:sl: Br. Pauper,
I ask Allah to guide us and open our hearts to the truth.
Aqeedah Differs between Ahlus sunnah Wal Jamaa'a, If i compared the Aqeedah in Al Fiqh Al Akbar of Imma Abu Haneefa r.a. who was from the salaf to the Aqeedah Given to us by Ibn Taymiyyah who was from the khalaf we can see a great difference ,
Dear brother, If I were to make a statement against this statement against Ibn Taymiyyah from you from myself, you would indeed contest it. The accusations and claims that many people present today are not new. They are, however, all inaccurate and imprecise. The bases of these claims are either because of some people’s hatred or animosity towards Ibn Taymiyyah or that they did not understand the intent of the statements of the Imam on some issues. Many luminaries of the past have testified to the correctness and authenticity of the creed of Imam Ibn Taymiyyah, such as Imam Adh Dhahabi, Imam Badr ad-Din Al-Hanafi, Imam Al-Mizzi, Al-Hafidh al-Bazzar, Imam Ibn Hajar Asqalani, Ibn Katheer, Imam Ibn ul Qayyim al-Jawziyyah to name but a few. These were people of knowledge and sound intellect, their commendation and approval of Ibn Taymiyyah should be sufficient for us to determine the uprightness of the Imam in terms of his Aqidah. It should suffice us that the likes of Imam Bazzar, Al-Mizzi, Dhahabi, Rajab al-Hanbali, even some Sufi Scholars of the past regarded him in high esteem. It is narrated in Rad al-Wafir that over 80 Scholars praised and acknowledged Ibn Taymiyyah to have been upon the Sunnah and sound creed, these were not common people such as me but giants and mountains in Islamic history.
So instead of speaking from myself, I refer you to some of their statements; by Allaah, they are indeed more than enough for any sincere person seeking the truth:
Al-Haafidh al-Bazzaar said, depicting the opponents of ibn Taymiyyah,
"You would not see a scholar opposing him (ibn Taymiyyah), dissuading from him, filled with hatred for him, except that he was the most greedy of them in gathering the worldly goods, the most cunning of them in acquiring them, the most ostentatious of them, the most desirous for reputation…and the most prolific of them in having lies on his tongue."
‘al-A`laam al-Uliyyah’ (pg. 82) of al-Bazzaar.
Al-Haafidh al-Mizzi said,
"I have not seen the likes of him, and his own eye had not seen the likes of himself. And I have not seen one who was more knowledgeable than him of the Book and the Sunnah of His Messenger, nor one who followed them more closely."
‘Hayaat Shaykh al-Islaam ibn Taymiyyah’ (pg. 21) of Shaykh Bahjatul Baitaar.
The Qadi of Qadis ibn al-Huriri said,
“If ibn Taymiyyah was not Shaykh al-Islaam than who is?”
'Hayaat Shaykh al-Islaam' (pg.26)
Muhammad bin Abdul Barr as-Subkee said,
"By Allaah no one hates ibn Taymiyyah except for an ignoramus or the possessor of desires which have diverted him from the truth after he has come to know it."
‘Radd al-Waafir’ (pg.95) of ibn Naasir ad-Deen
And the jewel of statements, from Badruddeen al-'Aynee al-Hanafee, author of the famous commentary on Saheeh al-Bukhaaree, wrote in his commendation of ar-Radd al-Waafir of ibn Naasir ad-Deen ad-Dimashqee ash-Shaafi'ee, an explanation of the ruling on one who pronounces ibn Taymiyyah to be a disbeliever:
"Since this is the case, it is binding upon those in authority that they punish this ignorant trouble maker - who said that ibn Taymiyyah was a kaafir!! - with various types of punishment, severe beating and long imprisonment. Whoever says to a Muslim: 'O kaafir,' then what he has said returns upon him, especially if it is the like of such a filthy one speaking against this scholar, particularly since he is deceased, and there is a prohibition recorded in the Sharee'ah from speaking ill of the deceased Muslims, and Allaah will manifest the truth."
Al-'Aynee also said:
"Whoever says ibn Taymiyyah is a kaafir then he is in reality himself a kaafir, and the one who accuses him of heresy is himself a heretic. How is this possible when his works are widely available and there is no hint of deviation or dissension contained therein?"
This commendation is established as being authored by al-'Aynee, may Allaah have mercy upon him, despite the attempt of some to discredit it.
It is mentioned by al-Haafidh as-Sakhaawee (student of al-Haafidh ibn Hajar) in ad-Dawl al-Laamee (10/13), who described it as: "Defending ibn Taymiyyah to the utmost."
In the biography of ibn Taymiyyah in ad-Durar al-Kaaminah, Ibn Hajar writes:
"The shaykh of our shaykhs, al-Haafidh Abu al-Yu'maree (ibn Sayyid an-Naas) said in his biography of ibn Taymiyyah:
'al-Mizzi encouraged me to speak my opinion on Shaykh al-Islaam Taqi ad-Deen. I found him to be fortunate in the sciences that he had. He used to fully understand and implement the Sunan and Aathaar (narrations), memorising them. Should he speak about tafseer then he would carry its flag, and should he pass a fatwa in fiqh then he knew its (or his) limits, and should he speak about a hadeeth then he was the companion of its knowledge and owner of its narrations. Should he give a lecture on Religions and Sects then none was seen who was more comprehensive or meticulous than he. He surpassed in every science over the sons of his like. And you would not see one like him, and his own eye did not see one like himself. He used to speak on tafseer and a large number of people would attend his gatherings, and an agreeable number would return (having drank) from his sweet, rich ocean.
Until the sickness of envy crept (into the hearts) of the people of his city. And the people of Nadhr gathered together and picked out anything that could be disapproved of in his beliefs, and they memorised certain statements with respect to this. And they undermined him due to this. They laid traps for him by which they could declare him to be an innovator. They thought that he had left their way, and split off from their sect. So they argued with him, and he with them, and some of them cut relations with him, and he with them. Then he argued with another group who were attributed to the Fuqaraa who thought that they were upon the minute details of the inner reality and upon its truth. And he exposed these Orders.
This reached the first group and they sought help from those who cut relations with him and harboured malice towards him. They took the matter to the rulers, each of them having decided that he was a disbeliever and they prepared a meeting, inspiring the ignorant people to spread the word amongst the great scholars. They took steps to transfer the matter to the king of Egypt. And he was arrested and put in prison. Gatherings were convened to discuss the spilling of his blood.
They called up for this purpose the people from the small mosques and students, those people that would argue to make others happy, and those that would argue to show their cleverness, and those that announced takfeer and called for disassociation. Your Lord knows what is in their hearts and what they proclaim. And the one who announced his kufr was no better than the one who argued to make others happy.
The sting of their plots crept up on him, and Allaah made futile every plot, and rescued him at the hands of those that He chose. Then he continuously moved from one trial to another, in all his life he did not move from trouble except into trouble. And then there followed what followed in the matter of his arrest. He stayed in prison until he died, and to Allaah all matters return. And on the day of his funeral the streets were crowded, and the Muslims came from every roadway...'"
I advice you to objectively read the following:
http://www.islamicboard.com/sects-di...taymiyyah.html
I do not wish to go into the intellectual discussions and the arguments concerning the accusations against Ibn Taymiyyah, for that will take some time and this is not the platform for that anyway. For a detail analysis of accusations and clarifications people should refer to the writings of the Imam himself. The books he authored on Aqidah and other related matters are many and with the mercy of Allah a lot of them have been published in the Arabic Language.
:w: