Biography of Ibn Taymiyyah
31-10-2001 | IslamWeb
Question:
I want to know about the biography of Ibn Taimiyah.
Answer:
All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad 
is His slave and Messenger.
Ibn Taymiyyah is Taqiyu Ad-Deen Abul 'Abbaas Ahmad Ibn 'Abd Al-Haleem Ibn 'Abd As-Salaam Ibn Taymiyyah Al-Harrani Al-Hanbali . He was born on Monday the 10th of Rabee' Al-Awwal 66l A.H./22nd of January 1263 A.C in Harran in Iraq. His father fled with his family from Harran to Damascus in the year 667 A.H./1268 A.C. out of fear of the Tatars who invaded the land of Islam and were very close to Harran. In Damascus, the center of Islamic studies at that time, Ahmad Ibn Taymiyyah followed the footsteps of his father who was a scholar of Islamic studies by studying with the great scholars of his time. He completed his studies when he was a teenager, and at the age of 19, he became a professor of Islamic studies, well versed in Quranic studies, Hadeeth, Fiqh, theology, Arabic grammar and scholastic theology, etc., He started giving Fataawa on religious matters without following any of the traditional schools: the Hanafi, Maaliki, Shaafi'i and Hanbali.
He defended the authentic Prophetic tradition by arguments which, although taken from the Quran and the Sunnah, were unfamiliar to people of his time. The freedom of his polemics led some narrow-minded people to falsely accuse him of all kinds of heretical beliefs. Therefore, he fought against heretical innovations in religion which were widely spread during his time everywhere in the Muslim world, especially certain acts and beliefs of some Sufi orders, like worshipping saints, visiting their graves, and throwing themselves in the fire. His attack on the Sufis caused him a lot of troubles with the authorities whose rulers were under the influence of certain Sufi leaders. However, Ibn Taymiyyah's fight was not limited to the Sufis and the people who followed the heretical innovations only; but also against the Tatars who attacked the Muslim world and almost reached Damascus. The people of Syria sent him to Egypt to urge the Mamluke Sultan, the Sultan of Egypt and Syria to lead his troops to Syria in order to save it from the invading Tatars. When he realized that the Sultan was reluctant to do what he asked him, he threatened the Sultan by saying: "If you turn your back on Syria, we will appoint a Sultan over it who can defend it and enjoy it at the time of peace ". He took part in the battle of Shaqhab near Damascus against the Tatars, which took place during the month of Ramadan and he gave a Fatwa to the army to break their fast so that they would become strong when fighting against their enemy, in the same manner like the Prophet Muhammad did during the battle of the conquest of Makkah. The Muslims won the battle against the Tatars and they drove them away from Damascus and all Syria. Ibn Taymiyyah's courage was expressed when he went with a delegation of scholars to talk to Qazan, the Khan of the Tatars, to stop his attack on the Muslims. No scholar dared to say anything to him except Ibn Taymiyyah who said: "You claim that you are Muslim and you have people calling the Aathaan, judges, Imaams and shaykhs but why did you invade us and come to our country? Your father and your grandfather, Hulago, were non-Muslims, yet, they did not attack the land of Islam; rather promised not to attack it and they kept their promise. But you promised and broke your promise. " This entire Jihaad against the enemies of Islam did not help Ibn Taymiyyah with the scholars. The authorities put him in jail many times until he died in jail because of his courage and free progressive opinions on many legal and social issues which angered his opponents, the followers of the Orthodox Schools of law. However when Ibn Taymiyyah 
had the chance to punish his opponents among the scholars who caused him all kinds of trouble and put him in jail many times, he showed the utmost of magnanimity and forgave them when Sultan An-Naasir Qalawun gave him the chance to punish them.Ibn Taymiyyah said: "If you kill them you will never find scholars like them. " The Sultan said: "They harmed you many times and wanted to kill you! " Ibn Taymiyyah said: "Whoever harmed me is forgiven, and who harmed the cause of Allah and His Messenger, Allah will punish him. " The Muslim historians, like Ath-Thahabi, Ibn Katheer, Ibn Al-'Imaad Al-Hanbali and many others praised Ibn Taymiyyah and considered him as one of the greatest scholars of Islam of all times. Ibn Taymiyyah died in jail in Damascus on Sunday night 20th Thul-Qi'dah 728 H./26-27 September 1328 A.C. The people of Damascus, who held him in great honor, gave him a splendid funeral which was attended by an estimated 200,000 men and 15,000 women.
Despite all the troubles that he had in his life, as discussed earlier, Ibn Taymiyyah was able to write many books and pamphlets on all branches of Islamic knowledge. His student Ibn Al-Qayyim Al-Jawziyyah, compiled a list of the works of Ibn Taymiyyah which totaled around 350 works. May Allah’s Mercy and Forgiveness be upon him.
Allah knows best.