Was Ibn Temeh Insane?

Abstract

This paper aims to study the character of Ibn Temeh (728 AH/ 1328 AD). The study is based on Ibn Batota’s analysis of the personality of Ibn Temeh, that he lacks mental balance. It takes two directions; the first being the evaluation of Ibn Batota’s opinion about Ibn Tameh, and the second is whether his personality has negatively affected his biography. The study is specifically interested in determining whether the emotional prejudice he has provoked, whether in his favor or against him, can be highly attributed to his behavior. Another emphasis of this study, which is as significant as the previous one, isto which extent does Ibn Temeh’s character affect his writings. This can be attributed to the fact that the chronological order of his uncounted writings, the most of which are still manuscripts, has not yet been fully studied. Moreover, this paper attempts to figure out the efficiency of available Islamic references in providing sufficient and necessary information to make a serious psychological analysis for the character of Ibn Temeh.