Islamic thought on the common good: Understanding Ibn Taymiyyah’s concept of fitrah (natural disposition) in legal reasoning

1. The closed-door discussion on Islamic thought on the common good: Understanding Ibn Taymiyyah’s concept of fitrah (natural disposition) in legal reasoning was held on 3 Nov 2016. It was attended by 30 participants from academic institutions, public agencies, religious leaders from different faiths and professionals.

2. The session revolved around four main components: Ibn Taymiyyah’s life and context, his position towards Greek reasoning, his ideas on governance, and using the reasoning of natural disposition to build multiracial relations.

3. The life and context: Born in Harran, Northern Iraq, then moved to Damascus due to the Mongolian expansion, Ibn Taymiyyah (d.728/1328) was raised in a family of ulama’ (religious clerics), and in times of sociopolitical strife, internally and externally. He is one of the key exponents of the Hanbali school of thought. Known for his controversial fatwas (religious edicts), Ibn Taymiyyah argued that the discord with his contemporaries were merely part of his efforts in enhancing the common good by enjoining piety and refraining evil. He was raised in an era where his people were resisting attacks from the East and the West. Ibn Taymiyyah was a product of his context and time, which is how scholars of today are shaped as well.

4. Foray of Greek philosophy: Contrary to popular belief, Ibn Taymiyyah did not completely reject philosophy and the use of rationality in ijtihad (independent reasoning). His rejection was mainly confined to Muslim philosophers’ attempts to situate Islamic theology under the domain of Greek logic and rationality. Otherwise, there are clear indications that he accepted it in worldly matters that are not related to creed and doctrines. His modest position of the philosophical debates on the origin of good and evil is a sign that he was more inclined towards the Platonic doctrine of recollection. However, further research should be done to establish to what extent his ideas were influenced by early Greek logic and philosophy.

5. Good governance: Ibn Taymiyyah’s concept of fitrah is the core philosophical foundation in producing his theories of governance and politics. Fitrah to him, is God’s way to align human reasoning towards goodness and righteousness in formulating best practices in human life.Unlike preceding political thinkers such al-Mawardi and alJuwayni, Ibn Taymiyyah did not accentuate the importance of systems or institutions as part of good governance. For instance, he did not deal with the issue of single khilafah (caliphate system), bay’ah (pledge of allegiance), and the Quraysh lineage of a leader. He clearly stated that fitrah calls for Islamic politics to be rooted in two major principles; upholding justice and implementing amanah (task). He is usually quoted as saying: “Allah will support the just state even if it is led by unbelievers, but Allah will not support the oppressive state even if it is led by believers.”

6. Socio-political thought: Ibn Taymiyyah’s fitrah and socio-political views critical of his predecessors, according to Dr Maszlee are rarely explored, even by his proponents. He has been notoriously painted for his views against Shiites, intercession and others. Readers should differentiate between his theological edicts – which are usually rigid and based strictly on Qur’anic and Prophetic ordinances, and his socio-political views which highlighted the importance of rationality and independent reasoning.

7. Dichotomous positions: Dr Maszlee argued that the concept of fitrah is not only applicable in the realm of governance, politics and economy, it is also relevant when dealing with multi-racial relations. Having said this, it is difficult to reconcile it with his interactions and attitude that opposed others, whom to him, are subjects of disputes and enmity against the Muslim community. Hence these political contestations clearly affected his religious positions which appeared to be harsh on the opposing others.

8. Misunderstood ideology: Ibn Taymiyyah’s ideas have been used by some extremist groups to justify their actions and ideology. However, when Sheikh Ben Bayyah, a reputable contemporary Muslim scholar, read Ibn Taymiyyah’s ‘Fatwa Mardin’, he argued that these ideas were not coherent with the general thought of Ibn Taymiyyah. After referring to the original manuscript, he discovered that the original text has been poorly verified. Consequently, the conventional security analysis that extremist ideology has roots in Ibn Taymiyyah’s thought has been unfairly attributed to the scholar.

9. Eyeing the future: Dr Maszlee explained that every society has its own opportunities and challenges. Therefore there is a need for Muslim communities to appreciate their unique contexts and utilise their natural disposition for reason when developing new religious thought and not rely solely on literal interpretations of divine text. Muslims in Singapore need to continuously locate themselves within their multi-cultural society that values harmony and peace as public goods whenever they need to reformulate a new framework as a response to the challenges of modern society

Islamic thought on the common good: Understanding Ibn Taymiyyah's concept of fitrah (natural disposition) in legal reasoning [PDF, 364 KB]