Further Information on Tasawwuf 6
Imam Ibn Taymiyya About Saints and Sainthood
Imam Ibn Taymiyya mentions in volume 11, page 190 of Majmu’a Fatawi Shaykh ul-Islam Ibn Taymiyya, edition published in Egypt by Dar ar-Rahma:
“a servant of Allah ‘azza wa-Jal, cannot be considered a saint unless he is a true believer. Allah mentions in Qur’an:
“Now surely the friends of Allah– they shall have no fear nor shall they grieve.Those who believe and guarded (against evil):” (Yunus, 61,62)
He then quotes the famous hadith from Bukhari:
“My servant draws not near to Me with anything more loved by Me than the religious duties I have enjoined upon him, and My servant continues to draw near to Me with supererogatory works so that I shall love him.When I love him I am his hearing with which he hears, his seeing with which he sees, his hand with which he strikes and his foot with which he walks.Were he to ask [something] of Me, I would surely give it to him, and were he to ask Me for refuge, I would surely grant him it. I do not hesitate about anything as much as I hesitate about [seizing] the soul of My faithful servant: he hates death and I hate hurting him.”
Imam Ibn Taymiyya About Miracles of Saints
In his book al-Mukhtasar al-Fatawa al-Masriyya, published by al-Madani Publishing House, 1980, page 603:
“The miracles of saints are absolutely true and correct, by the acceptance of all Muslim scholars. And the Qur’an has pointed to it in different places, and the Hadith of the Prophet (s) have mentioned it, and whoever denies the miraculous power of saints are only people who are innovators and their followers.”
He says in Majmu’a Fatawi Ibn Taymiyya:
“what is considered as a miracle for a saint is that sometimes the saintmight hear something that others do not hear and they see something that others do not see, while not in a sleeping state, but in a wakened state of vision. And he can know something that others cannot know, through revelation or inspiration.”
All that Imam Ibn Taymiyya says about the subject of Tasawwuf is found in a big book (volume 11) consisting of 704 pages only on the subject of Tasawwuf.
We would like to mention briefly what Ibn Taymiyya said on page 314, about the hadith Qudsi [i.e. related from Allah Himself]:
“whoever comes against one of My saints is challenging Me for fighting”
Interpreting this hadith, he says:
“Which means that Allah is expressing: ‘I will seek revenge against anyone who comes against My saints like an aggressive lion.'”
He continues on p. 314 quoting Prophet’s saying about the saints:
“you are the martyrs of Allah on Earth.”
Imam Ibn Taymiyya About the Unveiling of Appearances
He said:
“Allah Almighty will unveil to his saints states that have never been given before and give them support without measure…. If that saint will begin to speak from the things of the unseen, past or present or future it is considered from Bab al’ilm al-khaariq (the miraculous unseen knowledge)…. Anything that a saint does which is from unveiling to people or to listeners or curing or healing or teaching knowledge, it is accepted… and we have to thank Allah for it.”
