This comprehensive study of Muslim jurist Ibn Taymiyya's (d. 1328) theodicy of perpetual optimism exposits and analyses his writings on God's justice and wise purpose, divine determination and human agency, the problem of evil, and juristic method in theological doctrine.

This book investigates Ibn Taymiyya's approach to some of the core ethical and theological questions of the classical period of Islam and, in doing so, sheds new light on his intellectual identity.

In Ibn Taymiyya on Reason and Revelation, Carl Sharif El-Tobgui offers the first comprehensive study of Ibn Taymiyya’s ten-volume magnum opus, Darʾ taʿāruḍ al-ʿaql wa-l-naql (Refutation of the conflict of reason and revelation). In his colossal riposte to the Muslim philosophers and rationalist theologians, the towering Ḥanbalī polymath rejects the call to prioritize reason over revelation in cases of alleged conflict, interrogating instead the very conception of rationality that classical Muslims had inherited from the Greeks. In its place, he endeavors to articulate a reconstituted “pure reason” that is both truly universal and in full harmony with authentic revelation. Based on a line-by-line reading of the entire Darʾ taʿāruḍ, El-Tobgui’s study carefully elucidates the “philosophy of Ibn Taymiyya” as it emerges from the multifaceted ontological, epistemological, and linguistic reforms that Ibn Taymiyya carries out in this pivotal work.

Ibn Taymiyya (1263–1328) of Damascus was one of the most prominent and controversial religious scholars of medieval Islam. He called for jihad against the Mongol invaders of Syria, appealed to the foundational sources of Islam for reform, and battled against religious innovation. Today, he inspires such diverse movements as Global Salafism, Islamic revivalism and modernism, and violent jihadism. This volume synthesizes the latest research, discusses many little-known aspects of Ibn Taymiyya’s thought, and highlights the religious utilitarianism that pervades his activism, ethics, and theology.

For various reasons the West has not been able to appreciate Ibn Taymiyyah's place in Islam. His criticism of Ash'ari Kalam, Greek logic and philosophy, monistic Sufism, Shi'i doctrines, and Christian faith have proved great obstacles to appreciating his contribution. His way of writing has also been to an extent responsible. Most of his writings are short or long responsa (fatawa) to particular questions, often recurring, put to him by different men at different times, rather than planned, systematic works on particular subjects. This makes the appreciation of his contribution somewhat difficult. Henri Laoust in France was the first to take serious notice of him. Since the publication of his Essay on the Social and Political Doctrines of Ibn Taymiyyah (1939), a few articles and books have appeared on Ibn Taymiyyah's thought, but they are far from giving any clear idea of his overall contribution to Islam, even less of assessing his role in its revival and renewal (tajdid). In fact, there has been little understanding of the concept of tajdid in Islam. This volume consists of selections from various writings of Ibn Taymiyyah included in Majmu' Fatawa Shaykh Al Islam (37 volumes) as well as some of his major works such as Minhaj as Sunnah An Nabawiyyah, Dar Ta'arud al Aql wa-An Naql, kitab Ar Rad alaa Mantaqayyin, Al-Istiqamah, and Iqtida As Sirat Al Mustaqeem. These selections will present a clearer and complete view of Ibn Taymiyyah's concept of Islamic faith, life and society. They are primarily intended to highlight his positive position and mention his criticisms and refutations of other positions only to the extent needed.

Papers presented at a conference on Ibn Tamiyya and his times, held at Princeton University during 8-10 April 2005.

Leading Islamic scholars present eleven essays on the major themes of: The Greek Philosophical Tradition and Islamic Theology, Classical Islamic Theology and the Early Shi'a Movement, The Development of Philosophical and Mystical Theology, and Contemporary Research in Philosophical Theology and Science. Parviz Morewedge, in the introduction, brings into focus the relationship of the studies, many of which relate to philosophical and theological works available only in Arabic. Contributors: Abdurahman Badawi, Herbert Davidson, Richard M. Frank, Louis Gardet, George F. Hourani, Nicholas Heer, Wilferd Madelung, Ibrahim Madkour, F. E. Peters, Wilfred Cantwell Smith, and Parviz Morewedge.