Against Islamic Universalism 387
al-Ḥarbī notes other cases in which Ibn Taymiyya changed his posi-
tion. Al-Ḥarbī explains, for example, that Ibn Taymiyya first believed
that the mythical Khiḍr was still alive but then later came to the view
that he had died. Similarly, Ibn Taymiyya said early in his career that oil
became unclean if something unclean fell into it, but then he changed
his mind later on. Whatever its merits, al-Ḥarbī does not think that the
theory that Ibn Taymiyya also changed his mind on the duration of the
Fire is very likely because none of his texts speak of it. Al-Ḥarbī allows
that he may have missed something in the course of his research, but he
doubts it. Moreover, if Ibn Taymiyya does say somewhere that the Fire
will pass away, this would contradict the Shaykh’s clear affirmation of
its eternity that al-Ḥarbī claims to have found elsewhere.^37
Al-Ḥarbī’s evidence for Ibn Taymiyya’s belief in the eternity of the
Fire consists of 15 short passages gathered from his corpus. Although
not always obvious from al-Ḥarbī’s discussion, what is at issue in
all but two of these passages is the possibility of an infinite series of
events. The early kalām theologian Jahm b. Ṣafwān (d. 128/745) denies
that an infinite series of events is possible and concludes from this that
the Garden and the Fire cannot possibly last forever. They must come
to an end and pass away. Abū al-Hudhayl b. ʿAllāf (d. 227/841?) also
denies the possibility of an infinite series. However, this leads him to a
less radical conclusion than it does Jahm. For Abū al-Hudhayl motion
in the Garden and the Fire must eventually cease, but the Garden and
the Fire themselves will remain in existence. Ibn Taymiyya rejects the
fundamental premise of these arguments. He affirms the possibility
of an infinite series, and he condemns Jahm and Abū al-Hudhayl for
their views. Al-Ḥarbī interprets Ibn Taymiyya’s censure to be clear
affirmation that both the Fire and the Garden will last forever.^38 This,
however, is an overinterpretation. In context, these passages are better
understood as no more than condemnations of those who deny the
37 Al-Ḥarbī, Kashf al-astār, pp. 44–48, 58–59.
38 Ibid., pp. 59–70. Al-Ḥarbī’s twelfth text comes from Ibn Taymiyya: Darʾ taʿāruḍ
al-ʿaql wal-naql, ed. by Muḥammad Rashād Sālim, n. p. n. d., vol. 2, p. 358, and
provides what appears to be a firm affirmation that the Fire will remain for-
ever. However, al-Ḥarbī fails to note that Ibn Taymiyya is simply quoting from
al-Ashʿarī’s Maqālāt al-islāmiyyīn in the context of a discussion on the possibil-
ity of an infinite series. Al-Ḥarbī observes that his 13 text from Ibn Taymiyya’s
Muwāfaqat ṣaḥīḥ al-manqūl is identical to his 14 text from Darʾ al-taʿāruḍ, but
he fails to realize that these two titles are simply different names for the same
work. These two passages also come from the same context in Darʾ al-taʿāruḍ as
al-Ḥarbī’s twelfth text.
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