al-Madakhil ila Athar Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyya
- Author died
- 1429 AH
- Editions
- Dar Ata'at al-Ilm
al-Madakhil ila Athar Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyya (Introductions to the Works of Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyya) is a bibliographic and methodological guidebook by the Saudi scholar Bakr Abu Zayd (1365–1429 AH / 1946–2008 CE), written as the introductory volume for the critical publishing project of Ibn Taymiyya's corpus .
Background and Composition
The work was completed on 2 Shawwal 1421 AH (28 December 2000 CE) while Bakr Abu Zayd served as president of the International Islamic Fiqh Academy in Jeddah . It was conceived to introduce the scholarly multi-volume series Athar Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyya wa-ma Lahiqaha min A'mal ("The Works of Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyya and Associated Works"), which was printed under the academy's auspices and funded by the philanthropic institution of Sulayman ibn Abd al-Aziz al-Rajhi . The project utilized global manuscript catalogues to locate unedited treatises and improve earlier defective editions through a team of specialized researchers and editors .
Structure and Contents
The book is arranged into thematic "entrances" (madakhil) that address the scope of Ibn Taymiyya's heritage, its transmission, and editorial history :
- The Scope of the Project (Mawdu' al-Mashru'): Categorizes the editorial mission into four branches: publishing previously unprinted works discovered in library catalogues; critically reediting previously published works that suffered from textual omissions or printing errors; gathering derivative historical works such as abridgments (ikhtisarat) and compilations of his juristic selections (ikhtiyarat); and documenting his biographical compendia .
- Biographical Overview: Summarizes Ibn Taymiyya's lineage, his birth in Harran in 661 AH, his upbringing and burial in Damascus following his death in 728 AH, his character, and assessments by classical biographers .
- Famous Aphorisms: A selection of widely circulated sayings and maxims by Ibn Taymiyya, which was added in the revised second edition of the work .
- Subject Matter and Authorship: Analyzes the topical scope of his treatises across theology, Quranic exegesis, hadith, jurisprudence, and polemics, observing that he rarely authored standard pedagogical textbooks (mutun) from scratch, but rather composed responses, fatwas, refutations, and focused thematic inquiries . It also includes an evaluation of spurious works falsely attributed to him, such as the poem al-Lamiyya .
- Printing and Compilation History: Traces the geographical chronology of modern printing efforts of Taymiyyan literature, highlighting early editions produced in the Indian subcontinent—beginning with Nawab Siddiq Hasan Khan's publication of al-Fatwa al-Hamawiyya in 1291 AH—followed by printings in Egypt, Iraq, the Levant, and the Arabian Peninsula . It also details the long-standing efforts of scholars and students to gather his extensive scattered responsa into multi-volume compendia (majami') .
Publication History
The initial print run of the project was released in an eleven-volume set, with al-Madakhil as its opening volume . After the first edition sold out rapidly, a second revised edition was prepared incorporating corrections and the third section of aphorisms . It was subsequently republished in Mecca by Dar 'Alam al-Fawa'id (including a third edition in 1432 AH) as well as by Dar 'Ata'at al-'Ilm in partnership with Dar Ibn Hazm .
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