What is the ruling on the one who says that Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) is a disbeliever, and that whoever does not declare him a disbeliever is himself a disbeliever?

The questioner : We say, O our Shaykh, that there has been a lot of talk regarding Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah. A while back, one of the people told me that Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah is a disbeliever. When I hesitated to declare him a disbeliever, he said: "Whoever hesitates or doubts in declaring Ibn Taymiyyah a disbeliever is a disbeliever." So he left me in genuine confusion about this issue. He cited the statement of Ibn Taymiyyah and what Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah, his most distinguished student, narrated from him, namely that the Fire will be extinguished. How can Ibn Taymiyyah say that the Fire will be extinguished? Therefore, Ibn Taymiyyah is a disbeliever, and if we hesitate or doubt in declaring Ibn Taymiyyah a disbeliever, then we are disbelievers. He even asked me to testify...

The Shaykh : And who is it that says this?
Abu Layla : The group of al-Siqaf.

The questioner : ... actually, a young man from the Ahbash.

The Shaykh : My point, may Allah bless you, is that the one who says this is not a Shaykh from the Shaykhs of Islam, is he?

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : Is he from the Shaykhs of Islam?

The questioner : No, of course not.

The Shaykh : Why is it that you, may Allah bless you, whenever a barker barks or a shouter shouts, you get scared and turn away? Is his speech not correct and true, my brother? First of all, these people are not scholars; they are ignorant. And if only the matter were limited to ignorance! No, there is misguidance, ignorance accompanied by misguidance. And this misguidance stems from desire (hawa), the following of desire which leads astray from the path of Allah. And so, why do you, meaning, why do you pay attention to people like al-Siqaf and the followers of al-Siqaf? If you were to ask the scholars and students of knowledge on earth today, none would dare to say that Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah is misguided. And we distinguish between saying "so-and-so is a disbeliever" and saying "so-and-so is misguided." Because if one contradicts the Book and the Sunnah, even in some issues, he has gone astray. But this misguidance may not lead its owner to disbelief. Therefore, today, after the books of Ibn Taymiyyah were printed and spread due to the ease of publishing through these various and well-known means, people have come to know who Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah is. What we call today the "Awakening" (Sahwa) is, in fact, one of its causes, after Allah and His Messenger, after the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), is the spread of the books of Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah in this present era. Because his books were not previously spread due to the lack, first, of easy means of publishing, and second, of the few who knew the knowledge of Ibn Taymiyyah and his status. So I am amazed at our good brothers, and by Allah, we heard such and such, that Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah is a disbeliever. And not only that, but the one who does not declare him a disbeliever is a disbeliever. Who says this?! It is the one who deserves to have this disbelief returned to him, for he is the disbeliever. Because the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said: There is a book written by a man from the great scholars of hadith in Damascus, Sham, who was a contemporary of Ahmad ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, the commentator of Fath al-Bari, and he is known asThe Shaykh : Ibn Nasir al-Din al-Dimashqi. He wrote a book stating that whoever says that Shaykh al-Islam is a disbeliever is himself a disbeliever. And there are published fatwas of dozens of scholars in the time of Ibn Taymiyyah and those who came after him supporting this statement. Because a man might declare an ordinary, obscure person, whose true nature is not known, a disbeliever because he spoke a word of actual disbelief. But as for Ibn Taymiyyah, who refuted the philosophers, the materialists, the theologians (mutakallimun), the Sufis, and those who claim the Oneness of Existence, and so on, this is a rare person; women do not give birth to his like. Yet such an obscure, insignificant person comes and says that Shaykh al-Islam is a disbeliever, and whoever does not say he is a disbeliever is a disbeliever. This is one of the calamities, and this is the freedom that democracy supposedly entails. If there were a ruling here that rules by what Allah has revealed, this man would be brought and placed before the executioner to retract this speech, or else his head would be cut off and severed from his body. Because a man like this is acknowledged by the great scholars of the Muslims for his virtue. So it means that not only is Ibn Taymiyyah a disbeliever, but his speech is correct, so the one who does not declare him a disbeliever is also a disbeliever. So are all the scholars who came, like Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah, like Ibn 'Abd al-Hadi, like Ibn Kathir, all of them disbelievers?! Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar. Allah is the Helper, and there is no power and no strength except with Allah. Let us leave this speech. May Allah keep us safe. Glory be to You, O Allah, and with Your praise, I testify that there is no deity but You. I seek Your forgiveness and I repent to You.