When the Imam was Beaten!
Last updated
Last updated
Imām Ibn Kathir mentioned:
When Sheīkh al-Islām (Ibn Taymiyyah) authored his book "al-Istighatha", Ibn al Bakri al-Sufi ambushed him on the street with group of his companions. They beat up Sheīkh al-Islām severely until they ran away leaving him lying on the street.
The people later gathered there with some soldiers and asked Sheīkh al-Islam to give them permission to take revenge on ibn al-Bakri.
Sheīkh al-Islām rejected that and said to them:
"Either this right lies with me, or with you, or with Allah. If it is with me then I have forgiven him, If it is with you, then since you are not going to listen to me, why bother asking me, do whatever you wish to do. And if it is with Allah then Allah will take His right however and whenever He wills".
But they (the people) did not care for what Imām Ibn Taymiyyah had to say and searched for ibn al-Bakri everywhere.
Somehow Ibn al-Bakri could not find anywhere to seek refuge other than Sheīkh al-Islām's own house. He (Ibn Taymiyyah) took him in and hid him and went to the Sultan to intercede for him until he forgave him.
(Ibn Taymiyyah) Doing this, led some Ash'ari scholars to say that it was as if he (Ibn Taymiyyah) was created with manners found only amongst the Prophets and the rarest of people.