Ijtima al-Juyush al-Islamiyya
- Author died
- 751 AH
- Editions
- T Ataaat al-Ilm · t al-Mutaq
Ijtima al-Juyush al-Islamiyya (The Gathering of Islamic Armies) is a theological treatise authored by the Hanbali scholar Ibn al-Qayyim (691–751 AH / 1292–1350 CE) dedicated to establishing the divine transcendence of God above His creation and His ascension over the Throne (al-uluww wa-l-istiwa), while refuting the Jahmites and theological negationists (al-muattila) .
Title and Composition
The book is recorded under several titles across manuscripts and biographical works:
- Ijtima al-Juyush al-Islamiyya ala Harb al-Muattila wa-l-Jahmiyya, which appears at the end of both the Zahiriyya manuscript dated 760 AH and the Berlin manuscript copied by Ibn Zurayq al-Hanbali (d. 900 AH) .
- Ijtima al-Juyush al-Islamiyya ala Ghazw al-Muattila wa-l-Jahmiyya, mentioned by Ibn al-Qayyim in his work al-Fawaid and printed on the early Indian lithograph edition from 1314 AH .
- Ijtima al-Juyush al-Islamiyya ala Ghazw al-Firqa al-Jahmiyya, recorded by Ibn Rajab, Ibn al-Imad, Siddiq Hasan Khan, Isma'il Pasha al-Baghdadi, and Ahmad ibn Ibrahim ibn Isa .
- Ijtima al-Juyush al-Islamiyya ala Ghazw al-Jahmiyya, cited by al-Dawudi in Tabaqat al-Mufassirin .
- Ijtima al-Juyush al-Islamiyya, found on copies such as the Chester Beatty and Turkish manuscripts .
- al-Juyush al-Islamiyya, found on several manuscript covers and cited by al-Saffarini .
- Ghazw al-Juyush al-Islamiyya fi al-Radd ala al-Muattila wa-l-Jahmiyya, written on an Iraqi manuscript .
In his book al-Sawa'iq al-Mursala, Ibn al-Qayyim also refers to it under the variant title Ijtima al-Asakir al-Islamiyya ala Ghazw al-Firqa al-Jahmiyya .
Ibn al-Qayyim completed the original draft of the book in or prior to 745 AH, as he referred to having compiled a medium-sized volume on God's transcendence and ascension over the Throne in his work Hadi al-Arwah, written in 745 AH . He subsequently expanded the work with additional Quranic verses, statements attributed to earlier prophets, and numerous hadiths and reports .
Structure and Content
The work is organized into two primary sections:
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Introductory Section: Discusses divine blessings, categories of humanity in relation to prophetic guidance, and an exposition of the two Quranic parables of water and fire regarding the hypocrites . It examines Quranic passages containing the term "light," warns against actions lacking sincerity or conformity with the Sunnah, and discusses the two divisions of tawhid: informational and creedal monotheism (al-tawhid al-ilmi al-khabari al-itiqadi) and devotional monotheism (tawhid al-ibada wa-l-ikhlas) . This section transitions to the main topic via citations from Ibn Taymiyya affirming that God is established above His Throne .
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Core Theological Argument: Arranged hierarchically by the authoritative strength of the proofs:
- Quranic verses affirming God's transcendence and istiwa .
- Statements transmitted from earlier prophets (Adam, David, Abraham, Joseph, and Moses), followed by more than sixty hadiths of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ .
- Statements preserved from the Companions, the Successors (Tabi'un), and their followers (Atba al-Tabi'in) .
- Positions of the founders of the four Sunni schools of jurisprudence (Abu Hanifa, Malik ibn Anas, al-Shafi'i, and Ahmad ibn Hanbal) and their adherents .
- Transmissions from leading scholars of hadith, Quranic exegesis (tafsir), Arabic lexicography, Sufis and early ascetics, commentators on the Divine Names, and dialectical theologians (mutakallimun) among the affirmationists who opposed the Jahmiyya and Mu'tazila .
- Verses from Islamic poets among the Companions, the pre-Islamic poet Antarah, lines from Umayya ibn Abi al-Salt recited before the Prophet, and poems by Ismail al-Tirmidhi and Yahya ibn Yusuf al-Sarsari .
- Sayings of early philosophers and sages, reports regarding the believing Jinn, and instincts attributed to non-human creatures (such as ants and wild donkeys), followed by a concluding rebuttal addressing potential objections to citing poetry, Jinn, or animals .
Sources
Ibn al-Qayyim drew on a broad range of classical works across multiple genres, explicitly citing sources such as Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari's al-Ibanah and Maqalat al-Islamiyyin, Ibn Battah's al-Ibanah, al-Qadi Abu Ya'la's Ibtal al-Ta'wilat, al-Bayhaqi's al-Asma' wa-l-Sifat, al-Tabari's Tafsir and al-Tabsīr fi Ma'alim al-Din, Ibn Abd al-Barr's al-Tamhid and al-Istidhkar, Ibn Khuzayma's Kitab al-Tawhid, al-Bukhari's Khalq Af'al al-Ibad, and Uthman ibn Sa'id al-Darimi's al-Radd 'ala al-Jahmiyya .
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