In the vast ocean of classical Islamic scholarship, few works carry as much weight, controversy, and reverence as Majmu’ al-Fatawa (The Compendium of Legal Rulings) of Shaykh al-Islam Ahmad ibn Taymiyyah. Compiled centuries after his death by Abd al-Rahman ibn Qasim and his son Muhammad, this 37-volume set serves as a window into the mind of one of Islam’s most original, rigorous, and often misunderstood thinkers.
He famously writes earlier in the same volume: "The early Muslims did not declare anyone of the people of the qiblah (those who pray toward Mecca) to be unbelievers due to a sin, no matter how major." Majmu Al Fatawa 20 421
While the exact wording depends on the edition (the standard 1981 Riyadh edition is widely used), the passage on page 421 generally addresses a delicate point: In the vast ocean of classical Islamic scholarship,
Ibn Taymiyyah begins by demolishing the false dichotomy between inner sincerity and outer action. He writes: He writes:
