Part 1

Translated by Salman Hassan Al-Ani Shadia Ahmad Tel

Translated and edited with introduction and notes by Salman Hassan Al-Ani Shadia Ahmad Tel

Islamic Book Trust Kuala Lumpur

First published 1999 Iman Publishing House, Indiana, U.S.A.

This Malaysian edition 2009 Islamic Book Trust

46000 Petaling Jaya Selangor, Malaysia

Perpustakaan Negara Malaysia Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

Tbn Taymiy yah, Ahmad ibn ‘Abd. al-IIalim, 1263-1328. Book of Faith ; kitab al-Iman / by (bn Taymiyyah; translated and edited with introduction and notes by Salman Hassan Al-Ani. Shadia Ahmad Tel. Includes inde: Bibliography: p. 444 1. Faith (Islam)--Early works to 1800. 1. Salman Hassan Al-Ani. Tl. Shadia Ahmad Tel. UL. ‘Title.

This edition is not for sale in the United States of America.

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To the Memory of Our Beloved Parents

Major Concepts and Themes of Kitab Al-Iman . 10.0.0... 020.000 9

Iman Is Both Saying and Work 2.2.20... 0.0.02 e eee eee eee 10

Chapter Two: Adherence to the Words of Allah and His Messenger Dispute Concerning the Authenticity of Certain Hadiths .. The Consensus of the Believers Is Used as a Proof .. . Connotation of the Book, the Sunnah and Ijma‘ as One . Some of the Signs of Iman .. The Relationship Between Obedience and Disobedience With Regard toIman 2.0.0.0... 2.00.00. eee eee 56

Chapter Three: The Meanings of The Terms Unbelief, Hypocrisy

Chapter Four: The Meanings of the Terms Righteous, the Witness

Chapter Seven: The Meanings of the Terms Righteousness and Corruption .... 0.0... cece cence eee eens 94

Chapter Nine: The Ash‘arites’ and Other Sects’ Opinion of Iman and

Chapter Twelve: The Meaning of Conditioned Iman When Associated

The Invalidity of the Idea That Iman Is Mere Assent

Oflbn Salah oo... eects

It is with pleasure and gratitude to acknowledge those who rendered assistance throughout the lengthy process of translating Kitab al-/man. The first draft was completed when Dr. Shadia A. Tel spent the 1992/1993 academic year at Indiana University as a visiting Fulbright scholar. Since then several revisions have been made. Indiana University encouraged and supported this project through small grants from the Departments of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, Middle Eastern Studies, and the Research University Graduate School.

We are deeply grateful to many of the people who assisted with this translation. Atika Ahmad al-Te! and Nawaf Obeidat from Irbid, Jordan who helped with the first draft: Dr. Sherman Jackson who read part of the manuscript and provided some materials on Kitab al-[man; Dr. Abdulrahman al-Shamrani who read a portion of the translation and made valuable comments; Fahd bin Salmeh and Said al-Ghailani who both supplied copies of Kitab al-Iman; Dr. Janet Powell Yedes, Lynne Thornton and John Erickson for editing and offering important improvements and suggestions. We are especially indebted to Nancy R. Roberts for the inestimable time she spent working on revision, editing, and rendering a translation of certain portions of the manuscript. It is noted here that the translators assume full responsibility for the material in this translation.

A special thanks goes to Umm Dawid who labored faithfully for many long months typing. editing and correcting the manuscript. Two of the largest and most time consuming tasks were formulating the camera-ready copy and the indices. These tasks were handled skillfully and professionally by Abu Abdullah (Salim S. Al-Ani).

lbn Taymiyyah and Kitab Al-Iman

This volume is the first complete English translation of the important and wellknown Kitab al-Iman by the renowned thirteenth-century Muslim scholar Ibn Taymiyyah. The Book of Faith was an attempt to explain the concept of Iman which, throughout its history, has been one of the cornerstone aspects of Islam. Iman has served to define the nature of Muslim life and the essence of the religion as a whole. During Ibn Taymiyyah’s lifetime, and for a few centuries before, the concept of Iman became a major point of controversy among rival Islamic sects, each of which advocated their own interpretation of its nature. Ibn Taymiyyah’s own deep conviction and understanding of this concept is based on the true interpretation of the Qur’an, hadith, sayings and deeds of the Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him (pbuh) and the conduct of the pious ancestors of the first three Islamic centuries. Throughout history the concept of Iman developed into a major undertaking theologically, linguistically, and even politically. From the beginning Ibn Taymiyyah stated that he did not want to be involved in the dispute concerning the concept of Iman that was raised and discussed by the various Islamic sects. This introduction intends to give a brief and precise biography of Ibn Taymiyyah to highlight the principle ideas presented in Kitab al-Iman, and to identify its various recensions.

IBN TAYMIYYAH: His LIFE AND CHARACTER

Ibn Taymiyyah (Taqi al-Din Abu al-‘Abbas Ahmad Ibn ‘Abd al-Halim Ibn Taymiyyah)! was born in Harran, Syria on 10 Rabi‘I 661/22 January 1263. When

' There are two references that attempt to explain the name Taymiyyah. Muhammad Ibn Ahmad Tbn ‘Abd al-Hadi al-Hanbali, in his book a/-‘Ugiid al-Durriyyah, Cairo, 1983, mentioned that the great grandfather of Ibn Taymiyyah, Muhammad Ibn al-Khidir, stopped at Tayma‘ in

he was about six years old, his family fled to Damascus as the Mongols were preparing to invade his home town Harran. The family traveled at night with their bare essentials, mostly books, and hid during the day. His father, Shihab al-Din Abu al-Mahisin ‘Abd al-Halim (d. 682/1283), was a learned man from a family that was long recognized as a house of learning and that traditionally belonged to the Hanbali Madhab, school of law. Upon arriving in Damascus his father established himself as a respectable scholar and later became the Shaykh of hadith studies at the renowned Sukkariyyah Madrasah, school, where he resided with his son, Taqi al-Din. In addition to his father, Ibn Taymiyyah’s teachers included Shams al-Din ‘Abd al-Rahman al-Maqdisi (d. 682/1283), who was the first Hanbali to hold the prestigious position of Qadi al-Qudat, chief judge, in Syria.

The young Ibn Taymiyyah was blessed with a sharp memory and acute intelligence “as if Allah had bestowed upon him the gift of fast and lasting memorization.”’Ata very early age he memorized the Qur’an; he also studied and memorized large portions of hadith with his father, who specialized in the subject. Among the books of hadith he studied were the two Sahihs of al-Bukhari and Muslim as well as other major collections, such as the Musnad of Ahmad Ibn Hanbal. He also thoroughly studied the Hanbali Madhab and the doctrines of other schools of jurisprudence. One subject in which he was especially interested was the Arabic language, focusing on both prose and poetry. In addition, he was guided by Sibawayh’s al-Kitab and also studied tafsir, interpretation, of the Qur?an. Although he was particularly interested in the history and opinions of the pious ancestors, especially those of the first four Orthodox Caliphs, he also studied such diverse subjects as mathematics, Sufism, and different Islamic sects.

northwest Arabia on his way to pilgrimage. There he saw a baby girl. When he returned home he found his wife had given birth to a baby girl and he said: "Ya Taymiyyah, Ya Taymiyyah,” Oh Taymiyyah, Oh Taymiyyah, thus the great grandfather received the nickname Taymiyyah. According to Ibn al-Najjar, another explanation of the name (on page 4 of the same book), is that the great grandfather’s mother’s name was Taymiyyah. She was an elderly pious woman and thus the family was named after her. The same information is related in a footnote by Muhammad Abu Zahrah in his book [bn Taymiyyah: His Life and Times (17). Reference will be made to this book throughout the text as Abu Zahrah.

“Umar Ibn ‘Ali al-Bazzar, al-A lam al-‘Aliyyah fi Managib Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah,(alA‘lam), edited by Salah al-Din al-Munaijid, Beirut, 1976, p. 22.

IBN TAYMIYYAH AND KITAB AL-IMAN 3

Those early intellectual pursuits contributed a great deal to his future lectures and writings.’

Ibn Taymiyyah remained close to the members of his immediate family, and his father continued to be his mentor and teacher until his death. He was kind to his mother, Sitt al-Mun‘im bint ‘Abd al-Rahman al-Harraniyyah, who was known for her piety, and lived a long life after the death of her husband. She died in 716/1316. Ibn Taymiyyah’s affection for his mother is evidenced by several endearing letters that he wrote to her while in Egypt. Her influence over her son lasted throughout her long life.‘ Ibn Taymiyyah’s brothers were also learned scholars and remained close to him, especially during his several mihan, trials. When he was in prison, in both Cairo and Damascus, one brother was always there to take care of him.

After his father’s death, Ibn Taymiyyah, at the age of twenty-two, assumed the respected teaching position formerly held by his father at the Sukkariyyah Madrasah. Among those present at his first lesson at this renowned center of learning were notable scholars such as the chief Qadi, Ibn al-Zaki al-Shafi‘l, and Shaykh Taj al-Din al-Fazari, who was so impressed by the content and delivery of Ibn Taymiyyah’s lesson that he recorded it in his own handwriting. From this young age until his death, Ibn Taymiyyah’s scholarly contributions continued to grow and resulted in numerous books and treatises. Many consider Ibn Taymiyyah as the second most famous Hanbali theologian and jurisconsult after Imam Ahmad Ibn Hanbal (d. 241/855), the founder of the Hanbali Madhab, school of law.’ During his lifetime Ibn Taymiyyah adhered so strongly to his views and

> See Abu Zahrah, pp. 20-28; al-Bazzar, pp. 21-22; and Victor E. Makati, /bn Taymiyyah's Ethics: The Social Factor, Chico, California: Scholars Press, 1983, pp. 21-29.

* Henri Laoust, "Ibn Taymiyyah’s Academic Life and His Thoughts” (in Arabic), Mahrajan, in Usbii‘al-Figh al-Islami, p. 832.

* The basic sources used in this work for the background of the life and character of Ibn Taymiyyah are the following: Muhammad Abu Zahrah’s /on Taymiyyah; Mahrajan in Usbut alFigh al-Islami; Muhammad Ibn Ahmad Ibn ‘Abd al-Hadi al-Hanbali’s al-‘Ugid al-Durriyyah min Manaqib Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (al-‘Ugiid); H. Laoust’s Essai sur les doctrines sociales et politiques de Taki-D-Din Ahmad Ibn Taimi a, Cairo, 1939; also Laoust in Encyclopedia o f Islam, 2d ed., Leiden, Brill (EI.2), vol. 3, pp. 951-55; “Umar Ibn “Ali alBazzar’s al-A‘lam al-‘Aliyyah fi Managib Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah,(al-A‘lam) edited by Salah al-Din al-Munajjad, Beirut, 1976; and Ibn Kathir’s al-Bidayah wal-Nihayah fi al-Tari kh (al-Bidayah), vols. 13-14, Beirut, 1987. In addition, the introductions to the various copies of Kitab al-Iman were also utilized. A list of these books appears at the end of this introduction.