Story About Shaikh-ul-Islam Imam Ahmad Ibn Taymiyyah.

SHAIKH·UL·ISLAM IMAM AHMAD IBN TAYMIYYAH

Revivalist of Islam (661-728 A.H.)

We are a people who love goodness for everyone. We like to see Allah bringing you the best of this world and that of the hereafter. For the best way to worship Allah is by giving counsel and advice to his creatures. This was the purpose of all the Prophets and Messengers from Allah. And there is nothing better than advice in matters of the relation between man and his Creator. Man is certainly destined to meet with his Lord, and he is going to be questioned about his duties. All the Christians know that when he talked to the Tartars concerning the captives in their lands, Ghazan and Katloushah released them.

I talked to the king about those captives, and he allowed the release of the Muslims only and said to me, ‘We have some Christians that we captured in Jerusalem, these we are not going to release.'
I told him, 'But you release all the Jewish and Christian captives because they are under the protection of Islam. And we will leave no captive if he is a Muslim or Christian.' Thus, we caused the release of many Christians from captivity.

This ‘Ibn Taymiyyah’ did only for the sake of Allah whose rewards everyone seek. "Besides, everyone knows about the Christian captives in our hands and how kindly and charitably we treat them in accordance with the teachings of the last of the Prophets, ‘Prophet Muhammad’ (peace be upon him). The above mentioned words are quotations from a letter written by ‘Ibn Taymiyyah,’ to King Sirjwan of Cyprus in which he tried to explain the basic views of the Islamic faith to a Christian ruler.

But who was ‘Ibn Taymiyyah?’

‘Ibn Taymiyyah,’ who is known by the title of Sheikh-ul-Islam (The eminent Scholar of Islam) is one of the leading thinkers of Islam and a revivalist of its pristine teachings at a time when the Muslim world was going through one of its darkest times, being under attack by the ruthless Mongol Tartars from the East (who destroyed everything and everyone who stood in their heavy flow from Central Asia) and the fierce Crusaders from the West. Hundreds of thousands of books were thrown by the Tartars into the rivers of Tigris and Euphrates until the waters of these rivers became black with the ink in those books. On the cultural scene many Muslim scholars were busy summarizing and explaining the works of their ancestors with hardly any worthwhile contribution.

In religion, again many unorthodox ideas had crept in from un-Islamic philosophies and foreign thoughts. The theologians were plagued by the ideas of the Mu'tazilites and other misguided sects. The jurists were at a standstill in the understanding and application of the legal spirit of Islam, blindly imitating the opinions of their predecessors. The masses were thus left in total darkness, misguided by agnostic Sufism and their practices, such as exaggeration in worshiping tombs of the pious and the Saints to the extent of almost worshipping them besides Allah. It was in those circumstances that ‘Ibn Taymiyyah’ was born. ‘Ibn Taymiyyah’ was born in 661 A.H. (1263 G.)in Harran (near Damascus). His family was a people of learning and teaching, both its male and female members being well known for their contribution to religious education. Since his childhood ‘Ibn Taymiyyah’ was known for his great intelligence, strong memory and insatiable thirst for learning. No wonder then that he started research and writing at the age of nineteen. At the age of 21 his father died, and he replaced him in the post of teaching Fiqah (Islamic law or jurisprudence) and Tafseer (Quranic exegesis or commentaries).

When he announced in 696 A.H. his views on certain theological issues, some theologians (whose understanding was contaminated by foreign philosophical ideas) started annoying him. ‘Ibn Taymiyyah’s’ views on the divine attributes enraged some theologians who had him called to court in Egypt and imprisoned there.

It seems that his courage and frankness in attacking unconventional interpretations of Islamic teachings in areas of theology, jurisprudence and spirituality caused many problems for him. For ‘Ibn Taymiyyah’ made it his job to correct the wrong views prevalent at his time despite the fierce resistance he met with from many religious scholars. He felt it’s his duty to unify the Muslims around orthodox and pristine Islamic teachings, of Ahl-ah-Sunnah-wal-Jama'ah by fighting against polytheists and innovations in religion (bid'ah) and purifying the religion from interpretations and practices alien to it, taking only the Qur'an and Sunnah or Prophetic traditions as the only reliable sources. ‘Ibn Taymiyyah’ suffered a great deal because of this, but he never hesitated or faltered.

History tells us that the enemies of ‘Ibn Taymiyyah’ not only caused the authorities to imprison him on many occasions but also they even tried to have him killed by reporting to Sultan-an-Nasser faking that ‘Ibn Taymiyyah’ was using the masses love and admiration for him to usurp the throne. An-Nasser Lideeni-Liah ordered that he brought to him.



He told him, "I have been told

that people listen to you, and that you are seeking my kingdom.

‘Ibn Taymiyyah’ answered, "I do that? By Allah your kingdom and the kingdoms of all the Moguls are not worth a single penny to me."

The Sultan was impressed by our hero's answer and was convinced of the falsehood of the allegation. But intelligence, knowledge, courage and frankness were not the only things for which he known. He was also known for his otherworldliness and unlimited generous to the extent that he would give the clothes he had on to a needy person.

‘Ibn Taymiyyah’ was not only an active teacher, but he was also a creative writer of in-depth knowledge as well. So when he died in 728 A.H. (at the age of 67). He left scores of volumes of writings on various topics including comparative religion. One of his masterpieces is well known, namely "Fatawa·lbn-Taymiyyah”, (The religious Rulings and verdicts of ‘Ibn Taymiyyah’) which has been published in 36 volumes, several times.

’Ibn Taymiyyah’ is reported to have said, 'The (real) prisoner is the one whose heart has been kept away from remembering his Lord, and the (real) captive is the one who has been captivated by his whims and desires."

His disciple Ibn-ul·Oayyim, reports that he, i.e. ‘Ibn Taymiyyah’ used to say, when he was imprisoned in ‘AI-Qalah’ prison in Damascus, "What on earth can my enemies do to me? My Paradise is in my heart and accompanies me wherever I go. My imprisonment is (in fact) seclusion (which helps me worship Allah better) my killing is (in fact) martyrdom and my deportation from my country is (in fact) seeing the world.”

Islam - No One Can Stop it and Conquering America

This is from Quran Surah Saff - Ayah 8 and 9 from Tafeemul Quran

يُرِيدُونَ لِيُطْفِئُوا نُورَ اللَّهِ بِأَفْوَاهِهِمْ وَاللَّهُ مُتِمُّ نُورِهِ وَلَوْ كَرِهَ الْكَافِرُونَ ﴿61:8﴾ 

هُوَ الَّذِي أَرْسَلَ رَسُولَهُ بِالْهُدَى وَدِينِ الْحَقِّ لِيُظْهِرَهُ عَلَى الدِّينِ كُلِّهِ وَلَوْ كَرِهَ الْمُشْرِكُونَ ﴿61:9﴾ 

(61:8) They seek to extinguish Allah’s light (by blowing) with their mouths, but Allah shall spread His light in all its fullness, howsoever the unbelievers may abhor this. *12
*12 One should bear in mind that these verses were sent down in A.H. 3 after the Battle of Uhud, when Islam was confined only to the city of Madinah, the Muslims were only a few thousands in number, and entire Arabia was bent upon wiping out this religion. The defeat that the Muslims had suffered at Uhud, had sullied their image of power and the tribes of the surrounding areas had been emboldened. Under such conditions it was said: "No one will succeed in blowing out this Light of Allah, but it will shine forth in all fullness and spread throughout the world." This was a clear prediction which literally came true. Who could know apart from Allah at that time what was the future of Islam? Human eyes could only sec that it was a flickering candle and violent winds were blowing to put it out for ever.
(61:9) He it is Who has sent forth the Messenger with the Guidance and the True Religion that He may make it prevail over all religion, however those that associate aught with Allah in His Divinity might dislike this. *13
*13 "The mushriks ": those who combine the service of others with the service of AIIah and mix other religions in the Religion of Allah; who are not prepared to see that the entire system of lift is established on the obedience and guidance of One God; who insist that they will worship any deity they like and base
"Then said the priest: 'How shall the Messiah be called, and what sign shall reveal his coming? "Jesus answered: `The name of the Messiah is admirable, ,for God himself gave him the name when he had created his soul, and placed it in a celestial splendour. God said: `Wait Muhammad; for thy sake I will to create paradise, the world, and a great multitude of creatures whereof I make thee a present, insomuch that whoso shall bless thee shall be blessed, and whose shall curse thee shall be accursed, When I shall send thee into the world, I shall send thee as my messenger of salvation, and thy word shall be true, insomuch that heaven and earth shall fail, but thy faith shall newer fail. Muhammad is his blessed name' (Ch. 97)
Barnabas writes that on one occasion Jesus spoke to his disciples and said that one of them (who was to be Judas Iscariot) would sell him to the enemies for 30 pieces of gold. Then said:
"Whereupon I am sure that who shall sell me, be slain in my name, for that God shall take me up from the earth, and shall change the appearance of the traitor so that every one shall believe him to be me; nevertheless when he dieth an evil death, I shall abide in that dishonour for a long time in the world But when Mohammed shall come, the sacred messenger of God, that infamy shall be taken away. And this shall God do because I have confessed the truth of the Messiah, who shall give me this reward that I shall be known to be alive and to be a stranger to that death of infamy.' (Ch. i 12)
(To the disciples Jesus said:) "Verily I say unto you that if the truth had not been erased from the book of Moses, God would not have given to David our father the second. And if the book of David had not been contaminated, God would not have committed the Gospel to me; seeing that the Lord our God is unchangeable, and hath spoken but one message to a]I men. Wherefore, when the messenger of God shall come, he shall come to cleanse away all where with the ungodly have contaminated my book.' (Ch.124)
In these clear and comprehensive prophecies there are only three things which at first sight appear to be doubtful. First, that in these and in several other passages of the Gospel of Barnabas the Prophet Jesus (peace be upon him) has denied his own self being the Messiah. Second, that not only in these but at many other places also in this Gospel the Holy Messenger's actual name "Muhammad" has been mentioned, whereas this is not the way the Prophets make prophecies: they do not mention the actual name of the one coming in the future. Third, that in these the Holy Prophet (upon whom be Allah's peace) has been called the Messiah
The answer to the first objection is that not only in the Gospel of Barnabas but in the Gospel according to Luke also it is mentioned that the Prophet Jesus had forbidden his disciples to call him the Christ (the Messiah). The words in Luke are: "He said unto them, But whom say ye that I am? Peter answering said, The Christ of God. And he strictly charged them, and commanded them to tell no man that thing." (9: 20-21) Probably the reason was that about the Messiah whom the Israelites were awaiting, they thought he would subdue the enemies of truth by the sword. Therefore, the Prophet Jesus (peace be on him) said that he was not that Messiah* but he would come rafat him.
The answer to the second objection is that no doubt in the extant Italian translation of Barnabas the Holy Prophet's name has been written as "Mohammed", but no one knows through how many different languages has this book reached the Italian. Obviously, the original Gospel of Barnabas must be in Syriac, because that was the language of Jesus and his companions. If the original book were extant, it could be seen what name of the Holy Prophet (upon whom be peace) was written in it. Now what one can assume is that originally the Prophet Jesus must have used the word Munhamanna as we have explained above by citing Ibn Ishaq's reference to St. John's Gospel. Then different translators may have translated it in their own languages. Later, probably some translator seeing that the name given in the prophecy was exactly synonymous with the word "Mohammed" may have written this very sacred name of the Holy Prophet. Therefore, the mere appearance of this name only is not enough to give rise to the doubt that the entire Gospel of Barnabas has been forged by a Muslim.
The answer to the third objection is that the word "Messiah" is an Israelite technical term, which has bets used in the Qur'an particularly for the Prophet Jesus for the reason that the Jews had denied his being the Messiah; otherwise it- is neither a Qur'anic term nor has it been used anywhere in the Qur'an in the meaning of the Israelite term, Therefore, if the Prophet Jesus used the word Messiah for the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him), and the Qur'an has not used this word for him, it is not right to conclude that the Gospel of Barnabas ascribes something to him which the Qur'an denies. In fact, it was customary with the Israelites that when somebody or something was set aside for a sacred cause, the person or thing was anointed with the holy oil on the head and consecrated. This anointing with the oil was called mesh in Hebrew, and the one thus anointed messiah " Utensils were likewise anointed and set aside for use in the house of worship. THe priests also were anointed when they were appointed to priesthood. The kings and the prophets too were anointed when they were designated to kingship or prophethood by God. Thus, according to the Bible, there have been many messiahs in the history of the Israelites. The Prophet Aaron was a messiah as a priest, Moses as a priest and a prophet, Saul as a king, David as a king and a prophet, Melchizedek as a king and a priest, and AI-Yas'a (Elisha) was a messiah as a prophet. Later, it was no longer regarded as necessary to appoint a person by their beliefs and morals and civilization on any philosophy and doctrine they please, As against the ways of such people, it is being said that the Messenger of AIlah has not been sent to make a compromise with than, but' with the object that he .should cause the Guidance and Religion of Truth which he has brought from Allah to prevail ove all religion, i.e. every aspect of the way of life. This mission he has to accomplish in any case whether the disbelievers and polytheists like it or not, and whoever they support it or resist it. This declaration has been made in the Qur'an at two other places about, in Surah At Taubah: 33 and Surah AI-Fath: 28. Here it has been re-iterated for the third time. (For further explanation, see E.N. 32 of At-Taubah and E.N. 51 of Al-Fath).