Ibn al-Qayyim
Encyclopedia
Muhammad ibn Abu Bakr
(1292-1350CE / 691 AH- 751 AH) was a Sunni Islamic jurist
Faqih
A Faqīh is an expert in fiqh, or, Islamic jurisprudence.A faqih is an expert in Islamic Law, and, as such, the word Faqih can literally be generally translated as Jurist.- The definition of Fiqh and its relation to the Faqih:...

, commentator
Tafsir
Tafseer is the Arabic word for exegesis or commentary, usually of the Qur'an. Ta'wīl is a subset of tafsir and refers to esoteric or mystical interpretation. An author of tafsir is a mufassir .- Etymology :...

 on the Qur'an
Qur'an
The Quran , also transliterated Qur'an, Koran, Alcoran, Qur’ān, Coran, Kuran, and al-Qur’ān, is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God . It is regarded widely as the finest piece of literature in the Arabic language...

, astronomer
Islamic astronomy
Islamic astronomy or Arabic astronomy comprises the astronomical developments made in the Islamic world, particularly during the Islamic Golden Age , and mostly written in the Arabic language. These developments mostly took place in the Middle East, Central Asia, Al-Andalus, and North Africa, and...

, chemist, philosopher
Islamic philosophy
Islamic philosophy is a branch of Islamic studies. It is the continuous search for Hekma in the light of Islamic view of life, universe, ethics, society, and so on...

, psychologist, scientist
Islamic science
Science in the medieval Islamic world, also known as Islamic science or Arabic science, is the science developed and practised in the Islamic world during the Islamic Golden Age . During this time, Indian, Iranian and especially Greek knowledge was translated into Arabic...

 and theologian
Kalam
ʿIlm al-Kalām is the Islamic philosophical discipline of seeking theological principles through dialectic. Kalām in Islamic practice relates to the discipline of seeking theological knowledge through debate and argument. A scholar of kalām is referred to as a mutakallim...

. Although he is sometimes referred to as "the scholar of the heart," given his extensive works pertaining to human behavior and ethics
Islamic ethics
Islamic ethics , defined as "good character," historically took shape gradually from the 7th century and was finally established by the 11th century...

, Ibn Qayyim's scholarship was focused on the sciences of Hadith
Science of hadith
Hadith studies are a number of religious disciplines used in the study and evaluation of the Islamic hadith by Muslim scholars. It has been described by one hadith specialist, Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti, as the science of the principles by which the conditions of both the sanad, the chain of...

 and Fiqh
Fiqh
Fiqh is Islamic jurisprudence. Fiqh is an expansion of the code of conduct expounded in the Quran, often supplemented by tradition and implemented by the rulings and interpretations of Islamic jurists....

.

Name

Full name:
Title Honorific Father of Son's name His name Son of Father's name Son of Grandfather's name Country Madhhab
Madhhab
is a Muslim school of law or fiqh . In the first 150 years of Islam, there were many such "schools". In fact, several of the Sahābah, or contemporary "companions" of Muhammad, are credited with founding their own...

Imam
Imam
An imam is an Islamic leadership position, often the worship leader of a mosque and the Muslim community. Similar to spiritual leaders, the imam is the one who leads Islamic worship services. More often, the community turns to the mosque imam if they have a religious question...

Shams-al-Din
Shams-al-Din
Shams al-Din is a Muslim name, meaning "Sun of the faith". It may refer to:*Muhammad ibn Ahmad Shams al-Din al-Muqaddasi , Arab geographer*Shams al-Din Muhammad bin Ali, or Suzani Samarqandi , Persian poet...

Abu Abd-Allah Muhammad
Muhammad (name)
Muhammad was a prophet and an Arabic religious and political leader who preached and established Islam.Muhammad may also refer to:*Muhammad , listing people with the given name or surname Muhammad...

ibn Abi Bakr
Abu Bakr (name)
Abu Bakr Other transliterations include Abu Bakar, Abubakar or Abu Bekr. Abu Bakr was according to sunni Muslims, the Prophet Muhammad's best friend who helped him with every thing....

ibn Sa'd
Arabic name
Long ago, Arabic names were based on a long naming system; most Arabs did not simply have given/middle/family names, but a full chain of names. This system was in use throughout the Arab world. Today however, Arabic names are similar in structure to those of Modern and Western names...

al-Dimashqi
Damascus
Damascus , commonly known in Syria as Al Sham , and as the City of Jasmine , is the capital and the second largest city of Syria after Aleppo, both are part of the country's 14 governorates. In addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major...

al-Hanbali
Hanbali
The Hanbali school is one the schools of Fiqh or religious law within Sunni Islam. The jurisprudence school traces back to Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal but was institutionalized by his students. Hanbali jurisprudence is considered very strict and conservative, especially regarding questions of dogma...

al-Zar'i Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah


In correct order:

He is Muhammad Ibn Abi Bakr (محمد بن أبي بکر), son of Ayyub, son of Sa'd al-Zar'i, al-Dimashqi (الدمشقي), patronymed as Abu Abdullah Shamsu-Deen (أبو عبد الله شمس الدین), and known as Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah, named after his father who was an attendant (qayyim) at a local school named Al-Jawziyyah.

Birth and education

Ibn Qayyim was born on the 7th of the Islamic month Safar in the year 691 A.H. (circa Feb. 4, 1292) in the village of Izra' in Hauran
Hauran
Hauran, , also spelled Hawran or Houran, is a volcanic plateau, a geographic area and a people located in southwestern Syria and extending into the northwestern corner of Jordan. It gets its name from the Aramaic Hawran, meaning "cave land." In geographic and geomorphic terms, its boundaries...

, near Damascus
Damascus
Damascus , commonly known in Syria as Al Sham , and as the City of Jasmine , is the capital and the second largest city of Syria after Aleppo, both are part of the country's 14 governorates. In addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major...

, Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....

. There is little known of his childhood except that he received a comprehensive Islamic education from his father, centered around Islamic jurisprudence, Islamic theology
Islamic theology
Islamic theology is a branch of Islamic studies regarding the beliefs associated with the Islamic faith. Any religious belief system, or creed, can be considered an example of aqidah. However, this term has taken a significant technical usage in Islamic history and theology, denoting those...

, and Ulum al-Hadith (lit. the science of Hadith) From an early age, he was interested in the field of Islamic sciences, learning from the scholars of his time . He studied under his father who was a principal at of the Madrasah al-Jawziyyah (lit. the Jawziyyah school) one of the few centres devoted to Hanbali
Hanbali
The Hanbali school is one the schools of Fiqh or religious law within Sunni Islam. The jurisprudence school traces back to Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal but was institutionalized by his students. Hanbali jurisprudence is considered very strict and conservative, especially regarding questions of dogma...

 school of thought in Damascus
Damascus
Damascus , commonly known in Syria as Al Sham , and as the City of Jasmine , is the capital and the second largest city of Syria after Aleppo, both are part of the country's 14 governorates. In addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major...

, and thereafter pursued his quest for knowledge, studying the works and teachings of scholars known in his time.

The Islamic scholar Ibn Kathir
Ibn Kathir
Ismail ibn Kathir was a Muslim muhaddith, Faqih, historian, and commentator.-Biography:His full name was Abu Al-Fida, 'Imad Ad-Din, Isma'il bin 'Umar bin Kathir, Al-Qurashi, Al-Busrawi...

 described Ibn Qayyim's desire for knowledge in his famous work Al-Bidayah wa al-Nihayah:

Teachers

Ibn Qayyim's teachers included his father, Abu Bakr, Shihaab al-'Abir, Taqiyyud-Deen Sulaymaan, Safiyyud-Deen al-Hindee, Ismaa'eel Ibn Muhammad al-Harraanee. However, the most notable of his teachers was Ibn Taymiyyah, whom he accompanied and studied under for sixteen years.

In eulogizing Ibn Qayyim, Al-Hafidh Ibn Kathir
Ibn Kathir
Ismail ibn Kathir was a Muslim muhaddith, Faqih, historian, and commentator.-Biography:His full name was Abu Al-Fida, 'Imad Ad-Din, Isma'il bin 'Umar bin Kathir, Al-Qurashi, Al-Busrawi...

 stated:

Manners and worship

Many of Ibn Qayyim's students and contemporaries have bore witness to his manners of worship. For instance, Al-Hafidh Ibn Rajab
Ibn Rajab
Zain ad-Din, Abu al-Faraj, 'Abd ar-Rahman ibn Ahmad ibn 'Abd ar-Rahman ibn al-Hasan ibn Muhammad ibn Abi al-Barakat Mas'ud as-Sulami, al-Baghdadi, al-Hanbali, also known as Ibn Rajab, which was a nickname he inherited from his grandfather who was born the month of Rajab, was a Muslim...

 emphasized :

Additionally, Ibn Kathir
Ibn Kathir
Ismail ibn Kathir was a Muslim muhaddith, Faqih, historian, and commentator.-Biography:His full name was Abu Al-Fida, 'Imad Ad-Din, Isma'il bin 'Umar bin Kathir, Al-Qurashi, Al-Busrawi...

 stated that Ibn Qayyim :

Disciple of Sheikh ul Islam Ibn Taymiyah

Ibn Qayyim ultimately joined the study circle of the Muslim scholar Sheikh ul-Islam
Sheikh ul-Islam
Shaykh al-Islām is a title of superior authority in the issues of Islam....

 Taqiyyu-Deen Ahmad Ibn Taymiyah, 661H – 728H (1263–1328), who kept him in his company as his closest student, disciple and his successor. Ibn Qayyim was fervent in his devotion to Islam, and he was a loyal student and disciple of Ibn Taymiyah. He defended his religious opinions and approaches, and he compiled and edited most of his works, and taught the same.

Because of their views, both the teacher and the student were persecuted, tortured by tyrannic rulers, and humiliated in public by the local authorities, as they were imprisoned in a single cell in the central prison of Damascus, known today as al-Qala.

Following the Death of Ibn Taymiyah

When Ibn Taymiyyah died, Ibn Qayyim was freed and subsequently furthered his studies, holding study circles and classes. He taught Islamic Jurisprudence at al-Sadriyya school in Damascus, before he held the position of the Imam of the Jawziyyah school. Most of his writings were compilations, although he authored several books and manuscripts with his own handwriting which are preserved in the central Library of Damascus.

Among the renowned Muslim scholars who studied under him, include Ibn 'Abd al-Haadi (d. 744H), al-Fayruz Aabadi (d. 817H), Ibn Rajab
Ibn Rajab
Zain ad-Din, Abu al-Faraj, 'Abd ar-Rahman ibn Ahmad ibn 'Abd ar-Rahman ibn al-Hasan ibn Muhammad ibn Abi al-Barakat Mas'ud as-Sulami, al-Baghdadi, al-Hanbali, also known as Ibn Rajab, which was a nickname he inherited from his grandfather who was born the month of Rajab, was a Muslim...

 (d. 795H), Ibn Kathir
Ibn Kathir
Ismail ibn Kathir was a Muslim muhaddith, Faqih, historian, and commentator.-Biography:His full name was Abu Al-Fida, 'Imad Ad-Din, Isma'il bin 'Umar bin Kathir, Al-Qurashi, Al-Busrawi...

, and others who frequented his circles.

In praising his teacher, Ibn Kathir stated :

Ibn Qayyim catered to all the branches of Islamic science, and was particularly known and commended for his commentaries. Ibn Rajab spoke of his teacher, noting :

Spiritual Life

Imam Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah was an avid and a resolute worshipper. He devoted long hours to his supererogatory nightly prayers, and was in a constant state of remembrance (dhikr
Dhikr
Dhikr , plural ; ), is an Islamic devotional act, typically involving the repetition of the Names of God, supplications or formulas taken from hadith texts and verses of the Qur'an. Dhikr is usually done individually, but in some Sufi orders it is instituted as a ceremonial activity...

 ذکر), as he was known for his extended prostrations. During Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah's imprisonment in al-Qal'a prison in Damascus, he was constantly reading the Qur'an, and studying its meanings. Ibn Rajab noted that during that period of seclusion, he gained extensive spiritual success, as well as he developed a great analytical wisdom, knowledge, and understanding of the prophetic traditions.

Upon his release, he performed the pilgrimage to Makkah several times, and sometimes he stayed in Makkah for a prolonged period of devotion and circumambulation of the holy Ka'ba.

Death

Ibn Qayyim died at the age of sixty, on the 13th night of Rajab
Rajab
Rajab is the seventh month of the Islamic calendar. The lexical definition of Rajaba is "to respect", of which Rajab is a derivative.This month is regarded as one of the four sacred months in Islam in which battles are prohibited...

, 751 AH (c. September 23, 1350), and was buried besides his father at al-Saghīr Cemetery.

Natural sciences

Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah was also an astronomer
Islamic astronomy
Islamic astronomy or Arabic astronomy comprises the astronomical developments made in the Islamic world, particularly during the Islamic Golden Age , and mostly written in the Arabic language. These developments mostly took place in the Middle East, Central Asia, Al-Andalus, and North Africa, and...

 and chemist, and a critic of alchemy
Alchemy
Alchemy is an influential philosophical tradition whose early practitioners’ claims to profound powers were known from antiquity. The defining objectives of alchemy are varied; these include the creation of the fabled philosopher's stone possessing powers including the capability of turning base...

 and astrology. In his Miftah Dar al-SaCadah, he used empirical
Empirical
The word empirical denotes information gained by means of observation or experimentation. Empirical data are data produced by an experiment or observation....

 arguments in astronomy
Astronomy
Astronomy is a natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth...

 and chemistry
Chemistry
Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....

 in order to refute the practice of alchemy and astrology
Astrology
Astrology consists of a number of belief systems which hold that there is a relationship between astronomical phenomena and events in the human world...

 along with the theories associated with them, such as divination
Divination
Divination is the attempt to gain insight into a question or situation by way of an occultic standardized process or ritual...

 and the transmutation of metals
Philosopher's stone
The philosopher's stone is a legendary alchemical substance said to be capable of turning base metals into gold or silver. It was also sometimes believed to be an elixir of life, useful for rejuvenation and possibly for achieving immortality. For many centuries, it was the most sought-after goal...

.

He recognized that the star
Star
A star is a massive, luminous sphere of plasma held together by gravity. At the end of its lifetime, a star can also contain a proportion of degenerate matter. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun, which is the source of most of the energy on Earth...

s are much larger than the planet
Planet
A planet is a celestial body orbiting a star or stellar remnant that is massive enough to be rounded by its own gravity, is not massive enough to cause thermonuclear fusion, and has cleared its neighbouring region of planetesimals.The term planet is ancient, with ties to history, science,...

s, and thus argued:
He also recognized the Milky Way
Milky Way
The Milky Way is the galaxy that contains the Solar System. This name derives from its appearance as a dim un-resolved "milky" glowing band arching across the night sky...

 galaxy
Galaxy
A galaxy is a massive, gravitationally bound system that consists of stars and stellar remnants, an interstellar medium of gas and dust, and an important but poorly understood component tentatively dubbed dark matter. The word galaxy is derived from the Greek galaxias , literally "milky", a...

 as "a myriad of tiny stars packed together in the sphere of the fixed stars" and thus argued that "it is certainly impossible to have knowledge of their influences."

Works

Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah's contributions to the Islamic library are extensive, and they particularly deal with the Qur'anic commentaries, and understanding and analysis of the prophetic traditions (Fiqh-us Sunnah) (فقه ):
  • Zad al-Ma'ad
    Zad al-Ma'ad
    Zad al-Ma'ad is a book, translated as Provisions of the Hereafter, written by Islamic scholar Ibn al-Qayyim.This is one of the best books written on the subject of seerat of prophet Mohammed....

     (Provision of the hereafter)
  • Al-Waabil Sayyib minal kalim tayyib
    Al-Wabil al-Sayyib
    al-Waabil as-Sayyib min al-Kalim at-Tayyib is a book by Islamic scholar Ibn Qayyim Al-Jawziyya .-Description:The book was written while a student of Ibn Taymiyyah as an explanation of the latter's book Kalim at-Tayyib...

     – a commentary on hadith about Prophet Yahya ibn Zakariyya.
  • I'laam ul Muwaqqi'een 'an Rabb il 'Aalameen
  • Tahthib Sunan Abi Da'ud
  • Madaarij Saalikeen which is a rearrangement of the book by Shaikh Abu Ismail al-Ansari al-Harawi al-Sufi, Manazil-u Sa'ireen (Stations of the Seekers);
  • Tafsir Mu'awwadhatain (Tafsir of Surah Falaq and Nas);
  • Fawā'id
  • Ad-Dā'i wa Dawā also known as Al Jawābul kāfi liman sa'ala 'an Dawā'i Shaafi
  • Haadi Arwah ila biladil Afrah
  • Uddat as-Sabirin wa Dhakhiratu ash-Shakirin
  • Ighadatu lahfan fi masayid shaytan
  • Rawdhatul Muhibbīn
  • Ahkām ahl al-dhimma"
  • Tuhfatul Mawdud bi Ahkam al-Mawlud
  • Miftah Dar As-Sa'adah
  • Jala al-afham fi fadhl salati ala khayral anam
  • Al-Manar al-Munif
  • Al-Tibb al-Nabawiya – a book on Prophetic Medicine (available in English as "The Prophetic Medicine" , printed by Dar al-Fikr in Beirut (Lebanon), or as "Healing with the Medicine of the Prophet (sal allahu `alayhi wa salim)" , printed by Darussalam Publications.
  • Al-Furusiyya
    Furusiyya
    is the historical Arabic term for knightly martial exercise during the Middle Ages, during the Crusades and Mamluk period in particular, especially concerned with medieval Islamic martial arts and equestrianism...


Students and intellectual heirs

Amongst his most prominent students were: Ibn Kathir
Ibn Kathir
Ismail ibn Kathir was a Muslim muhaddith, Faqih, historian, and commentator.-Biography:His full name was Abu Al-Fida, 'Imad Ad-Din, Isma'il bin 'Umar bin Kathir, Al-Qurashi, Al-Busrawi...

 (d. 774H or c. 1373), Al-Dhahabi
Al-Dhahabi
Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn `Uthman ibn Qaymaz ibn `Abd Allah, Shams al-Din Abu `Abd Allah al-Turkmani al-Diyarbakri al-Fariqi al-Dimashqi al-Dhahabi al-Shafi`i , known as Al-Dhahabi , a Shafi'i Muhaddith and historian of Islam.-Biography:...

 (d. 748H or c. 1347), Ibn Rajab
Ibn Rajab
Zain ad-Din, Abu al-Faraj, 'Abd ar-Rahman ibn Ahmad ibn 'Abd ar-Rahman ibn al-Hasan ibn Muhammad ibn Abi al-Barakat Mas'ud as-Sulami, al-Baghdadi, al-Hanbali, also known as Ibn Rajab, which was a nickname he inherited from his grandfather who was born the month of Rajab, was a Muslim...

 (d. 795H or c. 1393) and Ibn Abdul-Haadee (d. 744H or c. 1343), as well as two of his sons, Ibraaheem and Sharafud-Deen Abdullaah.

Sunni view

Testaments about Ibn Qayyim's comprehensive knowledge and firm adherence to the way of the Salaf
Salaf
A Salaf is an early Muslim of the first three generations of proponents of the religion.-First generation:* See: List of SahabaThe Salaf are the first generation of Muslims, which included Muhammad's companions and followers at the time....

 (Pious Predecessors) have been given by a number of Scholars. They include:
  • The famed scholar, Al-Haafidh Ibn Rajab
    Ibn Rajab
    Zain ad-Din, Abu al-Faraj, 'Abd ar-Rahman ibn Ahmad ibn 'Abd ar-Rahman ibn al-Hasan ibn Muhammad ibn Abi al-Barakat Mas'ud as-Sulami, al-Baghdadi, al-Hanbali, also known as Ibn Rajab, which was a nickname he inherited from his grandfather who was born the month of Rajab, was a Muslim...

     who noted that Ibn Qayyim :

  • The widely-known muhaddith, Al-Haafidh Ibn Hajar
    Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani
    Al-Haafidh Shihabuddin Abu'l-Fadl Ahmad ibn Ali ibn Muhammad, better known as Ibn Hajar due to the fame of his forefathers, al-Asqalani due to his family origin , was a medieval Shafiite Sunni scholar of Islam who represents the entire realm of the Sunni world in the field of Hadith...

    , stated that Ibn Qayyim :

  • The famous Egyptian
    Egyptians
    Egyptians are nation an ethnic group made up of Mediterranean North Africans, the indigenous people of Egypt.Egyptian identity is closely tied to geography. The population of Egypt is concentrated in the lower Nile Valley, the small strip of cultivable land stretching from the First Cataract to...

     scholar, Suyuti emphasized :

  • The notable Hanafi
    Hanafi
    The Hanafi school is one of the four Madhhab in jurisprudence within Sunni Islam. The Hanafi madhhab is named after the Persian scholar Abu Hanifa an-Nu‘man ibn Thābit , a Tabi‘i whose legal views were preserved primarily by his two most important disciples, Abu Yusuf and Muhammad al-Shaybani...

     scholar, Ali al-Qari
    Ali al-Qari
    -Legacy:One of the great Hanafi masters of hadith and Imams of fiqh, Qur'anic commentary, language, history and tasawwuf, he authored several great commentaries such as al-Mirqat on Mishkat al-masabih in several volumes, a two-volume commentary on Qadi `Iyad's al-Shifa', and a two-volume commentary...

    , stated :

External links

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