350 Georges Tamer
and accepts literally-stated religious views exclusively; on the other
hand, “in rare rational boldness [...] he establishes a creative ontol-
ogy which combines oneness and multiplicity in a way which goes
beyond former philosophical schools.”^105 When dealing with philo-
sophical-theological matters such as God’s unity and the creation of
the world, however, he utilizes an exoteric-esoteric style that enables
him to express ideas in a way that corresponds with a traditional reli-
gious understanding.
Ibn Taymiyya employs his exoteric-esoteric approach, according to
Ajhar, especially in regards to the rejection of the metaphorical inter-
pretation of God’s anthropomorphic attributes; it also is demonstrated
by his particularly vehement critique of foregoing Muslim rational
philosophers and kalām-theologians. In both cases, Ibn Taymiyya fol-
lowed the traditionalist strand in Islam expressis verbis.^106 A more care-
ful reading of his work, however, reveals him to be a “philosopher”
who attempted to “revive and activate rational thinking in Islam”,
utilizing, like the philosophers, the method of rational argumentation
and critique.^107 In many other cases, “he justifies his real intentions, as
he declares that he does not reject kalām and philosophy as a whole,
but rather particular formulas and concepts” in these disciplines. This
means that he is not hostile to rational discourses as such, but rather
objects “to the way kalām-theologians and philosophers [discussed]
essential ontological issues.” In this sense, he rebukes them for their
failure “to defend Islam by means of reason.”^108
In Ajhar’s view, Ibn Taymiyya consciously and deliberately
employed such a style; its vagueness allowed him to establish rational
and philosophical foundations for Sunni Islam without being counted
among the philosophers or kalām-theologians. Besides this, the obscu-
rity of his discourse can be attributed to the historical fact that his ideas
are spread out within polemical debates requiring deep knowledge of
their historical and intellectual backgrounds; it is this polemical con-
text that primarily determines the tone of his arguments.^109 Further-
more, Ibn Taymiyya negotiates complicated philosophical topics in
an unusual and untraditional way – this approach was an additional
reason for the obscurity of his style. By negotiating these topics, his
105 Ibid., p. 17.
106 Ibid., p. 22.
107 Ibid., p. 23.
108 Ibid., pp. 83–84 and n. 100.
109 Ibid., pp. 24–25, 218.
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