Ibn_Qayyim_Al-Jawziyya

Ibn Qayyim Al-Jawziyya

''Not to be confused with the other Islamic scholar Ibn al-Jawzi.

Ibn al-Qayyim (1292-1350CE / 691 AH- 751 AH) was a famous Sunni Islamic jurist, commentator on the Qur'an, astronomer, chemist, philosopher, psychologist, scientist and theologian. Although he is commonly referred to as "the scholar of the heart," given his extensive works pertaining to human behavior and ethics, Ibn al-Qaayim's scholarship focused in the sciences of Hadith and Fiqh.

Name

Full name :

Title	Honorific	Father of	Son's name	His name	Son of	Father's name	Son of	Grandfather's name	Country	Madhhab
Imam	Shams-al-Din	Abu	Abd-Allah	Muhammad	ibn	Abi Bakr	ibn	Sa'd	al-Dimashqi	al-Hanbali	al-Zur'i	Ibn al-Qayyim	al-Jawziyya

In correct order: شمس الدين محمد بن أبي بكر بن أيوب ،ابن القيم الجوزية ابن القيم

He is Muhammad Ibn Abi Bakr (محمد بن أبي بکر), son of Ayyoub, 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-Jawziyya.

Biography

Birth and education

Ibn al-Qayyim was born on the seventh of Safar in the year 691 AH (Feb. 4, 1292) in the village of Izra' in Hauran, near Damascus, Syria. From an early age, he set about acquiring knowledge of the Islamic sciences from the scholars of his time. He studied under his father, and thereafter pursued his quest for knowledge studying the works and teachings of scholars known in his time. His schooling centered around Islamic jurisprudence, theology, and the science of prophetic traditions.

In describing Ibn al-Qayyim's desire for knowledge, Al-Hafidh Ibn Rajab noted :

He had an intense love for knowledge and for books, publications and writings." Likewise, Ibn Kathir said in Al-Bidayah wa al-Nihayah (14/235): "He acquired from such books what others could not acquire, and he developed a deep understanding of the books of the Salaf (pious predecessors) and of the khalaf (those who came after the Salaf).

Teachers

Ibn al-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 Shaykhul-lslaam Ibn Taymiyyah, whom he accompanied and studied under for sixteen years.

In eulogizing Ibn al-Qayyim, Al-Haafidh Ibn Kathir stated:

He attained great proficiency in many branches of knowledge; particularly knowledge of tafsir, hadith, and usool. When Shaykh Taqiyyud-Deen Ibn Taymiyyah returned from Egypt in the year 712H (c. 1312), 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 single Scholar in many branches of knowledge.

Manners and worship

Many of Ibn al-Qayyim's students and contemporaries have bore witness to his manners of worship. For instance, Al-Haafidh Ibn Rajab emphasized :

He was constant in worship and performing tahajjud (the night Prayer), reaching the limits in lengthening his Salah (Prayer) and devotion. He was constantly in a state of dhikr (remembrance of Allah) 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.

Additionally, Ibn Kathir stated that Ibn al-Qayyim :

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 Salah used to be very lengthy, with prolonged Ruku' (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.

Disciple of Ibn Taymiyah

Ibn al-Qayyim ultimately joined the study circle of the Muslim scholar Sheikh ul-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 al-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 (d. 795H), Ibn Kathir, and others who frequented his circles.

In praising his teacher, Ibn Kathir stated :

He was most friendly and kindhearted, he never envied anyone, he never caused harm to anyone, he never bore prejudice against anyone, and I was the closest to his heart. Furthermore, I do not know anyone who is more devout in his worship than him in our time.

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 :

: "He was an accomplished scholar of Islamic science, and no one could rival him in his deep understanding of the Qur'an and prophetic saying, and his interpretations were unique in accuracy."
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 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 al-Qayyim died at the age of sixty, on the 13th night of Rajab, 751 AH (c. September 23, 1350), and was buried besides his father at al-Saghīr Cemetery.
Views

Sufism
He was known as a stern critic of Sufism and Sufis, even referring to them as "heretics" and those who leave off "enjoining the good" in his book Al-Wabil al-Sayyib.
Natural sciences
Ibn Qayyim Al-Jawziyya was also an astronomer and chemist, and a critic of alchemy and astrology. In his Miftah Dar al-SaCadah, he used empirical arguments in astronomy and chemistry in order to refute the practice of alchemy and astrology along with the theories associated with them, such as divination and the transmutation of metals.
He recognized that the stars are much larger than the planets, and thus argued:
{{quote|"And if you astrologers answer that it is precisely because of this distance and smallness that their influences are negligible, then why is it that you claim a great influence for the smallest heavenly body, Mercury? Why is it that you have given an influence to al-Ra's and al-Dhanab, which are two imaginary points [ascending and descending nodes]?"

He also recognized the Milky Way galaxy 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."

Legacy

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 (Provision of the hereafter)
Al-Waabil Sayyib minal kalim 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 Abdullah al-Ansari, 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
Uddatu Sabirin wa Dhakhiratu Shakirin
Ighadatu lahfan fi masayid shaytan
Rawdhatul Muhibbīn
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.

Students and intellectual heirs

Amongst his most prominent students were: Ibn Kathir (d. 774H or c. 1373), Al-Dhahabi (d. 748H or c. 1347), Ibn Rajab (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 al-Qayyim's comprehensive knowledge and firm adherence to the way of the Salaf (Pious Predecessors) have been given by a number of Scholars. They include:

The famed scholar, Al-Haafidh Ibn Rajab who noted that Ibn al-Qayyim :
Had deep knowledge concerning tafseer and 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 fiqh and its principles, as well as the Arabic language.

The widely-known muhaddith, Al-Haafidh Ibn Hajar, stated that Ibn al-Qayyim :
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.

The famous Egyptian scholar, Suyuti emphasized :
His books had no equal and he strove and traversed the path of the great Imams in (the field of) tafseer, hadith, fundamentals, branches and the Arabic language.
The notable Hanafi scholar, Ali al-Qari, stated :
It will be clear to whoever aspires to read the explanation of Manaazilus-Saa'ireen, that they (i.e. both Ibn Taymiyyah and Ibn Qayyim) are from the great ones of Ahl Al-Sunna Wal-Jamaa, and from the righteous of this Ummah.