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Ibn Taymiyya
(d. 728/1328)

Against Extremisms
Texts translated, annotated and introduced by YAHYA M. MICHOT

with a foreword by
BRUCE B. LAWRENCE

ALBOURAQ EDITIONS

Cover illustration: detail of a stained glass window, inili Mosque, skdar (Turkey, 1640. Photo: Y. Michot, 2010).

Dar Albouraq B. P. 13/5384, Beirut, Lebanon Distributed by: Albouraq Diffusion Distribution Zone Industrielle, 7, rue Henri Franois 77330 Ozoir-la-Ferrire, France Tel.: 00 33 1 60 34 37 50. Fax: 00 33 1 60 34 35 63 E-mail: distribution@albouraq.com Librairie de lOrient 18, rue des Fosss Saint Bernard 75005 Paris, France
(Near the Institut du Monde Arabe)

Librairie Albouraq 91, rue Jean-Pierre Timbaud 75011 Paris France Tel.: 00 33 1 48 05 04 27 Fax: 00 33 9 70 62 89 94 Website: www.albouraq.com E-mail: librairie11@albouraq.com

Tel.: 00 33 1 40 51 85 33 Fax: 00 33 1 40 46 06 46 Website: www.orient-lib.com E-mail: orient-lib@orient-lib.com

The right of Yahya M. Michot to be identified as the author of this work is hereby asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (United Kingdom). All rights reserved. No Part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. Tous droits de reproduction, dadaptation ou de traduction, par quelque procd que ce soit, rservs pour tous pays lditeur.

afar 1433 / January 2012 EAN 9782841615551

Contents
List of Illustrations Foreword by Bruce B. Lawrence Introduction Translations 1. The religion of the middle way
The saved sect A prophetology of the middle way Religious prescriptions of the middle way A theodicy of the middle way An ethic of the middle way A median doctrine about the divine attributes A median doctrine about agency A median doctrine of the faith A median doctrine about the Companions A median position in everything
XI XIII XX

1 2 2 3 5 6 7 8 9 9 10 11 12 16 19 19 23 24 27 29 31 34 51 58 67 83 85 86 89 91

2. Unity and respect for diversity within the community

A. B.

The duty of unity The duty of tolerance

3. Tolerance, strictness, and community unity

The Umma and the relativity of belonging Taqw and walya: the fear of God and His Friendship Walya and ukhuwwa: friendship and brotherhood of Muslims The division of the Umma and its impotence Commanding the proper and forbidding the reprehensible Obligations and prohibitions of the Shar`a

4. Unbelief and forgiveness

A. B.

Fatwa on the Qalandars Two astonishing hadiths C. The innocents of the steppe

5. God hesitating?
I do not hesitate What is hesitating? Two kinds of divine will Ontological and religious realities

VIII

AGAINST EXTREMISMS

The wisdom of the divine decision

93 95 96 97 100 103 105 106 108 113 116 121 123 124 124 127 127 128 128 130 131 133 134 136 137 140 142 143 143 145 145 147 148 148

6. Some human rights on God?

Gods mercy and justice Worshipping God does not give any right over Him Six differences between the Creator and the creatures The servant has, on God, a right that God has imposed upon Himself

7. Love and the health of the heart

A.

Love (`ishq): a disease of the soul `Ishq and Maabba Covetous desire and chastity The finality of the heart: loving (ubb) God B. Disquiet and serenity of the heart

8. The reality of the love (maabba) of God and of man

Love of God, hope of the Garden, fear of the Fire The highest felicity: seeing the Face of God The living do not act without love and will The foundation: loving God He will love them and they will love Him Loving God, the Messenger, and the Companions The love of the Lord for His servants From Ja`d b. Dirham to the Mu`tazils: the rejection of the reality of the love of God The friendship of God (khulla), the perfection of love The two friends of God: Abraham and Muammad The tawd of love Loving God is not reduced to loving to serve Him No metaphor in the canonical texts concerning the love of God The love of God is inscribed in the primordial nature (fira) of man To deny the love of God is to deny His lordship and His divinity The greatest of the commandments The Jahm negation of a correspondence between creature and Creator Some Sufis deny that God loves The foundation of the acts of the faith: loving God Appendices A. Between the theologians and the Sufis

viii

CONTENTS B.

IX

In the very hearts of the negators The anfiyya: knowledge, love, tawd C. Corrupt theologies

150 151 152 155 156 157 160 162 166 169 170 172 173 175 175 177 178 180 180 181 183 184 184 186 187 189 191 191 195 199 201 201 203

9. Faith and Love: from a theoretical to a practised tawd

The demands of a truthful proclamation of divine unity Love for God, or the conditions and limits to obedience Tawd, like faith, is speech and action To believe is more than to hold as true Dedication of the religion to God: from the hearts full confessing to visible acts

10. The servanthood of worship, or perfection in the liberty of the heart

A.

Perfection in servanthood At the core of revelation, the call to worship Preserved from evil and elect: the servants of God B. Servanthood and expectation in God The paradox of master and slave Human love between subjection and drunkenness From satisfying ones passion to the experience of dedication to God Master and slave True and false needs Perfection of faith The realities of jihad and of love

11. Love and the Way (shar`a)

The excesses of certain Sufis A fire that burns up, in the heart The pretensions of the Jews and the Nazarenes to love of God Certain Sufis nazarenize Islam

12. The master of the Children of Adam

Adam, created from clay but superior to the angels Lawl-ka Do not exalt me

13. The veneration of the Prophet

The straight path, between the dangers of judaizing or nazarenizing deviancy The servant of God and His Messenger

ix

AGAINST EXTREMISMS

The rights of the Messenger God alone is worshipped and invoked

205 208 211 211 214 215 218 220 221 226 227 228 231 234 237 239 241 244 246 253 257 258 262 263 265 267 270 287 287 289 294 294 295 296 305 326

14. Following Muammad out of love of God

If you love God, follow me In anomialism, there is no love Love of the common people and love of the elite Human loves and love of God

15. Obedience to the authorities

A. B.

Obeying a perverse and ignorant authority? Obeying within obedience to God C. Seeking clarification in all matters D. Sixty years with a tyrannical imam

16. God has set a measure for all things

The prohibition of anathematizing (takfr) The fighting between Muslims Behind whom to pray? Doing what one is capable of

17. Being a Muslim among the unbelievers

A. B.

Believing unbelievers Clandestine faith and willing the best for others

18. Like Joseph in the service of the pharaoh

True intelligence and the exercice of power Joseph and the pharaoh Weighing the pros and cons The responsibilities of the ulema A fundamental principle to ponder

Bibliography Indices Qur|nic quotations Prophetic sayings Biblical books Texts of Ibn Taymiyya translated Geographical terms Persons, groups, doctrines Keywords and concepts Transcribed words

THE RELIGION OF THE MIDDLE WAY

A MEDIAN DOCTRINE OF THE FAITH

On the topic of the names and statuses [of believer, major sinner, unbeliever], of the promise and the threat [of the hereafter, the adherents of the Sunna and the communion] hold a median position between [on the one side] the partisans of the threat (wa`diyya1) who consider that the Muslims who are authors of major sins are kept eternally in the Fire, expel them altogether from the faith, and treat as a lie the intercession of the Prophet, God pray over him and grant him peace, and [on the other side] the partisans of hope (murji|a2) who say that the faith of the perverts (fsiq) is like that of the Prophets, and that the virtuous actions do not make up part of the religion and of the faith, and who treat the threat and the punishment as a total lie. [375] The adherents of the Sunna and the communion believe that the perverts [among the] Muslims have with them a part of the faith and its basis but do not have with them the whole of the necessary faith, in virtue of which they would deserve the Garden. [They believe moreover] that they will not be kept eternally in the Fire; on the contrary, from [the Fire] will come out whoever has in his heart the weight of a grain of faith or the weight of a mustard seed of faith.3 [They further believe] that the Prophet, God pray over him and grant him peace, has reserved his intercession for the major sinners of his community.
A MEDIAN DOCTRINE ABOUT THE COMPANIONS

About the Companions of Gods Messenger also, God pray over him and grant him peace, and be pleased with them, [the adherents of the Sunna and the communion] hold a median position. Thus they situate themselves between [on the one side] the exaggerators (ghliya) and [on the other side] the abusers (jfiya). [The exaggerators] exaggerate about `Al, God be pleased with him, give to him greater eminence than to Ab Bakr and to `Umar, God be pleased with them, believe that he is the imam preserved [from all error]
1 2 3

On the Wa`diyya, see A. F. AL-SHAHRASTN, Milal, trans. GIMARET & MONNOT, Religions, i. 112. On the Murji|a, see A. F. AL-SHAHRASTN, Milal, trans. GIMARET & MONNOT, Religions, i. 41933. On the passing away of hellfire according to Ibn Taymiyya, see J. R. HOOVER, Universalism.

16

AGAINST EXTREMISMS

Prophets have different views. Those who struggle (jhada) regarding Us, We shall guide them on Our paths,1 the Exalted has said. The Most High has said also [118]: From God has come to you a light, and a Scripture that is evident, through which God guides whoever seeks after His contentment on the paths of peace.2
B. THE DUTY OF TOLERANCE

When, through their doctrines (madhhab), their [spiritual] roads (arqa) and their policies, the scholars, the shaykhs and the emirs seek as [their] goal the Face of God, Exalted is He, and not some caprices [of their own], in such a way that they hold to the confession (milla) and the universal religion (al-dn al-jmi`), namely to worship the one and only God, Who has no associate, and when they follow that which, from their Lord, was sent down to themthe Scripture and the Sunnaas far as possible and after a full exertion of initiative (ijtihd), these [doctrines, these roads and these policies] are for them, under certain aspects, the equivalent of the Ways (shir`a) and of the pathways (minhj)3 for the Prophets. They shall be recompensed for having sought the Face of God and for having worshipped Him alone, without associating any [other] with Himwhich is the original, universal religionjust as the Prophets are recompensed for having worshipped Him alone, without associating any [other] with Him. They shall, likewise, be recompensed for having obeyed God and His Messenger, regarding that which they hold to, because4 in that [obedience] are [found] the Way (shir`a) of His Messenger and his pathway (minhj), just as every Prophet is recompensed for having obeyed God according to his way (shir`a) and his pathway (minhj). The ways (shir`a) and the pathways (minhj) of [the scholars, the shaykhs and the emirs] are [indeed] of diverse sorts. The Prophetic traditions (adth), for example, reach one of them in other words than those which reach another. For him, certain verses of the Qur|n are commented upon in a commentary whose expression differs from that
1 2 3 4

Q. al-`Ankabt, 29: 69. Q. al-M|ida, 5: 1516. The way (shir`a) is the Shar`a, namely the Sunna. The pathway (minhj) is the road (arq) and the track (sabl) (IBN TAYMIYYA, MF, xix. 113). li-anna-hu U: l F

UNITY AND RESPECT FOR DIVERSITY

17

of another commentary. As for joining together the [canonical] texts and deriving from them [juridical] rulings, he proceeds according to a sort of ordering and adjustment [of elements of reasoning] that is not the sort [127] adopted by another. Much the same goes for their acts of worship (`ibdt) and their orientations: one holds to [such-and-such] a verse or [such-and-such] a hadith, and the other to another hadith or to another verse. Likewise for what concerns knowledge. There are some scholars who tread the way by following the road of such-and-such a scholar, which is therefore also their way; [that continues] until they hear what is said by another [scholar] and borrow his particular road, that of the two [ways that they had hitherto] preferred being then left behind. The sayings relating to them and the actions going back to them are accordingly, from this viewpoint, of diverse sorts. Yet, they had been commanded to establish the rule of the religion and not to be divided about it, just as that had been commanded [also] to the Messengers.1 Moreover, they had been commanded not to divide the community (umma) it being, on the contrary, one single communityjust as that had been commanded to the Messengers. In the latters case, [the injunction] was even more firm on account of the fact that one unique Way and one unique Scripture gathered them together. As for the number2 [of matters] about which [the scholars] have disputed, one shall not say that God commanded each of them to hold, inwardly and outwardly, to his positions as He commanded the Prophets [to hold to their messages]: even if that is what is said by a group of the adherents of kalm theology. One shall say only that God commanded each of them to seek the truth in the measure of his capacities and his possibilities. If he attains it [so much the better]. If not, God does not burden a soul except with that which it is capable of carrying.3 [When hearing this verse,] the believers said: Our Lord, do not hold us strictly to account if we forget or err!,4 and God said: I have done so.5 The Exalted also said: You shall not suffer rigour6 for that which you did in
1 2 3 4 5 6

See the verse, cited above, p. 13: Q. al-Shr, 42: 13. Literally, the measure (al-qadr). Q. al-Baqara, 2: 286. Q. al-Baqara, 2: 286. See MUSLIM, a, mn, i. 81. laysa `alay-kum jun U, Q: l jun `alay-kum F

18

AGAINST EXTREMISMS

error.1 Whoever then addresses reproaches [to the scholars] and blames them for a matter for which God does not take them to task acts in an excessive manner, as an enemy. Whoever wishes [conversely] to make their words and their actions equivalent to the word and the action of [the Prophet] preserved [from all error] (ma`m),2 and makes himself their helper in view of their triumph, without guidance coming from God, he too acts in an excessive manner, as an enemy, and follows his caprice, without guidance [128] coming from God. [By contrast,] the one who does what has been commanded to him, according to his situationbe it exerting the initiative (ijtihd) of which he is capable or being faithful to a model (taqld) when he is not capable of the exertion of initiative and when, in his fidelity, he borrows the way of justice (`adl)he is a moderate (muqtaid).3 The matter is indeed conditional upon the capacity (qudra) [of the person]: God does not burden a soul except with that which it is capable of carrying.4 It is incumbent upon a Muslim, in every place, to submit his face to God by being beneficent (musin) and to endure in such a submission (islm). Submitting his face is in fact devoting himself (ikhl) to God and making his good action beneficent. Ponder (tadabbara) this. It is a fundamental that is universal, beneficial and important.

1 2 3

Q. al-Azb, 33: 5. On the Prophets preservation from error (`ima), see Y. MICHOT, Textes XII, 30, n. 36; B. ABRAHAMOV, `Ismah; Sh. AHMED, Verses. Assuredly, to go with moderation (iqtid) on a track, [on] a route (sunna) is better than to exercise an initiative (ijtihd) [that goes] counter-track and counter-route. Therefore be attentive that your actions are [characterized by] moderation and struggling on the pathway (minhj) of the Prophets and their route (sunna) (IBN TAYMIYYA, MF, x. 77, trans. MICHOT, Textes V, 9). Q. al-Baqara, 2: 286.

THE REALITY OF THE LOVE OF GOD AND OF MAN

143

Is it not in the remembrance of God that the hearts find serenity?

TO DENY THE LOVE OF GOD IS TO DENY HIS LORDSHIP AND HIS DIVINITY

Furthermore, all the qualities of perfection that the hearts are predisposed to love, it is God Who deserves them perfectly.2 And all that is lovable in other than Him comes from Him,3 Glorified and Exalted is He. It is He Who deserves to be loved really and perfectly. To deny the love of the servant for his Lord is, in reality, to deny that He is God, worshippable, just as to deny His love for His servant necessarily implies denying His willthat is, necessarily implies denying that He is Lord, Creator. Thus, to deny His love4 comes necessarily to imply denying that He is the Lord of the worlds and that He is the God of the worlds. And that is what the partisans of denudation (ta`l) and of rejection (jud) say.5 The greatest of the commandments That is why there is agreement of the two communities which preceded us6 on this, which they see as a tradition and an apophthegm coming from Moses and from Jesus, upon them be the prayers of God and His peace: The greatest of the commandments is that you love God with all
1

3 4 5 6

Q. al-Ra`d, 13: 28. Jal dwn calligraphy by the Baghdad master Hshim Muammad, 1372/1952. Compare with AVICENNA, `Ishq, 391: It is clear, the First Cause possesses fully the Good (khayriyya) as a whole, which is Good relatively to It, and for It there is no possibility of existence. Compare with AVICENNA, `Ishq, 390: That which is caused by Him, there is no Good for it, in it, or from it, except as deriving from Him. That is, the love of God for His servants and theirs for Him. The partisans of the denudation of the divine essence of its attributes and of the rejection of the latter; that is, the Jahms; see above, p. 33. The Jews and the Christians.

144

AGAINST EXTREMISMS

your heart, your mind and your intent (qad).1 Now that is the reality of the original belief (anfiyya), the confession of Abraham which is the foundation of the Way of the Torah, of the Gospel and of the Qur|n.

And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart

The negation of this is taken up from the associators, and the abaeans, the enemies of Abraham, the friend (khall), and thosephilosophers, kalm theologians, doctors of jurisprudence (fiqh), innovatorswho are in agreement with them on this subject pick it up from them. This has become clear in the case of the Ism`l Qarma3 esotericists (biniyya).4 That is why [Abraham], the friend, the imam of the original believers (anf), upon him be the prayers of God and His peace, said: Have you seen what you have been worshipping, you and your forefathers? They are an enemy unto me, save the Lord of the worlds.5 He also said: I do not love [74] things that set.6 The Exalted has also said: The Day when neither goods nor sons shall avail, save him who comes
1

3 4

5 6

Deuteronomy, 6: 5: And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. New Testament, Matthew, 22: 3738: And [Jesus] said unto him: You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. See also Mark, 12: 30; Luke, 10: 27. Deuteronomy, 6: 5; Matthew, 22: 3738. One of the Ism`l sects; see W. MADELUNG, EI2, art. arma. To Ibn Taymiyya, all those who, Sh`s, Sufis or philosophers, reject the manifest meaning of the Scripture in favour of an esoteric meaning (bin); see M. G. S. HODGSON, EI2, art. Biniyya. Q. al-Shu`ar|, 26: 7577. Q. al-An`m, 6: 76.

BEING A MUSLIM AMONG THE UNBELIEVERS

249

equality between the nobility and the vulgar, soul for soul, eye for eye, etc..

Pharaoh

The Negus

For the Negus it was not possible to judge according to the judgement[s] of the Qur|n. His people would in fact not have allowed him to do so. How often a man is invested with authority among the Muslims and the Tatars, as cadi, or even as imam, and has in his soul some affairs of justice that he wishes to implement; however, it is not possible for him to do so or, rather, there are people there who prevent him from that! God does not burden a soul except with that which it is capable of carrying...2 `Umar b. `Abd al-`Azz3 was the object of hostility and ill will because of some measures of justice that he put into effect (iqma). It is also said that he was poisoned for that. [114] The Negus and his like are happy in the Garden even though, in respect of the prescriptions of Islam, they did not observe things that they were not able to observe but, rather, judged according to the judgments according to which it was possible for them to judge. That is why God has placed these [people] among the People of the Book. The Most High said: Among the People of the Book, there are those who believe in God, in what has been sent down to you and in what has been sent down to them. They are humble before God and do not sell the verses of

1 2 3

Two details from A. KAML, Saba, 11, 15. Q. al-Baqara, 2: 286. The Umayyad caliph `Umar II (reigned from 99/717 until his death in 101/720) remains famous for his piety; see P. M. COBB, EI2, art. `Umar II.

262

AGAINST EXTREMISMS

Moreover, [to assume] a position of authority (wilya) may [in general] be permissible, preferable (mustaabb), or obligatory. However, for a particular individual, [to assume] another [position] might be [still] more obligatory or more desirable. He shall thus, then, give priority to the best of the two goods, regarding what is sometimes obligatory, sometimes desirable.
JOSEPH AND THE PHARAOH

To this subject is also related [the authority] which Joseph the truthful was invested with over the storehouses of the land for the king of Egypt, or rather, his request that the latter should set him over the storehouses of [his] land,1 even though [this king] and his people were unbelievers, just as the Exalted has said: Certainly Joseph came to you before with manifest proofs, but you did not cease to be in doubt about what he had brought to you. When he died, you said then: God will not send a Messenger after him. 2 The Exalted also said, for him: O my two prison mates, would sundry lords be better, or God, the One, the Omnipotent?
1

See Q. Ysuf, 12: 55: He said: Set me over the storehouses of the land. I am indeed a good, competent guardian. The word pharaoh (fir`awn) does not appear in Q. Ysuf, 12, in which the ruler of Egypt is called king (malik) and al-`Azz. This ruler is of course different from Fir`awn, Pharaoh, the Egyptian autocrat often mentioned in the Qur|n in relation to Moses. For Ibn Taymiyya, it is nevertheless a pharaoh; see above, p. 246, n. 3. Sh` traditional sources report that the eighth imam, `Al al-Ri (d. 203/818), was criticized by some of his followers for collaborating with the `Abbsid caliph al-Ma|mn. A man said to him: May God make you righteous! How have you come, vis--vis al-Ma|mn, to the [point] where you have come to? It was as if he was rebuking him for that. Ab l-asan al-Ri, peace be upon him, said to him: O So-and-so, who is more eminent, the Prophet or the trustee (wa)? The Prophet, of course. And who is more eminent, a Muslim or an associator? A Muslim, of course. Al-`Azz, `Azz of Egypt, was an associator, and Joseph, peace be upon him, was a Prophet, whereas al-Ma|mn is a Muslim and I am [only] a trustee. Now, Joseph asked al-`Azz to give him a position of authority when he said: Set me over the storehouses of the land. I am indeed a good, competent guardian, whereas me, I have been forced (Muammad b. al-asan AL-URR AL-`MIL, Was|il, xvii. 202, no. 22347). Q. Ghfir, 40: 34. Ibn Taymiyya does not cite the end of the verse, but only writes: [and the rest of] the verse.

LIKE JOSEPH IN THE SERVICE OF THE PHARAOH

263

You do not worship beneath Him but only names which you have rigged up, you and your fathers, and for which God did not send down any enabling authority (suln). Judging (ukm) belongs only to God. He has commanded that you worship none but Him. Such is the straight religion, but most men do not know.1 We know that, despite their unbelief, the [Egyptians] must unfailingly have had usages and a procedure (`da wa sunna) for the collection of taxes and expenditure thereof for the advantage of the kings entourage and the people of his house, of his soldiers and of his subjects. However, these functions were not being done according to the Tradition (sunna) of the Prophets and their justice (`adl), and it was not possible for Joseph to implement everything he might have willed, namely what he considered as part of the religion of God. Indeed, the people would not have approved [such a course of action]. However, he implemented what it was possible [to implement] of the [religions] justice and beneficence (isn) and, thanks to his power (suln), eventually treated the believers among the people of his house with a generosity which, otherwise, it would not have been possible for him to achieve. All this is included in His words [57]: Fear God as much as you are able to do!2
WEIGHING THE PROS AND CONS

When two obligations which it is not possible to fulfil together present themselves at the same time, and priority is given to the most urgent, in this situation the other is no longer obligatory, and one who leaves it, in order to deal with the most urgent one, in reality leaves nothing obligatory. Similarly, when two prohibited things present themselves together and it is not possible to abandon the more grave of the two without committing the lesser one, to commit the lesser in this situation is in reality not prohibited. If, in the absolute, the former is called leaving something obligatory and the latter is called committing a prohibited thing, this does no harm. For a like [situation], we shall speak of leaving something obligatory with an excuse and committing a prohibited thing because of a preponderant interest (malaa rjia), or out of
1 2

Q. Ysuf, 12: 3940. Ibn Taymiyya does not cite the end of verse 40, but only writes: [and the rest of] the verse. Q. al-Taghbun, 64: 16.