shaking hearts and confounding eyes and minds. He never mentioned Allah’s Messenger ﷺ without immediately invoking blessings and peace upon him, and—by Allah—I have never seen anyone who revered the Messenger of Allah ﷺ more deeply, nor anyone more eager to follow him and champion what he brought. Whenever he cited a hadith on a given issue and was satisfied that nothing else from the Prophet ﷺ had abrogated it, he would act upon it, rule by it, and issue fatwas accordingly, paying no attention to the opinion of any other created being, whoever he might be. He used to say, “Every speaker’s words are examined as evidence, not accepted as proof in themselves—except those of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.”

When he had finished his lesson, he would turn to the audience with a radiant face, genial warmth, and gentle manners, as though he were meeting them for the very first time. At times he would even apologize to some of them for any perceived shortcoming in his discourse, despite the exalted state he had just displayed. Indeed, the material he delivered in a single session could have filled several notebooks.

What I have described of his lessons is a well-known fact; every one of those present—praise be to Allah, a host beyond counting, including scholars, dignitaries, eminent Qur’an reciters, ḥadith specialists, jurists, literary men, and many ordinary Muslims—agrees with me on this. … This ends al-Bazzār’s words in his book al-Aʿlām al-ʿAliyyah.

His Works
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah authored numerous valuable, extensive works, treatises, and fatwas. Those that survive fill many large volumes; to the best of my knowledge about eighty-four of them have so far been printed. They include:

1. Majmūʿ al-Fatāwā, 35 volumes. It has been published several times, distributed throughout many Muslim lands, and Muslims have benefited greatly from the vast learning it contains in creed, fiqh, tafsīr, ḥadith, and uṣūl.

2. Muwāfaqat Ṣaḥīḥ al-Manqūl li-Ṣarīḥ al-Maʿqūl, printed in 10 volumes.