Ibn Taymiyya as a Hermeneutical Paradigm Reception and Reactivation of Medieval Islamic Thought in the Jihadist Discourse of Ayman al-Ẓawāhirī
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Abstract
This article examines how Ayman al-Ẓawāhirī (d. 2022) mobilizes the thought of Ibn Taymiyya to construct a hermeneutical framework that transforms medieval doctrinal positions into enduring, transhistorical norms. Focusing on his treatise al-Ḥiṣād al-murr (The Bitter Harvest), the study demonstrates that al-Ẓawāhirī does not merely invoke Ibn Taymiyya as an authoritative reference. Rather, he reactivates a structured interpretive paradigm originally formulated in the context of the Ilkhanid Mongol threat and the political and religious crises it generated in the region. Al-Ẓawāhirī employs a method of “decontextualization by analogy” that removes Ibn Taymiyya’s rulings from their historical context and elevates them into universal principles. The Mongol precedent—especially the concept of a group that claims Islam while suspending the sharīʿa (al-ṭāʾifa al-mumtaniʿa)—becomes the primary lens through which he evaluates modern Muslim governments, their legal frameworks, and their alliances with non-Muslim states. Themes such as al-walāʾ wa-l-barāʾ, political alliances, jihad, and the classification of contemporary rulers as a ṭāʾifa mumtaniʿa illustrate this process of reinterpretation. The article concludes that al-Ẓawāhirī’s engagement with Ibn Taymiyya represents a conscious attempt to build a comprehensive ideological system that legitimizes political judgment and violence. It also highlights the need for broader research to assess the consistency and evolution of this interpretive paradigm.
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