8 As for what has been relied upon by the Innovators from the works of the two Subkees, Taqee ud-Deen and his son, Taaj ud-Deen, then as for Taqee ud-Deen, al-Haafidh adh-Dhahabee wrote to him, censuring him for what he had written and his false claims. As-Subkee replied to him saying, "As for what you say with regard to the Shaikh, Taqee ud-Deen (Ibn Taymiyyah), then I am convinced of the great scope, the ocean like vastness of his knowledge of the transmitted and intellectual sciences, his extreme intelligence, his ijtihaad and his achievements in that which surpasses description. I have always held this opinion. Personally, his status in my eyes is greater and more esteemed for his asceticism, piety, religiosity, his aiding of the truth and remaining firm upon it for the sake of Allaah, alone, his adherence to the path of the Salaf and his great dependence upon and use of it, and his strangeness in this time, in fact any time." Reported in 'ad-Durar al-Kaaminah' of Ibn Hajar under the biography of Ibn Taymiyyah (1/159) and also 'Dhail Tabaqaat al-Hanaabilah' (2/392) of Ibn Rajab al-Hanbalee.
Regarding Taaj ud-Deen, then he was an extremist and highly sectarian. As-Sakhawee, commenting on his statement, 'Did any of the Hanbalees raise their heads (meaning become well known)?' said, "This is from the strangest of affairs, and the most sectarian of attitudes and this is why the Qaadee of our time, and Shaikh of the madhhab, al-'Izz al-Kanaanee wrote under this statement, 'And likewise, Allaah did not raise the heads of the Mu'attilah', and then he said about Taaj ud-Deen as-Subkee, 'He is a man having few manners, lack of scholarly integrity and ignorant of Ahl us-Sunnah and their ranks." As-Sakhawee's 'al-I'laan bit-Tawbeekh liman Dhamma at-Taareekh' (p. 94-95).
9 In the aforementioned book 'al-Kawkab ad-Durree' (p.27).
10 Note here an indication of the fact that Ibn Taymiyyah was far superior to his opponents in soundness of argument and it was only due to the harsh nature of Shaikh ul-Islaam in defeating his opponents intellectually that they would not accept his stance. And what follows in the next few sentences strenghtens this.
11 i.e. by just quoting the agreement and not narrating the proofs.
12 And portions of this biography are quoted by Ibn
Hajar, word for word, in his 'ad-Durar al-Kaaminah' in the biography of Shaikh
ul-Islaam Ibn Taymiyyah. In the aforementioned work, Ibn Hajar quotes al-Haafidh
Abu (Fath) al-Ya'maree (who is also quoted by adh-Dhahabee), saying, "The Shaikh
of our shaikhs, al-Haafidh Abu al-Ya'maree (Ibn Sayyid an-Naas) said in the
biography of Ibn Taymiyyah, 'Al-Mizzee encouraged me express my view about
Shaikh ul-Islaam Taqee ud-Deen. I found him to be amongst those who had acquired
a fortune of knowledge and he fully and completey memorise the Sunan and the
Aathaar. If he spoke about tafseer then he would be the carrier of its flag or
if the gave a legal ruling in fiqh, he would know its extreme depths. And if he
was to recall a hadeeth he would possess all the knowledge related to it and
would carry its flag (i.e. make the hadeeth take precedence over all else). And
if he was to talk about the various religions and factions, no one who was more
vast in knowledge or greater in meticulousness could be seen. He surpassed his
contemporaries in every science and my eyes have not seen the likes of him and
nor have his eyes seen the likes of himself. He used to speak about tafseer and
a large number of people would attend with a substantial portion returning while
having taken from his sweet, rich ocean (of knowledge). (And it continued thus),
until the disease of envy crept into the hearts of the people of his city.
Imaam adh-Dhahabi on Ibn Taymiyyah : Removing the Misconceptions
