370 Georges Tamer
tion of Koran and Sunna, whose aim was to correct the Platonic and
Aristotelian schools. According to another strand of interpretation,
the most manifest point is Ibn Taymiyya’s philosophical connection to
Ibn Rushd’s philosophy, whose powerful spell Ibn Taymiyya was not
able to completely break and which thus, confers on Ibn Taymiyya the
identity of an Averroist – even if he would not admit it.
Ibn Taymiyya is one of the giants of Islamic intellectual history. His
writings clearly display his exemplary mastery of Islamic religious sci-
ences, philosophy and kalām-theology. Furthermore, he was a pro-
lific mujtahid who did not slavishly follow the Ḥanbalī school of fiqh,
but developed his own views on important religious, social and politi-
cal topics.^178 His striving to present the unity of rationality and reli-
gion and to defend faith against the attacks of critical philosophers is
conducted through intensive usage of philosophical terminology and
argumentation.
Nevertheless, how much of a philosopher is Ibn Taymiyya, actually?
Ibn Taymiyya was an extremely committed Muslim who endeavored
with the utmost effort to defend Sunni Islam with both sword and pen:
having courageously fought with the Mamluk army against the Cru-
saders, the Tatars, the Shiites and the Armenians, he enthusiastically
wrote against every idea and practice in which he saw a threat against
orthodox Islam. For him, writing was just as much a form of holy
jihad as military service. This might be an explanation for his dedicat-
ing a major part of his legal statements (fatwās) to important doctri-
nal topics. Hereby, Ibn Taymiyya departed from the traditional style
of theologians and philosophers alike, who were primarily interested
in addressing their peers while preventing the uneducated majority
(al-ʿawāmm) from taking part in specialized debates.^179 On the con-
trary, Ibn Taymiyya made doctrinal discussions not only a privilege
for scholars, but also a matter for the public sphere. Combining great
zeal for his religion with a vast and deep knowledge of philological
and religious tradition, theology and philosophy, he unfolded many of
his teachings in sharp polemical writings which unmistakably reflect,
besides his erudition, his deep faith and piety.
Ibn Taymiyya’s methodological principle that clear reason and
sound tradition necessarily agree is fundamentally based on his belief
178 Al-Matroudi, The Ḥanbalī School, pp. 186–191.
179 A prime example of this attitude is al-Ghazālī’s treatise Iljām al-ʿawāmm ʿan
ʿilm al-kalām (Restraining the Ordinary People from the Science of Kalām),
edited by Muḥammad al-Muʿtaṣim bi-llāh al-Baghdādi, Beirut 1406/1985.
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