Taqi al-Din Abu al-ʿAbbas Ahmad Ibn ʿAbd al Halim Ibn Taymiyyah stands among the most consequential and debated scholars in Islamic intellectual history. Born on 10 Rabiʿ I 661 / 22 January 1263 in Harran, he descended from a distinguished family of Hanbali jurists whose scholarly service extended across generations. At the age of six, he was forced to flee with his family when Mongol forces advanced on their city. They undertook a perilous journey to Damascus, traveling largely by night and hiding by day, carrying what was most precious to them?their books.

In Damascus, Ibn Taymiyyah's father, Shihab al-Din ʿAbd al-?alim, became a respected scholar and ultimately Shaykh of Hadith at the renowned Sukkariyyah Madrasah, where the young Taqi al-Din received his formative training. Possessing extraordinary memory and analytical ability, he memorized the Qur'an early and immersed himself in the major Hadith collections, including the ?a?i?ayn of al-Bukhari and Muslim and the Musnad of A?mad Ibn ?anbal. His studies extended beyond Hanbali law to include the other legal schools, Arabic grammar and rhetoric?drawing on works such as Sibawayh's al-Kitab?Qur'anic exegesis, mathematics, Sufism, and the history of Islamic sects.

Upon his father's death in 682/1283, Ibn Taymiyyah assumed the teaching chair at Sukkariyyah at only twenty-two. His inaugural lesson impressed the chief judge and senior scholars so deeply that they recorded it, signaling the emergence of a major intellectual force. From then on, his scholarly output was prodigious, encompassing theology, law, Quranic exegesis, Hadith, spiritual counsel, and public policy. Many later Hanbali authorities regarded him as second only to Imam A?mad in the school's history.

Ibn Taymiyyah's unwavering insistence on what he saw as authentic scriptural truth and his critiques of entrenched scholarly and political norms led to a series of trials (mihan), including repeated imprisonments in Cairo, Alexandria, and Damascus. Yet even behind bars he continued teaching, writing, and corresponding with students and supporters. His letters?especially those to his mother?reveal a deeply human, affectionate side often overlooked in polemical portrayals.

His most distinguished disciples included Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah (d. 1350), his closest student and collaborator, and the great historian and exegete Ibn Kathir (d. 1373), author of al-Bidayah wa-l-Nihayah and the famous Qur'anic commentary. Through them and many others, Ibn Taymiyyah's intellectual legacy?centered on a return to the Qur'an, Sunnah, and the understanding of the Salaf?continued to spread long after his death in Damascus on 20 Dhu al-Qaʿdah 728 / 26 September 1328. The enormous crowds at his funeral testified to his enduring impact on the wider Muslim public as well as the scholarly elite.