Ibn Taymiyyah and the Existence of God

Abstract

This is a translation of the paper of  Wael Hallaq - Professor of Sharia and Islamic Law at Columbia University - "Ibn Taymiyyah and the Existence of God", in which he sheds light on the concept of instinct and its problems, and Ibn Taymiyyah's epistemological position on the issue of the existence of God. In this paper, the author attempts to reconstruct Ibn Taymiyyah's epistemological theory by tracing his responses in his writings. It is not an easy task - as Hallaq pointed out - given the difficulty of finding a complete visualization of his theories in one place. Hallaq, however, attempted to fully reconstruct and present Ibn Taymiyyah's theory. This comes in light of a growing Western interest in studying the spiritual and rational aspects of Ibn Taymiyyah's thought, after what he saw as an anti-rational literalist.