influence and prestige, for it regarded the country’s weakness and the victories it had won over the Crusaders and the Tatars as a pretext that legitimized its appropriation of the state’s wealth.

The class of scholars and jurists:
A number of them depended on the official posts assigned to them; they enjoyed a life of ease because they served the sultans, carried out their purposes, and helped them realize their ambitions (1).

Yet this was not the case with others such as Ibn Taymiyyah—may Allah have mercy on him. We have seen how he confronted the sultan in Egypt, demanding that he proceed to Damascus and defend its people, or else another ruler would be installed to do so. We have also seen how he faced Ghazan, addressing him with firmness and strength, until that stance ultimately benefited the Muslims.

The Shaykh—may Allah have mercy on him—was not among those who stretch out their hands to take, nor among those who abase themselves to ask. Rather, he held the upper hand over those sultans because he urged the people to jihad and calmed their fears (2), actively participated in the fighting—as has been mentioned—and surpassed them by the abundant knowledge with which his Lord had endowed him, a knowledge that drove him to reform society and to adhere to the teachings of the Book and the Sunnah in creed, method, and conduct.

The third class comprised the general populace—merchants, farmers, craftsmen, and others. These people met with hardship and injustice, unable to attain the fruit of their toil. The scholars and jurists, among them the Shaykh—may Allah have mercy on him—stood with this class to lift the oppression from them and to direct the ruling elite toward what would benefit the common people and ward off harm from them (3).