Some Ignorant people (like GF Haddad and Hanif Qureshi brailwi) quotes Najm ad-Din at-Tufi against Ibn Taymiyyah rahimullah by saying:
Ibn Hajar asqalani said that at-Tufi said:
He used to bring up in one hour from the Book, the Sunna, the Arabic language, and philosophical speculation, material which no-one could bring up even in many sessions, as if these sciences were before his very eyes and he was picking and choosing from them at will. A time came when his companions took to over-praising him and this drove him to be satisfied with himself until he became conceited before his fellow human beings. He became convinced that he was a scholar capable of independent reasoning (mujtahid). Henceforth he began to answer each and every scholar great and small, past and recent, until he went all the way back to `Umar (r) and faulted him in some matter. This reached the ears of the Shaykh Ibrahim al-Raqi who reprimanded him. Ibn Taymiyya went to see him, apologized, and asked for forgiveness. He also spoke against `Ali (r) and said: “He made mistakes in seventeen different matters.”… Because of his fanatic support of the Hanbali school he would attack Ash’aris until he started to insult al-Ghazzali, at which point some people opposed him and would almost kill him…. They ascertained that he had blurted out certain words, concerning doctrine, which came out of his mouth in the context of his sermons and legal pronouncements, and they mentioned that he had cited the tradition of Allah’s descent (to the nearest heaven), then climbed down two steps from the minbar and said: “Just like this descent of mine” and so was categorized as an anthropomorphist. They also cited his refutation of whoever uses the Prophet — Allah bless and greet him — as a means or seeks help from him (aw istaghatha)…. People were divided into parties because of him. Some considered him an anthropomorphist because of what he mentioned in al-`Aqida al-Hamawiyya and al-`Aqida al-Wasitiyya and other books of his, to the effect that the hand, foot, shin, and face are litteral attributes of Allah and that He is established upon the Throne with His Essence. It was said to him that were this the case He would necessarily be subject to spatial confinement (al-tahayyuz) and divisibility (al-inqisam). He replied: “I do not concede that spatial confinement and divisibility are (necessarily) properties of bodies,” whereupon it was adduced against him (ulzima) that he held Allah’s Essence to be subject to spatial confinement. Others considered him a heretic (zindiq) due to his saying that the Prophet — Allah bless and greet him — is not to be sought for help and the fact that this amounted to diminishing and impeding the establishing of the greatness of the Prophet — Allah bless and greet him — …. Others considered him a dissimulator (munafiq) because of what he said about `Ali:… namely, that he had been forsaken everywhere he went, had repeatedly tried to acquire the caliphate and never attained it, fought out of lust for power rather than religion, and said that “he loved authority while `Uthman loved money.” He would say that Abu Bakr had declared Islam in his old age, fully aware of what he said, while `Ali had declared Islam as a boy, and the boy’s Islam is not considered sound upon his mere word…. In sum he said ugly things such as these, and it was said against him that he was a hypocrite, in view of the Prophet’s — Allah bless and greet him — saying (to `Ali): “None but a hypocrite has hatred for you.”[Durar al Kaaminah under the biography of Ibn Taymiyyah, Taken from the article “Ibn Taymiyya” by GF Haddad]
Response:
at-Tufi was a shia who even praised Ibn Taymiyyah and he maybe repented
at-Tufi was a SHIA, as Ibn Hajar asqalani quoted Ibn Rajab:
وكان شيعياً منحرفاً عن السنة
He was a shia who was far from sunnah [ad-Durar al Kaaminah1/236]
Ibn Rajab Hanbalee said regarding at-Tufi
فانظر إلى هذا الكلام الخبيث المتضمن: أن أمير المؤمنين عمر رضي الله عنه هو الذي أضل الأمة، قصدا مه وتعمدا. ولقد كذب في ذلك وفجر.
Look at his evil saying: Ameer ul momineen Umar bin al Khattab RadhiAllahanho lead the UMMAH ASTRAY WILLINGLY AND deliberately, He (at-Tufi) lied and sinned. [Dhayl Tabqaat al Hanabilah 1/330]
Ibn Rajab also said regarding Tufi
ونظم في ذلك ما يتضمن السب لأبي بكر الصديق رضي اللّه عنه.
وقد ذكر ذلك عنه شيخنا المطريَ، حافظ المدينة ومؤرخها. وكان قد صحبه بالمدينة، وكان الطوفي بعد سجنه قد نفى إلى الشام
He wrote a poem which contains insult to Abu Bakr RadhiAllah anho:
This is also mentioned by My (Ibn Rajab’s) Teacher al-Matari, Who is Hafidh of Madina and the historian, He accompanied him(al-Tufi) in Madinah. [Dhayl Tabqaat al Hanabilah 1/331]
It is strange that This Tufi himself said:
شيخنا الإمام العالم العلامة تقي الدين أبو العباس أحمد بن تيمية الحراني حرسه الله تعالى
My Teacher THE IMAM THE SCHOLAR THE ALLAMAH Taqi ad-Din Abul Abbas Ahmad bin Taymiyyah al Harrani May Allah guard him. [Mukhtasar Sharah al-Rawdha 3/628]
And it is strange that he elsewhere went against Rafidis by mentioning:
وهو حديث مشهور مستفيض إلا أن للرافضة أصلا خبيثا باطلا وهو أنهم لا يقبلون رواية الصحابة لمرض في قلوبهم عليهم..
“This is a Famous hadith narrated through many channels, but rafidah have a evil and wrong principle that they do not take the narration of companions (of Prophet peace be upon him) because of the sickness in their heart against them…”[al Intasaraat al Islamiyah fe Kashf Shubha al Nasraniyah by at-Tufi 1/92]
Maybe he said things against Ibn Taymiyyah when he was a Shia and after that he considered him his teacher. As Imam ad-Dahabi doubted mentioned by Ibn Hajar in Durar al Kaminah:
قال الذهبي كان دينا ساكناً قانعاً ويقال أنه تاب عن الرفض ونسب إليه أنه قال عن نفسه: حنبلي رافضي ظاهري اشعري أنها إحدى الكبر
al-Dhahabi said… it is said that he has repented from Rafd..
The Claim that Scholars considered him heretic
Ibn Hajar asqalani himself refuted the claim that “Others considered him a Heretic” by saying:
وعقدت له بسبب ذلك عدة مجالس بالقاهرة ، وبدمشق ، ولا يحفظ عن أحد منهم أنه أفتى بزندقته ، ولا حكم بسفك دمه مع شدة المتعصبين عليه حينئذ من أهل الدولة ، حتى حبس بالقاهرة ، ثم بالإسكندرية ، ومع ذلك فكلهم معترف بسعة علمه ، وكثرة ورعه ، وزهده ، ووصفه بالسخاء ، والشجاعة ، وغير ذلك من قيامه في نصر الإسلام ، والدعوة إلى الله تعالى في السر والعلانية ، فكيف لا يُنكر على مَن أطلق ” أنه كافر ” ، بل من أطلق على من سماه شيخ الإسلام : الكفر ، وليس في تسميته بذلك ما يقتضي ذلك ؛ فإنه شيخ في الإسلام بلا ريب ، والمسائل التي أنكرت عليه ما كان يقولها بالتشهي ، ولا يصر على القول بها بعد قيام الدليل عليه عناداً ، وهذه تصانيفه طافحة بالرد على من يقول بالتجسيم ، والتبري منه
“Many hearings were held against him (Ibn Taymiyyah) in Cairo and Damascus, but there is NO REPORT THAT ANY OF THEM SAID HE WAS A HERETIC…. they all recognized his vast knowledge and his deep piety and asceticism, and they described him as generous and courageous, as well as supporting Islam and calling people to Allaah in secret and openly. Why shouldn’t we denounce the one who says that he was a kaafir or that the one who calls him Shaykh al-Islam is a kaafir, when there is nothing to imply kufr in calling him that? He was undoubtedly a Shaykh of Islam, and the issues for which he was opposed were not things that he said on the basis of whims and desires, and he did not persist in saying them after proof was established against him out of stubbornness. His books are filled with refutations of those who promoted anthropomorphism and his disavowal thereof.” [introduction to al-Radd al-Waafir by Hafidh Ibn Hajar asqalani]
and ad-Dahabi defended him by saying:
وأوذي رحمه الله في ذات الله تعالى من قبل المخالفين، وأخيف في نصرة السنة المحضة، حتى سار على منارة، وعلى وضوح، ولكن الله جمع له قلوب أهل التقوى، وجمعهم على محبته، والدعاء له، وكبت الله أعداءه،
And he Rahimullah was harmed in his path to Allāh by the opposers, threatened because he aided the pure Sunnah until Allāh raised his lighthouse, and united the hearts of the people of piety upon love of him and supplication for him, and Allah crushed his enemies [quoted from al-Dhahabī by Ibn Rajab al-Ḥanbalī in Dhayl Ṭabaqāt al-Ḥanābilah (4/496-497) through his work Muʿjam al-Shuyūkh, quoted by Abu Zahra in Hiyat Shaykh al Islam page 777, Omar bin Saood quoted in Sharah Limiyah 1/7 from Mojam ash-Shuyukh]
The Claim that He spoke against Abu Bakr and Umar RadhiAllahanhum
Ibn Taymiyyah said:
ولا يطعن على أبي بكر وعمر رضي الله عنهما إلا أحد رجلين إما رجل منافق زنديق ملحد عدو للإسلام يتوصل بالطعن فيهما إلى الطعن في الرسول ودين الإسلام وهذا حال المعلم الأول للرافضة أول من ابتدع الرفض وحال أئمه الباطنية وإما جاهل مفرط في الجهل والهوى وهو الغالب على عامة الشيعة إذا كانوا مسلمين في الباطن
No one criticize Abu Bakr and Umar May Allah be pleased with them except one of the two:
1. Who is Munafiq, Zindeeq, Mulhid, The enemy of Islam..
2. Ignorant who is extremely ignorant and biased..
[Minhaj as-Sunnah 6/115]
The Claim that he spoke against Uthman bin Affan Radhi Allahanho
Ibn Taymiyyah said:
ومن المعلوم بالتواتر أن عثمان كان من أكف الناس عن الدماء، وأصبر الناس على مَنْ نال مِنْ عرضه, وعلى من سعى في دمه، فحاصروه وسعوا في قتله وقد عرف إرادتهم لقتله، وقد جاءه المسلمون ينصرونه ويشيرون عليه بقتالهم، وهو يأمر الناس بالكف عن القتال، ويأمر من يطيعه أن لا يقاتلهم. وقيل له: تذهب إلى مكة, فقال: لا أكون من ألحد في الحرم، فقيل له: تذهب إلى الشام، فقال: لا أفارق دار هجرتي، فقيل له: فقاتلهم، فقال: لا أكون أول
من خلف محمدا في أمته بالسيف. فكان صبر عثمان حتى قتل من أعظم فضائله
عند المسلمين
It is well-known via tawatur that ‘Uthman was a person who refrained the most from bloodshed, and he was the most patient of people with those who would tarnish his honor and who planned to shed his blood and kill him. They besieged him with the aim of killing him, and he knew that they wanted to kill him; the Muslims came to support him and advised him to fight, but he kept urging the people to refrain from fighting. He told those who would listen to him not to fight. [Minhaj as-Sunnah 3/202/203 translation taken from Patience of ‘Uthman bin Affan [radiAllahu anhu] by dr Iftakhar Ahmad]
The Claim that He spoke against Ali ibn abi Talib Radhi Allahanho.
Ibn Taymiyyah said regarding Ali radhi Allahanho in Al-Fataawa al-Kubra, 1/56:
بل هو أفضل أهل البيت ، وأفضل بني هاشم بعد النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم وقد ثبت عن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم ” أنه أدار كساه على علي وفاطمة وحسن وحسين ، فقال : اللهم هؤلاء أهل بيتي فأذهب الرجس عنهم وطهرهم تطهيرا ”
“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 “[al-Ahzaab 33:33].”
The Claim that he spoke against al-Ghazzali
He was not the first who spoke against al-Ghazzali, rather many scholars spoke against him like Ibn Jawzi etc. This is not a time to quote all of them, just for example
Imam Abu Bakr Tartooshi (520 h) said regarding Ihya Uloom al-din of al Ghazzali:
شحن كتابه بالكذب على رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم، فلا أعلم كتاباً على بسيط الأرض في مبلغ علمي أكثر كذبا على رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم منه،
Then he filled the book with lies on Prophet peace be upon him, I don’t know any book on the face of the earth which contains more lies on the Prophet peace be upon him then this book. [Seyar Ailaam an-Nubala 19/495]
Al-Nawawi (may Allaah have mercy on him) said in al-Majmoo’ (3/548)
” الصلاة المعروفة بصلاة الرغائب , وهي ثنتا عشرة ركعة تصلى بين المغرب والعشاء ليلة أول جمعة في رجب , وصلاة ليلة نصف شعبان مائة ركعة وهاتان الصلاتان بدعتان ومنكران قبيحتان ولا يغتر بذكرهما في كتاب قوت القلوب , وإحياء علوم الدين , ولا بالحديث المذكور فيهما فإن كل ذلك باطل ، ولا يغتر ببعض من اشتبه عليه حكمهما من الأئمة فصنف ورقات في استحبابهما فإنه غالط في ذلك , وقد صنف الشيخ الإمام أبو محمد عبد الرحمن بن إسماعيل المقدسي كتابا نفيسا في إبطالهما فأحسن فيه وأجاد رحمه الله ” انتهى .
The prayer which is known as salaat al-raghaa’ib, which is twelve rak’ahs that are offered between Maghrib and ‘Isha’ on the night of the first Friday in Rajab, and praying one hundred rak’ahs on the night of Nisf Sha’baan (halfway through Sha’baan) are both reprehensible innovations. No one should be deceived by the fact that they are mentioned in Qoot al-Quloob and Ihya’ ‘Uloom al-Deen, or by the hadeeth which is quoted in these two books, because all of that is false. No one should be deceived by some of those imams who were confused about the ruling on these prayers and wrote essays stating that they are mustahabb, for they are mistaken in that. Imam Abu Muhammad ‘Abd al-Rahmaan ibn Isma’eel al-Maqdisi wrote a valuable book showing that they are false, and he did well in that, may Allaah have mercy on him. End quote.
Leave a side what Ibn taymiyah said, let us see what The defender of al Ghazaali, Taj al din as-Subki said regarding al Ghazaali
وأما ما عاب به ” الإحياء ” من توهنة بعض الأحاديث ، فالغزالي معروف بأنه لم تكن له فِي الحديث يد باسطة ، وعامة ما فِي ” الإحياء ” من الأخبار والآثار ، مبدد فِي كتب من سبقه من الصوفية والفقهاء ، ولم يسند الرجل لحديث واحد ، وقد اعتنى بتخريج أحاديث ” الإحياء ” بعض أصحابنا ، فلم يشذ عنه إلا اليسير.
Some of the ahadeeth mentioned in “al Ihya” are fabrications because It is known that Al Ghazaali didn’t know about ahadeeth, its general reports and narrations are mentioned in previous books of Sufis and The scholars, He did not mentioned a single chain of narrations. Some of our companions did its takhreej. [Tabqaat ash-Shafiya al Kubra 6/249]
So, he himself said ghazaali was not aware of ahadeeth.
Shukri al Alusi said regarding Ibn Taymiyah on al Ghazaali:
بل إنه شهد له بحسن العاقبة والخاتمة
He (Ibn Taymiyah) testified for his (al Ghazaali’s) good Aqibat and ending. [Ghayat al Amani 2/450]
Shaykh al-Islam (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:
وإن كان بعد ذلك رجع إلى طريقة أهل الحديث وصنف إلجام العوام عن علم الكلام
After that he (al Ghazzali) came back to the path of the scholars of hadeeth, and wrote Iljaam al-‘Awwaam ‘an ‘Ilm al-Kalaam.(Majmoo Fataawa, part 4, p. 72)
GF Haddad and Hanif Qureshi left to quote Ibn Hajar`s own words from ad-Durar al Kaaminah
al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar wrote a lengthy biography of Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allaah have mercy on them both) in his book al-Durar al-Kaaminah, at the beginning of which he said:
” .. وتحول به أبوه من حران سنة 67 ، فسمع من ابن عبد الدائم والقاسم الأربلي والمسلم ابن علان وابن أبي عمر والفخر في آخرين ، وقرأ بنفسه ونسخ سنن أبي داود وحصل الأجزاء ونظر في الرجال والعلل ، وتفقه وتمهر ، وتميز وتقدم ، وصنف ودرس وأفتى ، وفاق الأقران ، وصار عجباً في سرعة الاستحضار وقوة الجنان والتوسع في المنقول والمعقول والإطالة على مذاهب السلف والخلف .. ”
His father took him with him from Harraan in 667 AH, and he learned from Ibn ‘Abd al-Daa’im, al-Qaasim al-Arbili, Muslim ibn ‘Allaan, Ibn Abi ‘Umar and al-Fakhr, among others. He read by himself and copied Sunan Abi Dawood, and he studied al-rijaal (narrators of hadeeth) and al-‘ilal (faults in hadeeth). He acquired deep knowledge, and he distinguished himself and went ahead of others. He wrote books, taught and issued fatwas, and he surpassed his peers. He had an amazing ability to recollect quickly; he was courageous; he had a deep knowledge of textual and rational matters; and he was able to discuss matters in detail on the basis of the views of earlier and later scholars.[ad-Durar al-Kaaminah 1/46]
Then Hafidh Ibn Hajar Quotes
” وقرأت بخط الحافظ صلاح الدين العلائي ، في ثبت شيخ شيوخنا الحافظ بهاء الدين عبد الله بن محمد بن خليل ، ما نصه : وسمع بهاء الدين المذكور على الشيخين شيخنا وسيدنا وإمامنا فيما بيننا وبين الله تعالى ، شيخ التحقيق ، السالك بمن اتبعه أحسن طريق ، ذي الفضائل المتكاثرة ، والحجج القاهرة ، التي أقرت الأمم كافة أن هممها عن حصرها قاصرة ، ومتعنا الله بعلومه الفاخرة ونفعنا به في الدنيا والآخرة ، وهو الشيخ الإمام العالم الرباني والحبر البحر القطب النوراني ، إمام الأئمة ، بركة الأمة ، علامة العلماء ، وارث الأنبياء ، آخر المجتهدين ، أوحد علماء الدين ، شيخ الإسلام ، حجة الأعلام ، قدوة الأنام ، برهان المتعلمين ، قامع المبتدعين ، سيف المناظرين ، بحر العلوم ، كنز المستفيدين ، ترجمان القرآن ، أعجوبة الزمان ، فريد العصر والأوان ، تقي الدين ، إمام المسلمين ، حجة الله على العالمين ، اللاحق بالصالحين ، والمشبه بالماضين ، مفتي الفرق ، ناصر الحق ، علامة الهدى ، عمدة الحفاظ ، فارس المعاني والألفاظ ، ركن الشريعة ، ذو الفنون البديعة ، أبو العباس ابن تيمية
I read in the handwriting of al-Haafiz Salaah al-Deen al-‘Alaa’i, when he wrote the biography of the Shaykh of our shaykhs, al-Haafiz Baha’ al-Deen ‘Abd-Allaah ibn Muhammad ibn Khaleel, the following: This Baha’ al-Deen learned from the two Shaykhs, our Shaykh, master and leader in the way of Allaah, the prominent Shaykh, the one who leads his followers to the best way, the one who has numerous virtues and the strongest evidence, which all the nations affirm that they are unable to list all this evidence; may Allaah enable us to learn from his great knowledge and benefit us by means of his knowledge in this world and in the Hereafter. He is the Shaykh, imam, scholar, teacher and bright star, the imam of imams, the blessing of the ummah, the leader of scholars, the example for people to follow, the light for the learners, the suppressor of innovators, the sea of knowledge, the treasure of those who seek benefit, the interpreter of the Qur’aan, the wonder of our age, the unrivalled one of our era, Taqiy al-Deen, the imam of the Muslims, the proof of Allaah against the world, the one who will join the righteous, the follower of the predecessors, the supporter of the truth, the sign of guidance, the prominent hafiz, the most eloquent of speech, the pillar of sharee’ah, the possessor of brilliant knowledge, Abu’l-‘Abbaas Ibn Taymiyah. [Ad-Durar al-Kaaminah 1/52.] Conclusion:
Ibn Taymiyyah was a Man who made mistakes like other scholars but one should not lie because of hating him, Ibn Kathir said:
وبالجملة كان رحمه الله من كبار العلماء وممن يخطئ ويصيب ولكن خطأه بالنسبة إلى صوابه كنقطة في بحر لجي، وخطأه أيضاً مغفور له كما في (صحيح البخاري):
((إذا اجتهد الحاكم فأصاب فله أجراً وإذا اجتهد فأخطأ فله أجر)) فهو مأجور.
وقال الإمام مالك بن أنس: كل أحد يؤخذ من قوله ويترك إلا صاحب هذا القبر.
In short He Rahimullah was among the great scholars and among those who makes mistakes and are right also. But his mistakes against his on being right is like a drop of water in a vast deep sea, and his mistake is also forgiven as it is mentioned in Saheeh al Bukhari “”When a judge gives judgement and strives to know a ruling (ijtahada) and is correct, he has two rewards. If he gives judgement and strives to know a ruling, but is wrong, he has one reward” So he (Ibn Taymiyyah) will be rewarded. and Maalik bin Anas said: ‘Take and leave the words of all men, except the one in this grave,’ pointing towards the grave of Allah’s Messenger (sallalalhu alaihi wa-sallam). [al Bidaya wal Nihaya 14/162]