Modern Interpretations and Misinterpretations of a Medieval Scholar: Apprehending the Political Thought of Ibn Taymiyyah

This article overturns widely held perceptions of Ibn Taymiyya’s views on the caliphate in contemporary scholarship through a close examination of his Fatawa, Minhaj al-Sunna, and al-Siyasa al-Shar‘iyya and reveals Ibn Taymiyya’s juristic attachment and engagement with the concept of the caliphate as a moral and legal necessity for the welfare of the Muslim community in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. The article also reflects on how modern accommodationist and confrontationist Islamist groups have marshalled Ibn Taymiyya’s work in support of their widely divergent positions, sometimes well beyond the letter and spirit of his original contributions.

Duke Scholars

Author Mona Hassan Religious Studies