Ibn Taymiyyah Quotes on Knowledge
Taqī al-Dīn Aḥmad ibn Taymiyyah (1263–1328), the Hanbali jurist-theologian whose voluminous polemical writings shaped the subsequent traditionist current of Sunni thought, defended an epistemology in which revelation, supplemented by the consensus of the early community and by an inborn natural disposition (fiṭra), supplies the foundation of religious knowledge that the speculative reason of the philosophers and the dialectical theologians cannot replace. The Refutation of the Logicians and the great Conformity of Reason and Tradition (Darʾ taʿāruḍ al-ʿaql wa-l-naql) press the case that genuine reason and authentic revelation cannot conflict, with apparent conflicts always resolved by the proper subordination of speculation to transmitted authority.
Quotes
-
Attributed to Ibn Taymiyyah:
“What sound reason and authentic revelation establish cannot truly contradict each other.”
-
“God does not create pure evil. Rather, in everything that He creates is a wise purpose by virtue of what is good. However, there may be some evil in it for some people, and this is partial, relative evil. As for total evil or absolute evil, the Lord is exonerated of that.”
Ibn Taymiyyah, A. (2004) Majmu’ al-Fatawa . Vol 14, p. 266. -
“If God —exalted is He—is Creator of everything, He creates good and evil on account of the wise purpose that He has in that by virtue of which His action is good and perfect.”
Ibn Taymiyyah, A. (1986) Minhaj al-Sunnah . Edited by Muhammad Rashad Salim. Riyadh: Jami’ah al-Imam Muhammad bin Saud al-Islamiyah. Vol 3, p: 142. -
“Ibn Taymiyyah, A. (1986) Minhaj al-Sunnah . Edited by Muhammad Rashad Salim. Riyadh: Jami’ah al-Imam Muhammad bin Saud al-Islamiyah. Vol 3, p: 142.”
If God —exalted is He—is Creator of everything, He creates good and evil on account of the wise purpose that He has in that by virtue of which His action is good and perfect. -
“Guidance is not attained except with knowledge and correct direction is not attained except with patience.”
Ibn Taymiyyah, Diseases of the heart and their cures -
“Ibn Taymiyyah, Diseases of the heart and their cures”
Guidance is not attained except with knowledge and correct direction is not attained except with patience. -
“Ibn Taymiyyah, Diseases of the heart and their cures”
This whole religion (of Islam) revolves around knowing the truth and acting by it, and action must be accompanied by patience.