Although this view occupies a middle ground between the two positions just mentioned, several facts ought to be noted:
First: A person’s leaning toward a given opinion does not necessarily mean that he holds it with absolute certainty; it may simply be a supposition that inclines him in that direction.
Second: There are two kinds of inclinations:
- An inclination that springs from ijtihad, reflection, and a weighing of the scriptural proofs. Its proponent is rewarded, for he is a mujtahid even if he makes a mistake.
- An inclination that arises from whim, bias, carnal desire, and a dismissal of evidence. This is a blameworthy leaning, and Allah has condemned whoever follows it:
“Those who pursue their desires would have you deviate with a tremendous deviation.” (1)
Third: Even if Shaykh al-Islam inclined toward this opinion, he was not the first to do so. Shaykh al-Alusi, while discussing him on this issue, said: “And even if it be conceded that—meaning Shaykh al-Islam—he inclined to it, some of the early generations and a number of the later ones had already adopted it…” (2). Hence he cannot be deemed an innovator in this matter, as noted earlier (3).
Fourth: Ibn Taymiyyah composed this treatise in response to a question posed by his student Ibn al-Qayyim, who stated in his inquiry that the issue perplexed him, as the wording of the question itself makes clear. It is therefore unsurprising that the Shaykh examined the matter from every angle and weighed all its proofs, leading some to assume that he affirmed—or at least leaned toward—the extinction of the Fire.