Abu Ayub was one of the greatest Companions of the Prophet. He never neglected performing jihad–even as an old man. He went with one of the Muslim armies at the time of Mu^awiyyah to liberate Constantinople.
Despite his advanced age, he was patient on the hardship of the journey from Madinahto surround Constantinople–where he eventually died.
Prior to his death, he asked the Muslims to advance as far as possible and bury him in that spot–which they did. The Muslim army that time was not successful in liberating Constantinople, and it remained in the hands of the kuffar who themselves tended the grave of Abu Ayyub because of the barakah they saw there! After several hundred years, Constantinople was liberated by Muhammad al-Fatih, the Ottoman.
He wanted to know the location of the grave of Abu Ayyub which was no longer apparent since so many years had passed. Muhammad al Fatih asked one of the pious shaykhs in his army if he knew the location of Abu Ayyub’s grave. He answered Muhammad al Fatih by recalling a light he had seen the previous evening coming from a specific location which went all the way up in the sky. The shaykh suggested digging there might present the grave. They dug in that location until they uncovered a plate with a writing indicating this was the grave of Abu Ayub. Muhammad al Fatih built a mosque (masjid) in that location that still exists until today in Istanbul, Turkey. There is a great feeling of barakah and tranquillity there).
Abu Ayyub al-Ansariyy replied, “Yes, I know what I am doing. I came here for the Messenger of Allah–not for the stone.” By this he meant he was seeking the blessings from the presence of the Prophet, not for the stone covering his grave. Abu Ayyub al-Ansariyy continued his response with what he heard the Messenger of Allah say: “Do not cry over the Religion of Islam if the rulers are ruling correctly. Rather, cry over this Religion if the rulers are ruling incorrectly.” By his response, Abu Ayyub was telling MarwanIbn al-Hakam: “You are not one of those rulers who are correctly ruling by the rules of Islam.”
Considering the actions of Abu Ayyub,should one regard the statements of Ibn Taymiyah (Ibn Taymiyah is a man who lived during the 8th century Hijriyy. He claimed that Allah is a body and has limits, that Hellfire vanishes, and that the kind of the universe is not created by Allah, among other blasphemous claims.) who claims visiting the grave of the Prophet seeking the benefit is prohibited?
Who is more knowledgeable–Ibn Taymiyah or Abu Ayyub?
Abu Ayyub was a man better than a whole earth filled with people like Ibn Taymiyah. Ibn Taymiyah and his followers claim they follow the teachings of Ahmad Ibn Hanbal, yet Imam Ahmad,as well as other Imams, say the opposite of their claim. As we mentioned in the other forum!
Abu Ayyub al-Ansariyy replied, *"Yes, I know what I am doing. I came here for the Messenger of Allah--not for the stone." By this he meant he was seeking the blessings from the presence of the Prophet, not for the stone covering his grave. Abu Ayyub al-Ansariyy continued his response with what he heard the Messenger of Allah say: "Do not cry over the Religion of Islam if the rulers are ruling correctly. Rather, cry over this Religion if the rulers are ruling incorrectly." By his response, Abu Ayyub was telling MarwanIbn al-Hakam: "You are not one of those rulers who are correctly ruling by the rules of Islam." *
Do you believe this about Ibn Taymiyyah that he actually said some or all of these things? Can you tell me which of his books you’ve read (that contain these claims) or are you just copying-and-pasting your accusations?
^ Stop getting all excited... here's what i asked Ahmad G...
"Do you believe this about Ibn Taymiyyah that he actually said some or all of these things? Can you tell me which of his books you've read (that contain these claims) or are you just copying-and-pasting your accusations?"
Ibn Taimiyyah believed that all Allah’s attributes mentioned in the Qur’an or the Prophet’s sayings must be understood on the basis of their literal meanings without interpreting them. Accordingly, he maintained that “Allah resides upward in the heavens where He sits upon the throne occupying it completely. He descends to the lowest heaven and then ascends. He possesses organs such as eyes, hands and legs which are different from human and other creatures’ organs” [1]. Ibn Taimiyyah also wrote: “Whoever interprets the meanings (of these verses) belittle Allah and do not comprehend him fully” [2].
The only evidence which Ibn Taimiyyah presented in defence of this belief was his claim that it was the belief of the Prophet’s Companions and early Muslims. On this he wrote [3]:
I read the commentaries of the Companions and the Prophet’s sayings reported
by the Companions and have studied more than one hundred books of
commentaries and so far I have not come across a single account indicating that
one of the Companions interpreted any of the verses or sayings on Allah’s
attributes contrary to their obvious, literal meanings.
This viewpoint was blindly endorsed by his followers without making an effort to check the books of commentaries which collected the Companions’ views on the attributes’ verses especially those highly acclaimed by Ibn Taimiyyah by Al-Tabari, Al-Baghawi and Ibn Atia.
These and other sources fully reported the standpoints of the Companions and early Muslims on interpreting the attributes’ verses which diverged completely from the literal understanding of Ibn Taimiyyah and Al-Hashawia.
On the interpretation of the chair verse, Al-Tabari endorsed Ibn Abbas’ interpretation of Allah’s chair to mean His knowledge, and he supported this with evidence from the use of the term in Arabic. The same interpretation was reported by Al-Baghawi, Al-Shawkani citing Ibn Atia, Al-Qurtubi and others.
Similarly, widely accepted interpretations of the verses which refer to Allah’s ‘face’ do not lend support to Ibn Taimiyyah’s literal understanding of these verses. To illustrate, early Muslims interpreted the ‘face’ in the following verses to mean ‘Himself’:
“All things perish except His face” [4]
“But the face of your Lord will abide forever, in all its majesty and glory” [5]
Also the ‘face’ in the following verses was interpreted to mean favour or recompense:
“And whatever you spend is in seeking Allah’s face” [6]
“Who for the sake of His face endure with fortitude” [7]
“This is the best for those who strive to earn His face” [8]
“The poor due you give for the sake of His face” [9]
“We feed you for the sake of His face” [10]
“And so shall be that does good works for the sake of His exalted face” [11]
These interpretations obviously contradict Ibn Taimiyyah’s literal understanding which considered the face to be the usual human feature. The only exception in which he admitted that early Muslims interpreted the ‘face’ figuratively to mean the direction was the verse: “Whatever direction you face there is Allah’s face”. But he denied that this was an attribute’s verse [12].
Ibn Taimiyyah defended his literal understanding of the Qur’anic reference to the ‘face’, ‘eye’ and ‘hands’ of Allah by falsely claiming that it was based on the views of the Companions and early Muslims. Needless to say, he failed to produce a single statement by any of the Companions in support of his allegation.
Although his books include no mention of his ideas on the corporeal nature of Allah, these ideas were reported by a number of reliable sources as follows:
Ibn Batuta and Ibn Hajar Al-Asqalani confirmed that Ibn Taimiyyah said while delivering a sermon from the pulpit that Allah descends to the lowest heaven as I descend here and now [13].
Ibn Hayan reported in both of his commentaries on the Qur’an, Al-Bahr Al-Muheet and Al-Nahr that he read the following statement in Ibn Taimiyyah’s Kitab Al-Arsh written in his own handwriting:
Allah sits on the Chair and he has left a space beside him for the Apostle of Allah.
However, this statement quoted by Yusuf Al-Nabhani in Shawahid Al-Haq [14] and also in Kashf Al-Thunoon [15] was omitted from the published version of Ibn Hayan’s Al-Nahr, together with other statements on Ibn Taimiyyah’s views. Regardless of this, Ibn Taimiyyah persistently defended these views without mentioning the seating of the Prophet with Allah on His throne in his book Minhaj Al-Sunna [16].
Ibn Taimiyyah claimed that raising the hands during supplication is proof that Allah resides upward [17]. If this reasoning is accepted then it can be argued that since a person performing prayer recites the Qur’anic verse: “I direct my face toward the One who created heavens and earth”, it can be deduced that Allah is in the direction of the Qibla – Allah is exalted above such descriptions.
A distinguishing characteristic of the Arabic language in which the Qur’an was revealed is that the meaning of a word or a text may not be limited to its literal meaning. Thus when the following verse was revealed “Hold fast to the Rope of Allah, all of you together” [18] this was not understood as a reference to an actual rope. Otherwise, we must await a rope sent down to which we can hold fast.
The rope in this verse was interpreted to mean Islam, the Qur’an or the Thuqalan, i.e. the Qur’an and the Prophet’s Household. Whoever disallows interpreting such terms is obviously ignorant of Arabic. And whoever claims that early Muslims did not interpret the verses on Allah’s attributes is contradicting authentic accounts. One has only to scan available books of commentaries to prove that such interpretations exist.
[1] Ibn Taimiyyah, Al-Hamawia Al-Kubra, p. 15; Al-Tafseer Al-Kabeer, vol. 2, pp.
249-250; Minhaj Al-Sunna, vol. 1, pp. 250, 260-261
[2] Ibid., Al-Tafseer Al-Kabeer, vol. 1, p. 270
[3] Ibn Taimiyyah, Tafseer Surat Al-Noor, p. 178
[4] The Qur’an 28:88
[5] The Qur’an 55:27
[6] The Qur’an 2:272
[7] The Qur’an 13:22
[8] The Qur’an 30:38
[9] The Qur’an 30:39
[10] The Qur’an 76:9
[11] The Qur’an 92:20
[12] Ibn Taimiyyah, Al-Uqood Al-Duria, p. 248
[13] Ibn Batuta, Al-Rihla, p. 95; Ibn Hajar Al-Asqalani, Al-Durur Al-Kamina, vol. 1,
p. 154
[14] Yusuf Al-Nabhani, Shawahid Al-Haq, p. 130
[15] Kashf Al-Thunoon, vol. 2, p. 1438
[16] Ibn Taimiyyah, Minhaj Al-Sunna, vol. 1, pp. 260-261
[17] Ibn Taimiyyah, Al-Hamawia Al-Kubra, p. 94; Sharh Hadeeth Al-Nizool, p. 59
[18] The Qur’an 3:103
Source:
Ibn Taimiyyah: The true image
@ Shia chat dot com website in Shia/Sunni Dialogue Section
Ibn Batuta’s claim is obviously erroneous since Ibn Taymiyyah was incarcerated at the time he supposedly visited Damascus and saw this. Ibn Hajar didn’t “confirm” anything, he merely reported accusations made by other people.
There’s nothing of this seating of the Prophet (saw) in any books Ibn Taymiyyah himself authored as far as I recall… even if there was, presumably he was citing the historical discussion of this point and in particular Al Tabari’s far earlier defence of this stance in his Qur’an commentary of 17:79.
^ Grow up... you sound like a little kid... you've failed miserably to show where Ibn Taymiyyah said "Allah has a Body" or whatever so now you want to pick on someone else...
Praise be to Allah the creator of everything and the one that does not resemble any of his creation. May Allah raise the rank of Prophet Muhammad, the best of the creations and the seal of all messengers..
We do not ask a question like this my friends. We don't' say: Does Allah have a body yes or no?
Please be careful. It's evidently clear that this does not befit Allah. so ALLAH IS NOT A BODY, DOES NOT HAVE A BODY OR FORM. Allah created the bodies and forms and organs, and Allah is clear from all of that.
Imam Ahmad ibn hanbal and Imam dhun-noon al-Misriy said: "Whatever you imagine in your minds, Allah is different from it" Allah does not resemble that.
It was was reported that Imam Ahmad said:
"من اعتقد أن الله جسم فهو كافر، وقال: مهما تصورت ببالك فالله بخلاف ذلك."
"the one who says Allah is a body blasphemes".
And Imam abdul-Ghaniy an-Nabulusiy said:
"من اعتقد أن الله ملأ السموات والأرض أو أنه جسم قاعد فوق العرش فهو كافر وإن زعم أنه مسلم".ـ
That means "Whomever claims that Allah dwells in the heavens or earths or that he is a body or sitting on the throne, he is a blasphemer even if he claimed he is Muslim".
Allah said: "Laysa kamithlihi shay'" Allah does not resemble the creations in any way.
Bismillah, Praise be to Allah the creator of everything and the one that does not resemble any of his creation. May Allah raise the rank of Prophet Muhammad, the best of the creations and the seal of all Messengers,
Ibn taymiah was prisoned by 4 Qadi from the 4 schools of Ahlussunnah because he negated the "Ijma^" unanimous agreement of the Muslims in many issues. Imam as-Subkiy counted for him over 60 issues where he negated Ijma^ of all of the scholars of Ahlus-Sunnah.
Among which he claims is that Allah is a body and is sitting above the throne physically. And that makes him and the jews with the same belief.
Rerences: Majmoo^ Fatawa 4/16!.
Imam Abu Hanifah said:
**
Imam Abu Hanifah, who is one of the authorities of as-Salaf, said in his book Al-Fiqh al*Absat: "Allah existed eternally and there was no place. He existed before creating the creation. He existed, and there was no place, creation, or thing; and He is the Creator of everything." **
^ Still no direct quote from Ibn Taymiyyah where he said "Allah is a BODY"... if you actually had something you'd post it... but you obviously don't... and many scholars were imprisoned for their beliefs, that doesn't make them wrong... i doubt you've seen any of these supposed "60 issues" yourself or even know that they exist... there's a refutation of al Subki (Sarim al Munki) by ibn Abdul Hadi…
I said:
Among which he claims is that Allah is a body and is sitting above the throne physically. And that makes him and the jews with the same belief.
Rerences: Majmoo^ Fatawa 4/16!.
He said "Allah is as big as the throne" And once he said: "he is bigger then the throne". He was contradictive at all times.
And he was imprisoned brother BUT BY WHO?
By Muslim Judges (Qudat) from the four schools of thought, Shafi^iy, Maliki, Hanbaliy and Hanafiy judges ordered to imprison him 4 times. And Mujtahideen such as Imam as-Subkiy declared that many of the deviations he had took him out of Islam and explicity declared that he blasphemed and opposed "Ijma^" of Ahlussunnah.
Allah is NOT a body
Allah does NOT have a form
Allah is NOT residing in a place
ALLAH EXISTS WITHOUT A PLACE AND DOES NOT RESEMBLE THE CREATIONS IN ANYWAY.
^ still no quote that "Allah is a BODY"... all you are doing is putting your words into his mouth and giving a reference as though that solves the problem... that's not how you cite quotations... do you actually have the volume of Majmoo Fatawa 4/16 that you are pretending to quote from ?
In the previous reference I gave also coincides with his other sayings.
Ibn Taymiyah Says "Allah is Sitting on the throne" and that isit is attributing the body to Allah.
Ibn Taymiyah's saying of Allah sitting is confirmed about him, although some of his followers negated this when they found it ugly. He mentioned this in his book "Minhaj-us-Sunnat-in-Nabawiyyah" by sayings: The majority of Ahl-us-Sunnah wal-Jama^ah say that Allah, tabaraka wa ta^ala, [Tabaraka wa ta^ala attributes the giving and perfection to Allah.] descends and al-^Arsh does not get void of Him. He claimed that this was reported about Ishaq Ibn Rahawayh, Hammad Ibn Zayd, Imam Ahmad, and others. He is a fabricator and great lier about that.
In his Tafsir named "an-Nahr", the Grammarian Abu Hayyan al-'Andalusiyy reported about Ibn Taymiyah having this belief. He said: In his handwriting, a book of Ahmad Ibn Taymiyah, who was contemporary with us, which he called "Kitab-ul-^Arsh", I read: Allah sits on al-Kursiyy and has left a space for the Messenger of Allah to sit with Him. At-Taj Muhammad Ibn ^Aliyy Ibn ^Abd-il-Haqq al-Baranbariyy pretended that he is a promoter of his ideas and tricked him, until he took it from him; we read that in it. [The author of "Kashf-uz-Zunun" reported that about him also in Volume 2, page 1438.]
This reporting of Abu Hayyan was omitted from the old printed copy. However, the manuscript confirms it. In his commentary on "as-Sayf-us-Saqil", page 85, az-Zahid al-Kawthariyy said explaining the reason of omitting these statements of Ibn Taymiyah: The editor of as-Sa^adah Printing House told me that he found it very ugly and he omitted it upon printing so that the enemies of al-'Islam would not use it. Then he requested that I record that here to catch up what he missed and out of sincerity to the Muslims.
In "al-Muwafaqah", page 29, Ibn Taymiyah said: Allah, ta^ala, has a hadd no one but Him knows it. One should not imagine that hadd for a purpose in himself, but believe it and leave knowing about it to Allah. His place has a hadd, which is on His ^Arsh above His skies. These are two limits.
In the twenty-fifth volume of "al-Kawakib-ud-Darariyy", which is in the Library of az-Zahiriyyah in Damascus, Ibn Taymiyah said: If Allah willed he would sit on a mosqito, which would carry Him by His power; how about on a large ^Arsh!
If you truly asked for the truth, then here it is. We ask Allah to protect us from misguidance.
Know that, although Ibn Taymiyah had many writings and a fame, he is as the Muhaddith, Hafiz, Faqih, Waliyy-ud-Din al-^Iraqiyy, the son of the Shaykh of Huffaz, Zayn-ud-Din al-^Iraqiyy, in his book "al-'Ajwibat-ul-Mardiyyah" said about him: His knowledge is bigger than his mind. He also said: He infringed the Ijma^ in many issues, which was said to be sixty issues, some of which are in the Usul and others in the Furu^ [Al-'Usul is ^Ilm-ut-Tawhid, the Science of the belief in Allah and His Messenger. Al-Furu^ deals with the Islamic matters other than those of belief (Usul), such as Salah, Siyam, and dealings.] After the Ijma^ has settled upon those issues, he violated it. Some lay people and others followed him in this violation. The scholars of his time hastened to refute him and charged him of bringing bid^ah [Bid^ah is innovation; something which is new some of which are Islamically acceptable and others are rejected. Here it refers to the prohibited innovation.] Among those was Imam, Hafiz, Taqiyy-ud-Din ^Aliyy Ibn ^Abd-il-Kafi as-Subkiyy.
In "ad-Durrat-ul-Mudiyyah", he said what means: Ibn Taymiyah innovated the foul things in the Usul of belief and infringed the foundations of al-'Islam, after he was covering himself with following the Book (the Qur'an) and Sunnah, showing outwardly that he is a caller to truth and a guide to the Jannah. Consequently, he deviated from following the Book and Sunnah to innovation, and deviated from the Jama^ah of the Muslims [The Jama^ah is the Muslim group following the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad, sallallahu ^alayhi wa sallam, and his Sahabah. The full name is Ahl-us-Sunnah wal-Jama^ah. It constitutes the majority of the Muslims.] by infringing the Ijma^. He said what leads to the jismiyyah and composition in the Holy Self of Allah and that it is not impossible that Allah needs a part. He said that the Self of Allah contains hawadith (events, creations), that the Qur'an is muhdath (created) and Allah spoke it after it was not, that Allah speaks and stops speaking, and that wills happen in Him according to the creations. He transgressed to say that the world did not have a beginning. He adhered to his saying that there is no beginning for the creations, thereby saying of the existence of hawadith [Al-Hawadith, the plural of al-hadith, is a creation, i.e., something the existence of which started at some point in time and it may be annihilated any time later. Al-Jannah (Paradise) and Jahannam (Hellfire), two creations of Allah, will never be annihilated because Allah has willed that for them.] without a beginning. Hence, he confirmed that the eternal attribute (of Allah) is created and the created hadith is eternal. No one has ever said both sayings in any religion. He was not among the seventy-three groups into which the Muslim Ummah was divided. In spite of all of this being horrible kufr (blasphemy), it is little compared to what he innovated in the Furu^.
Hafiz Abu Sa^id al-^Ala'iyy, the Shaykh of Hafiz al-^Iraqiyy, mentioned many of these issues. This was reported by Muhaddith, Hafiz, and historian Shams-ud-Din Ibn Tulun in "Thakha'ir-ul-Qasr". Among what was reported about Ibn Taymiyah, is his saying that Allah is the site of creations, that the world is eternal by kind and it always has been created with Allah, and some of which his saying of the jismiyyah, direction, and movement (of Allah). Ibn Taymiyah wrote a juz' (section) that Allah's knowledge does not pertain to what does not end, like the enjoyment of the people of Jannah, and that Allah does not know everything about the finite, that our prophet Muhammad, ^alayh-is-salam, has no jah (status) and whoever performs tawassul by him is wrong. He wrote many papers about that. He said exaggeratedly that starting a trip to visit our prophet is a sin which invalidates shortening the Salah in it. Before Ibn Taymiyah, no Muslim had said what he said. He said that the torture of the people of Hell stops and does not last forever. He was ordered to repent many times, but he broke his promises and agreements every time until he was imprisoned as per the fatwa of the Four Judges [The full text of this fatwa will be mentioned, by the will of Allah, at the end of the book.]one of whom was a Shafi^iyy, the second Malikiyy, the third Hanafiyy, and the fourth Hanbaliyy [A mathhab is a framework inferred by a mujtahid from the Qur'an, Sunnah, Ijma^, and Qiyas, by which he deduces the judgements on the practical matters of al-'Islam such as the Taharah, Salah, Zakah, Siyam, and Hajj. The Sunniyy mathahib which are available today are four: The Hanafiyy Mathhab, the Malikiyy Mathhab, the Shafi^iyy Mathhab, and the Hanbaliyy Mathhab. The respective founders of those mathahib are: Imam Abu Hanifah (80-150 A.H.), Imam Malik (93-179 A.H.), Imam ash-Shafi^iyy (150-204 A.H.), and Imam Ibn Hanbal (164-241 A.H.)] They passed the ruling that he was a straying man, against whom it is obligatory to warn, as was said in "^Uyun-ut-Tarikh" by Salah-ud-Din as-Safadiyy, who was a student of Ibn Taymiyah and of Taqiyy as-Subkiyy. King Muhammad Ibn Qalawun issued a decree to be read on the manabir [Manabir is the plural of minbar which is a podium, an elevated platform for a speaker or the like.] in Egypt and ash-Sham (area including Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and Palestine) to warn people against him and his followers.
Ath-Thahabiyy, a contemporary of Ibn Taymiyah, had praised him first. However, when his case was exposed to him, he said in his treatise, "Bayanu Zaghal-il-^Ilm wat-Talab", page 17: By Allah, my eye has not fallen on a person who was more knowledgeable or more intelligent than a man called Ibn Taymiyah. He showed zuhd (disinterest) in food, clothing, and women. He supported the truth and performed Jihad (fighting non-Muslims for the sake of Allah) with every possible means. I got tired in weighing and digging him out. I got bored with that for long years. I found that as a result of his arrogance, self deceipt, excessive love to be the head of the scholars, and disdain with great people, he was falling behind the people of Egypt and ash-Sham; they hated him, degraded him, and charged him with lying and kufr. Look at the consequence of claim and love of appearance. We ask Allah for forgiveness. There are some people who are not more pious, knowledgeable, or zahid (careless about mundane matters) than he is. However, they overlook the sins of their friends. Allah did not empower those people over Ibn Taymiyah by their piety and greatness, but by his sins. What Allah warded off him and his followers is more; they only got some of what they deserve. Have no doubt about it. This treatise is confirmed about ath-Thahabiyy, because Hafiz as-Sakhawiyy reported this statement about him in his book "al-'I^lam bit-Tawbikh" on page 77.
Imam Ahmad Ibn Salamah, Abu Ja^far at*Tahawiyy, who was born in the year 237 after Hijrah, and was one of the Heads of Great Salaf wrote a book called Al-^Aqidah at*Tahawiyyah. He mentioned that the content of his book is an elucidation of the creed of Ahl as*Sunnah wal Jama^ah, which is the creed of Imam Abu Hanifah, who died in the year 150 after al*Hijrah, and his two companions, Imam Abu Yusuf al-Qadi and Imam Muhammad Ibn al*Hasan ash-Shaybaniyy and others. He said in his book: "Allah is supremely clear of all boundaries, extremes, sides, organs and instruments. The six directions do not contain Him--these are attributed to all created things." Such is the saying of Imam Abu Ja^far who is among the heads of as-Salaf. He explicitly stated that Allah is clear of being contained by the six directions. The six directions are above, below, in front of, behind, right, and left.