The Position on Criticizing Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah
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Question:
Honorable Shaykh, in this recent period, we hear a lot of people criticizing Ibn Taymiyyah, refuting him in his books, and casting doubt on him among the people. What is your opinion on that? And what is the goal behind this?
Answer:
My brother, people have criticized Abu Bakr, 'Umar, and 'Uthman, and even criticized the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), and even criticized the Lord of the Worlds. People have no standard; people, I mean, go in strange directions. When they abandon faith, they deviate and go in every direction.
As for Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, he was a renewer who renewed the religion and guided people to the right path. They do not want to move away from the religious innovations, newly invented matters, and shirk (associating partners with Allah) that they are upon, so they have started to belittle the beautiful Shaykh al-Islam. This is not unusual. Why did the Asha'irah and the Jahmiyyah return? Why did Imam Ahmad return? It is only because he guided them to the truth and stood firm on the statement that the Qur'an is revealed and not created. So they started to criticize him and criticize the Hanbalis, calling him a tajsimi (one who ascribes a body to Allah). This is not strange, and Shaykh al-Islam was the first one to be belittled by the people of falsehood.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you
Honorable Shaykh, in this recent period, we hear a lot of people criticizing Ibn Taymiyyah, refuting him in his books, and casting doubt on him among the people. What is your opinion on that? And what is the goal behind this?
Answer:
My brother, people have criticized Abu Bakr, 'Umar, and 'Uthman, and even criticized the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), and even criticized the Lord of the Worlds. People have no standard; people, I mean, go in strange directions. When they abandon faith, they deviate and go in every direction.
As for Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, he was a renewer who renewed the religion and guided people to the right path. They do not want to move away from the religious innovations, newly invented matters, and shirk (associating partners with Allah) that they are upon, so they have started to belittle the beautiful Shaykh al-Islam. This is not unusual. Why did the Asha'irah and the Jahmiyyah return? Why did Imam Ahmad return? It is only because he guided them to the truth and stood firm on the statement that the Qur'an is revealed and not created. So they started to criticize him and criticize the Hanbalis, calling him a tajsimi (one who ascribes a body to Allah). This is not strange, and Shaykh al-Islam was the first one to be belittled by the people of falsehood.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you
Source
شرح الكافية الشافية في الانتصار للفرقة الناجية [ القصيدة النونية ] [ صالح الفوزان ]، بداية من قوله : وكذاك زندقة العباد أساسها التعطيل يشهد ذا أولو العرفان — islamhouse.com (50:03)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.