In this work, scholars of intellectual history attempt a re-analysis of the theological and philosophical ingenuity of the Muslim scholar Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya (d. 1350). Ibn Qayyim was one of the most prominent theologians of the Mamluk era (1250–1517). In this book the authors break with what has been the universal practice of scholars, that of dismissing Ibn Qayyim's intellectual uniqueness and relegating him to little more than the status of a mere pupil of Ibn Taymiyya (d. 1328).
This work consists of five sections: Human agency; Career of books; Philosophy; Inclusion and exclusion in Islamic theology and law; and Creative reception outside the Arab world. Most of the articles published here were presented at the international workshop “Neo-Hanbalism reconsidered”, organized by the Zentrum Moderner Orient (ZMO) in Berlin on October 23–25, 2007.
In the introduction, Birgit Krawietz and Alina Kokoschka define in precise terms the scope of the book – that they seek to present Ibn Qayyim as “the master of appropriation”. Given this emphasis, Sait Özervarli opens the first section with an analysis of Ibn Taymiyya's understanding of the relationship between the creator and the creation. Özervarli focuses on theological approaches to the wisdom of God's actions, the causal nature (al-ʿilla) of His creation and the relationship of al-ʿilla to human agency and free will. Özervarli crafts a powerful argument as he demonstrates the extent to which Ibn Taymiyya's connection of human agency and free will to God's wisdom differs from the Ashʿarī approach and still further from the intellectual methodologies of the Muʿtazilī. In the second article, Livnat Holtzman continues the discussion of human agency, in this case exploring the question of whether human beings are constrained and compelled in their actions or whether they are the “real agents”. Holtzman employs a systematic mode of investigation as she analyses this question using chapter 19 of Ibn Qayyim's magnum opus Shifā' al-ʿalīl. In the third article, Gino Schallenbergh takes a close look at the interpretation of Sufi literature on predetermination in Ibn Qayyim's works.
In the next piece, Tzvi Langermann examines Ibn Qayyim's works, his manuscripts and his epitomes. Here Langermann provides a poignant analysis of Ibn Qayyim's masterful work, the Kitāb al-rūḥ with emphasis on its content and its impact on the belief of present-day Muslims. Following Langermann's article, Christopher Melchert outlines in his paper the relationship between Ibn Taymiyya's and Ibn Qayyim's jurisprudence and the late-medieval Ḥanbalī school of law. After this, Claudia Preckel presents an overview of the manner in which Ibn Taymiyya's and Ibn Qayyim's Ḥanbalī jurisprudence was perceived in South Asian Islamic literature. She does so by “screening Ṣiddīq Ḥasan Khān's library” in order to explore the extent to which Ṣiddīq Ḥasan was influenced by Ibn Taymiyya and Ibn Qayyim. In the next article, Syamsuddin Arif analyses the relationship of both jurists to Salafi thinking in general terms, and more particularly to Islamic radical thought in Malaysia and Indonesia. Arif provides a convincing discussion that succeeds in showing that the political implications of this relationship are over-estimated.
In what is perhaps the most impressive part of this book, Anke von Kügelgen investigates Ibn Taymiyya's attempts to refute the notion that there is a contradiction between reason and revelation. In doing so, she tries to reconstruct Ibn Taymiyya's logic and to challenge the widespread notion that he was an anti-rationalist theologian. Given this, she pays particular attention to philosophical notions, categories of judgements and key concepts of methodology and anti-philosophical positions in Ibn Taymiyya's works Al-Radd ʿalā al-manṭiqiyīn' and Dar'taʿāruḍ al-ʿaql wal-naql. Following this masterful article, Georges Tamer tackles perceptions of Ibn Taymiyya in contemporary Arabic philosophy. Perhaps the most important part of this article is the second section, where Tamer explores in precise terms the reasons why a considerable number of contemporary Arab philosophers argue that Ibn Taymiyya had an Averroestic understanding of the relationship between philosophy and theology.
Jon Hoover explores Ibn Taymiyya's and Ibn Qayyim's views regarding the duration of hellfire, using ʿAli Harbī's short book Kashf al-astār as a tool of analysis. Hoover asserts that neither Ibn Taymiyya nor Ibn Qayyim believed in the eternity of the hellfire. Abdessamad Belhaj re-examines Ibn Taymiyya's treaty Al-Siyāsa al-sharʿiyya and its impact on Ibn Qayyim's work al-Ṭuruq al-ḥukmiyya. Belhaj tends to underestimate the political implications of both works, pointing out that in fact these two books were primarily geared towards enhancing the moral aspects of public order – and the relationship between ruler and ruled. In his paper Dominik Schlosser provides a broad textual interpretation of Ibn Qayyim's anti-Christian work Hidāyat al-ḥayārā fī ajwibat al-yahūd wal-naṣārā.
The concluding section is devoted to the reception of Ibn Taymiyya and Ibn Qayyim in non-Muslim states; states that have been fertile territory for circulating the political ideas of radical Sunni Islam. Here Annabelle Böttcher succeeds in identifying what she believes is the link between the way in which Ibn Taymiyya's and Ibn Qayyim's writings are used and the attendant political circumstances of countries such as Germany. Finally, Martin Riexinger focuses on the question of Ibn Taymiyya's affiliation to modernity; Riexinger labels this relationship as problematic as he analyses this affiliation and highlights Ibn Taymiyya's interpretation of the Quran and its perception in the intellectual circles of Ahl al-Ḥadīth in early twentieth-century British India.
As a final remark, the volume has made a laudable contribution to the ongoing discussion of these two prominent Ḥanbalī thinkers. It seems likely that most readers will be pleased with these papers, not only with the superb quality of their analytical approaches, but also with the eloquent style in which their arguments are delivered. The length of some of these articles should not deter the reader from following the lines of reasoning. It seems clear that this work serves well the objectives that the editors set out in the introduction.
