The Final Days of Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Taymiyyah

Zayn al-Dīn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān relates that after completing eighty recitations of the Qurʾān, Ibn Taymiyyah began it anew with him. However, upon reaching the closing verses of Sūrah al-Qamar 

“Indeed, the righteous will be amid gardens and rivers,
in a seat of honour near a Sovereign, Perfect in Ability.”

     he expressed a desire to continue the recitation with ʿAbdullāh ibn Muḥibb and his brother ʿAbdullāh al-Zarāʿī. These two brothers were known for their piety and purity of heart, and their recitation greatly pleased Ibn Taymiyyah. Yet, he did not complete this final recitation before the call summoning him to the Hereafter was sounded.

The Shaykh had been unwell for several days when the Governor of Damascus visited him. Apologising for the hardship he had caused, the Governor was met with a response reflecting Ibn Taymiyyah’s magnanimity and moral clarity:

“I have already forgiven you and all those who were hostile to me. They did not realise that I was upon the truth. I bear no resentment, nor do I hold the King responsible for imprisoning me at the instigation of the theologians. He acted without personal intent and is free of blame. I have pardoned everyone involved in this affair, except those who are enemies of Allah and His Messenger.”

Ibn Taymiyyah fell gravely ill twenty-two days before his death. His health continued to decline until the journey’s end arrived on the night of the 22nd of Dhū al-Qaʿdah, 728 AH, when he returned to his Lord at the age of sixty-seven.

Allah says:

“Everyone upon it will perish,
and there will remain the Face of your Lord, Owner of Majesty and Honour.”
(Sūrah al-Raḥmān 55:26–27)

 

The crier of the Citadel Mosque announced his passing from the minaret, and the call was echoed by guards in the watchtowers. News spread rapidly across Damascus. The gates of the fortress were opened as vast crowds poured in to pay their final respects to their beloved teacher.

With tears filling their eyes, many kissed the forehead that had so often rested in prostration before Allah.

The bier was carried to the Umayyad Mosque for the funeral prayer. The gathering was so immense that soldiers struggled to clear a path, carrying the bier with great difficulty. In the overwhelming surge of mourners, many lost their shoes as they pressed forward to draw nearer.

The procession eventually reached Sūq al-Khalīl, where a second funeral prayer was led by Ibn Taymiyyah’s younger brother, Zayn al-Dīn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān. He was then laid to rest in Maqbarat al-Ṣūfiyyah, beside his brother Sharaf al-Dīn ʿAbdullāh.

It is estimated that between 60,000 and 100,000 people, including over 15,000 women, attended the funeral procession.

Funeral prayers in absentia were held across many Islamic lands to the south and east of Syria. Ibn Rajab, the renowned historian and author of Ṭabaqāt al-Ḥanābilah, records that prayers were even held in distant regions such as Yemen and China.

Travellers returning from China reported hearing the announcement after Friday prayers:

“The funeral prayer of an expositor of the Qurʾān will now be held.”

By Shaykh Sayyid Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī al-Nadwī
From Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Taymiyyah: Life and Achievements
Published by UK Islamic Academy