Exonerating the Distinguished Jurists: Ibn Taymiyya's Raf' Al-Malām 'an Al-A'Imma Al-A'Lām in Translation (Monographs in Arabic and Islamic Studies)

In Raf' al-Malam 'an al-A'imma al-A'lam Ibn Taymiyya pursues the argument as to why a mujtahid might depart from directly acting upon textual evidences.This forms the basis of his discussion regarding the causes underlying disagreements found among Muslim scholars in general and their holding differing legal opinions and proffering divergent arguments in support of those opinions.In this work, Ibn Taymiyya calls for tolerance and understanding of the conclusions arrived at by eminent Muslim scholars.Additionally, he insists that even if a scholar was to err in their judgement, it should not be assumed that they intentionally ignored textual evidence as there could be various reasons for what others consider to be a departure from textual evidences.Hence, according to Ibn Taymiyya, such scholars should not be seen as blameworthy and liable to punishment but rather they should be revered as scholars who exercised their right of ijtihad.Thus, even if such a scholar was thought to have err