What is the ruling on studying the science of philosophy in order to understand some of the books of Shaykh al-Islam, because he uses some of their terminology to refute them?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
He says: Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success, what is the ruling on studying the science of philosophy and reading from the books of the people of kalam (theology), on the claim that some of the books of Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him)
The Shaykh:
About what?
The questioner:
on the claim that some of the books of Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him), such as Dar' Ta'arud al-'Aql wa al-Naql, cannot be understood except by reading those books; because he uses the terminology of the philosophers.
The Shaykh:
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah learned logic and these things in order to refute them. So if you have the ability to become like Shaykh al-Islam or other of the imams, if you have the ability to invalidate and refute them, then that is a good thing. But if you are merely a beginner, weak, and poor, and you want to read them and be influenced by them, and perhaps you think they are correct, this is not permissible. This is dangerous. Yes.
He says: Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success, what is the ruling on studying the science of philosophy and reading from the books of the people of kalam (theology), on the claim that some of the books of Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him)
The Shaykh:
About what?
The questioner:
on the claim that some of the books of Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him), such as Dar' Ta'arud al-'Aql wa al-Naql, cannot be understood except by reading those books; because he uses the terminology of the philosophers.
The Shaykh:
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah learned logic and these things in order to refute them. So if you have the ability to become like Shaykh al-Islam or other of the imams, if you have the ability to invalidate and refute them, then that is a good thing. But if you are merely a beginner, weak, and poor, and you want to read them and be influenced by them, and perhaps you think they are correct, this is not permissible. This is dangerous. Yes.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، [213 /1350] ما حكم تعلم علم الفلسفة لأجل فهم بعض كتب شيخ الإسلام لأنه يستخدم بعض مصطلحاتهم ليرد..؟ — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.