Exactly who is Their Lord Then? And Prophet?
June 11, 2020 § Leave a comment
Niʿmatullah al-Jazāʾirī, from Jazāʾir in Iraq not Algeria the country, who died in 1112, and who the Shīʿites call, “The complete scholar,” amongst other things, and who is one of their ‘ḥadīth scholars,’ said:
“We are not in agreement with them on a God, nor a Prophet, nor an Imām. Because they say that their Lord is the one whose Prophet was Muḥammad and whose Khalīfah after him was Abū Bakr, but we do not believe in this Lord, nor that Prophet—in fact, we say that the Lord whose Prophet’s Khalīfah was Abū Bakr is not our Lord, and nor is that Prophet our Prophet.”
Al-Anwār an-Nuʿmāniyyah, al-Aʿlā print, Beirut, 2010, vol. 2, p. 243.
Twelve
June 9, 2020 § Leave a comment
“Imam Ibn Ḥajar was raised as an orphan, his father died when he was four and his mother before that. He finished memorising the Qurʾān when he was nine.
And he led the people in tarāwīḥ in the year 785AH in the Ḥaram in Makkah when he was twelve.”
An-Nukat ʿalā Nuzhatin-Naẓar fī Tawḍīh Nukhbatil-Fikr, p. 9
Ibn Taymiyyah’s Brother
June 9, 2020 § Leave a comment
Al-Bazzār said, “I never saw anyone honour and venerate the Shaikh more than his brother who was the one supporting him [in his worldly affairs]. He used to sit in the Shaikh’s presence as though there was a bird perched on his head [i.e., deadly still]. And would respect him the way you would a Sultan [i.e., a ruler].
We would marvel at that and said to him, ‘Normal custom and habit dictates that a person’s family aren’t as reserved with him as outsiders, and that in fact they relax with him more than a stranger, but we see you with the Shaikh like a student of his in your clear awe and reverence of him.’
So he said, ‘I see things from him that other people don’t, things which oblige me to be with him as you see.’
He would be asked to expound on that but would not mention a single thing due to him knowing that the Shaikh didn’t want it.”
Al-Aʿlām al-ʿAliyyah fī Manāqibi Shaikhil-Islām Ibn Taymiyyah, p. 52.
Firm Resolve and Lofty Goals
June 3, 2020 § Leave a comment
When Ibn al-Jawzī was harmed and expelled to Wāsiṭ he recited the Qurʾān there in the ten readings [Qirāʾāt] to Ibn al-Bāqillānī. He was eighty years old when he did that.
Al-Ḥāfiẓ al-Dhahabī said, ‘So just look at this lofty resolve and aspiration [al-himmah al-ʿāliyyah].’
Ḥifẓul-ʿUmar, p. 14.
Ibn Taymiyyah’s Memorisation
June 1, 2020 § Leave a comment
Ibn Rajab said, “And it has reached me through an authentic line of transmission from Ibn az-Zamlakānī that he was asked about the Shaikh, i.e., Ibn Taymiyyah, so he said, “No one greater in memorisation than him has been seen in five hundred years …”
Ash-Shahādah az-Zakiyyah fī Thanāʾil-Aʾimmah ʿalā Ibn Taymiyyah, p. 36.
When Ibn al-Qayyim was Beaten
May 31, 2020 § 2 Comments
“And on Monday 6th Shaʿbān 726ah Taqiyyud-Dīn Aḥmad ibn Taymiyyah was imprisoned along with his brother Zainud-Dīn ʿAbdur-Raḥmān in the fortress of Damascus, and Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyyah was beaten and paraded around Damascus on a donkey because of what he had said about intercession and seeking tawassul through the Prophets …”
As-Sulūk li Maʿrifati Duwalil-Mulūk, vol. 3, p. 89.
Ibn Taymiyyah’s Dars | Flowing Like a River
May 30, 2020 § Leave a comment
Imaam al-Bazzaar said, “As for his lessons, I wouldn’t miss them while I was resident in Damascus. He wouldn’t prepare anything beforehand that he was about to teach or present, instead he would sit after praying two rakʿahs and then praise Allāh and extol Him and send ṣalāh on His Messenger ﷺ, in a pleasant, beautiful manner which I had never heard before.
And then he would begin.
Allāh would aid him in conveying knowledge and subtle, fine, delicate points, and different specialties, and in citing narrations, and in drawing answers from verses and ḥadīths, and sayings of the scholars, examining some of them and expounding on their validity or whether spurious, clarifying his argument, citing the poetry of the Arabs as proof, at times mentioning the name of the poet too—all the while in doing so he would be running forth like a river, overflowing like the sea, and he would, from the time he started speaking until he finished, be as though absent from those around him.
Eyes closed.
All done unintentionally, speaking without haughtiness, or stopping or mistakes, but rather a divine gift bestowed on him, such that whoever was listening or saw him would be dazzled, and he would remain like that until he went silent.
I would see him during all this as though in the presence of one preoccupying him from others, and at that time he would be held in awe which would cause the people’s hearts to shudder and astonish the eyes and minds … and upon finishing his lesson he would open his eyes and turn to the people with a cheerful face, smiling, gentle-mannered, as though he was only then meeting them, and even apologizing for any shortcomings in what he may have said whilst in that state, and a number of notebooks could be written out of the lesson, and what I mention here about it is well-known, everyone present will agree with me on it, and they are numerous, walḥamdulillāh, such that how many they are can’t be counted, reciters, ḥadīth scholars, fiqh scholars, writers, and the general Muslims.”
Al-Aʿlām al-ʿAliyyah fī Manāqibi Shaikhil-Islām Ibn Taymiyyah, pp. 28-30.
Seventeen.
May 29, 2020 § Leave a comment
Imām adh-Dhahabī said about Ibn Taymiyyah:
“And he was qualified to teach and give fatwās when he was seventeen years old.”
Al-Qawl al-Jalī fī Tarjumati Shaikhil-Islām, p. 326.
A Compilation of a Little of What The Imaams of the Sunnah Said About Ibn Taymiyyah
May 26, 2020 § Leave a comment
He is:
“The Shaikh, the Imām, the ʿAllāmah, the Abstemious, the Worshiper, the Mujāhid, the Courageous, the Sagacious Scholar, the Helper of the Pure Sharīʿah, the Tongue [Spokesperson] of the Sharīʿah, the Defender of the Muhammadan Sunnah, the Aider of the Religion, the Inheritor of the Prophets, the Blessing of Islām, the Reviver of the Sunnah, the Sea of Knowledge, the Scholar of the Qurʾān, the Interpreter of the Qurʾān, the Mufti of the Different Sects, the Attainer of the Limits of Understanding, the Master Memoriser, the Essential, the Elucidator of the Truth, the Caller to Allaah and His Messenger, the Light Allaah Unleashed on the Darkness of Doubts, the Reviver of what was Obliterated of the Sunnah, the One having Humility, the Leader of the Preservers of Ḥadīth, the Exemplar, the Refuter of the Deviants and the Stubborn, the Outstanding, the Scrupulous, the Knower [of Allaah], the Aider of the Sunnah, The Subduer of Innovations, Allaah’s Proof against His Creation, the Wonder of his Time, the Chief of the Worshippers, the Paragon of Intelligence, the Enjoiner of Good and Forbidder of Evil, the Unraveller of the Problems of the Muslims, the Chief of Knowledge, the Discerner of Authentic Ḥadīth from the Weak, the Knight of Meanings and Elucidation, the Author of Unprecedented Inimitable Works on Tawhid, Tafsir, Sincerity, Fiqh, Hadith, Language, Grammar, and all Branches of Knowledge, the Great Leader, the Unique Scholar, the Chief of the Scholars, the Sign of the Scholars, the Role Model of the Venerable Scholars, the Head of the Scholars of the World, the Unrivalled Imām, the Imām of the Imāms, the Remnant of the Distinguished Imāms, the Mujtahid, the Unique Mujtahid, the Last of the Mujtahids, the Mujtahid Muṭlaq [Unrestricted Mujtahid], the Flagbearer of Abundant Branches of Knowledge, the Flagbearer of Tafsīr, the Flagbearer of Ḥadīth, the Flagbearer of the Sharīʿah, the Shaikh of Islām, the Shaikh of Islām and the Muslims, the Shaikh of the Shaikhs of Islām: Ahmad son of the Shaikh, the Imām, the Mufti Shihābud-Dīn, Abul-Mahāsin, ʿAbdul-Ḥalīm son of the Shaikh, the Imām, the Shaikh of Islām, Majdud-Dīn, Abul-Barakāt ʿAbdus-Salām Ibn Tayimyyah.”
Taken from Ash-Shahādah az-Zakiyyah fī Thanāʾil-Aʾimmah ʿalā Ibn Taymiyyah and Al-Aʿlām al-ʿAliyyah fī Manāqibi Shaikhil-Islām Ibn Taymiyyah.
Allāh have mercy on him and admit him to Firdaws.
The Scholars Praise of Ibn Taymiyyah
May 25, 2020 § Leave a comment
Shamsud-Dīn al-Maqdisī aṣ-Ṣāliḥī said about Ibn Taymiyyah:
“The Shaikh of the Shaikhs of Islaam.”
Ash-Shahādah az-Zakiyyah fī Thanāʾil-Aʾimmah ʿalā Ibn Taymiyyah, p. 60.
Ibn Taymiyyah’s Salaah
May 23, 2020 § Leave a comment
Al-Ḥāfiẓ al-Bazzār said, “When he would start ṣalāh and say, ‘Allāhu Akbar,’ the hearts of those present would almost be ripped out due to the awe felt in the manner that he would say it. Then when he would start praying his body would tremble such that it would shake him left and right …”
Al-Aʿlām al-ʿAliyyah fī Manāqibi Shaikhil-Islām Ibn Taymiyyah, p. 37.
A Bridge to Hell
May 22, 2020 § Leave a comment
“Uqbah bin Muslim said, ‘I accompanied Ibn ʿUmar for thirty-four months and lots of times when asked a question he would say, “I don’t know,’ and then he would turn to me and say, ‘Do you know what these people want? They want to make our backs a bridge to Hell.’”
[Ṣaḥīḥ | Authentic] | Taʿẓīm al-Futyā of Ibn al-Jawzī, pp. 85-86.
“This is Good.”
May 21, 2020 § 2 Comments
One of Ibn al-Qayyim’s students was Ibn Rajab. Imām Marʿī ibn Yūsuf al-Karmī said about him:
“He is the Shaikh, the Imām, the ʿAllāmah, the Abstemious, the Exemplar, The Blessing, The Ḥāfiẓ, The Chief Scholar, The Trustworthy, The Proof/The Authority, The Admonisher of the Muslims, the Instructor of the Scholars of Ḥadīth, Zainud-Dīn, father of al-Faraj, ʿAbdur-Raḥmān son of the Shaikh, the Imām, the Master Reciter, the Scholar of Ḥadīth, Aḥmad ibn Rajab, al-Baghdādī, ad-Dimashqī, the Hanbalī, one of the Abstemious Imāms, the Worshipping-Scholar, the Ḥadīth-Scholar, who passed away in 795ah [1393ce] in Damascus.
The gravedigger who dug out his grave said:
“Shaikh Ibn Rajab came [to me] a few days before his death and said, ‘Dig my grave there,’ and he pointed to an area. I dug it out and when I finished he lowered himself in to it and lay down, and liked it and then said:
‘This is good.’
Then he climbed out.
By Allāh it was only a matter of days until he was brought to me, deceased, being carried on his bier, so I buried him in that [very] grave.’”
Ash-Shahādah az-Zakiyyah fī Thanāʾil-Aʾimmah ʿalā Ibn Taymiyyah, pp. 49-50.
The Young Ibn Taymiyyah and the Jew
May 20, 2020 § Leave a comment
Al-Bazzār said, “And the signs of eminence and superiority could be seen in him from an early age.
That he was under [Divine] protection was clear.
Someone I trust told me from his grandmother that when the Shaikh, may Allah be pleased with him, was still a child and would go to school he would come across a Jew whose house was on the way who would put questions to him due to the intelligence and acumen he noticed in him. Ibn Taymiyyah would answer him swiftly which amazed him. This continued such that every time he went by him he would tell him things proving the falsehood of what he believed.
It wasn’t long before the Jew became a Muslim, and a good one at that.
And this was from the blessings of the Shaikh despite his young age.”
Al-Aʿlām al-ʿAliyyah fī Manāqibi Shaikhil-Islām Ibn Taymiyyah, p. 21.
The Young Ibn Taymiyyah
May 19, 2020 § Leave a comment
Al-Bazzaar said, “And Allaah made his renunciation of the world [zuhd] and its pleasures a symbol of his from a young age.
Someone I trust told me that the Shaikh who used to teach him the Quran said, “When Ibn Taymiyyah was a child, his father said to me, ‘I want you to urge and promise him that if he doesn’t stop reading and memorising I will give him forty dirhams every month,’ and then he gave me forty dirhams, saying, ‘Give them to him, because he is young and will maybe delight at that and become even more eager to busy himself in memorising and studying it, and say to him, ‘You will get the same every month.’”
But he refused and said, ‘O teacher, I promised Allaah, the Most High, that I would not take any payment for [studying] the Quran.’
So I realised that a child does not do this—except someone whom Allaah is guarding.”
Al-Aʿlām al-ʿAliyyah fī Manāqibi Shaikhil-Islām Ibn Taymiyyah, p. 44
Translation of Ibn al-Qayyim’s Madaarij as-Saalikeen
May 19, 2020 § 2 Comments
A translation of the above work is available for purchase, it comes to over 900 pages, here.
The Ka’bah of the Seventh Heaven.
May 7, 2020 § Leave a comment
وَالْبَيْتِ الْمَعْمُورِ
“And By the Much-Frequented House.”
In his explanation of Sūrah Tūr [52:4], Ibn Kathir said, “And it is the Kaʿbah for the residents of the Seventh Heaven, and it is for this reason that [on the Night Journey] Ibrahim al-Khalil [Prophet Abraham], peace be upon him, was seen there reclining with his back against it—because he is the one who built the Kaʿbah [in Mecca] on earth—and you reap what you sow.”
On Overeating and Being Obese | No. 44 | “Withhold Your Belching from Us.”
May 5, 2020 § Leave a comment
From Ibn ʿUmar رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ, “A man belched in the presence of the Prophet ﷺ so he said, ‘Withhold your belching from us. For indeed those who eat their fill most in the world will be the hungriest on the Day of Resurrection.’”
Abu Juhaifah [the Companion رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ in the above narration] said, “So I haven’t eaten my fill for thirty years.”
Silsilah, no. 343, [1260], Al-Jūʿ, p. 27.
Firefox and Chrome Add-on to Enlarge Arabic
April 29, 2020 § Leave a comment
A useful add-on I came across for Firefox and Chrome which enlarges Arabic text on websites, you can choose from a number of Arabic fonts you’d like to see a site in and also the size, find it here.
Ibn al-Jawzi’s Admonition
April 25, 2020 § Leave a comment
Ibn al-Jawzi said, “O you, wallowing in filth, for how long will you dictate—the scribes are exhausted.”
Al-Mudhish, p. 294.
On Whisperings and Pure Faith
April 22, 2020 § Leave a comment
Abū Hurairah, may Allaah be pleased with him, said, “Some of the Companions of the Prophet ﷺ came and asked him, ‘We find in ourselves something that is too awful for any of us to speak of.’ He said, ‘Do you really find that?’ They said, ‘Yes.’ He said, ‘That is clear faith.’” Muslim, no. 340.
Imām an-Nawawī said, “Meaning, ‘Your regarding talking about this as something great is clear faith, for your deeming it something great and the severity of your fear from it and from saying it, let alone believing it, only comes from someone who has completed faith unquestionably and [someone] from whom doubts and uncertainty have been driven away.
And it is said that its meaning is that Shaitān only whispers to the ones he has given up hope of misleading so he distresses and troubles them with whispers due to his inability to misguide them. So then the meaning of the ḥadīth is: the cause of the whisperings is pure faith or whisperings are the sign of pure faith.”
Al-Minhaj Sharh Sahih Muslim ibn al-Hallaaj, of an-Nawawa, vol. 1, p. 333.
We’re Fortunate if we have One
April 21, 2020 § Leave a comment
“Our Shaikh al-Ḥāfiẓ Burhānudīn al-Ḥalabī ash-Shāfiʿī said, ‘The scholars of ḥadīth who had thousands of Shaikhs …:
Aṭ-Ṭabarānī: more than 1000 Shaikhs.
Abul-Fityān: 3700.
Abul-Qāsim ibn ʿAsākir: 1380.
Abū Saʿīd ibn as-Samʿānī: 7000 Shaikhs, and this is something no one accomplished apart from him.
Ad-Dimyātī: 1300 …’”
An-Nukat al-Wafiyyah bi mā fī Sharhil-Alfiyyah of al-Buqāʿī, p. 636.
Added an Instagram Page
April 20, 2020 § Leave a comment
Added an Instagram page, please join up and distribute the posts there. Here is the link.