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Not to be confused with the other Islamic scholar Ibn al-Jawzi.

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Muhammad ibn Abu Bakr (also known as Ibn Qayyim ("The son of the principal") or Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah ("Son of the principal of the (school of) Jawziyyah")) (1292–1350 CE / 691 AH–751 AH) was an Arab Sunni Islamic jurist, commentator on the Qur'an and theologian. Although he is sometimes referred to as "the scholar of the heart", given his extensive works pertaining to human behavior and ethics, Ibn Qayyim's scholarship was focused on the sciences of Hadith and Fiqh.

Name

Full name:

In correct order: Template:Lang-ar

He is Muhammad Ibn Abi Bakr (محمد بن أبي بکر), son of Ayyub, son of Sa'd al-Zar'i, al-Dimashqi (الدمشقي), patronymed as Abu Abdullah Shamsu-Deen (أبو عبد الله شمس الدین), and known as Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah, named after his father who was an attendant (qayyim) at a local school named Al-Jawziyyah.

Biography

Birth and education

Ibn Qayyim was born on the 7th of the Islamic month Safar in the year 691 A.H. (circa Feb. 4, 1292) in the village of Izra' in Hauran, near Damascus, Syria. There is little known of his childhood except that he received a comprehensive Islamic education from his father, centered around Islamic jurisprudence, Islamic theology, and Ulum al-Hadith (lit. the science of Hadith) From an early age, he was interested in the field of Islamic sciences, learning from the scholars of his time . He studied under his father who was a principal at of the Madrasah al-Jawziyyah (lit. the Jawziyyah school) one of the few centres devoted to Hanbali school of thought in Damascus, and thereafter pursued his quest for knowledge, studying the works and teachings of scholars known in his time.

The Islamic scholar Ibn Kathir described Ibn Qayyim's desire for knowledge in his famous work Al-Bidayah wa al-Nihayah:

He acquired from such books what others could not acquire, and he developed a deep understanding of the books of the Salaf (pious predecessors) and of the khalaf (those who came after the Salaf).

Teachers

Ibn Qayyim's teachers included his father, Abu Bakr, Shihaab al-'Abir, Taqiyyud-Deen Sulaymaan, Safiyyud-Deen al-Hindee, Ismaa'eel Ibn Muhammad al-Harraanee. However, the most notable of his teachers was Ibn Taymiyyah, whom he accompanied and studied under for sixteen years.

In eulogizing Ibn Qayyim, Al-Hafidh Ibn Kathir stated:

He attained great proficiency in many branches of knowledge; particularly knowledge of tafsir, hadith, and usool. When Shaykh Taqiyyud-Deen Ibn Taymiyyah returned from Egypt in the year 712H (c. 1312), he stayed with the Shaykh until he died; learning a great deal of knowledge from him, along with the knowledge that he had already occupied himself in attaining. So he became a single Scholar in many branches of knowledge.

Manners and worship

Many of Ibn Qayyim's students and contemporaries have bore witness to his manners of worship. For instance, Al-Hafidh Ibn Rajab emphasized :

He was constant in worship and performing tahajjud (the night Prayer), reaching the limits in lengthening his Salah (Prayer) and devotion. He was constantly in a state of dhikr (remembrance of Allah) and had an intense love for Allah. He also had a deep love for turning to Allah in repentance, humbling himself to Him with a deep sense of humility and helplessness. He would throw himself at the doors of Divine obedience and servitude. Indeed, I have not seen the likes of him with regards to such matters.

Additionally, Ibn Kathir stated that Ibn Qayyim :

Was constant in humbly entreating and calling upon his Lord. He recited well and had fine manners. He had a great deal of love and did not harbour any envy or malice towards anyone, nor did he seek to harm or find fault with them. I was one of those who most often kept company with him and was one of the most beloved of people to him. I do not know of anyone in the world in this time, who is a greater worshipper than he is. His Salah used to be very lengthy, with prolonged Ruku' (bowing) and prostrations. His colleagues would criticise him for this, yet he never retorted back, nor did he abandon this practice. May Allah bestow His Mercy upon him.

Disciple of Ibn Taymiyyah

Ibn Qayyim ultimately joined the study circle of the Muslim scholar Ibn Taymiyyah, who kept him in his company as his closest student, disciple and his successor. Ibn Qayyim was fervent in his devotion to Islam, and he was a loyal student and disciple of Ibn Taymiyyah. He defended his religious opinions and approaches, and he compiled and edited most of his works, and taught the same.

Because of their views, both the teacher and the student were persecuted, tortured by tyrannic rulers, and humiliated in public by the local authorities, as they were imprisoned in a single cell in the central prison of Damascus, known today as al-Qala.

Following the Death of Ibn Taymiyah

When Ibn Taymiyyah died, Ibn Qayyim was freed and subsequently furthered his studies, holding study circles and classes. He taught Islamic Jurisprudence at al-Sadriyya school in Damascus, before he held the position of the Imam of the Jawziyyah school. Most of his writings were compilations, although he authored several books and manuscripts with his own handwriting which are preserved in the central Library of Damascus.

Among the renowned Muslim scholars who studied under him, include Ibn 'Abd al-Haadi (d. 744H), al-Fayruz Aabadi (d. 817H), Ibn Rajab (d. 795H), Ibn Kathir, and others who frequented his circles.

In praising his teacher, Ibn Kathir stated :

He was most friendly and kindhearted, he never envied anyone, he never caused harm to anyone, he never bore prejudice against anyone, and I was the closest to his heart. Furthermore, I do not know anyone who is more devout in his worship than he is in our time.

Ibn Qayyim catered to all the branches of Islamic science, and was particularly known and commended for his commentaries. Ibn rajab spoke of his teacher, noting :

: "He was an accomplished scholar of Islamic science, and no one could rival him in his deep understanding of the Qur'an and prophetic saying, and his were unique in accuracy."

Spiritual Life

Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah was an avid and a resolute worshipper. He devoted long hours to his supererogatory nightly prayers, and was in a constant state of remembrance (dhikr ذکر), as he was known for his extended prostrations. During Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah's imprisonment in al-Qal'a prison in Damascus, he was constantly reading the Qur'an, and studying its meanings. Ibn Rajab noted that during that period of seclusion, he gained extensive spiritual success, as well as he developed a great analytical wisdom, knowledge, and understanding of the prophetic traditions.

Upon his release, he performed the pilgrimage to Makkah several times, and sometimes he stayed in Makkah for a prolonged period of devotion and circumambulation of the holy Ka'ba.

Ibn Qayyim Al-Jawziyya wrote a lengthy spiritual commentary on a treatise written by the Hanbali Sufi Khwaja Abdullah Ansari entitled Madarij al-Salikin. He expressed his love and appreciation for Ansari in this commentary with his statement "Certainly I love the Sheikh, but I love the truth more!'. Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya refers to Ansari with the honorific title "Sheikh al-Islam" in his work Al-Wabil al-Sayyib min al-Kalim al-Tayyab

Death

Ibn Qayyim died at the age of sixty, on the 13th night of Rajab, 751 AH (c. September 23, 1350), and was buried besides his father at Bab al-Saghīr Cemetery.

Views

Natural sciences

Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah was also an astronomer and chemist, and a critic of alchemy and astrology. In his Miftah Dar al-Sa'adah, he used empirical arguments in astronomy and chemistry in order to refute the practice of alchemy and astrology along with the theories associated with them, such as divination and the transmutation of metals.

He recognized that the stars are much larger than the planets, and thus argued:

"And if you astrologers answer that it is precisely because of this distance and smallness that their influences are negligible, then why is it that you claim a great influence for the smallest heavenly body, Mercury? Why is it that you have given an influence to al-Ra's and al-Dhanab, which are two imaginary points ?"

He also recognized the Milky Way galaxy as "a myriad of tiny stars packed together in the sphere of the fixed stars" and thus argued that "it is certainly impossible to have knowledge of their influences."

Legacy

Works

Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah's contributions to the Islamic library are extensive, and they particularly deal with the Qur'anic commentaries, and understanding and analysis of the prophetic traditions (Fiqh-us Sunnah) (فقه ):

• Zad al-Ma'ad (Provision of the hereafter)
• Al-Waabil Sayyib minal kalim tayyib – a commentary on hadith about Prophet Yahya ibn Zakariyya.
• I'laam ul Muwaqqi'een 'an Rabb il 'Aalameen (Information for Those who Write on Behalf of the Lord of the Worlds)
• Tahthib Sunan Abi Da'ud
• Madaarij Saalikeen which is a rearrangement of the book by Shaikh Abu Ismail al-Ansari al-Harawi al-Sufi, Manazil-u Sa'ireen (Stations of the Seekers);
• Tafsir Mu'awwadhatain (Tafsir of Surah Falaq and Nas);
• Badāʾiʿ al-Fawāʾid (بدائع الفوائد): Amazing Points of Benefit
• Ad-Dā'i wa Dawā also known as Al Jawābul kāfi liman sa'ala 'an Dawā'i Shaafi
• Haadi Arwah ila biladil Afrah
• Uddat as-Sabirin wa Dhakhiratu ash-Shakirin (عدة الصابرين وذخيرة الشاكرين)
• Ighathatu lahfaan min masaa'id ash-shaytan (إغاثة اللهفان من مصائد الشيطان) : Aid for the Yearning One in Resisting the Shayṭān
• Rawdhatul Muhibbīn
• Ahkām ahl al-dhimma"
• Tuhfatul Mawdud bi Ahkam al-Mawlud: A Gift to the Loved One Regarding the Rulings of the Newborn
• Miftah Dar As-Sa'adah
• Jala al-afham fi fadhl salati ala khayral anam
• Al-Manar al-Munif
• Al-Tibb al-Nabawi – a book on Prophetic medicine (available in English as "The Prophetic Medicine", printed by Dar al-Fikr in Beirut (Lebanon), or as "Healing with the Medicine of the Prophet (sal allahu `alayhi wa salim)", printed by Darussalam Publications.
• Al-Furusiyya
• Shifa al-Alil (Healing of the Sick)
• Mukhtasar al-Sawa'iq
• Hadi al-Arwah ila Bilad al-Arfah (Spurring Souls on to the Realms of Joy)

Students and intellectual heirs

Amongst his most prominent students were: Ibn Kathir (d. 774H or c. 1373), Al-Dhahabi (d. 748H or c. 1347), Ibn Rajab (d. 795H or c. 1393) and Ibn Abdul-Haadee (d. 744H or c. 1343), as well as two of his sons, Ibraaheem and Sharafud-Deen Abdullaah.

Sunni view

Ibn Qayyim was respected by a number of scholars during and after his life. Ibn Kathir stated that, “He was the most affectionate person. He was never envious of anyone, nor did he hurt anyone. He never disgraced anyone, nor did he hate anyone.”

He also stated that, "I do not know in this world in our time someone who is more dedicated to acts of devotion"

Ibn Rajab mentioned that, "Although, he was by no means infallible, no one could compete with him in the understanding of the texts."

Despite being praised by a number of sunni scholars, he was also criticised.

The influential shafi'i chief judge of Damascus Taqi al-Din al-Subki condemned Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya, on the acceptability of the triple divorce and on account of his view permitting the conduct of horse races without the participation of a third competitor.

Subki also stated that, "The only thing this man wants for the commoners is to establish that there is no Muslim but him and his partisans."

He also wrote a treatise entitled "The Burnished sword in refuting Ibn Qayyim" regarding his position on the attributes of God.

References

1. Al-Bidayah wa al-Nihayah (14/234)
2. "Ibn Qayyim". kalamullah.com. he is commonly referred to as "the scholar of the heart", given his extensive works pertaining to human behavior and ethics
3. Dhayl Tabaqaatul-Hanaabilah, 4/449
4. Al-Bidayah wa al-Nihayah, (14/234)
5. Dhayl Tabaqaatul- Hanaabilah (4/450)
6. Al-Bidayah wa al-Nihayah (14/234)
7. Al-Bidayah wa Nihayah
8. Livnat Holtzman, Essay on Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya, p. 219 (http://www.academia.edu/1057824/Ibn_Qayyim_al-Jawziyya) and Livnat Holtzman, Essay on Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya, p. 363 (https://www.academia.edu/1070946/Ibn_Qayyim_al-Jawziyya)
9. Michael Fitzgerald and Moulay Slitine, The Invocation of God, Islamic Texts Society, Introduction, p 4 (quoting Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya, Madarij al-Salikin fi ma bayna iyyaka na'budu wa iyyaka nasta'in, ed. Ahmad Fakhri al-Rifi and Asam Faris al-Hurstani, Beirut, Dar al-Jil, 1412/1991, II,. 41 and III. 431). Also, Ovamir Anjum, University of Toledo, Ohio, Sufism without Mysticism: Ibn al-Qayyim's Objectives in Madarij al-Salikin p. 164 (http://www.academia.edu/2248220/Sufism_without_Mysticism_Ibn_al-Qayyims_Objectives_in_Madarij_al-Salikin)
10. Michael Fitzgerald and Moulay Slitine, The Invocation of God, Islamic Texts Society, Introduction, p 4. Also, Ovamir Anjum, University of Toledo, Ohio, Sufism without Mysticism: Ibn al-Qayyim's Objectives in Madarij al-Salikin p. 164 (http://www.academia.edu/2248220/Sufism_without_Mysticism_Ibn_al-Qayyims_Objectives_in_Madarij_al-Salikin)
11. Livingston, John W. (1971). "Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah: A Fourteenth Century Defense against Astrological Divination and Alchemical Transmutation". Journal of the American Oriental Society. 91 (1): 96–103. doi:10.2307/600445. JSTOR 600445.
12. ^ Livingston, John W. (1971). "Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah: A Fourteenth Century Defense against Astrological Divination and Alchemical Transmutation". Journal of the American Oriental Society. 91 (1): 96–103 . doi:10.2307/600445. JSTOR 600445.
13. ed. Nizam al-Din al-Fatih, Madinah al Munawara: Maktaba Dar al-Turath, 1990.
14. Livnat Holtzman, Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah, p. 208. https://www.academia.edu/1057824/Ibn_Qayyim_al-Jawziyya
15. Birgit Krawietz, Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyah: His Life and works http://mamluk.uchicago.edu/MSR_X-2_2006-Krawietz.pdf
16. Livnat Holtzman, Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah, p. 208. https://www.academia.edu/1057824/Ibn_Qayyim_al-Jawziyya
17. Caterina Bori and Livnat Holtzman, A scholar in the shadow, p 20. https://www.academia.edu/2565390/A_Scholar_in_the_Shadow-the_Introduction-_by_Caterina_Bori_and_Livnat_Holtzman
18. Livnat Holtzman, Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah, p. 220. https://www.academia.edu/1057824/Ibn_Qayyim_al-Jawziyya
19. Stephan Conermann, Ubi Sumus? Quo Vademus?: Mamluk Studies - State of the Art, p. 82. Quoting Bori Hotlzman, Scholar in the Shadow, 24
20. Birgit Krawietz, Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyah: His Life and works, p. 33 http://mamluk.uchicago.edu/MSR_X-2_2006-Krawietz.pdf

Further reading

• Bori, Caterina; Holtzman, Livnat, ed. (2010). A scholar in the shadow : essays in the legal and theological thought of Ibn Qayyim al-Ǧawziyyah. Roma : Istituto per l'Oriente C.A. Nallino. ISBN 9770030547004. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: invalid prefix (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: editors list (link)

External links

• "Short Biography of Ibn Qayyim Al-Jawziyya". Bysiness.co.uk. Retrieved 2010-04-12.
• "Ibn Qayyim Al-Jawziyyah". Sunnah.org. Retrieved 2010-04-12.</ref>
• Articles and Book Collection
• Books
• http://mac.abc.se/home/onesr/h/105.html
• "IslamWeb". IslamWeb. Retrieved 2010-04-12.
• "The Hardness of The Heart". Angelfire.com. Retrieved 2010-04-12.
• http://pdfcast.org/pdf/islamic-universalism-ibn-qayyim-al-jawziyya-s-salafi-deliberations-on-the-duration-of-hellfire

Template:Persondata

• 1292 births
• 1350 deaths
• Arab people
• Hanbalis
• Sunni imams (scholarly authorities)
• Syrian Sunni Muslim scholars of Islam