486 Annabelle Böttcher
eight writings. This shows that a hierarchy exists with Ibn Taymiy-
ya and his student Ibn al-Qayyim. The aforementioned Palestinian
ʿAbd Allāh ʿAzzām is among those authors who like to refer to Ibn
Taymiyya, but less so to Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya.^112 The Jordanian
radical Abū Muḥammad al-Maqdisī also cites Ibn Taymiyya amply.
Among 20 of his works analyzed in the study, 15 cited Ibn Taymiyya
and 14 Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya. Ibn Taymiyya is among those men-
tioned most frequently.^113 A clearcut rule concerning the presence of
texts, direct quotations from, or references to Ibn Taymiyya on mili-
tant websites cannot be formulated, since the interest of their average
readers to study the classic sources of Ḥanbalī-Salafi Islam is not quite
clear. Al-Maqdisī posted a number of Ibn Taymiyya’s texts and fatwas
in the Arabic language on his homepage and the hits and downloads of
these sources, which went into the thousands, seem to indicate a strong
interest by the viewers.^114 The website is currently no longer available,
but his publications are accessible on other websites.^115
It is not surprising that radical Salafis feel attracted to Ibn Taymiy-
ya’s personality, his scholarship, and his political attitudes. He was
frequently in conflict with the Mamluk rulers and their allies and did
not hesitate to articulate his criticism in public. As a result, he was
imprisoned for his convictions six times during his lifetime.^116 He was
first arrested in 1294 for a short time, then in 1305 for about a year
and a half. Less than a year after his release, he was again imprisoned
for another two years. In 1318, in 1320–21, and in 1326 he was again
jailed.^117 But interestingly enough according to Johansen, it was Ibn
Taymiyya and Ibn al-Qayyim who were instrumental in legitimizing
judicial torture as a means of providing proof in a legal procedure.^118
112 Ibid, pp. 37–48.
113 Ibid, pp. 161–221.
114 For a list of Ibn Taymiyya’s publications and fatwas see http://almaqdese.
net/c?i=30, accessed January 9, 2009.
115 Such as the website “Pulpit of Monotheism and Jihad”; online: http://www.
tawhed.ws/a?a=2qrikosd, accessed Dec. 10, 2010.
116 Little, Donald P.: History and Historiography of the Mamlūks, London 1986,
p. 181.
117 Idem: The Historical and Historiographical Significance of the Detention
of Ibn Taymiyya, in: International Journal of Middle East Studies 4 (1973),
pp. 311–327, here p. 312.
118 Johansen, Baber: Signs as Evidence. The Doctrine of Ibn Taymiyya (1263–
1328) and Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya (d. 1351) on Proof, in: Islamic Law and
Society 9 (2002), pp. 168–193, here pp. 191–193.
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