Against Islamic Universalism 395
view.^63 Unfortunately for al-Ḥarbī, this argument is specious because
Ibn al-Qayyim argues the same basic points in all three texts no matter
how he enumerates the arguments.
Be that as it may, al-Ḥarbī continues on that he thinks it likely that
al-Wābil al-ṣayyib, Ṭarīq al-hijratayn and even Ijtimāʿ al-juyūsh come
after the other three books and present Ibn al-Qayyim’s final view that
the Fire is eternal. Al-Ḥarbī gives seven arguments for this. First, the
sharpness and length of the arguments found in Ḥādī al-arwāḥ come
only from the vigour of youth. Second, as just noted, al-Ḥarbī thinks
that the arguments in Shifāʾ al-ʿalīl are weaker than those in Ḥādī
al-arwāḥ because they are fewer in number. Third, Ibn al-Qayyim’s
focus on pietistic practice and the hereafter in al-Wābil al-ṣayyib and
Ṭarīq al-hijratayn are characteristic of someone nearing life’s end.
Fourth, and in line with the preceding argument, al-Wābil al-ṣayyib
and Ṭarīq al-hijratayn are much less dialectical in style than Ḥādī
al-arwāḥ and the other texts. Fifth, if al-Wābil al-ṣayyib and Ṭarīq
al-hijratayn were early works, Ibn al-Qayyim would have noted in
the other three books that he had previously held to the eternity of
the Fire and then changed his position. Sixth, Ibn al-Qayyim in his
book Ijtimāʿ al-juyūsh cites a report that the Garden and the Fire will
both pass away. Ibn al-Qayyim uncharacteristically accepts this text
without debate and does not deal with it in earlier works. According
to al-Ḥarbī, this indicates that he has come to accept the eternity of the
Fire. The seventh argument is simply a challenge to produce decisive
evidence to disprove the above arguments if they are found unconvinc-
ing.^64 Al-Ḥarbī sums up:
Ibn al-Qayyim does not affirm that the Fire will pass away categorically,
neither in al-Ḥādī nor in al-Ṣawāʿiq nor in al-Shifāʾ. Rather, everything
is support for and inclination toward saying the Fire will pass away, then
withholding judgment, and then expressing his final view – God knows
best – which agrees with the view of his Shaykh, which agrees with the
texts of the Book and the authentic Sunna, the sayings of the righteous
salaf, and, even more, the consensus of the Muslims.^65Al-Ḥarbī’s argumentation portrays Ibn al-Qayyim as a young and
prolific firebrand with strong ideas who gradually settles down to a
pious life of less dialectical writing and adherence to “correct” doctrine
63 Ibid., pp. 53–54.
64 Ibid., pp. 54–56.
65 Ibid., pp. 59, see 78–82.
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