Ibn Taymiyah the Nasabi- A deviant claim

There are some Individuals who claim Ibn Taymiyah rahimaullah was a Nasabi (Those who hate Ahlul Bayt). And they misquote him with regards to that, they will never quote full ibarah or thr context. Following are some quotes of Ibn Taymiyah against this false claim.

Ibn Taimiya says :

وَأَحَقُّ بِالْإِمَامَةِ وَأَفْضَلُ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ وَعِنْدَ رَسُولِهِ وَعِنْدَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ مِنْ مُعَاوِيَةَ وَأَبِيهِ وَأَخِيهِ الَّذِي كَانَ خَيْرًا مِنْهُ، وَعَلِيٌّ أَفْضَلُ مِمَّنْ هُوَ أَفْضَلُ مِنْ مُعَاوِيَةَ – رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ -، فَالسَّابِقُونَ الْأَوَّلُونَ الَّذِينَ بَايَعُوا تَحْتَ الشَّجَرَةِ كُلُّهُمْ أَفْضَلُ مِنَ الَّذِينَ أَسْلَمُوا عَامَ الْفَتْحِ، وَفِي هَؤُلَاءِ خَلْقٌ كَثِيرٌ أَفْضَلُ مِنْ مُعَاوِيَةَ، وَأَهْلُ الشَّجَرَةِ أَفْضَلُ مِنْ هَؤُلَاءِ كُلِّهِمْ، وَعَلِيٌّ أَفْضَلُ جُمْهُورِ .
الَّذِينَ بَايَعُوا تَحْتَ الشَّجَرَةِ، [بَلْ] .
هُوَ أَفْضَلُ مِنْهُمْ كُلِّهِمْ إِلَّا الثَّلَاثَةَ، فَلَيْسَ فِي أَهْلِ السُّنَّةِ مَنْ يُقَدِّمُ عَلَيْهِ [أَحَدًا] .

And Ali was more entitled to Caliphate (than Muawiya), And Ali in the sight of Allah and his Rasul and all the Believers is far superior than Muawiya and his Father and Brother who himself was superior from (Muawiya).

And Ali is even superior from those who were superior from Muawiya (May Allah be pleased with him) .

And the Earlier and First (Companions) who took allegiance under the Tree are superior from those who embraced Islam after the Conquest of Makkah , and many of those amongst who embraced Islam at conquest of Makkah are superior to Muawiya, and those who did Oath of Ridhwan all of them are superior to these (who became Muslims at the Conquest of Makkah).

And Ali is superior from the Majority of these who did Oath of Ridhwan , Rather Ali is superior to all of these except three and there is no one in Ahlus Sunnah who gives priority to anyone over Ali (except the three). [Minhaj ud Sunnah 4/396]

Note: Muawiyah ra himself said Ali ra has more right of caliphate as Ibn Hajar al Asqalani said:
وقد ذكر يحيى بن سليمان الجعفي أحد شيوخ البخاري في ” كتاب صفين ” في تأليفه بسند جيد عن أبي مسلم الخولاني أنه قال لمعاوية : أنت تنازع عليا في الخلافة أو أنت مثله ؟ قال : لا ، وإني لأعلم أنه أفضل مني وأحق بالأمر ، ولكن ألستم تعلمون أن عثمان قتل مظلوما وأنا ابن عمه ووليه أطلب بدمه ؟ فأتوا عليا فقولوا له يدفع لنا قتلة عثمان ، فأتوه فكلموه فقال : يدخل في البيعة ويحاكمهم إلي ،
Yahya bin Sulaiman al Ja`afi who is one of the teachers of Imam al Bukhari mentioned in his book “Kitab Siffeen” with POWERFUL chain from Abu Muslim al kholani that He asked Muawiya ra “Do you dispute Ali regarding Caliphate or are you equal to him? Mu’awiyah answered: “By Allah no. I know he is better than I am, and he has the right to rule, but do not you know that Uthman was killed as an innocent? And I am his cousin and the seeker of his revenge. Therefore go to Ali and tell him to send me Uthman’s murderers then I will obey him.” They went to Ali and talked to him, Ali ra said: First take my pledge and then ask about this ) [Fath al Bari (13/ 92)]

Imam ad-dahabi also quoted this in Seyar A’alam Al-Nubala’a, with the following chain from the teacher of Imam al Bukhari.

قَالَ الجُعْفِيُّ: حَدَّثَنَا يَعْلَى بنُ عُبَيْدٍ، عَنْ أَبِيْهِ، قَالَ:
جَاءَ أَبُو مُسْلِمٍ الخَوْلاَنِيُّ وَأُنَاسٌ إِلَى مُعَاوِيَةَ، وَقَالُوا: أَنْتَ تُنَازِعُ عَلِيّاً، أَمْ أَنْتَ مِثْلُهُ؟
فَقَالَ: لاَ وَاللهِ، إِنِّيْ لأَعْلَمُ أَنَّهُ أَفْضَلُ مِنِّي، وَأَحَقُّ بِالأَمْرِ مِنِّي، وَلَكِنْ أَلَسْتُم تَعْلَمُوْنَ أَنَّ عُثْمَانَ قُتِلَ مَظْلُوْماً، وَأَنَا ابْنُ عَمِّهِ، وَالطَّالِبُ بِدَمِهِ، فَائْتُوْهُ، فَقُوْلُوا لَهُ، فَلْيَدْفَعْ إِلَيَّ قَتَلَةَ عُثْمَانَ، وَأُسْلِمَ لَهُ.
فَأَتَوْا عَلِيّاً، فَكَلَّمُوْهُ، فَلَمْ يَدْفَعْهُم إِلَيْهِ

Abu Muslim Al-Khulani and some others went to Mu’awiyah and asked him: “Do you dispute Ali or are you equal to him? Mu’awiyah answered: “By Allah no. I know he is better than I am, and he has the right to rule, but do not you know that Uthman was killed as an innocent? And I am his cousin and the seeker of his revenge. Therefore go to Ali and tell him to send me Uthman’s murderers then I will obey him.” They went to Ali and talked to him, but Ali refused to hand in Uthman’s murderers to Mu’awiyah. [Seyar A’alam Al-Nubala’a, vol.3, p.140, the Muhaqqiq of the book said:
رجاله ثقات، وانظر ” البداية ” 8 / 129.
that its narrators are trustworthy, and see also Al Bidaya 8/129]

Ibn Asakir narrated it with another chain

ونا إبراهيم نا يحيى قال حدثني يعلى بن عبيد الحنفي نا أبي قال جاء أبو مسلم الخولاني وأناس معه إلى معاوية فقالوا له أنت تنازع عليا أم أنت مثله فقال معاوية لا والله إني لأعلم أن عليا أفضل مني وأنه لأحق بالأمر مني ولكن ألستم تعلمون أن عثمان قتل مظلوما وأنا ابن عمه وإنما أطلب بدم عثمان فائتوه فقولوا له فليدفع إلي قتلة عثمان وأسلم له فأتوا عليا فكلموه بذلك فلم يدفعهم إليه

Abu Muslim Al-Khulani and some others went to Mu’awiyah and asked him: “Do you dispute Ali or are you equal to him? Mu’awiyah answered: “By Allah no. I know he is better than I am, and he has the right to rule, but do not you know that Uthman was killed as an innocent? And I am his cousin and the seeker of his revenge. Therefore go to Ali and tell him to send me Uthman’s murderers then I will obey him.” They went to Ali and talked to him, but Ali refused to hand in Uthman’s murderers to Mu’awiyah.

[Tareekh Damishq 59/132 under the Tarjuma of Muawiya bin Abi Sufiyan ra]

Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah said
وأما من قتل ” الحسين ” أو أعان على قتله أو رضي بذلك فعليه لعنة الله والملائكة والناس أجمعين ; لا يقبل الله منه صرفا ولا عدلا . قال : فما تحبون أهل البيت ؟ قلت : محبتهم عندنا فرض واجب

.“As regards the one who killed Al-Husain or helped in his killing or was pleased with that, then upon him will be the Curse of Allaah and of the angels and of all the people, and Allaah will not accept from him either obligatory acts or supererogatory acts.” He said: What about loving ahlul bayt? I say Loving them is Fardh and Waajib according to me[Majmoo’ Fataawa Shaykh al-Islam, part 4, p. -488, Translation taken from Islamweb]

Ibn Taymiyyah was asked about a man who said that ‘Ali ibn Abi Taalib was not one of the Ahl al-Bayt (members of the Prophet’s household) and that it is not permissible to send blessings upon him, and that sending blessings upon him was bid’ah (an innovation).

 

He replied:

With regard to ‘Ali ibn Abi Taalib being one of the Ahl al-Bayt, this is something concerning which there is no difference of opinion among the Muslims. It is so obvious to the Muslims that there is no need for evidence to prove it. Rather he is the best of the Ahl al-Bayt, the best of Bani Haashim after the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). It was proven that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) threw his cloak over ‘Ali, Faatimah, Hasan and Husayn and said, “O Allaah, these are the members of my household, so to remove Ar-Rijs (evil deeds and sins) from them and purify them with a thorough purification [cf. al-Ahzaab 33:33].”

With regard to sending blessings exclusively upon him, this issue leads us to another issue, which is whether it is permissible to send blessings exclusively upon anyone other than the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), such as saying, “O Allaah send blessings on ‘Umar, or ‘Ali (Allaahumma salli ‘ala ‘Umar etc.)”. The scholars disputed concerning that. Maalik, al-Shaafa’i and a group of the Hanbalis said that we should not send blessings exclusively upon anyone except the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), as it was narrated that Ibn ‘Abbaas said: “I do not know that blessings should be sent upon anyone except the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). Imaam Ahmad and most of his companions said that there was nothing wrong with that, because ‘Ali ibn Abi Taalib said to ‘Umar ibn al-Khattaab, “May Allaah send blessings upon you.” This is the more correct view. But singling out one of the Sahaabah or relatives of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), such as ‘Ali, or anyone else, to send blessings upon them, is a form of making them rival the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), in such a way that this phrase becomes like a symbol or slogan that is attached to his name, this is what is bid’ah.

Al-Fataawa al-Kubra, 1/56 [Taken from Islamqa 13333]