In Defence of the Four Imams - Ibn Taymiyah

Why did the distinguished jurists, notably the Four Imams of early Muslim history differ?

Why do some of their views apparently contradict authentic scriptural texts?

 And why do their followers seem to prefer their opinions even when they outwardly contradict sound prophetic traditions?

In this unique work of Ibn Taymiyah, his primary aim is to present cogent answers to these questions as he displays humble deference towards his predecessors.:

He begins his work by mentioning three excuses as to why the eponymous four Imams sometimes contravened the import of sound prophetic traditions. He then proceeds to explicate ten things prompting them to adopt one of the three aforementioned excuses.

About The Author

Ibn Taymiyah was born in Harran in the year 661 AH, and his father and family relocated to Damascus in his youth. In Damascus, he embarked upon his formal studies with a number of the major scholars of the city and excelled in hadith, fiqh, tafsir, and other sciences. He was known to be a major depository of knowledge until it was said of him that he had a greater mastery of the various legal schools than even their exponents among his contemporaries. He was reverentially referred to as “Shaykh al-Islam” by those who respected him. And, the great Shafi’i contemporary Ibn al-Zamlakani reportedly said of him, “The conditions of juristic independence (ijtihad) were brought together in their appropriate fashion with respect to him.” But, like so many others before him, Ibn Taymiyah was tested by both the limitations of his knowledge and the jealousy of some of his peers.

Consequently, much of his life was spent imprisoned in the Damascus citadel due to being perceived as a threat to Islamic orthodoxy and public order. A number of scholars deemed him an ideological threat and succeeded in convincing the governors that his detention would best serve society. It would seem, judging by the massive numbers of those reported to have attended his funeral (an excess of between 65,000 to 200,000 persons), that the attempts to silence him and limit his influence failed.