Abstract

Taqi-l-Di n Ahmad ibn Taymiyyah was a Hanbali theologian and dogmatic follower of the Ahl al-Hadit . Seeking to reform Muslim society beset by various turmoils, he maintained the need for Muslims to purify their beliefs and actions. This invariably meant for him that a Muslim's worship must be in conformity with that of the Prophet and his Companions as taught by the Righteous Predecessors . Within this context, he argues that a Muslim's worship must stem from strict monotheism , which is based on God's absolute distinction from His creation, combined with pietism, which grows out of the love and fear of God. In his essay entitled Risalat al-'Ubudiyyah , the translation of which is the basis of this dissertation, Ibn Taymiyyah develops this "salafi" concept of worship based on what he refers to as the "pure" methodology of the earliest Muslims, which includes the Quran, the Sunnah, the practice of the salaf and the Arabic language. He describes the way of the Righteous Predecessors as a "mediating position" between what he sees as the extreme opinions of other Muslim groups, whom he attacks in a consistent and methodic manner by referring all controversies back to the Quran and Sunnah as interpreted by the Ahl al-Hadit. Ibn Taymiyyah singles out three groups for having particularly deviant beliefs: the speculative theologians , whose theology relies on the rational sciences to interpret the Quran and the Sunnah, the philosophers , who have elaborated metaphysical constructs based on philosophical doctrines of Ancient Greek and Hellenic thinkers, and the mystical Sufis, who maintain beliefs about God based on pantheism and monism . ;Ibn Taymiyyah uses his theology of worship to revive a "salafi spiritualism" in which he integrates the concepts of faith, love and actions, into a unified theology for perfecting man's relation to God. By focusing on his beliefs in the uniqueness of God and the interpretation of His names and attributes without questioning the nature of their existence in His essence, I shall argue that Ibn Taymiyyah denounces his opponents for having deviated from the belief and practices of the Prophet and his Companions but is willing to adapt some of the terms and arguments they use to his own body of beliefs. In particular, I shall describe how he responds to the mystical notion of the annihilation of self by bringing it into the realm of Hanbali pietism as practiced by "orthodox" Sufis such as 'Abd-Allah al-Ansari al-Harawi and 'Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani