Ibn Taymiyya Quotes
Allah will support the just state even if it is led by unbelievers, but Allah will not support the oppressive state even if it is led by believers
Ibn Taymiyyah, Taqi al-Din. Majmu' al-Fatawa. Vol. 28, King Fahd Complex for the Printing of the Holy Quran, 1995, p. 63.
This sura has justified major discrimination against non-Muslims so that they should never appear “preeminent” over the faithful. See for example, {617157} and {617160}.
This verse has been one of the bases of Muslim theocratic states like Iran’s claim to legitimacy. The word “govern” is sometimes translated as “judge.” In the context of the 6th century, there were no separation of powers as we know them and judging, governing and legislating were melded.
He was in many ways centuries ahead of his time with constructive ideas for any people and age. However, this was one of the exceptions. Unfortunately it became the norm for most Islamic countries even to modern times. Essentially, a bad ruler in this Islamic doctrine can be removed only if he does not follow Islam. For just being unjust or incompetent, revolution is not allowed and prayer is the only recourse. That is one of the major reasons that there have been so few Arab uprisings and revolutions although there have been many assassinations for alleged religious apostasy or insufficiency.
Taqī ad-Dīn Aḥmad ibn Abd al-Halim ibn Abd al-Salam al-Numayri al-Ḥarrānī, known simply Ibn Taymiyyah (ابن تيمية), was a controversial Islamic jurist scholar, muhaddith, theologian, judge, philosopher, economist, and polymath. He is known for his diplomatic involvement with the Ilkhanid ruler Ghazan Khan and for his involvement at the Battle of Marj al-Saffar which ended the Mongol invasions of the Levant. A member of the Hanbali school, Ibn Taymiyyah's iconoclastic views on widely accepted Sunni doctrines of his time such as the veneration of saints and the visitation to their tomb-shrines made him unpopular with many scholars and rulers of the time, under whose orders he was imprisoned several times.
