ISLAMIC HISTORY AND CIVILIZATION STUDIES AND TEXTS EDITED BY WADAD KADI VOLUME 34 TASTE OF MODERNITY Sufisrn, Salqfiyya, and Arabism in Late Ottoman Damascus BY ITZCHAK WEISMANN BRILL LEIDEN ■ BOSTON • KÖLN 2001 260 CHAPTER SEVEN limit it to their lifetime, thus denying the value of visiting their tombs and there asking for help.51 Mustafa al-ShatP's second treatise was meant to illuminate (he Salaffs, who thus attacked Sufism, and to prevent others from following their example, by explaining the doctrine of wakdai al-wujud and by demonstrating its full compatibility with die shari'a. Like with the case of 'Urnar al-'Attar and Mahmud Abu al-Shamat, Shaft? s presentation follows the conventional interpretation of Ibn 'Arabfs teaching. All genuine sufis have held this doctrine, he claims, both the classical masters like BistamT, Junayd and Ghazall, and the ep-onyrns of the orders such as Abu al-Hasan al-Shadhill, Baha' al-Din Naqshband and Jalal al-Din al-Ruml,95 In his desire to defend Sufism against the growing rationalist tendencies of his day, however, Shatp comes closer to Ahmad al-Jaza'in's arguments. Like him, he claims that though direct spiritual experience is superior, it is possible to comprehend the sufi science by reading its expositions, on the condition that this is done with God's help, or under the guidance of a quiijiijo ' shaykli. Moreover, Shaftl promises that this science, by its very naure, contains no secrets and conceals no trudis. Sufi authors have written nothing that contradicts the common sense or the straight path. Their source was simply knowledge received from God ('Urn ladum), delivered through the Qur'an and the sunna, and revealed to those for whom the Lord had opened their inner vision or sounded the message in their hearts.93 Belief in "the unity of being" does not contradict the shari'a; on the contrary, it is its source and heart. For Mustafa al-Shafti, thus, all sufis profess a Muhammad! salafi belief which they have gained from the source of the shari'a by merns of revelation, after being convinced by speculative proof and deliberation.91 PART 3: RESISTANCE TO THE EMERGING MODERN STATE—THE SALAFIYYA 81 Ibid., pp. 15-17. .9S Ibid.. pp. 37-+0. 93 Ibid., pp. 46-49. 94 Ibid., p. 55. Khayr ummatT al-qarn alladhlna bu'ithtu fthim thumma alladhl-na yalunahum thumma alladhlna yalunahum. The best of my nation is the generation to whom I wis sent, then those who follow them, then ihose who follow them. Sahlh Muslim, Kitab Fada'il al-Sahaba, 213. Taqi al-Dln Ahmad ibn Taymiyya,1 from whose call to follow the path of the forefathers the Salafiyya derived its name, was born in 1263 into a learned Hanbali family of Harran, five yem ? after the destruction of Baghdad and the actual end of the 'Abbasid Caliphate. At the age of six,, his family moved to MamJuk Damascus, there seeking refuge from the advancing Mongol armies. Ibn Taymiyya acquired an extensive religious education, centered on Hanbali jurisprudence and theology, but including also the jurisprudence of the other three legal schools, as well as philosophy and mysticism. In the latter field, he not only immersed himself in sufi expositions, particularly those of Ibn 'Arabi, but was also affiliated to the Qadiriyya order.2 Ibn Taymiyya went on to distinguish himself as one of the most original religious men of his day. At th mie time he proved to be an uncompromising advocate of the absolute unity of God, as well as an untiring fighter against innovations threatening it. At times he was supported in his struggles by the Mamluk amirs, especially in periods of external threat when they benefited from his exhortations for jihad against the infidel, but for most of his life Ibn Taymiyya was persecuted by the leading 'ulama and sufi shaykhs, who incited these rulers to act against him. He died imprisoned in the citadel of Damascus in 1328. Like Ibn 'Arabi, Ibn Taymiyya too authored a large number of books, encompassing most of the fields studied in his time. He has 1 The most detailed biography of Ibn Taymiyya is still Henri Laoust, Ess a: sur ies doctrines sociales et politique! de Taki-d-Din Ahmad b. Taimtya (Cairo, 1939), pp, 7-150. See also Donald Litde, "The Historical and Historiographie Significance of the Detention of Ibn Taymiyya," 1JMES, 4 (1973), pp. 311-327; idem, "Did Ibn Taymiyya have a Screw Loose?" SI, 41 (1975), pp. 93-111; Victor E. Makari, Ibn Taymiyyah's Ethics: The Social Factor (Chico, Gal., 1983), pp. 21-29; Sherman Jackson, "Ibn Tayrniyyah on Trial in Damascus," JSS, 29 (1994), pp. 41-85. * George Makdisi, "Ibn Taymlya: a Soft of the Qadiriyya Order," American Journal of Arabic Studies, 1 (1973), pp. 118-130; Thomas Michel, "Ibn Taymiyya's Shark on the Futüh al-Ghayb of'Abd al-Qädir al-jllani, Hamdardhlamicus, 4/2 (1981), pp. 3-12. 264 PART THREE THE SALAF1YYA 265 aroused considerable interest among Western students of Islam since the 1920s, owing to the central place that his teachings hold in the thought nf the Salafls and, following them, in that of contemporary radical Islamic trends. This extensive research allows us to form a rather detailed picture of Ibn Taymiyya's views, from which we can better understand in what lay his attraction for the reformist 'ulama of late Ottoman Damascus. Ahmad ibn Taymiyya's religious fervor should be viewed against the bat. round of the deep political crisis the Muslim umma was experiencing in the wake of the fall of the 'Abbasid Caliphate and the unremitting Mongol dire at on those lands that remained under Muslim control. He wholeheartedly supported the Mamluk rulers of Egypt, and in his political thought attempted to supply their state with the religious legitimization they needed. He thus remained loyal to the orthodox view which stressed the necessity of using coercion for the sake of both religion and social prosperity, as well as the duty to obey one's ruler, even if he is oppressive. Ibn Taymiyya deviated from the traditional doctrine only in those cases where it was necessary to adapt it to the new political circumstances created by the actual dissolution of the Caliphate. He argued that this institute's existence is not necessary, that it is permissible to have several imams at the same time, and that Islam does not require their designation by election. This reliance on power was contrasted in Ibn Taymiyya's teaching with the duty of the imams to rule injustice (adl) and, even more important, in cooperation with their subjects. He emphasized the importance of the oath of allegiance (mubdya'd) and of advice {nafiha) as constituting reciprocal consent and contract between ruler and ruled, reflecting their shared desire to follow the path of God and His messenger, and designed to ensure the implementation of the shari'a. Ibn Taymiyya thus regarded the holding of power as an act of religious piety, and viewed rulers as deputies of God to his Creatures, as well as their representatives before Him. Consequently, he also attached great importance to the ruler's obligation of appointing the most suitable candidates for public positions and critically denounced office holders who disregarded religion and attempted to exploit it for their own ends.3 3 Laoust, Ibn Taimija, pp. 278-317; Erwin I.J. Rosenthal, Political 'Thought in Medieval Islam: An Introductory Outline (Cambridge, 1968), pp. 51-61; Ann L.S. Lamb-ton, St'jvr <>nd Government in Medieval Islam (New York, 1981), pp. 145-151; Makari, pp. 133-lr.\ The effort to legitimize Muslim government in die post-Caliphate era, however, was only one aspect in die comprehensive endeavor of Ahmad ibn Taymiyya to reformulate the fundamental tenets of the religion, in order to allow the umma to reunite and sue c ysfully cope with the new realities. His aim was to find the middle ground (wasaf) between the various fields of study that had evolved within the framework of Islam, giving each one of them its proper place in the overall teaching. Ibn Taymiyya sought to restore the fundamental unity between theology, which relies on reason (aql)s the sciences of hadith and jurisprudence, which derive their authority from tradition {naql), and Sufism, which is based upon the quest for spiritual experience (irada). In interweaving these elements into a coherent doctrine, Ibn Taymiyya displayed remarkable openness towards views developed within each of these sciences, as well as those ■" ..diers rejected by Sunni Islam, such as the rationalist trends of the _ iu'tazila and the philosophers, being ready to adopt truth whatever its origin. His criterion for verifying the findings of each science was compatibility with the Qur'an and the sunna. Subject to this criterion, he relied heavily upon reason, which in his eyes would never contradict the shari'a, principally as a method of defending religious truth against its detractors.* In Ibn Taymiyya's view this was the path of the forefathers of Islam (al-salaj), the Prophet's companions (sahaba) and their immediate heirs (tabi'uri), the model to be followed. In this criterion of compatibility with the Qur'an and the sunna, and in its essentially rationalist application, ultimately la1, the failure of the unity that Ahmad ibn Taymiyya sought to create, as well as the turning of the majority of contemporary 'ulama against him. For Ibn Taymiyya, the call to return to the sources was designed to purify Islam of the innovations that had accrued to it through the centuries and to reassert the essential profession of unity upon which the religion was based. His faithfulness to the path of the salqf, therefore, meant not only the integration of the religious sciences but also the critical examination of each of them in an effort to sift out those elements which had been added over successive generations. Advocating this in the most uncompromising manner, Ibn Taymiyya was driven by a sense of crisis and certainly also by the nature of his own personality. The hostile 'ulama obviously agreed to the supremacy * George Makdisi, "Hanbalite Islam," in M. Swartz (ed.), Studies in Islam (London, 1981), pp. 251-262; Binyamin Abrahamov, "Ibn Taymiyya on the Agreement of Reason with Tradition," MW, 82 (1992), pp. 256-273. 266 PART THREE THE SALAFIYYA 267 of the Qur'an and the sunxta, but nonetheless rejected the demand that these sources be approached directly and used critically to examine their traditional knowledge. They rather preferred to rely unreservedly upon the formulations arrived at by the founders of the various theological and legal schools to which they belonged, regarding their interpretations of the Qur'an and the sunna as those which best reflected the way of the salqf. In the eyes of most religious men of his time, Ibn Taymiyya's call to approach directly the sources thus was seen as a sharp assault on orthodoxy, as it had crystallized and sanctified during those late generations which they claimed to represent. The internal contradiction inherent in the teaching of Ahmad ibn Taymiyya is clearly recognizable in his criticism of the jurisprudence of his time. Rejecting the practice of blind imitation (t-aqlid), he maintained that deriving legal rulings directly from the Qur'an and the sunna (ijtihad) is essential for the continuing vitality of the shari'a under changing circumstances. Alongside these two basic sources of Islamic Law, Ibn Taymiyya left wide room for the use of analogy [qiyis), which is based upon reason, and for consideration of the public good (maflaha), which addresses actual conditions of life. On the other hand, he significantly reduced the scope of the general consensus (ymo*), which sanctifies the tradition. Nevertheless, he did remain faithful to the Hanball school and retrained from claiming that he himself had attained the rank of mujtahid. In his critique of the rationalist theology of his day {kalarri), Ibn Taymiyya maintained, again in the spirit of Hanbalism, that God may be described only as He d< cribed himself in the Qur'an or as the Prophet described Him in the sunna. He therefore opposed the concern of this science with God's essence and attributes, stressing instead the obligation to obey Him and the Prophet. Ibn Taymiyya was particularly critical of the dominant Ash'arl school, which in his opinion tended to overemphasize the omnipotence of God at the expense of man's freedom of action and his responsibility for his deeds. He regarded the idea of predestination as a great injury to the moral fabric of Islam.5 Tin- most pungent criticism of Ahmad ibn Taymiyya on die basis 5 Laoust, Ibn Taimiya, pp. 153-178, 226-250; Rahman, pp. 1LI k 15; Joseph Norman Bell, Love Theoiy in Late Hanbalite Islam (Albany, 1979), pp. 46-91; Makari, pp. 33-112, For his treatment of Philosophy see Wael B. HaUaq, Ibn Taymijya Against the Greek Logicians (Oxford, 1993). of the way of the salqf, however, was reserved for Sufism, ;oth as a science that by his time relied heavily on Ibn 'Arabl's teaching and as a practical path becoming increasingly organized through the orders and tainted by popular practices. Ibn Taymiyya accepted mystical revelation {kashf] as a valid source of religious knowledge, but in accordance with his general view, he subjected it to the criterion of compatibility with the Qur'an and the sunna. He even admitted that sufis may discern new meanings in the scriptures, and consequently in the precepts of the shari'a, though they could not abrogate them. Nonetheless, despite this implicit validating of Ibn 'Arabl's method, Ibn Taymiyya waged an unrelenting w r against his teaching, primarily because of its practical implications. He vehemendy rejected the doctrine oiwafydat al-wujud, comparing it with Ash'arl theology and the damage it had caused to the moral order of Islam. Ibn Taymiyya offered a tripartite critique of what he regarded as being the Akbarl deviation from an authentic profession of God's unity. First, he maintained that by endorsing the possibility of identification with God (ittihdd) or annihilation in Him (Jana1), this teaching blurred the distinction between Lord and creature. Second, in the teaching about the immutable essences (a'yan thabita) the Akbariyya lent its support, according to Ibn Taymiyya, to a belief in predestination, since it implies that the course of every creature is determined by the predisposition of its potential essence. Finally, he blamed Ibn 'Arabl's teaching on sainthood {walayd) for giving strong encouragement to the incorporation of saint worship into Islam, based on the belief in their infallible knowledge and in their ability to perform miracles. Ibn Taymiyya was especially hostile toward the widespread Rifa'iyya order, which used such practices as eating glass, walking on fire, and handling snakes to demonstrate one's sanctity. This doctrine of sainthood, in his view, also led to the incorporation into Islam of originally foreign popular practices, above all the visiting of saints' tombs and the seeking of help from their deceased residents.6 Despite the acute animosity showed by most 'ulama of the Mara-luk domains toward Ahmad ibn Taymiyya, his influence upon con- 6 Muhammad Umar Memon, Ibn Taymiyya's Struggle against Papular Religion (The Hague, 1976), pp. 24-87; Rahman, p. 147; Th. Emil Homerin, Ibn Taimlyah's al-Süßyah wa-al-Fuqarä'," Arabica, 32 (1985), pp. 219-244; Knish, Ibn 'Atabi, pp. 87-111. For his denouncement of the Rifa'iyya see Donald Little, "Religion Under the Mamluts," MW, 73 (1983), pp. 177-178. 268 PART THREE THE SALAFIYYA 269 temporaries was nonetheless considerable and he acquired numerous disciples, Hanball and non-Hanball alike. Most prominent among them was Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya, a great 'alim in his own right, who faithfully spread his teachings.'1 In the course of time this influence seems to have diminished, especially in the face of the expanding activity of the sufi orders and the increasingly wide acceptance of Ibn 'Arabi's thought. Nonetheless, followers of Ibn Taymiyya continued to transmit his legacy through the centuries, both because of its remarkable reformist thrust and as part of late Hanbah jurisprudence, thriving mainly in Damascus and Baghdad.8 In the eighteenth century this tendency gained a new importance in the well-known movemt t encountered more than once in this study, the Wahhabiyya. Its founder, Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab {1703-1792), was the scion of a family of Hanball 'ulama from the 'Uyay-na oasis of the central Najd. His principal inspiration came from reading the books of Ibn Taymiyya and Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya, before travelling to the neighboring centers of learning, mainly in Medina and Basra.9 On the basis of Ibn Taymiyya's concept aftawhid, Ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab condemned the practices of most inhabitants of the Arab Peninsula as a pre-Islamic legacy (jahiliyya). Applying it more broadly, he attacked almost the entire Muslim society of his time. lv adopting Ibn Taymiyya's concept of adherence to the path of the salaf, Ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab was able to reject the innovations that were attached to Islam during the succeeding generations, as seen from his point of view. These included a jurisprudence that increasingly neglected the exertion of ijtihad in favor of taqlid, a theosopliy that revolved around the doctrine ofwakdat al-wujud, sufi orders that were organized on the basis of die absolute authority of the shaykh, and the all gamut of popular practices centered on saint worship, visiting their tombs and seeking their intercession with God. All these necessarily implied a challenge to the Ottoman State, whom lie ree-iHed as the embodiment and mainstay of the deviations of Iat