The Defence of the Four Imams

The Defence of the Four Imams

English Translation of Raf’al-Malamm ‘an al-I’immat al-A’lam

•Why did the distinguished jurists, notably the Four Imams of early Muslim history differ?

•Why do some of their views apparently contradict authentic scriptural texts?

•And why do their followers seem to prefer their opinions even when they outwardly contradict sound prophetic traditions?

In this unique work of Ibn Taymiyah, his primary aim is to present cogent answers to these questions as he displays humble deference towards his predecessors.:

He begins his work by mentioning three excuses as to why the eponymous four Imams sometimes contravened the import of sound prophetic traditions. He then proceeds to explicate ten things prompting them to adopt one of the three aforementioned excuses.

About The Author

Shaykh Al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah was born in , 661 AH (1263 AC) in Haran, which is now in Eastern Turkey, near the border of northern Iraq.His family had long been renowned for its learning , among his teachers, was Shams ud-Din Al-Maqdisi, first Hanbali Chief Justice of Syria following the reform of the judiciary by Baibars. 

The number of Ibn Taymiyyah’s teachers exceeds two hundred. Ibn Taymiyyah was barely seventeen, when Qadi Al-Maqdisi authorized him to issue Fatwa (legal verdict). Qadi remembered with pride that it was he who had first permitted an intelligent and learned man like Ibn Taymiyyah to give Fatwa. At the same age, he started delivering lectures. When he was thirty, he was offered the office of Chief Justice, but refused, as he could not persuade himself to follow the limitations imposed by the authorities.

Imam Ibn Taymiyyah’s education was essentially that of a Hanbali theologian and jurisconsult. But to his knowledge of early and classical Hanbalism, he added not only that of the other schools of jurisprudence but also that of other literature.He had an extensive knowledge of Quran, Sunnah, Greek philosophy, Islamic history, and religious books of others, as is evident from the variety of the books he wrote.