al-Majaz inda al-Imam Ibn Taymiyya wa-Talamidhihi bayn al-Inkar wa-al-Iqrar

al-Majaz inda al-Imam Ibn Taymiyya wa-Talamidhihi bayn al-Inkar wa-al-Iqrar (Figurative Language According to Imam Ibn Taymiyya and His Disciples: Between Denial and Affirmation) is a scholarly monograph by the Egyptian Azhari rhetorician Abd al-Azim al-Mutani (d. 1429 AH / 2008 CE), examining the stance of Ibn Taymiyya (d. 728 AH / 1328 CE) and his intellectual successors regarding figurative speech (al-majaz) in Arabic and the Quran al-Majaz inda al-Imam Ibn…+1.

Background and Thesis

The book was completed by al-Mutani in Mecca in Jumada al-Thani 1415 AH (November 1994 CE) and published in one volume by Maktabat Wahba in Cairo in 1416 AH (1995 CE) al-Majaz inda al-Imam Ibn…+1. The study arose out of more than three years of research into the writings of Ibn Taymiyya and his disciple Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya (d. 751 AH / 1350 CE) beyond the specific works where they opposed figurative language al-Majaz inda al-Imam Ibn….

Al-Mutani argues that while standard opinion attributes an absolute and categorical rejection (inkar) of figurative expression to Ibn Taymiyya and Ibn al-Qayyim, both scholars actually held two divergent approaches: a famous, theoretical polemical stance denying majaz, and an unpublicized practical stance affirming it (iqrar) across the bulk of their writings al-Majaz inda al-Imam Ibn…+1. Al-Mutani identifies the main catalyst for their initial denial as the intrusion of majaz into theology (kalam) and divine attributes, where excessive allegorical interpretation (ta'wil) by groups like the Jahmiyya and Murji'a led Ibn Taymiyya to mount a campaign against the concept to close the door to theological distortion al-Majaz inda al-Imam Ibn…+1.

Contents and Structure

The book is organized into three central chapters followed by a concluding assessment:

• Chapter 1: Imam Ibn Taymiyya (al-Imam Ibn Taymiyya): Analyzes the five theoretical pillars on which Ibn Taymiyya formulated his rejection of majaz in his work Kitab al-Iman al-Majaz inda al-Imam Ibn…. It contrasts this with his practical affirmation of figurative interpretation elsewhere, categorizing his acceptance into three types: figurative explanations transmitted from the early predecessors (salaf) that he accepted (such as interpreting divine ma'iyya as divine knowledge), figurative interpretations he initiated himself, and his explicit usage of majaz to resolve textual difficulties and defend early jurists al-Majaz inda al-Imam Ibn…+1.
• Chapter 2: Imam Ibn al-Qayyim (al-Imam Ibn al-Qayyim): Examines Ibn al-Qayyim's position, which mirrored that of his teacher al-Majaz inda al-Imam Ibn…. It highlights that while Ibn al-Qayyim marshaled over fifty theoretical arguments against majaz in al-Sawa'iq al-Mursala, he extensively employed and acknowledged all classical categories of figurative rhetoric—including rational metaphor (al-majaz al-aqli), synecdoche (al-majaz al-mursal), and standard metaphor (al-isti'ara)—in his other works al-Majaz inda al-Imam Ibn…+1.
• Chapter 3: A Stand with Shaykh al-Shinqiti (Waqfa ma'a al-Shaykh al-Shinqiti): Addresses the modern revival of the denial of majaz in the treatise Man' Jawaz al-Majaz by Muhammad al-Amin al-Shinqiti (d. 1393 AH / 1973 CE) al-Majaz inda al-Imam Ibn…+1. Al-Mutani observes that al-Shinqiti likewise maintained two approaches: a theoretical denial adopted late in life, contrasted with his earlier teaching and exegetical usage that affirmed the necessity of rhetorical majaz al-Majaz inda al-Imam Ibn….

In the work's conclusion (Safwat al-Qawl), al-Mutani maintains that the affirmation of majaz represents the foundational and operative method of these scholars, concluding that the absolute denial of figurative language in Arabic and the Quran was a polemical position based on unsubstantiated doubts that achieved notoriety without enduring theoretical success al-Majaz inda al-Imam Ibn…+1.