Ibn Taymiyya’s al-Tuḥfa al-ʿIrāqiyya

The Tuḥfa in Context

The first time I read al-Tuḥfa al-ʿIrāqiyya fī l-Aʿmāl al-Qalbiyya (“The Iraqi Gift on the Works of the Heart”) was somewhere in early 2014, when I believed it could potentially be an important source to reconstruct Taqī l-Dīn Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥalīm ibn ʿAbd al-Salām Ibn Taymiyya’s (d. 728/1328) own “version” of Sufism. Before I read the book, I had expected it to be something of a Sufi manual. What is meant by “the works of the heart” (al-aʿmāl al-qalbiyya) is immediately explained in the book’s first sentence after the usual introductory invocations, where Ibn Taymiyya briefly elucidates his purpose:

These are brief remarks concerning the hearts’ works, which may be called “stations” (maqāmāt, sing. maqām) or “states” (aḥwāl, sing. hāl) and which belong to the principles of faith (uṣūl al-īmān) and the pillars of religion (qawāʿid al-dīn), such as love for God and His Messenger, trust in God, sincere devotion to the religion for His sake, gratitude to Him, patience with His decree, fear of Him, hope in Him, and whatever pertains to the above. Ibn Taymiyya 2000a, 289

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Published in: Key Classical Works on Islamic Ethics
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
See chapter on publisher's website: https://dx.doi.org/10.1163/9789004459472_013