Ibn Taymiyya and Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya as Changing Salafi Icons 463
actors such as tribes and religious networks, all of whom are entangled
in a complex struggle for religious, economic, and political legitimacy.
Salafis are part of this struggle. In many countries they are becoming a
growing political force mostly organized in informal networks, which
are viewed as a challenge to the religious and consequently the politi-
cal legitimacy of the mostly authoritarian regimes. In response, these
regimes have taken advantage of the political, ideological, and mili-
tary consequences of the 9/11 events and the subsequent “Global War
on Terrorism” by portraying Salafis as a threat to national and glob-
al stability. Thus, they are often used as a pretext to silence political
opposition and a scapegoat for the shortcomings of these regimes. The
result is that Salafis have come under immense pressure globally, which
strongly affects their framing processes and their choice of religious
authorities as well as the modalities of accessing religious expertise.
The purpose of this article is to analyze the ways Ibn Taymiyya and
his students, notably Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya (d. 1350), are integrated
into the self-representations and daily lives of Salafis. Under what cir-
cumstances are they referred to? What parts of their oeuvre do Salafis
pick up? What aspects of their biographies do Salafis highlight, and
how are such choices presented?
The bulk of the Western secondary literature on Ibn Taymiyya and
Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya deals with their world of ideas expressed
within the different genres of “late medieval” scholarly writing and
the contribution these two authors have made to the history of Islamic
thought in general. However, incomparably less attention has been
paid to the different types of surroundings that enhance and prestruc-
ture the receptiveness for certain of Ibn Taymiyya’s and Ibn Qayyim
al-Jawziyya’s ideas or for ideas attributed to them. The present arti-
cle is therefore not concerned with what these two authors “really”
meant, on which previous experts they relied, or which subsequent
scholars they impacted with their writings. Instead, it is argued that
certain social circumstances call for specific justifications or theoretical
reflections. Not only for Ḥanbalī adepts but also for Salafis in gen-
eral, Ibn Taymiyya and Ibn al-Qayyim represent a huge reservoir and
resource that is actively used on demand. In this regard, there seem to
be fewer boundaries than one would assume.
The article argues that, under certain circumstances, one of Ibn
Taymiyya’s students, Ibn al-Qayyim, is almost as popular as his master
himself – if not, at times, even more. The two are often cited together;
however, as will likewise be shown, they satisfy quite different needs
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