful is what their priests say; the priests can take them to heaven and forgive their sins."[24]
He also wrote a poem called “Oh, Worshippers of Christ!” in which he calls Christians “liars, fabricators and cross worshippers.”[25]
Reception
Ibn Qayyim was respected by a number of scholars during and after his life. Ibn Kathir stated that Ibn al-Qayyim,
was the most affectionate person. He was never envious of anyone, nor did he hurt anyone. He never disgraced anyone, nor did he hate anyone.[7] ... I do not know in this world in our time someone who is more dedicated to acts of devotion [26]
Ibn Rajab, one of Ibn Qayyim's students, stated that,
Although, he was by no means infallible, no one could compete with him in the understanding of the texts.[7]
Criticism
Ibn Qayyim was criticized by a number of scholars, including:
- Taqi al-Din al-Subki (d. 756/1355) accused him of heresy, and wrote a book against him, entitled: "Al-Sayf al-Saqil fi al-Radd ala Ibn Zafil".
- Ibn Hajar al-Haytami (d. 974/1566–7) in his al-Fatawa al-Hadithiyya declared Ibn al-Qayyim and his teacher Ibn Taymiyya to be heretics and unbelievers (Mulhideen).[27] He described their position on the Divine attributes as anthropomorphist.[28]
Legacy
Works
Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah's contributions to the Islamic library are extensive, and they particularly deal with the Qur'anic commentaries, and understanding and analysis of the prophetic traditions (Fiqh-us Sunnah) (فقه ). He "wrote about a hundred books",[29] including:
- Zad al-Ma'ad (Provision of the hereafter)
- Al-Waabil Sayyib minal kalim tayyib
- I'laam ul Muwaqqi'een 'an Rabb il 'Aalameen (Information for Those who Write on Behalf of the Lord of the Worlds)
- Tahthib Sunan Abi Da'ud
- Madaarij Saalikeen which is a rearrangement of the book by Shaikh Abu Ismail al-Ansari al-Harawi al-Sufi, Manazil-u Sa'ireen (Stations of the Seekers);
- Tafsir Mu'awwadhatain (Tafsir of Surah Falaq and Nas);
- Badāʾiʿ al-Fawāʾid (بدائع الفوائد): Amazing Points of Benefit
- Ad-Dā'i wa Dawā also known as Al Jawābul kāfi liman sa'ala 'an Dawā'i Shaafi
- Qaṣīda al-Nūniyyah / al Kāfiya al-Shāfiyah fi'l Intiṣār lil Firqa al-Nājiyya
- Uddat as-Sabirin wa Dhakhiratu ash-Shakirin (عدة الصابرين وذخيرة الشاكرين)
- Ighathatu lahfaan min masaa'id ash-shaytan (إغاثة اللهفان من مصائد الشيطان) : Aid for the Yearning One in Resisting the Shayṭān
- Ighāthah al-lahfān fī Ḥukm Talāq Al-Gadhbān ( إغاثة اللهفان في حكم طلاق الغضبان)
- Rawdhatul Muhibbīn
- Ahkām ahl al-dhimma
- Tuhfatul Mawdud bi Ahkam al-Mawlud: A Gift to the Loved One Regarding the Rulings of the Newborn
- Miftah Dar As-Sa'adah
- Jala al-afham fi fadhl salati ala khayral anam
- Ijtimāʻ al-juyūsh al-Islāmīyah : ʻalā ghazw al-Muʻaṭṭilah wa-al-Jahmīyah ( اجـتــمـاع الـجـيـوش الإسـلامـيـة عـلـى غـزو الـمـعـطـلـة و الـجـهـمـيـة) : Mustering the Islamic Armies to Attack the Mu'aṭṭilah and the Jahmiyyah
- At-Ṭuruq al-Ḥukmiyyah fi as-Siyāsati ash-Shar'iyyah
- Al-Manar al-Munif
- Al-Amthal fi al-Quran al-Karim : The Examples in the Holy Quran
- Al-Tibb al-Nabawi – a book on Prophetic medicine, available in English as "The Prophetic Medicine", printed by Dar al-Fikr in Beirut (Lebanon), or as "Healing with the Medicine of the Prophet (sal allahu `alayhi wa salim)", printed by Darussalam Publications.
- Al-Furusiyya[30]
- Shifa al-Alil (Healing of the Sick)
- Mukhtasar al-Sawa'iq
- Hadi al-Arwah ila Bilad al-Arfah (Spurring Souls on to the Realms of Joy)
- A treatise on Arab archery is by Ibn Qayyim Al-Jawziyya, Muḥammad ibn Abī Bakr (1292AD-1350AD) and comes from the 14th century.[31]
References
- ^ a b Slitine, Moulay; Fitzgerald, Michael (2000). The Invocation of God. Islamic Texts Society. p. 4. ISBN 0946621780.
- ^ Ovamir Anjum. "Sufism without Mysticism: Ibn al-Qayyim's Objectives in Madarij al-Salikin". University of Toledo, Ohio: 164. Cite journal requires
|journal=(help) - ^ Livnat Holtzman. "Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah". Bar Ilan University: 219. Cite journal requires
|journal=(help) - ^ a b c d e f g Laoust, H., "Ibn Ḳayyim al-D̲j̲awziyya", in: Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, Edited by: P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel, W.P. Heinrichs.
- ^ a b c d Livingston, John W. (1971). "Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah: A Fourteenth Century Defense against Astrological Divination and Alchemical Transmutation". Journal of the American Oriental Society. 91 (1): 96–103. doi:10.2307/600445. JSTOR 600445.
- ^ a b Hoover, Jon, "Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya", in: Christian-Muslim Relations 600 - 1500, General Editor David Thomas.
- ^ a b c Holtzman, Livnat. "Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah". p. 208.
- ^ Roger M. A. Allen, Joseph Edmund Lowry, Devin J. Stewart, Essays in Arabic Literary Biography: 1350-1850, p 211. ISBN 3447059338
- ^ Josef W. Meri, Medieval Islamic Civilization: An Encyclopedia, p 362. ISBN 0415966906
- ^ Josef W. Meri, Medieval Islamic Civilization: An Encyclopedia, p 363. ISBN 0415966906
- ^ Holtzman, Livnat. Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya. p. 211.
- ^ Bori, Caterina; Holtzman, Livnat. A Scholar in the Shadow. p. 19.
- ^ Holtzman, Livnat. Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya. p. 212.
- ^ Holtzman, Livnat (c. 2009). "Essay on Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya". p. 219.
- ^ Holtzman, Livnat (c. 2009). "Essay on Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya". p. 363.
- ^ Anjum, Ovamir. Sufism without Mysticism: Ibn al-Qayyim's Objectives in Madarij al-Salikin. University of Toledo, Ohio. p. 164.
- ^ "Bab al-Saghir Cemetery (Goristan Ghariban)". Madain Project. Archived from the original on 25 May 2020. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
- ^ a b c Baber Johansen, "Signs as Evidence: The Doctrine of Ibn Taymiyya (1263-1328) and Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya (d.1351) on Proof", Islamic Law and Society, v.9, n.2 (2002), pp.188-90, citing Ibn Qayyim, Turuq al Hikmiya fi al-Siyasa al Sharia, pp.48-9, 92-93, 101, 228-30
- ^ a b c d e Kadri, Sadakat (2012). Heaven on Earth: A Journey Through Shari'a Law from the Deserts of Ancient Arabia ... macmillan. p. 140. ISBN 9780099523277.
- ^ a b Baber Johansen, "Signs as Evidence: The Doctrine of Ibn Taymiyya 1263-1328) and Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya (d.1351) on Proof", Islamic Law and Society, v.9, n.2 (2002), pp.191-2, citing Ibn Qayyim, Turuq al Hikmiya fi al-Siyasa al Sharia, pp.7, 13, 108
- ^ a b Reza, Sadiq, "Torture and Islamic Law", Chicago Journal of International Law, 8 (2007), pp.24-25
- ^ Baber Johansen, "Signs as Evidence: The Doctrine of Ibn Taymiyya 1263-1328) and Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya (d.1351) on Proof", Islamic Law and Society, v.9, n.2 (2002), pp.170-1, 178
- ^ http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2018/12/iraq-christian-new-year-christmas.html#ixzz5bJta8aCa
- ^ https://duaat.wordpress.com/2010/06/18/ibn-qayyims-description-of-the-jews-and-christians/
- ^ ""O' Christ-Worshippers!" A Qasidah Which Refutes Christianity". bismikaallahuma.org. Retrieved April 24, 2007.
- ^ Krawietz, Birgit. "Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyah: His Life and works" (PDF).
- ^ Aaron Spevack (2014). The Archetypal Sunni Scholar: Law, Theology, and Mysticism in the Synthesis of al-Bajuri. SUNY Press. p. 77. ISBN 9781438453712.
In doing so, he also declares Ibn Taymiyya and his student Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya to be heretics.
- ^ Ahmed El Shamsy (2020). Rediscovering the Islamic Classics: How Editors and Print Culture Transformed an Intellectual Tradition. Princeton University Press. p. 57. ISBN 9780691174563.
on divine attributes; al-Haytami had described their position as anthropomorphist.
- ^ Oliver Leaman (ed.), The Biographical Encyclopedia of Islamic Philosophy, Bloomsbury (2015), p. 2012
- ^ ed. Nizam al-Din al-Fatih, Madinah al Munawara: Maktaba Dar al-Turath, 1990.
- ^ Ibn Qayyim al-Jawzīyah, Muḥammad ibn Abī Bakr. kitab ʻuniyat al-ṭullāb fī maʻrifat al-rāmī bil-nushshāb. [Cairo?]: [s.n.], 1932. OCLC: 643468400.
Further reading
- Bori, Caterina; Holtzman, Livnat, eds. (2010). A scholar in the shadow : essays in the legal and theological thought of Ibn Qayyim al-Ǧawziyyah. Oriente Moderno. Nuova serie, Anno 90. Roma : Istituto per l'Oriente C.A. Nallino. ISSN 0030-5472. JSTOR i23249612.
External links
| Arabic Wikisource has original text related to this article: |
- Biodata at MuslimScholars.info
- Who is Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya? - Hidaya Research
- "Islamic Universalism : Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya's Salafi Deliberations on the Duration of Hellfire". Archived from the original on 2012-01-08. Retrieved 2012-01-05.
- "Short Biography of Ibn Qayyim Al-Jawziyya". Bysiness.co.uk. Retrieved 2010-04-12.
- "Ibn Qayyim Al-Jawziyyah". Sunnah.org. Retrieved 2010-04-12.
- Articles and Book Collection
- Quotes by Ibn al-Qayyim
- Books
- https://web.archive.org/web/20061107120050/http://mac.abc.se/home/onesr/h/105.html
- "IslamWeb". IslamWeb. Retrieved 2010-04-12.
- "The Hardness of The Heart". Angelfire.com. Retrieved 2010-04-12.