Ibn Taymiyyah

494 Pages·2014·15.93 MB·English

I b n T a y m iy y a h
K I T A B A L - I M A N
BOOK OF FAITH
Translated by
Salman Hassan Al-Ani
Shadia Ahmad Tel
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KITAB AL-IMAN
Ibn Taymiyyah
K I T A B A L - I M A N
BOOK OF FAITH
Translated and edited with introduction and notes by
Salman Hassan Al-Ani
Shadia Ahmad Tel
IBT
Islamic Book Trust
Kuala Lumpur
Copyright © 2009 Iman Publishing House
All rights reserved. Wo part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any
means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise
without the prior permission of the publisher.
First published 1993
Iman Publishing House,
Indiana, L'.S.A.
This Malaysian edition 2009
Islamic Book Trust
607 Mutiara Majestic
Jalan Othman
46000 Petaling Java
Selangor, Malaysia
ii’U’W’.ibtbooks.i.tirn
Perpustakaan Wegara Malaysia Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
Ibn Taymiyyah, Ahmad ibn ‘Abd. al-IIalim, 1263-1328.
Book of Faith : kitab al-lman / by Ibn Taymiyyah; translated and
edited with introduction and notes by Salman Ilassan Al-Ani.
Shadia Ahmad Tel.
ISBN 978-967-5062-28-5
ISBN 978-967-5062-29-2 (pbk.)
Includes index
Bibliography: p. 444
I, Paith (Islam)—Early works to 1800. 1. Salman blassan Al-Ani.
II. Shadia Ahmad Tel. 111. Title.
297.22
This edition is not for sale in the United States of America,
Printed in Mulaysia by
Vinlin Press Sdn Bhd
2, Jalan Meranti Permai 1
Mcranti Permai Industrial Park
47100 Puchong, Selangor,
To the Memory of
Our Beloved Parents
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments............................................................................................ xii
Introduction: Ibn Taymiyyah and Kitab Al-lman............................................ 1
lbn Taymiyyah: His Life and Character.................................................... 1
The Mihan, Trials, of Ibn Taymiyyah ...................................................... 4
The Objectives of Kitab Al-lman ............................................................ 7
Major Concepts and Themes of Kitab Al-lman ...................................... 9
The Concepts of Iman, Islam, and Ihsan ............................................ 9
Iman Is Both Saying and Work ........................................................ 10
The Increase and Decrease of Iman .................................................. 11
Literal and Figurative Meanings........................................................ 12
The Semantic Theory of Absolute and Conditioned ....................... 14
The Concept of Exception................................................................... 14
Editions of Kitab Al-lman ....................................................................... 15
Chapter One: The Difference Between Iman, Islam, and Ihsan................... 18
The Three Ranks of Religion: Islam, Iman and Ihsan....................... 20
Explicit Deeds Are Part of Iman ........................................................ 23
Iman and Islam as Cited in the Qur’an .............................................. 27
Chapter Two: Adherence to the Words of Allah and His Messenger ........ 48
Dispute Concerning the Authenticity of Certain Hadiths................. 48
The Consensus of the Believers Is Used as a Proof ......................... 53
Connotation of the Book, the Sunnah and Ijmac as One................... 54
Some of the Signs of Iman ................................................................. 55
The Relationship Between Obedience and Disobedience
With Regard to Iman ..................................................................... 56
Chapter Three: The Meanings of The Terms Unbelief, Hypocrisy
and Polytheism ............................................................................................ 65
viii CONTENTS
Chapter Four: The Meanings of the Terms Righteous, the Witness
and the Sincere ........................................................................................... 70
Chapter Five: The Meanings of Disobedience, Sin and Unbelief................. 72
Chapter Six: Wrong: its’Kind and Meaning ................................................ 75
Chapter Seven: The Meanings of the Terms Righteousness
and Corruption ........................................................................................... 94
Chapter Eight: Literal Meaning and Figurative Meaning............................. 98
Chapter Nine: The AslTarites’ and Other Sects’ Opinion of Iman and
a Refutation by the Author ..................................................................... 132
The Ash'arites’ Opinion of lman as Stated by Al-BaqillanI ........ 133
The Reply of Orthodox Muslims to the Ash'arites......................... 134
Ibn Taymiyyah’s Refutation of the Ash'arites’ Opinion................. 135
Chapter Ten: The Opinion of Al-Baqillan! On Iman and Islam ................. 165
Chapter Eleven: Absolute Iman Requires Works........................................ 170
Chapter Twelve: The Meaning of Conditioned Iman When Associated
with Other Terms ..................................................................................... 172
Chapter Thirteen: Association of Words and Phrases ............................... 182
Chapter Fourteen: Connotations of Absolute Iman .................................... 189
Chapter Fifteen: Attributes and Terms With Specific Connotations ........ 195
The Invalidity of the Idea That Iman Is Mere Assent
And Knowledge of the Heart ........................................................ 198
The Two Basic Errors of the Murji’ites.............................................. 200
The Murji’ites Opinion of Iman............................................................ 203
The Murjrites Errors in Understanding Iman .................................... 204
CONTENTS IX
Chapter Sixteen: The Murjrites’ Views on Iman, Works and Religion ... 213
The Murjrites’ Views on Works:
Are They Part of Iman or Religion? .............................................. 216
Judgement Concerning the Hypocrite
Who Conceals His Atheism .......................................................... 219
Chapter Seventeen: Iman Either Increases or Diminishes ......................... 230
Chapter Eighteen: Aspects of Increasing Iman............................................ 239
Chapter Nineteen: Iman and Islam and the Difference Between Them . . . 244
Chapter Twenty: Understanding Iman and Islam:
Interpreted by the Messenger As the Ultimate Authority................... 286
Chapter Twenty-One: The Difference Between the Five Pillars of Islam
and Other Duties................................................................................... 312
Chapter Twenty-Two: The Concept of Iman and Related Issues ............... 315
The Association of Belief with Work................................................ 315
Unbelief in Allah’s Grace and the Unbelief of Polytheism ............. 321
The Two Kinds of Wrong................................................................... 325
The Two Kinds of Sin......................................................................... 326
The Opinion of Abu Talib Al-MakkI on Islam and Iman ............... 329
The Response to Abu Talib Al-Makk! for Not Making a Clear
Distinction Between Iman and Islam .......................................... 333
Ranking People with Regard to Iman and All Acts of Obedience . . 336
Response to the View of Abu Talib Al-Makk! ............................... 340
Further Differences Between Islam and Iman ................................. 343
Further Aspects That Differentiate Between Islam and Iman ........ 345
Can an Individual Have Both Iman and Hypocrisy? ....................... 347
The Necessity of Going Back to the Book and the Sunnah
To Clarify the Meanings of Iman and Islam ............................... 350
The Opinion of Ibn Salah Concerning Iman and Islam ................... 353
The Opinion of the Author Concerning the Statement
Of Ibn Salah ................................................................................. 354
X CONTENTS
Al-MarwazI Does Not Differentiate Between Islam and Iman .... 355
Explaining the View of Al-MarwazT and Responding to It ............. 356
People’s Levels With Respect to Iman and Islam ........................... 358
Abu 'Abd Allah Ibn Hamid Explains the Views of Muslim Scholars
Concerning Iman and Islam ........................................................ 359
The Reply to Those Who Do Not Differentiate Between
Iman and Islam ............................................................................. 365
Discussion of Predestination ............................................................. 370
The Opinion of Abu Thawr on Iman ................................................ 376
The Response to the Views of Abu Thawr Concerning Iman ........ 377
The Letter of Imam Ahmad Ibn Hanbal to Al-JuzjanI
On the Question of Iman ............................................................... 378
The Views of the MurjPites, the Kullabites and the Karramites
On Iman and the Response to Them ............................................ 381
Chapter Twenty-Three: Exception in Iman ................................................ 413
Excessive Usage of Exception ........................................................... 416
The Ash 'arites’ Opinion on the State of Belief at the Time
Of One’s Death and the Response to it ........................................ 420
The Concept of‘Exception’According to Ahmad Ibn Hanbal .... 429
The Desirable Aspects of Exception and the Response
To Those Who Disagree................................................................. 435
Selected Bibliography ................................................................................... 444
Index of Qur’anic Citations........................................................................... 447
Index of Personal Names............................................................................... 457
Index of Arabic Terms................................................................................... 467
Index of English Terms ................................................................................. 473
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
It is with pleasure and gratitude to acknowledge those who rendered assistance
throughout the lengthy process of translating Kitab al-lman. 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-Tel 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-lman; 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-lman; 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 Dawud 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).