Part 15

eek thee ae Te Slee esis FRG g elas G a Ne 1 Se SIG aac > 90 owe are, nel ee SEG Thus it was, that We might turn away from him evil and illegal sexual intercourse. Surely he was one of Our chosen, guided slaves. [Stirab Yusuf (12) : 24]

As for the wife of al-‘Aziz, it was because she was and her nation were polytheists that she was afflicted with passionate love. No one, is afflicted with passionate love except that this diminishes his singling out Allah Alone for worship and his faith. The heart that repents to Allah, fearing Him, has two routes by which it can remove this passionate love:

[3.4 Preventative Measures from Passionate Love]

1) Repenting to Allah and loving Him, for indeed this is more satisfying and purer than anything else, and nothing will be left to love along side Allah.

2) Fearing Allah, for indeed fear is the opposite of passionate love and removes it.

So everyone who loves something, with passion or otherwise, then this love can be removed by loving that which is more beloved to compete with it.’

This love can also be removed by fearing the occurrence of a harm that is more hateful to one than leaving this love. So when Allah is more beloved to the servant than anything else, and more feared by him than anything else, then he will not fall into passionate love or find any love that would compete with his love of Allah, except in the case of negligence or at a time when this love and fear has become weak by his leaving some of the obligatory duties and by performing some of the prohibited actions. For indeed faith increases with obedience and decreases with disobedience, so each time a servant obeys Allah out of love and fear, and leaves a prohibited action out of love and fear, his love and fear becomes stronger, and any love or fear of anything else besides Allah will disappear from his heart.

® Refer tu Rawdah al-Muhibbin of Tn al-Qayyim for he has a beautiful discussion concerning this.

[3.5 Some Cures for the Heart]

[3.5 Some Cures for the Heart]

The same is true for the sickness of the body: for the health of the body is preserved by the same, and the sickness is repressed by the opposite. The correctness of the faith in the heart is preserved by its like, meaning that which would breed faith in the heart from the beneficial knowledge and righteous action for these are its nourishment as occurs in the hadith of Ibn Mas‘td, reported as his saying and as a hadith of the Messen-

ger (38),

Indeed every host loves that people come to his table spread, and indeed the table spread of Allah is the Qur'an.

So the Quran is the table spread of Allah.

From those thirigs that nourish the heart are supplication at the end of the night, the times of Adban and Igamah, in his ptostration, at the ends of the prayers® - add to this repentance. For indeed the one who repents to Allah and then in turn Allah forgives him, He will then give him enjoyment for an appointed time. That he takes to reciting the reported adbkar for the day and at the time he sleeps. That he bears with patience what he is enticed with that would divert him from all of this, for Allah will immediately aid him with a spirit from Him and write faith in his heart. That he be eager to complete the obligatory duties such as the five prayers inwardly and outwardly for they are the pillars of the religion. That his words of recourse be

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° These are the times in which Allah answers the supplications, there are authentic abadith concerning these.

[a hawla wa la quwata illa billaby

for by them heavy burdens can be born, horrors can be overcome, and the servant be gifted with the best of conditions to live in. That he should not give up the supplication and seeking help from Allah, for the servant will be answered as long as he is not hasty, saying:

I have supplicated and supplicated but I have not been answered."

‘That he should know that help comes with patience, that relief comes after anxiety and distress, that after every petiod of difficulty there follows a period a period of ease.’

That he knows that no ptophet or one less than him was rewarded with a good end except as a result of his being patient.

And all praise and thanks are due to Allah, the Lord of Creation. To Him belongs praise and grace for guiding us to Islim and the Sunnah, a praise that would suffice His favours to us outwardly and inwardly, as in required for the nobility of His Face and might of His Magnificence. Abundant Peace and Blessings be upon our master, Muhammad (3), and upon his family, Companions, his wives - the mothers of the believers, and all those that follow them in good until the Day of Judgement.

* The Prophet (3g) said, ‘indeed it is a treasure from the treasures of paradise.’ Reported by al-Bukhati and Muslim from the hadith of Aba Masa al-Ash‘ari.

® Reported by Muslim

° A hasan hadith reported by Ahmad and at-Titmidhi from the fadith of Ibn “Abbas

May Allah have mercy upon him

His Name:

He is the Imam, the Hafiz, the exegete, the legal jurist, Shaykh al-Islam: Abia ‘Abdullah Shamsu-d-Din Muhammad Ibn Aba Bakr - better known as Ibn al-Qayyim.

His Birth and Education:

He was born into a noble and knowledgeable family on 7° Safar 691H in the village of Zar’, near Damascus, Syria.

From an early age he set about acquiring knowledge of the Islamic sciences from the scholars of his time. Describing his desire for knowledge, al-Hafiz Ibn Rajab, Dhay/ Tabagat-lHlanabilah [4/449] said, ‘He had an intense love for knowledge, for books, publications and writings.’

Ibn Kathir, a/Bidayah wa-n-Nihayah [14/235] said, ‘He acquired

from such books what others could not acquire, and he developed a deep understanding of the books of the Salaf and

Lon Qayyim al-Jawziyyah

of the Khalaf’ His Teachers and Shaykhs:

They include Shihab an-Nablusi, Qadi Taqi ad-Din ibn Sulayman, from whom he studied hadith; Qadi Badr ad-Din ibn Jama‘ah; Safi ad-Din al-Hindi; Isma‘il ibn Muhammad al-Harrani, from whom he studied figh and usil; and also his father, from whom he learnt the laws of inheritance.

However, the most notable of his teachers was Shaykh al- \slim Ibn Taymiyyah, whom he accompanied and studied under for sixteen years. Al-Hafiz Ibn Kathir (14/234) said, ‘He attained great proficiency in many branches of knowledge; particularly knowledge of tafsir, hadith, and usil. When shaykh Taqi adDin ibn Taymiyyah returned from Egypt in the year 712H, he stayed with the shaykh until he died; learning a great deal of knowledge from him, along with the knowledge that he had already occupied himself in attaining, So he became a unique scholar in many branches of knowledge.’

His Manners and Worship:

Many of his students and contemporaries have born witness to his excellent character and his manners of worship. Ibn Rajab (4/450) said,

He - may Allah have mercy on him - was constant in worship and performing the night prayer, reaching the limits in lengthening his prayer and devotion. He was constantly in a state of dhikr and had an intense love for Allah. He also had a deep love for turning to Allah in repentance, humbling himself to Him with a deep sense of humility and

helplessness. He would throw himself at the doors of Divine obedience and servitude. Indeed, I have not seen the likes of him with regards to such matters.

Tbn Kathir (14/234) said,

He was constant in humbly entreating and calling upon his Lord. He recited well and had fine manners. He had a great deal of love and did not harbour any envy or malice towards anyone, nor did he seek to harm or find fault with them. I was one of those who most often kept company with him and was one of the most beloved of people to him. I do not know of anyone in the world in this time, who is a greater worshipper than him. His prayer used to be very lengthy, with prolonged bowing and prostrations. His colleagues would criticise him for this, yet he never retorted back, nor did he abandon this practice. May Allah bestow His mercy upon him.

His Students and Works:

Amongst his most prominent students were: Ibn Kathir (d.774H), adh-Dhahabi (d.748H), Ibn Rajab (d.751H) and Ibn ‘Abdu-l-Hadi (d.744H), as well as two of his sons, Ibrahim and Sharafu-d-Din ‘Abdullah.

Ibnu-l-Qayyim authored over sixty works. His books and writings are characterised by their touching address to the heart and soul, as well as their accuracy, precision, strength of argument and depth of research.

In the field of fiqh and usil, his writings include: [‘/imu-/-

Muwaqqihin; Turngu-l-Lukmiyyah; [ghathatu-l-Lahfan; Tubfatu-lMawlud; Abkam Ablu-l-Dhimmak, and al-Furisiyyah.

lbu Qayyim al-Jawziyyah

In the field of hadith and seerah they include: Tahdhib Sunan Abi Dawnd, al-Manaru-l-Munif, Fawd'id al-Aadithiyyah; Jala’u-LAfham; and Zadu-l-Ma‘ad.

In the field of beliefs: Jittmad‘ al-Juyash al-lslamiyyah; as-Sawd‘igu- /-Mursalah;

Sbifa'u-lAlil; Hadiyu-l-Arwah; al-Kafiyatu-sh-Shafiyak, and Kitab arRah.

In the field of akhlaq (morals) and tazkiyah (purification): Madariju-s-Salikin; ad-D@ wa-d-Dawa’, al-Wabilu-s-Sayyib; al-Faw@id; Risalatu-t-Tabukiyyah; Miftah Dar as-Sa‘adah, and ‘Uddatu-s-Sabirin.

In the sciences of the Qur'an: at-Tibyan fi Agsami-l_Quran, and Armthal al-Qur’an,

In language and miscellaneous issues: Bada’i al-Fawa’td.

Two books have also been written collating the exegetical comments of ibn al-Qayyim from his various works: Zaftir al Qayyinr and Tafsir al-Munir.

A few of his works have also been translated into the English

language: the Magnificent Journey; the Invocation of God, Medicine of the Prophet; 2d a/-Ma'‘ad.

Statements of the Scholars about him: Ibn Rajab (4/44) said,

He had deep knowledge concerning tafsir and the fundamentals of the religion, reaching the highest degree concerning them both. Similar was the case

in the field of hadith, with regards to understanding its meanings, subtleties and deducing rulings from them. Likewise was the case in the field of figh and its usul, as well as the Arabic language. He did a great service to these sciences. He was also knowledgeable about rhetoric, grammar, and slik as well as the subtleties and details that occur in the speech of the people of tasanwuf.

Al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar, ad-Duraru-l-Kaminah (4/21),

He possessed a courageous spirit as well as vast and comprehensive knowledge. He had deep knowledge concerning the differences of opinions of the Scholars and about the ways of the Salaf.

Ibn Hajar also said in his commendation to ar-Raddu-l-Wafir,

And if there were no virtues of shaykh Taqi ad-Din [Ibn Taymiyyah], except for his famous student, shaykh Shamsu-d-Din Ibn al-Qayyim - the author of many works, which both his opponents and supporters benefited from - this would be a sufficient indication of his [Ibn Taymiyyah’s] great position.