He says this even though he knows full well that his own mentor al-Kawtharī pronounces takfīr—declaring outside the fold of Islam—both Ibn Taymiyyah and Ibn al-Qayyim, treating them like zindīqs (heretics), as was shown only a few pages ago. If you are sincere in classifying those two as misguided, do you therefore believe that your shaykh al-Kawtharī is a foolish madman? And if you do believe that, how—may Allah cure your mind—can you reconcile that verdict with your continuing to take him as an imām? But if you refuse to commit to such a verdict and remain attached to him, how will you square that with your earlier statement: “These are illustrious imams… Whoever wishes to brand them fools or madmen must consign the imams of Islam to disbelief”? Is this not sheer hypocrisy and deception of the people?

As the poet said so truly:
Whatever traits a man may bear within,
Though he think them hidden, people soon discover them.

Part of the evidence for this is that he also filled pages under the heading “My Vindication of Shaykh al-Islam in the Most Critical Circumstances.” Yet the moment you read what follows, you detect something of his bigotry against Ibn Taymiyyah and his distorted view of him, for he reproduces the words of Shaykh al-Thanawī—words that show open disrespect toward Ibn Taymiyyah—saying:

“Among the sound reports rejected by Ibn Taymiyyah is the ḥadīth of the sun being returned for ʿAlī—peace be upon him. When he saw that al-Ṭaḥāwī had graded it good and affirmed it, he set about disparaging al-Ṭaḥāwī with a sharp tongue and fluent speech. By Allah, al-Ṭaḥāwī’s standing in ḥadīth scholarship is higher than that of thousands like Ibn Taymiyyah. How could Ibn Taymiyyah even be the dust on his sandal? The sayings of such hard-liners are not to be relied upon except after careful verification and reflection.”