A Methodological Study of Samhuri's Criticism of Ibn Taymiyyah with an Emphasis on the Issue of Disbelief and Excommunication

In recent decades, we have seen wide-ranging Shia-Salafi conflicts, which have provided an opportunity for contemporary Salafism and Wahhabism to create, or at least claim, a unified anti-Shia movement among the Sunnis. This is despite the fact that for a long time, Salafi thought, especially Wahhabi, has been exposed to severe criticism from Sunnis and even some moderate Ahl Hadith (people of hadith), and therefore perhaps the Shiites have made a strategic mistake to turn the conflict between Sunnis and Salafis into a Shia-Salafi conflict. Although before Ibn Taymiyyah, traces of Salafism can be found among Ahl Hadith and Hanbalis, there is no doubt that today's Salafism and Wahhabism are most indebted to and influenced by Ibn Taymiyyah. Since his time, Ibn Taymiyyah has been subjected to serious and severe criticism, the most recent of which was made by Saudi Raed Samhuri. He is one of the contemporary Salafi authors who wrote about the thoughts of Ibn Taymiyyah. In 2010, in the book (Criticism of Salafi Discourse: Ibn Taymiyyah as an Example), he criticized the Salafi discourse by criticizing its leader, Ibn Taymiyyah. What is most evident in his criticisms is the use of the method of contradiction, in a way that introduces the reader to a series of contradictions of Ibn Taymiyyah. This researcher has scientifically analyzed and criticized Ibn Taymiyyah's thoughts and opinions with theological, jurisprudential, interpretive, and lexical methods. The explanation and analysis of Samhuri's refutation of Ibn Taymiyyah's view on excommunicating opponents is the main focus of this article, and it also implicitly criticizes his work.