Divine Wisdom, Human Agency and the fiṭra
in Ibn Taymiyya’s Thought
M. Sait Özervarli
Ibn Taymiyya, although a follower of the traditionalist path of aṣhāb
al-ḥadīth in theology and of the Ḥanbalī School in jurisprudence, was
generally an independent-minded thinker with a critical approach to
other views and did not follow his predecessors blindly. Unlike ear-
lier traditionalist scholars, he sought to present an alternative theology
based on the Koran and the Sunna, while engaging with the discourse
of philosophical theology. His focus on philosophical debates led him
to a deeper rationalistic approach despite his traditionalist background
and a confrontational stance on intellectual issues and figures. The large
number and variety of his students also show that people of different
backgrounds had confidence in his scholarship. Among his students were
Shāfiʿīs, like al-Dhahabī and Ibn Kathīr; the Sufi ʿImād al-Dīn al-Wāsiṭī;
moderate Ḥanbalīs, like Ibn Mufliḥ or al-Ṭūfī; and many others.
Ibn Rajab (d. 795/1393), the leading Ḥanbalī biographer, underscores
that although the traditionalist groups greatly respected Ibn Taymiyya,
they were not happy with his debates with theologians and philosophers
or his indulgence in discussing their issues. He points out that a num-
ber of Ibn Taymiyya’s contemporary Ḥanbalī scholars did not approve
of and tried even to prevent him from some of his views, which they
regarded as contradicting the main position of the school.^1 Especially his
legal decisions demonstrate his self-determination in expressing his own
views no matter how different from previous ones. In an essay based
on three interesting fatwas of Ibn Taymiyya, Benjamin Jokisch displays
persuasively how the scholar reached new conclusions by employing
different analogies and referring to some partial consensuses.^2 In previ-
1 Ibn Rajab, Zayn al-Dīn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. Aḥmad: Dhayl ʿalā ṭabaqāt al-
ḥanābila, Beirut n. d., vol. 2, pp. 393–394.
2 Jokisch, Benjamin: Ijtihad in Ibn Taymiyya’s Fatāwā, in: Robert Gleave and
Eugenia Kermeli (eds.): Islamic Law. Theory and Practice, London and New
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