A Review of Ibn Taymiyyah’s Views on the Scientific Position of Imam Reza (AS) Based on Minhaj al-Sunnah al-Nabawiyyah

Following his usual approach, Ibn Taymiyyah was always trying to deny the virtues of Ahl al-Bayt (AS), to distort the scientific position of Imam Reza (AS) by casting doubts, and to call him a man like others. Ibn Tamiyyah casts doubt upon the scholarly status of the Imam (AS) and claims that people exaggerate the Imam’s position. These doubts are: 1) the claim on Imam’s knowledge is baseless and there are more knowledgeable scholars among his contemporaries, 2) none of the well-known scholars quote a narration from the Imam (AS), and 3) the great jurisprudents avoid quoting a narration from the Imam (AS). This study tries to give convincing answers to these problems by examining the words of the great figures, expressing evidence of the scientific problems in the words and works of the Imam’s contemporaries, and quoting the narrations in the Sunnis’ hadith and commentary books. This study finds contradictions in the views of Ibn Tamiyyah with those of the Sunni figures and the available evidence, all of which either show Ibn Tamiyyah’s ignorance or express his hatred towards Ahl al-Bayt (AS).