Ibn Taymiyyah on Creation ex Materia

Ibn Taymiyyah (full name: Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥalīm ibn ʿAbd al-Salām ibn al-Khiḍr ibn Muḥammad ibn al-Khiḍr ibn Ibrāhīm ibn ʿAlī ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Numayrī al-Ḥarrānī) was a major 13th–14th century Sunni Islamic scholar of the Hanbali school, born in Harran (in modern-day Turkey near the Syria-Turkey border) and died in Damascus, Syria.

He came from a family of Hanbali scholars and his father and grandfather were respected in their field. From an early age he memorised the Qur’an, studied jurisprudence, hadith, theology and engaged in rigorous scholarship.

Ibn Taymiyyah was known for his efforts to “return Islam to the Qur’an and the Sunnah” (the prophetic tradition) and for critiquing many practices he considered innovations (bidʿah) in theology, jurisprudence and Sufism.

He frequently debated contemporary theological and political issues, including the Mongol invasions, and was imprisoned multiple times for his outspoken views.

His works span theology, jurisprudence, hadith, social and political thought, and they exerted a major influence on later movements of Islamic revival and reform.