A Pen in a Time of Fear: How Ibn Taymiyya Confronted Mongol Power

They claimed Islam. They ruled Muslim lands. They collected zakat, built mosques, and read the Qur’an. Many scholars stayed silent. Ibn Taymiyya did the opposite. He declared their rule illegitimate and told people that resistance was an obligation.

History Of Muslims

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Damascus Under Shadow

When banners appeared on the horizon, fear spread faster than news. This was not a foreign threat alone, but a moral test that cut through law, faith, and survival.

Damascus in the early fourteenth century lived with memory as much as danger. People still remembered Baghdad’s fall in 1258. They knew what Mongol rule meant. Cities erased. Scholars killed. Libraries burned. When news came that Mongol armies were moving again, panic followed.

The fear ran deeper this time. These Mongols claimed to be Muslim. They used Islamic titles. They ruled through force while keeping the language of faith. That claim confused judges and frightened ordinary people. If the rulers prayed, who could resist them?

Ibn Taymiyya refused that confusion. He said Islam was not words or symbols. It was law, justice…