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[23] ON TASAWWUF Ibn Taymiyya (d. 728)

His admirers cite this jurist and hadith master of the Hanbali school as anenemy of Sufis, and he is the principal authority in the campaign of "Salafis"responsible for creating the present climate of unwarranted fanaticism andencouragement to ignorance regarding tasawwuf. Yet Ibn Taymiyya washimself a Sufi. However, "Salafis" are careful never to show the Sufi IbnTaymiyya, who would severely hamper their construction of him as purely antiSufi.

Ibn Taymiyya!s discourse on tasawwuf is riddled with contradictions andambiguities. ne might say that even though he levelled all sorts of judgmentson Sufis, he was nevertheless unable to deny the greatness of tasawwuf uponwhich the #ommunity had agreed long before he came along. $s a result he isoften observed slighting tasawwuf, %uestioning his Sufi contemporaries, andreducing the primacy of the elite of &uslims to ordinariness, at the same timeas he boasts of being a 'adiri Sufi in a direct line of succession to Shay(h )$bdal 'adir al *ilani, as we show in the lines that follow.

It should be clear that the reason we %uote the following evidence is not because we consider Ibn Taymiyya in any way representative of tasawwuf. Inour view he no more represents tasawwuf than he represents the )a%ida of $hlal Sunna. However, we %uote his views only to demonstrate that hismisrepresentation by rientalists and "Salafis" purely as an enemy of tasawwufdoes not stand to scrutiny. +egardless of the desires of one group or another,the facts provide clear evidence that Ibn Taymiyya had no choice but to accepttasawwuf and its principles, and that he himself not only claimed to be a Sufi,

but also to have been adorned with the cloa( (hir%a- of shay(hhood in the'adiri Sufi rder.

e have already mentioned Ibn Taymiyya!s admiration for )$bd al 'adir*ilani, to whom he gives the title "my Shay(h" shay(huna- and "my &aster"sayyidi- e/clusively in his entire 0atawa. Ibn Taymiyya!s sufi inclinations andhis reverence for )$bd al 'adir *ilani can also be seen in his hundred pagecommentary on 0utuh al ghayb, covering only five of the seventy eightsermons of the boo(, but showing that he considered tasawwuf essential withinthe life of the Islamic community. 1

In his commentary Ibn Taymiyya stresses that the primacy of the Shari)a formsthe soundest tradition in tasawwuf, and to argue this point he lists over a do2enearly masters, as well as more contemporary shay(hs li(e his fellow Hanbalis,al $nsari al Harawi and )$bd al 'adir, and the latter!s own shay(h, Hammad

http://sunnah.org/tasawwuf/scholr23.htm#1




Ibn Taymiyya!s answer is to apply the legal concept of ijtihad to the spiritual path, specifically to the notion of ilham or inspiration. In his efforts to achieve aunion of his will with $llah!s, the true Sufi reaches a state where he desiresnothing more than to discover the greater good, the action which is most

pleasing and loveable to $llah. hen e/ternal legal arguments cannot directhim in such matters, he can rely on the standard Sufi notions of privateinspiration ilham- and intuitive perception dhaw%-4If the Sufi wayfarer hascreatively employed his efforts to the e/ternal shar)i indications and sees noclear probability concerning his preferable action, he may then feel inspired,along with his goodness of intention and reverent fear of $llah, to choose oneof two actions as superior to the other. This (ind of inspiration ilham- is anindication concerning the truth. It may be even a stronger indication than wea(analogies, wea( hadiths, wea( literalist arguments 2awahir-, and wea(istisHaab which are employed by many who delve into the principles,differences, and systemati2ing of fi%h. @

Ibn Taymiyya bases this view on the principle that $llah has put a naturaldisposition for the truth in man(ind, and when this natural disposition has beengrounded in the reality of faith and enlightened by 'ur!anic teaching, and stillthe striver on the path is unable to determine the precise will of $llah inspecific instances, then his heart will show him the preferable course of action.Such an inspiration, he holds, is one of the strongest authorities possible in thesituation. #ertainly the striver will sometimes err, falsely guided by hisinspiration or intuitive perception of the situation, just as the mujtahid

sometimes errs. 8ut, he says, even when the mujtahid or the inspired striver isin error, he is obedient.

$ppealing to ilham and dhaw% does not mean following one!s own whims or personal preferences. A In his letter to Basr al &anbiji, he %ualifies this intuitionas "faith informed" al dhaw% al imani-. His point is, as in the commentary tothe 0utuh, that inspirational e/perience is by nature ambiguous and needs to be%ualified and informed by the criteria of the 'ur!an and the Sunna. Bor can itlead to a certainty of the truth in his view, but what it can do is give the believerfirm grounds for choosing the more probably correct course of action in a given

instance and help him to conform his will, in the specific details of his life, tothat of his #reator and #ommander. C

ther wor(s of his as well abound in praise for Sufi teachings. 0or e/ample, inhis boo( al ihtijaj bi al %adar, he defends the Sufis! emphasis on love of $llahand their voluntarist rather than intellectual approach to religion as being inagreement with the teachings of the 'ur!an , the sound hadith, and the imja) al









salaf4$s for the Sufis, they affirm the love of $llah-, and this is more evidentamong them than all other issues. The basis of their ay is simply will andlove. The affirmation of the love of $llah is well (nown in the speech of theirearly and recent masters, just as it is affirmed in the 8oo( and the Sunna and inthe agreement of the Salaf. D

Ibn Taymiyya is also notorious for his condemnation of Ibn )$rabi. However,what he condemned was not Ibn )$rabi but a tiny boo( of his entitled 0usus alhi(am, which forms a single slim volume. $s for Ibn )$rabi!s magnum opus,al 0utuhat al ma((iyya The &eccan divine disclosures-, Ibn Taymiyya was noless an admirer of this great wor( than everyone else in Islam who saw it, as hedeclares in his letter to $bu al 0ath Basr al &unayji d. CEF- published in histhe volume entitled Tawhid al rububiyya of his 0atawa4I was one of those who,

previously, used to hold the best opinion of Ibn )$rabi and e/tol his praise, because of the benefits I saw in his boo(s, such as what he said in many of his boo(s, for e/ample4 al 0utuhat, al 6anh, al &uh(am al marbut, al 3urra alfa(hira, &atali) al nujum, and other such wor(s. F

Ibn Taymiyya goes on to say he changed his opinions, not because of anythingin these boo(s, but only after he read the 0usus.

e now turn to the evidence of Ibn Taymiyya!s affiliation with the 'adiri Sufiay and to his own ac(nowledgement, as related by his student Ibn )$bd alHadi d. FEF-, that he had received the 'adiri (hir%a or cloa( of authority from)$bd al 'adir al *ilani through a chain of three shay(hs. These are no otherthan the three Ibn 'udamas who are among the established authorities in fi%hin the Hanbali school. This information was brought to light by *eorge&a(disi in a series of articles published in the 1FCEs. 1E

In a manuscript of the Yusuf ibn )$bd al Hadi al Hanbali entitled 8ad! al !il%a bi labs al (hir%a The beginning of the shield in the wearing of the Sufi cloa(-,Ibn Taymiyya is listed within a Sufi spiritual genealogy with other well (nownHanbali scholars. The lin(s in this genealogy are, in descending order4

)$bd al 'adir al *ilani d. @A1-

• $bu );mar ibn 'udama d. AEC-• &uwaffa% al 3in ibn 'udama d. A9E-

Ibn $bi );mar ibn 'udama d. AD9-

Ibn Taymiyya d. C9D-









Ibn 'ayyim al 7aw2iyya d. C@1-

Ibn +ajab d. CF@- 8oth $bu );mar ibn 'udama and his brother &uwaffa% al3in received the (hir%a directly from $bd al 'adir himself.-

Ibn Taymiyya is then %uoted by Ibn )$bd al Hadi as affirming his Sufiaffiliation both in the 'adiri order and in other Sufi orders4I have worn the Suficloa( of a number of shay(hs belonging to various tari%as labistu (hir%ata attasawwuf min turu%i jama!atin min al shuyu(hi-, among them the Shay(h )$bdal 'adir al 7ili, whose tari%a is the greatest of the well (nown ones.0urther onhe says4The greatest Sufi ay ajall al turu%- is that of my master sayyidi-)$bd al 'adir al 7ili, may $llah have mercy on him. 11

0urther corroboration comes from Ibn Taymiyya in one of his own wor(s, as%uoted in his al &as!ala at tabri2iyya4labistu al (hir%ata al mubara(ata li alShay(h )$bd al 'adir wa bayni wa baynahu ithanI wore the blessed Sufi cloa(of )$bd al 'adir, there being between him and me two shay(hs. 19

Ibn Taymiyya thus affirms that he was an assiduous reader of Ibn )$rabi!s al0utuhat al ma((iyya= that he considers )$bd al 'adir al *ilani his shay(h heeven wrote a commentary on the latter!s 0utuh al ghayb= and that he belongs tothe 'adiriyya order and other Sufi orders. hat does he say about tasawwufand Sufis in general?

In his essay entitled al Sufiyya wa al fu%ara! and published in the eleventhvolume al Tawassuf- of his &ajmu)a fatawa IbnTaymiyya al 6ubra, hestates4The word sufi was not well (nown in the first three centuries but itsusage became well (nown after that. &ore than a few Imams and shay(hsspo(e about it, such as $hmad ibn Hanbal, $bu Sulayman al 3arani, andothers. It has been related that Sufyan al Thawri used it. Some have alsomentioned that concerning Hasan al 8asri. 1<

Ibn Taymiyya then goes on to deduce that tasawwuf originated in 8asra amongthe generations after the tabi)in, because he finds that many of the early Sufisoriginated from there while he does not find evidence of it elsewhere. In thisway he mista(enly reduces tasawwuf to a specific place and time, cutting it offfrom its lin(s with the time of the 5rophet and the #ompanions. This is one theaberrant conclusions which gives rise, among today!s "Salafis," to %uestionssuch as4 " here in the 'ur!an and the Sunna is tasawwuf mentioned?" $s Ibn)$jiba replied to such %uestioners4The founder of the science of tasawwuf is the5rophet himself to whom $llah taught it by means of revelation and









inspiration. 1> 8y $llah!s favor, we have put this issue to rest in our lengthye/position on the proofs of tasawwuf in the pages above.

Ibn Taymiyya continues4Tasawwuf has realities ha%a!i%- and states ofe/perience ahwal- which the Sufis mention in their science... Some say thatthe Sufi is he who purifies himself from anything which distracts him from theremembrance of $llah and who becomes full of reflection about the hereafter,to the point that gold and stones will be the same to him. thers say thattasawwuf is safeguarding of the precious meanings and leaving behind

pretensions to fame and vanity, and the li(e. Thus the meaning of sufi alludesto the meaning of siddi% or one who has reached complete Truthfulness,

because the best of human beings after prophets are the siddi%in, as $llahmentioned in the verse4 hoever obeys $llah and the $postle, they are in thecompany of those on whom is the grace of $llah4 of the prophets, the truthfulsaints, the martyrs and the righteous= ah, what a beautiful fellowshipG >4AF-

They consider, therefore, that after the 5rophets there is no one more virtuousthan the Sufi, and the Sufi is, in fact, among other (inds of truthful saints, onlyone (ind, who speciali2ed in asceticism and worship al sufi huwa fi al ha%i%anaw)un min al siddi%in fahuwa al siddi% alladhi i(htassa bi al 2uhdi wa al!)ibada-. The Sufi is "the righteous man of the path," just as others are called"the righteous ones of the )ulama" and "the righteous ones of the emirs"... HereIbn Taymiyya denies the Sufis! claim that they represent Truthfulness after the5rophets, and he ma(es their status only one among many of a larger pool oftruthful servants. This stems from his earlier premise that tasawwuf originatedlater and farther than the Sunna of the 5rophet. e have already mentioned thatthis premise was incorrect. $ll of the Sufis consider that the conveyors of their(nowledge and discipline were none other than the #ompanions and theSuccessors, who too( it from none other than the 5rophet himself. In thisrespect the Sufis and the great #ompanions and Successors are notdifferentiated in essence, although they are differentiated in name, by which

precedence is given to the #ompanions and the Successors according to thehadith of the 5rophet.

Then Ibn Taymiyya arbitrarily separates Sufis and scholars into two seeminglydiscrete groups, whereas we have seen that all the Sufis were great scholars,and that many of the greatest scholars were Sufis. $l 7unayd anticipated suchhigh handed distinctions in his famous statement4 "This (nowledge of ours is

built of the 'ur!an and the Sunna." $lso addressing this important mista(e inhis Taba%at al (ubra, Sha)rani %uotes al 7unayd and goes on to state4:very trueSufi is a scholar is Sacred aw, though the reverse is not necessarily





true. 1@JSome people critici2ed the Sufis and said that they were innovators andout of the Sunna... but the truth is that they are e/ercising ijtihad in view ofobeying $llah just as others who are obedient to $llah have also done. So fromthem you will find the 0oremost in Bearness al sabi% al mu%arrab- by virtue ofhis striving, while some of them are from the 5eople of the +ight Hand... andamong those claiming affiliation with them, are those who are unjust tothemselves, rebelling against their ord. These are the sects of innovators andfree thin(ers 2indi%- who claim affiliation to the Sufis but in the opinion of thegenuine Sufis, they do not belong, for e/ample, al Hallaj. Here Ibn Taymiyya!sinappropriate citing of al Hallaj is far more symptomatic of his ownmisunderstanding of tasawwuf that it is illustrative of the point he is trying toma(e. In reality, as )$bd al 'ahir al 8aghdadi said of al Hallaj, "his caseamong the Sufis- is not clear, though Ibn )$ta! $llah, Ibn 6hafif, and $bu al'asim al Basir $badi approved of him." 1A 0urthermore, we have alreadymentioned that major scholars in Ibn Taymiyya!s own school rejected thecharges leveled against al Hallaj, and even considered him a saint, such as Ibn)$%il and Ibn 'udama. #an it be that Ibn Taymiyya was unaware of all these

positions which invalidate his point, or is he merely affectingignorance?JTasawwuf has branched out and diversified and the Sufis have

become (nown as three types4

1. Sufiyyat al ha%a!i%4 the Sufis of +ealities, and these are the ones wementioned above=

9. Sufiyyat al ar2a%4 the funded Sufis who live on the religious

endowments of Sufi guest houses and schools= it is not necessary forthem to be among the people of true realities, as this is a very rare thing<. Sufiyyat al rasm4 the Sufis by appearance only, who are interested in

bearing the name and the dress etc. 1C

$bout fana! a term used by Sufis literally signifying e/tinction or selfe/tinction and the shatahat or sweeping statements of Sufis, Ibn Taymiyyasays4This state of love is characteri2e many of the 5eople of ove of $llah andthe 5eople of See(ing $hl al irada-. $ person vanishes to himself in the objectof his love $llah through the intensity of his love. He will recall $llah, not

recalling himself, remember $llah and forget himself, ta(e $llah to witness andnot ta(e himself to witness, e/ist in $llah, not to himself. hen he reaches thatstage, he no longer feels his own e/istence. That is why he may say in thisstate4 ana al ha%% I am the Truth-, or subhani *lory to &eG-, and ma fi al

jubba illa $llah There is nothing in this cloa( e/cept $llah-, because he isdrun( in the love of $llah and this is a pleasure and happiness that he cannotcontrol...









This matter has in it both truth and falsehood. Yet when someone entersthrough his fervor a state of ecstatic love )ish%- for $llah, he will ta(e leave ofhis mind, and when he enters that state of absentmindedness, he will findhimself as if he is accepting the concept of ittihad union with $llah-. I do notconsider this a sin, because that person is e/cused and no one may punish himas he is not aware of what he is doing. The pen does not condemn the cra2ed

person e/cept when he is restored to sanity and commits the same act-.However, when he is in that state and commits wrong, he will come under$llah!s address4 ur ord, do not ta(e us to tas( if we forget or ma(emista(es 949DA-, There is no blame on you if you unintentionally ma(e amista(e. 1D

The story is mentioned of two men whose mutual love was so strong that oneday, as one of them fell in the sea, the other one threw himself in behind him.Then the first one as(ed4 " hat made you fall here li(e me?" His friendreplied4 "I vanished in you and no longer saw myself. I thought you were I andI was you"... Therefore, as long as one is not drun( through something that is

prohibited, his action is accepted from him, but if he is drun( throughsomething prohibited i.e. the intention was bad- then he is not e/cused. 1F

The above pages show the great e/tent of Ibn Taymiyya!s familiarity with the broad lines of tasawwuf. Such (nowledge was but part of the completeeducation of anyone who had a claim to learning in his day and before his time.It did not constitute something e/traneous or foreign to the great corpus of theIslamic sciences. $nd yet, similarly to his case in )a%ida which we haveunravelled in the previous pages, Ibn Taymiyya!s misunderstanding oftasawwuf massively outweighed his understanding of it. This point was broughtto light with %uasi surgical precision by the great Sufi Shay(h Ibn )$ta! $llahin the debate he held with Ibn Taymiyya in the mos%ue of al $2har in #airo.

1 The commentary is found in volume 1E4>@@ @>D of the first +iyadh editionofthe &ajmu) fatawa Ibn Taymiyya.

9 &ajmu) fatawa Ibn Taymiyya 1E4@1A.

< Ibn Taymiyya, al Safadiyya +iyad4 matabi) hanifa, 1<FAK1FCA- 149AC.

> Ibn Taymiyya, &ajmu)at al rasa!il wa al masa!il 8eirut4 lajnat al turath al)arabi- @4D<.

@ &ajmu) fatawa Ibn Taymiyya 1E4>C< >C>.







A Ibid. 1E4>CF.

C Ibn Taymiyya, &ajmu)a al rasa!il wal masa!il 141A9.

D Ibn Taymiyya, al Ihtijaj bi al %adar #airo4 al matba)a al salafiyya,1<F>K1FC>- p. <D.

F Ibn Taymiyya, Tawhid al rububiyya in &ajmu)a al 0atawa al (ubra +iyad,1<D1- 94>A> >A@.

1E *eorge &a(disi, " !isnad initiati%ue soufi de &uwaffa% ad 3in ibn'udama," in #ahiers de l!Herne4 ouis &assignon 5aris4 :ditions de l!Herne,1FCE- p. DD FA= "Ibn Taimiya4 $ Sufi of the 'adiriya rder," in $merican7ournal of $rabic Studies I eiden4 :.7. 8rill, 1FC>- p. 11D 19F= "The HanbaliSchool and Sufism," in 8oletin de la $sociacion :spanola de rientalistas 1@&adrid, 1FCF- p. 11@ 19A.

11 Ibn )$bd al Hadi, 8ad! al !il%a bi labs al (hir%a, ms. al Hadi, 5rincetonibrary $rabic #ollection, fols. 1@>a, 1AFb, 1C1b 1C9a= and 3amascus

;niversity, copy of original $rabic manuscript, FD@H.= also mentioned in atTalyani, manuscript #hester 8eatty <9FA D- in 3ublin, fol. ACa.

19 &anuscript 3amascus, Lahiriyya M11DA H.

1< Ibn Taymiyya, &ajmu)a al fatawa al (ubra 114@.

1> Ibn )$jiba, I%a2 al himam p. A.

1@ al Sha)rani, al Taba%at al (ubra 14>.

1A )$bd al 'ahir al 8aghdadi, ;sul al din p. <1@ 1A.

1C Ibn Taymiyya, &ajmu)a al fatawa al (ubra 1141A 9E.

1D p. cit. 94<FA <FC.

1F p. cit. 1E4<<F.

+eproduced with permission from Shay(h &. Hisham 6abbani!sThe +epudiation of "Salafi" Innovations 6a2i, 1FFA- p. <@> <AA.

8lessings and 5eace on the 5rophet, his 0amily, and his #ompanions

http://amahelp.com/isn/asfa/index.htm

http://amahelp.com/isn/asfa/index.htm

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