Question: What is the opinion on ibn taymiyya… I heard that he was close to antropormorphism but not one…?
Answer: Actually, Ibn Taymiyyah was not just close to anthropomorphism, he was an extreme anthropomorphist that went far beyond even the anthropomorphism of previous deviant Hanbaliyys. See this post for example: Ibn Taymiyyah says that Allaah has six limits, and could have settled on a mosquito
Question: why is that the scholars of syria, jordan etc… not say ibn taymiyyah(rah) but the scholars of Deoband do say it? Isn’t saying rahmatullalai just a dua that may Allah have mercy on him?
Answer: Maybe the scholars of Deoband do not know about his anthropomorphism, or believe that he repented from it. If one believes that he died with anthropomorphist beliefs, then one cannot say “may Allaah have mercy upon him,” because one cannot say this for a kaafir. The reason is that Allaah has told us in the Qur’aan that the kaafir will not have any mercy in the Hereafter, so asking Allaah for mercy for a dead kaafir is to disbelieve in the Qur’aan.
Even the wise ones among those who believe Ibn Taymiyyah returned to Islam after his mad anthropomorphism will choose to not say “may have Allaah have mercy upon him,” or anything else that indicates acceptance. After all, indicating acceptance of Ibn Taymiyyah implies acceptance of what is in his books to the audience, whom may consequently read this man’s books thinking it is all correct information, and then fall into a myriad of his blasphemies. For this reason, anyone who knows about his deviantions, whether one believes he repented or not, must not act as if he accepts Ibn Taymiyyah.
Sunni Answers 
Salaam,
but many great scholars considered him Shaikh al-Islam, is calling him Shaikh al-Islam is not an acceptance? Shaikh Iamam Yousuf Nabhani rahimahullah refuted his deviations but still called him Shaikh al-Islam. Moreover, are his anthropomorphic statements present in his books or only reported by others? His student Ibn Qayyim said in Kibat al-Ruh that whatever is mentioned in Quran about Allah’s yad, wajh, saaq is true but not like his creation and cannot be described, i am just quoting from my memory and these are not his exact words.Does this statement indicate the belief of ibn Qayyim and his teacher ibn taymiyyah? I want to know if anthropomorphic statements are really present in his books and what is the proof that those statements are not manipulation (ilhaqat) of later anthropomorphist?
Kindly, do not consider me a wahabi or fan of ibn taymiyyah or ibn qayyim, i just need some clarification.
wassalam,
Azeem.
Azeem, why don’t you read the post above, including its link? It answers your questions. As for Ibn Taymiyyah’s anthropmorphisms being insertions, that is not likely, because he was famous for this even in his lifetime, and Ibn Al-Qayyim carried on this tradition. As-Subkiyy has a refutation of Ibn Al-Qayyim’s beliefs.
Ibn Taymiyyah was considered as a kaffir by all the scholars of his time. 4 judges from the 4 math`habs inprinsoned him for the kuffar he used to say and teach. The 4 scholars were
Al-Qadi Badrud-Din Muhammad Ibn Ibrahim Ibn Jama‘ah Ash-Shafi‘i
Al-Qadi Muhammad Ibn Al-Hariri Al-Ansari Al-Hanafi
Al-Qadi Muhammad Ibn Abu Bakr Al-Maliki
Al-Qadi Ahmad Ibn ‘Umar Al-Maqdisi Al-Hanbali.
Ibn Taymiyah was imprisioned by a fatwa signed by them in the year 726 A.H. References ‘Uyun At-Tarikh by Al-Kutubi and Najmul-Muhtadi by Ibnul-Mu‘allim Al-Qurashi
Salam,
Okay, I did read your post before posting my question and then later on also went through the link, it has cleared the doubt that he may not have written those heinous statements, but what about calling him shaikh al-islam by some of the great sunni scholars while they were aware of his heresies and refuted him?
wassalam,
Azeem.
A scholar must be a guide, and avoid being misleading, otherwise he is not doing his job. This is the general rule, and the circumstances need to be considered in light of that.
Salam Alaikum Sheikh
One question that I always get is why wasn’t he executed as a kafir murtad by the Sunni judges of his time?
What was the Islamic or other reason for ordering just his imprisonment but not execution?
The explanation that comes to my mind (and this is a guess on my part) was that perhaps he was overwhelmed by his knowledge and lost his mental balance; so he was imprisoned because of his dangerous and harmful insanity and not executed because of the kufr found in his books.
This (my guess) is due to the statement of Imam Subkiy which says “his knowledge exceeded his intelligence” and also the popular sayings in some Sunni circles that he repented and adopted the Sunni ‘aqaid and even a Sufi tariqa.
Jazak Allah khayr for any clarifications.
Because he was, like Al-Urmawiyy said, “like a sparrow, flying here and there,” in his arguments. Ibn Taymiyyah was rarely very explicit, he plays word games, changing definitions, not stating them, discussing what the opponent might mean by a word when he know very well what he means, arguing through a fictive person so that it would not be directly related to him, and so on. If they finally caught him, he would simply pretend to repent, as he did in Kairo. I don’t think his mind was all that lacking, he was evil, like Ibliis, and used deception and lies to make people follow him in kufr.
The above statements relating to Imam Ibn Taymia are absurd. And I think the brothers should fear calling him a Kaafir. Because it will surely fall on the one who is most deserving of it, as stated in a Hadith.
There are 4 positions relating to Asmaa wa Sifaat among the Ahlus Sunnah
1. Tafweedh
2. Taweel
3. Haqeeqi but the Qayf is unknown.
4. Ibn Daqeeq al Id’s opinion in which he combines literal with non literal.
All the above positions are taken from the Salaf. All are agreed that Tashbeeh and Ta’teel are out of the question. And ALL 4 positions are rightly guided and from the Ahlus Sunnah.
Imam Ibn Taymia is convinced of the third position. This is not his opinion, it is the opinion of a group of the Salaf. So please stop all this nonsense. Salaam.
Actually, Ibn Taymiyyah’s position is tashbiih. He believed that Allaah is something with a size and surface. There are plenty of evidences for that. Take a look at the table of contents. In addition, the third opinion you mention is self-contradictory, or in need of explanation. Which defeats the purpose.
salaam alaikum
i was told by someone that ibn taymiyyah repented ive got something if someone wants to see it.its a letter of repentance but i dont know if it has truth in it or not.
Ibnu Taymiyyah is not whats important here, what is important is to warn the muslim’s against his many statements that likened Allah to the creations and to warn the muslim’s about many other cases in which he infringed the ^ijma of those great Mujtahids who came before him.
Ya Hasan. Bi La Kayf does not mean that the “How” is unknown !!!! Bi La Kayf means that there is absolutely NO “HOW” PERIOD when speaking about Allah azza wa jal !!!! The “HOW” can only be mentioned when speaking about the creation’s Not the Creator !!!
i have heard from someon that ibn taymiyyah repented and i have also seen a letter written by him is this just a lie or is this true.
He made an official repentance in Kairo in front of a board of scholars. However, he continued again as usual after this. He was from what I can gather from the writings attributed to him a zindiiq, that is a very bad kaafir who plays word games to hide and escape the consequences. He was an expert in writing in such a way that his followers know exactly what he means, without being too explicit. It is very rare that he makes himself very clear. I have collected some of these instances here on this site. See the table of contents.