Zitierhinweis

Abdelkader Al Ghouz: Rezension von: Yahya M. Michot: Ibn

Tamiyya. Against Extremisms, Paris: Editions Albouraq 2012, in
sehepunkte 13 (2013), Nr. 4 [15.04.2013],
URL:http://www.sehepunkte.de/2013/04/22894.html
First published: http://www.sehepunkte.de/2013/04/22894.html

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sehepunkte 13 (2013), Nr. 4

Yahya M. Michot: Ibn Tamiyya. Against
Extremisms
Ibn Taymiyya (d. 1328) is considered one of the most inuential Islamic
scholars and eminent jurists, whose provocative theological and political
teachings set o intense debate among contemporary Muslim and nonMuslim scholars. After the Attacks of September 11 th , the name of Ibn
Taymiyya appeared with those who have been mentioned in the 9/11
reports as a reference for uncompromising violence against non-Muslims.
In this regard, it should be noted that there is a broad consensus that Ibn
Taymiyya's concepts of 'lawful warfare' and of the divisions of the world
in 'House of Islam' and 'House of war' (Mrdn Fatwa) have had an
impact on the contemporary Jihad-Movement. [ 1 ] The perception of Ibn
Taymiyya nowadays varies from one scholar to another and depends on
the historical understanding of his works. Some hold the opinion that Ibn
Taymiyya is one of the signicant gures of Islamic oriented radicalism,
while others consider him a religious scholar, whose theology and
political thought should be understood in its historical framework as a
teaching of the middle way. Given the background of this controversial
perception of the Damascene Shaykh al-Islm Ibn Taymiyya, Yahya
Michot presents in his newly published book 'Ibn Taymiyya Against
Extremisms' a substantial collection of Ibn Taymiyyan translations aiming
at giving him the opportunity 'to speak for himself' and 'to listen
attentively to him'. By means of eighteen selected translations of Ibn
Taymiyya's extracts, Yahya Michot attempts to disprove what he calls the
'falsied reading' of Ibn Taymiyya's political and theological discourses.
The book consists of eighteen texts translated rst from Arabic into
French by Yahya Michot and afterwards from French into English by
Michot's translator and editor Jamil Qureshi. A critical analysis of Jamil
Qureshi's translations cannot be undertaken in this book review, because
the main purpose of the latter doesn't consist in an analytical backtranslation, particularly since the translated texts of the present work are
a translation of a translation. All translations are prefaced by an
introduction to some of the key aspects upon which the translated texts
touch.
The rst text, entitled 'the Religion of the Middle Way', is a translation of
an extract of Ibn Taymiyya's work 'al-waiyya al-kubr', from which
Michot picks out themes covering Ibn Taymiyya's discourse on a
moderate position in the elds of prophethood, canons, divine attributes,
free will, predestination and also of the median way of looking at the
Companions of the Prophet. The main purpose of these selected texts is
to undermine positions of excesses and to show the moderation that
should characterize the via media in the Sunni Islam. The second text,
entitled 'Unity and Respect for Diversity Within the Community', is made
up of two extracts from Ibn Taymiyya, which make the duty of unity and
that of tolerance a subject of discussion. The third text addresses the

compatibility of Islam with pluralism by identifying the ideological origin

of the notion of belonging. Likewise, the fourth text, 'Unbelief and
Forgiveness', is devoted to the association of Ibn Taymiyya with 'extreme
intolerance', because Ibn Taymiyya is, according to Michot, not only
misunderstood by Western scholars, but also his Fatwa on the Qalandars
is misinterpreted by many contemporary Islamists. Far from being a
leader of militancy or Islamic radicalism, Ibn Taymiyya was, according to
Yahya Michot, a 'scholastic and technical' theologian, whose teaching
corresponds to the via media in Islam, far from any extremism. To him,
the Damascene Sheikh al-Islm was a great spiritual master of the middle
way, even in the eld of Kalm theology. Given this background, Michot
devoted the fth and the sixth translations to Ibn Taymiyya's point of
view regarding the attributes of God, such as hesitation, mercy and
justice. The translated texts seven to eleven serve to let Ibn Taymiya
himself speak primarily about the love of God and loving God on the basis
of the median position in love. The twelfth text is devoted to Ibn
Taymiyya's median position regarding the question of whether
Muammad was created from light (nr muammad) or from the four
elements. Likewise, the main topic of the thirteenth and fourteenth texts
is the veneration and the following of the Prophet. The translated texts
fteen to eighteen focus on Ibn Taymiyya's understanding of rule and
power, especially of his position regarding the behavior of Muslims under
'unbelievers', 'hypocrites' or 'non-practicing Muslims'. In this regard,
Michot underscores the median position of Ibn Taymiyya by drawing
attention to Ibn Taymiyya's famous recommendation: 'Sixty years with a
tyrannical (j'ir) imam are better than one night without an imam' (259).
Far from being a sporadic collection of translated texts, Michot's wellchosen compilation covers signicant theological and political tracks that
have a common thread, namely the via media . The main purpose of these
translated texts is, on the one hand, to show that a balanced faith and
moderation build the main character of Islam, and on the other hand to
overturn Ibn Taymiyya's image as the 'godfather' of contemporary Jihadmovements. Nevertheless, readers might gain the slight impression that
Michot is all too eager to defend Ibn Taymiyya against the charge of
extremism. Furthermore, readers should not expect to nd in Michot's
book a profound analysis of Ibn Taymiyya's theological thought or a deep
discussion of social orders of his time, nevertheless he will access a
unique compilation of Ibn Taymiyya's works. Such minor shortcomings
aside, Michot's work should be considered as a signicant contribution to
Ibn Taymiyya studies, underscoring the need for further careful
translations of Ibn Taymiyya's works.
Anmerkung :
[ 1 ] See Yahya Michot, Ibn Taymiyya's "New Mardin Fatwa". Is
genetically modied Islam (GMI) carcinogenic? The Muslim World 101: 2
pp. 148.