Title: Intermediaries between Allah and Man

Author: Ibn Taymiyyah

Publisher: SANA

Medium: Book

Theme: Pillars of FAITH

Description: “Do you see those whom you invoke besides Allah, if Allah wishes me harm, (in short, your deities) are they capable of delivering me from it? And if He grants me His mercy, are they able to contain it? Say: Allaah is enough for me: to Him are those who rely on Allaah" Qur'an, verse 38- -Ibn Taymiyyah was a staunch defender of Sunni Islam based on strict adherence to the Qur'an and to the authentic sunnah (practices) of the Prophet Muhammad. He believed that these two sources contain all the religious and spiritual guidance necessary for our salvation in the hereafter. Thus he rejected the arguments and ideas of philosophers and Sufis regarding religious knowledge, spiritual experiences and ritual practices. He believed that logic is an unreliable means of attaining religious truth and that the intellect must be subservient to stated truth. He also came into conflict with many of his fellow Sunni followers because of his rejection of the rigidity of the schools of jurisprudence in Islam. He believed that the four accepted schools of jurisprudence had become stagnant and sectarian, and also that they were incorrectly influenced by aspects of Greek logic and thought as well as Sufi mysticism. His challenge to the leading disciples of the day was to return to an understanding of Islam in practice and in faith, based only on the Qur'an and the sunnah.