58 M. Sait Özervarli
the knowledge He reveals is confirmed. Confirmation, thus, is a logical
and epistemological activity; belief is a religious action, which includes
confirmation. This means that belief, apart from its admissive dimen-
sion, has also a submissive aspect that leads believers to adopt religious
responsibilities and to practice them in their daily life. Hence, a simple
confirmation alone does not reflect the spirituality, the sensitivity, and
the high expectations of believers. For this reason, Ibn Taymiyya does
not agree with some theologians who define the term believing as con-
firmation of heart (taṣdīq bil-qalb).^69 He affirms that the perfection
of soul would not be complete with only knowing about God, but
additionally requires doing good actions, as well as loving God and
praising Him.^70
Belief (īmān) and living accordingly (islām) are, in Ibn Taymiyya’s
comparison, like the soul and the body in humans, which do not exist
separately on their own. According to this metaphor, belief corre-
sponds with the soul, and practices correspond with the parts of the
body; hence the artificial practices of hypocrites (munāfiq) repre-
sent separating the body from the soul. In a further assessment, Ibn
Taymiyya compares religious practices with actions of prayers, and
belief with sincerity and compliance during performances.^71
As shown in the above passages, Ibn Taymiyya intensely uses psy-
chological arguments in his theological discourse to systematize a faith
relying on love and spiritual contemplation. Faith for him is beyond
mere inner and verbal confirmation, which would be like a technical
part of belief. It also has love, which constitutes its real meaning and
deeper dimension. This approach resembles the spiritual path of some
famous mystics, such as Jalāl al-Dīn al-Rūmī (d. 672/1273) and ʿAbd
al-Raḥmān al-Jāmī (d. 898/1492), who put love in the center of belief
in God in a sublime sense.^72 According to these thinkers, since God is
in possession of the highest beauty, benevolence, and perfection, He
deserves the truest and deepest love that maintains devotional belief
in Him. God is the only real beloved and the rest of Him is loved as a
finite and transitory manifestation. Only love of God, therefore, can
exalt the earthly body of humans to the spiritual skies of purification
69 Ibn Taymiyya, Kitāb al-Īmān, pp. 126–127, 370–371.
70 Ibn Taymiyya, al-Radd ʿalā al-manṭiqiyyīn, pp. 138–140, 145–146.
71 Ibn Taymiyya, Majmūʿ Fatāwā, vol. 7, p. 367.
72 For a comprehensive and detailed work on Rumi’s philosophy of love, see Chit-
tick, William C.: The Sufi Path of Love. The Spiritual Teachings of Rumi, New
York 1983, in particular pp. 194–231.
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