Reading Classical Islamic Texts (in Arabic):

IBN TAYMIYYA (TH-693)

This high level course offers an in-depth exploration of the theological and spiritual
writings of one of the most fascinatingand controversialthinkers of classical lslam:
the Mamlk mufti and theologian Taq al-Dn Ibn Taymiyya (d. 728/1328). Key texts
will be read in the original Arabic, translated orally, explained grammatically,
commented on ideologically, and discussed, by the students as well as by the professor.
A good knowledge of Classical Arabic is highly recommended to maximize the learning
in this course. Bibliographical references will be provided.

Class will meet: ten weekdays, from Monday June 16th to Friday June 27th, 9 am 1:30 pm.

Course Objectives

1) Students shoul have gained greater confidence in approaching, translating and discussing classical works
of Islamic theology in the original Arabic text.
2) They should be able to find their way around in the major works of Ibn Taymiyya and the studies
concerning his time, life, thought and influence.
3) They are expected to gain an acquaintenance with several important past and present debates and
controversies concerning this author.
4) They should be able to benefit from the methodological approaches adopted in these classes and apply
them for their own studies and/or research projects.

Course Requirements

1) It is strongly recommended that the student arrive at the first class already able to read Arabic and having
a general knowledge about the religion of Islam, Islamic theology and the history of the Middle East since
the Crusades and the Mongol invasions.
2) Daily preparations and readings, class participation, final presentation.
3) Attendance in class is required. If you know that you will be unable to attend a class please inform the
professor in advance. Missing two classes will result in an automatic lowering of your final grade by 20%.
Missing three or more classes will result in automatic failure of the course.

The final grade will be based upon the following:

1) Active class participation (60%).
2) The group presentation during Class IX-X (June 21-22, 40%). Students fluent in Arabic shall join with
weaker ones in groups of 2 or 3 individuals. Each group will be responsible for the written* & oral
presentation, translation, commentary on, and discussion of an original Taymiyyan text during the last two
classes. This text should be chosen by the end of class IV in consultation with the professor.

* All written work is to conform to the seminary writing guidelines, which can be found online at:
http://www.hartsem.edu/student/forms/researchpaperguide.pdf. The Hartford Seminary Grading Guidelines
will be the standard of evaluation for work in the course.
IMPORTANT: Plagiarism, the failure to give proper credit for the words and ideas of another person,
whether published or unpublished, is strictly prohibited. All written material submitted by students must be
their own original work; where the words and ideas of others are used they must be acknowledged. Credit
will not be given for work containing plagiarism, and plagiarism can lead to failure of a course. Please see
the Hartford Seminary Catalogue for the full plagiarism policy.

General references

ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF ISLAM, INDEX ISLAMICUS
MICHOT, Y., Ibn Taymiyya: Chronology of the Life of an Activist-Theologian, in Muslims under Non-Muslim Rule. Ibn Taymiyya
on fleeing from sin, kinds of emigration, the status of Mardin (domain of peace/war, domain composite), the conditions for
challenging power. Texts translated, annotated and presented in relation to six modern readings of the Mardin fatwa. Foreword
by J. PISCATORI, Oxford-London: Interface Publications, Dec. 2006, xviii & 190 p. ISBN 978-0-9554545-6-1. Pages 149-169.
, IBN TAYMIYYA. Against Extremisms. Texts translated, annotated and introduced. With a foreword by Bruce B. LAWRENCE
(BeirutParis: Albouraq, 1433/2012).
, Ibn Taymiyya, in G. BOWERING (ed.), The Princeton Encyclopedia of Islamic Political Thought (Princeton - Oxford: Princeton
University Press, 2012), p. 238-241.
, For a grave in Damascus... Text and photos. Translated by J. QURESHI, 1427/2006. Internet: www.interfacepublications.
com/~interfa3/images/pdf/IbnTaymiyya_Tomb.pdf.
, Un clibataire endurci et sa maman : Ibn Taymiyya (m. 728/1328) et les femmes, in C. CANNUYER (ed.), La femme dans les
civilisations orientales (Brussels: Socit Belge dtudes Orientales, Acta Orientalia Belgica, 15, 2001), 16590.
RAPOPORT, Y. & AHMED, Sh. (eds.), Ibn Taymiyya and his Times (Karachi: Oxford University Press, Studies in Islamic
Philosophy, 4, 2010).
ANJUM, O., Politics, Law and Community in Islamic Thought. The Taymiyyan Moment (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
2012).
KRAWIETZ, B. & TAMER, G. (eds.), Islamic Theology, Philosophy and Law. Debating Ibn Taymiyya and Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya.
In collaboration with A. KOKOSCHKA (Berlin - Boston: De Gruyter, Studien zur Geschichte und Kultur des islamischen Orients,
27, 2013).
BORI, Caterina, A new source for the biography of Ibn Taymiyya, in Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, 67/3,
Londres, 2004, p. 321-348.
HOOVER, J. R., Ibn Taymiyyas Theodicy of Perpetual Optimism (LeidenBoston: Brill, Islamic Philosophy, Theology and
Science. Texts and Stud-ies, 73, 2007).
MEMON, Muhammad U., Ibn Taymyas Struggle against Popular Religion. With an Annotated Transl. of his Kitb iqti! a"-"ir#
al-mustaqm mukhlafat a"$b al-ja$m, Religion and Society, 1 (The Hague - Paris: Mouton, 1976).

Class Schedule

I. Monday June 16. A theologian of the middle way. Introduction to the course.
General references:
LITTLE, Donald P., Did Ibn Taymiyya Have a Screw Loose ?, in Studia Islamica, XLI, Paris, 1975, p. 93-111. Reedited in
his History and Historiography of the Mamlks, VIII, London, Variorum Reprints, 1986.
, The historical and historiographical Significance of the Detention of Ibn Taymiyya, in International Journal of Middle East
Studies, t. IV, Cambridge, 1973, p. 311-327. Also in his History and Historiography of the Mamlks, Variorum Reprints,
London, 1986, VII.
JACKSON, Sherman A., Ibn Taymiyyah on Trial in Damascus, in Journal of Semitic Studies, XXXIX, 1, Oxford, Oxford
University Press, 1994, p. 41-85.
MURAD, Hasan Qasim, Ibn Taymiya on trial: a narrative account of his mi$an, in Islamic Studies, Islamabad, The Islamic
Research Institute, t. XVIII, 1979, p.1-32.
SWARTZ, Merlin, A seventh-century (A. H.) Sunni creed : The Aqda Wsi#ya of Ibn Taymya, in Humaniora Islamica. An
Annual Publication of Islamic Studies and the Humanities. Ed. by Herbert W. MASON, Ronald L. NETTLER, Merlin
L. SWARTZ, Jacques WAARDENBURG, La Haye - Paris, Mouton, t. I, 1973, p. 91-131.
ABRAHAMOV, Binyamin, Ibn Taymiyya on the Agreement of Reason with Tradition, in The Muslim World, v. LXXXII, 3-4,
1992, p. 255-273.
MEIER, F., The Cleanest about Predestination. A Bit of Ibn Taymiyya, in his Essays on Islamic Piety and Mysticism. Translated
by J. OKANE with editorial assistance of B. RADTKE (Leiden: Brill, 1999), 30934.
Reading Assignment: MICHOT, Y., Ibn Taymiyya: Against Extremisms, Intro., p. xxxxxii, & Ch. 1, p. 1
10.
Arabic text: IBN TAYMIYYA, Majm al-fatw, vol. III, p. 369, l. 14 p. 375, l. 14.

II. Tuesday June 17. The history of Islamic thought
General references:
MICHEL, Th. F., Ibn Taymiyyas Critique of Falsafa, in Hamdard Islamicus, Karachi, t. VI/1, 1983, p. 3-14.
VON KGELGEN, A., The Poison of Philosophy: Ibn Taymiyyas Struggle for and against Reason, in KRAWIETZ, B. & TAMER,
G. (eds.), Debating, p. 253-328.
HOOVER, Jon, Ibn Taymiyya as an Avicennan Theologian, in Theological Review, 27, 2006, p. 34-46.
MICHOT, Yahya, Misled and Misleading Yet Central in their Influence: Ibn Taymiyyas Views on the Ikhw!n al-"af!, in The
Ikhw!n al-"af! and their Ras!il. An Introduction. Edited by Nader EL-BIZRI. Foreword by Farhad DAFTARY, Oxford,
Oxford University Press, in association with the Institute of Ismaili Studies, Epistles of the Brethren of Purity , 2008, p.
139-179. On internet: muslimphilosophy.com.
, A Maml#k Theologians Commentary on Avicennas Ris%la A!$awiyya : Being a Translation of a Part of the Dar| al-
Ta`%ru! of Ibn Taymiyya, with Introduction, Annotation, and Appendices, in Journal of Islamic Studies, Oxford, Part I, 14/2
(May 2003), 149203; Part II, 14/3 (Sept. 2003), 30963.
Reading Assignment: MICHOT, Y., From al-Mam#n to Ibn Sab$n, via Avicenna: Ibn Taymiyyas
Historiography of Falsafa, in F. OPWIS & D. REISMAN (eds.), Islamic Philosophy, Science, Culture, and
Religion. Studies in Honor of Dimitri Gutas (Leiden Boston: Brill, 2012), p. 453-475.
Arabic texts: A. Ibn Taymiyya, Majm# al-fat!w!, vol. xi, p. 478480. B. Majm# al-fat!w!, vol. vii,
p. 585590.

III. Wednesday June 18. Sufism
General references:
BELL, J. N., Love Theory in Later %anbalite Islam, Studies in Islamic Philosophy and Science , Albany, State University of
New York Press, 1979. Ch. 3 : The Reaction to Asharism : Ibn Taymiyya ; Ch. 4 : Divine Will and Love in the Theology
of Ibn Taymiyya ; Ch. 5 : Ibn Taymiyya on Love between God and Man, p. 46-91.
MAKDISI, George, Ibn Taymiyya : A "f of the Qdiriya Order, in American Journal of Arabic Studies, t. I, 1973, p. 118-129.
Reedited in his Religion, Law and Learning in Classical Islam, VII, Collected Studies Series, CS347 , London,
Variorum, 1991.
MICHOT, Yahya, Ibn Taymiyyas Commentary on the Creed of al-allj, in A. SHIHADEH (ed.), Sufism and Theology,
Edimbourg, Edinburgh University Press, 2007, p. 123-136.
HOMERIN, Th. E., Ibn Taimyas Al-&fyah wa-al-Fuqar, in Arabica, XXXII, Leiden, 1985, p. 219-244.
ABU RUMAYSAH, The Diseases of the Hearts and their Cures by Ibn Taymiyyah, compiled by I. b. `A. AL-'AAZIMEE.
Translation (Birmingham: Al-Hidaayah Publishing and Distribution, 1418/ 1998).
!"#$$%&' $)*+,' Al-&azls Concept of Prophecy: The Introduction of Avicennan Psychology into A'arite Theology, in Arabic
Sciences and Philosophy, 14 (2004), p. 101-144.
AFIFI AL-AKITI, M., The Three Properties of Prophethood in Certain Works of Avicenna and al-&azl, in J. MCGINNIS (ed.,
with the assistance of D. REISMAN), Interpreting Avicenna: Science and Philosophy in Medieval Islam. Proceedings of the
Second Conference of the Avicenna Study Group (Leiden - Boston: Brill, Islamic Philosophy, Theology and Science. Texts
and Studies, LVI, 2004), p. 189-212.
MICHOT, Y., Textes spirituels dIbn Taymiyya (Nouvelle srie). XI. Ab# %!mid al-Ghaz!l$ & Fakhr al-D$n al-R!z$, July 2011,
p. 1-5. On: http://www.scribd.com/doc/65019537/Textes-spirituels-dIbn-Taymiyya-Nouvelle-serie-XI-Ab(-'%mid-al-
Ghaz%l)-Fakhr-al-D)n-al-R%z)
Reading Assignment: MICHOT, Y., An Important Reader of al-Ghaz!l$ : Ibn Taymiyya, in The Muslim
World, January 2013, p. 131-160.
Arabic text: IBN TAYMIYYA, Radd al-man(iqiyyn. Ed. al-Kutub (Bombay: 1368/1949), p. 514-523.
Trans. Y. MICHOT, Textes spirituels dIbn Taymiyya, N.S. XIV. Au-del de la mystique dAvicenne,
October 2012, p. 1-6. On: http://www.scribd.com/doc/108760107/Textes-spirituels-d-Ibn-Taymiyya-Nouvelle-Serie-
XIV-Au-dela-de-la-mystique-d-Avicenne

IV. Thursday June 19. The Mamlks
General references:
Mamluk Studies Resources (Chicago: University of Chicago, The Middle East Documentation Center). On the internet:
http://mamluk.uchicago.edu
IRWIN, R., The Middle East in the Middle Ages. The Early Mamluk Sultanate (1250-1382) (London - Sydney: Croom Helm,
1986), [xii] & 180 p., ISBN 0-7099-1308-7.
AYALON, David, The Mamluk Military Society (Variorum Reprints , 1979), 262 p .
, Notes on the Fursiyya Exercices and Games in the Mamluk Sultanate, in Uriel HEYD (ed.), Scripta Hierosolymitana, IX:
Studies in Islamic History and Civilization (Jerusalem: The Magnes Press, 1961), p. 3162.
FONS, ., propos des Mongols. Une lettre dIbn Taymiyya au sultan al-Malik al-N!)ir Mu*ammad b. Qal!w#n, in Annales
islamologiques, XLIII (Cairo: 2009), p. 3173.
MICHOT, Y., Rashd al-Dn et Ibn Taymiyya : regards croiss sur la royaut, in Mohaghegh Nma. Collected papers presented
to Professor Mehdi Mohaghegh on his 70th birthday and in appreciation of his 50 years academic activities. Supervised by B.
KHORRAMSHH and J. JAHNBAKHSH, 2 vols. (Tehran: Sinnegr, 2001), vol. 2, p. 111-137. On:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/65101117/Yahya-Michot-Rash)d-al-D)n-et-Ibn-Taymiyya-regards-croises-sur-la-royaute
, Textes spirituels dIbn Taymiyya (Nouvelle srie). XII. Salafisme vrai et nouveauts maml#kes, December 2011, p. 1-6. On:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/76437569/Textes-spirituels-d-Ibn-Taymiyya-Nouvelle-serie-XII-Salafisme-vrai-et-nouveautes-
maml(kes
Arabic text: IBN TAYMIYYA, Majm# al-fat!w!, vol. XXVIII, p. 7-8, 13-20.

V. Friday June 20. The Mongols
General references:
MICHOT, Y., Muslims under Non-Muslim Rule. Ibn Taymiyya on fleeing from sin, kinds of emigration, the status of Mardin
(domain of peace/war, domain composite), the conditions for challenging power. Texts translated, annotated and presented in
relation to six modern readings of the Mardin fatwa. Foreword by J. PISCATORI, Oxford-London: Interface Publications, Dec.
2006, xviii & 190 p. ISBN 978-0-9554545-6-1.
, IBN TAYMIYYA. Lettre un roi crois (al-Ris%lat al-Qubru"iyya). Traduction de larabe, introduction, notes et lexique (Lou-
vain-la-Neuve: Academia Lyon: Tawhid, Sagesses musulmanes, 2 , 1995).
, Textes spirituels dIbn Taymiyya. XI-XIII: Mongols et Mamlks: ltat du monde musulman vers 709/1310, in Le
Musulman, n 2426, Paris, A.E.I.F., Oct. 1994 - Sept. 1995, p. 26-31, 25-30, 25-30.
BENJAMIN, Daniel - SIMON, Steven, The Age of Sacred Terror, New York, Random House, 2002. Ch. 2, p. 38-94 : Ibn
Taymiyya and His Children.
SIVAN, E., Ibn Taymiyya : Father of the Islamic Revolution. Medieval Theology & Modern Politics, in Encounter, t. LX/v,
1983, p. 41-50.
Reading Assignment: MICHOT, Y., Ibn Taymiyyas New Mardin Fatwa. Is Genetically Modified Islam
(GMI) Carcinogenic?, in The Muslim World, 101/2 (April 2011), 13081.
Arabic texts: A. Majm# al-fat!w!, vol. XXVIII, p. 240-241. B. MF, vol. XXVIII, p. 520-521. C. MF,
vol. XXVIII, p. 530-531. D. MF, vol. XVIII, p. 281-284.

VI. Monday June 23. Christianity
General references:
MICHEL, Thomas F., A Muslim Theologians Response to Christianity. Ibn Taymiyyas Al-jawb al-"a$$. Edited and
translated, Studies in Islamic philosophy and science , Delmar - New York, Caravan Books, 1984, ix & 465 p.
OKEEFFE, Benjamin, Masalat al-Kanis (The Question of the Churches). Presented and translated, in Islamochristiana
(Dirst Islmiyya Mas*iyya), 22, Rome, 1996, p. 53-78.
ROBERTS, Nancy N., Reopening the Muslim-Christian Dialogue of the 13th-14th Centuries: Critical Reflections on Ibn
Taymiyyahs Response to Christianity in al-Jawb al-&a$$ li-man Baddala Dn al-Mas$, in The Muslim World, LXXXVI,
n 3-4, 1996, p. 342-366.
THOMAS, D., Apologetic and Polemic in the Letter from Cyprus and Ibn Taymiyyas Jawb al-"a$$ li-man baddala dn al-
Ma"$, in Y. RAPOPORT & Sh. AHMED (eds.), Ibn Taymiyya, p. 247-265.
MICHOT, Y., IBN TAYMIYYA. Lettre un roi crois (al-Ris%lat al-Qubru"iyya). Traduction de larabe, introduction, notes et lexi-
que (Louvain-la-Neuve: Academia Lyon: Tawhid, Sagesses musulmanes, 2 , 1995).
, Textes spirituels dIbn Taymiyya (Nouvelle srie). I : Jsus est vivant, July 2009, p. 14. On:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/65076270/Textes-spirituels-dIbn-Taymiyya-Nouvelle-serie-I-Jesus-est-vivant
Reading Assignment: MICHOT, Y., Between Entertainment and Religion: Ibn Taymiyyas Views on
Superstition, in The Muslim World, 99/1, Hartford, janvier 2009, p. 1-20.
Arabic text: IBN TAYMIYYA, Majm# al-fat!w!, vol. XIII, p. 102, l. 6 - 109. Trans. Y. MICHOT, Textes
spirituels dIbn Taymiyya (Nouvelle srie). XV. Revenants et rapparitions de Jsus, February 2013, p.
1-9. on: http://www.scribd.com/doc/125531855/Textes-spirituels-dIbn-Taymiyya-Nouvelle-Serie-XV-Revenants-et-
reapparitions-de-Jesus

VII. Tuesday June 24. Shism
General references:
AL-JAMIL, T., Ibn Taymiyya and Ibn al-Mu(ahhar al-%ill: Shii Polemics and the Struggle for Religious Authority in Medieval
Islam, in Y. RAPOPORT & Sh. AHMED (eds.), Ibn Taymiyya, p. 229246.
SCHMIDTKE, S., The Theology of al-All!ma al-%ill$ (d. 726/1325) (Berlin: Klaus Schwarz Verlag, Islamkundliche
Untersuchungen, 152, 1991).
LAOUST, H., Les fondements de lim!mat dans le Minh%j dal-%ill$, in Revue des tudes Islamiques, 46 (1978), p. 355.
AMINI, I. (Ayatollah), Al-Im!m al-Mahd$, the Just Leader of Humanity. Translated by A. SACHEDINA (North York: Islamic
Education & Information Centre, 1996).
MODARRESSI, H., Crisis and Consolidation in the Formative Period of Shiite Islam. Ab# Jafar ibn Qiba al-R!z$ and His
Contribution to Im!mite Sh$ite Thought (Princeton: The Darwin Press, 1993).
SACHEDINA, A. A., Islamic Messianism. The Idea of Mahdi in Twelver Shiism (Albany: State University of New York Press,
1981).
MICHOT, Y., Textes spirituels dIbn Taymiyya (Nouvelle srie). III. Le jour de +sh#r!, October 2009, p. 1-11. On:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/65075998/Textes-spirituels-dIbn-Taymiyya-Nouvelle-serie-III-Le-jour-de-*sh(r%
, Textes spirituels dIbn Taymiyya (Nouvelle srie). XVI. Ghad$r Khumm, November 2013, p. 1-11. On:
http://fr.scribd.com/doc/185290399/Textes-spirituels-d-Ibn-Taymiyya-N-S-XVI-Ghadir-Khumm
Reading Assignment: MICHOT, Y., Ibn Taymiyyas Critique of Sh$$ Im!mology. Translation of Three
Sections of his Minh%j al-Sunna, in The Muslim World, 104/1-2 (April 2014), 40 p.
Arabic text: Majm# al-fat!w!, vol. XXVIII, p. 484, l. 8 - 494, l. 6. Trans. Y. MICHOT, Textes spirituels
dIbn Taymiyya, N.S. XVII. Les Rfi,ites (forthcoming).

VIII. Wednesday June 25. Joseph
General references:
COOK, M., Commanding Right and Forbidding Wrong in Islamic Thought (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000).
ABOU EL FADL, Khaled, Rebellion & Violence in Islamic Law, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2001. P. 271-279,
etc. : Ibn Taymiyya as a revisionist.
MICHOT, Y., Lautorit, lindividu et la communaut face la Shara : quelques penses dIbn Taymiyya, in Mlanges de
l'Universit Saint-Joseph, 64 (Beirut: 2012), p. 261-286.
FARRUKH, Umar A., Ibn Taymiyya on Public and Private Law in Islam. Or Public Policy in Islamic Jurisprudence.
Translation (Beirut: Khayats, 1966).
QARA+*W, (AL-), Y., Priorities of the Islamic Movement in the Coming Phase. Revised translation by S. M. HASSAN AL-
BANNA (Swansea: Awakening Publications, 2002).
Reading Assignments: MICHOT, Y., Ibn Taymiyya: Against Extremisms, Ch. 17-18, p. 244-269.
Arabic text: Majm# al-fat!w!, vol. XX, p. 54-61.

IX. Thursday June 26. Group presentations

X. Friday June 27. Group presentations