His Death and the Immense Crowd That Attended His Funeral

More than one person who was present in Damascus when he died told me that the Shaykh (may Allah be Pleased with him) became sick for a few days, and the writer Shams ad-Din al- Wazir was in Damascus at the time. So, when he knew that the Shaykh was sick, he asked to visit him. The Shaykh gave him permission to do so, and he sat with him and apologized to him for any shortcomings from his side in regards to the rights of the Shaykh. So, the Shaykh replied to him by saying: “I have forgiven you and all of my enemies who did not know that I was following the truth. I have forgiven King Nasir for imprisoning me, because he did this based on what he believed from others and not from his own intent, and he is excused for this, as Allah Knows that he is not one to do this on his own. I have forgiven everyone who had some conflict with me except those who are enemies to Allah and His Messenger.”

They then said that the Shaykh remained until the night of the 22nd of the sacred month of Dhu al-Qi’dah of the year 728 H, and he then proceeded to the Mercy and Pleasure of Allah - the Exalted - the next morning doing what he was always doing: struggling for Allah while patient, awaiting his reward, and not showing the slightest bit of cowardice, weakness, or wavering. Rather, when he died, he was busy with Allah in exclusion to everything else.

They say that as soon as the people heard of his death, there was nobody living in Damascus who wanted to come pray over him and was able who did not do so. Everyone put aside whatever they were doing - closing shops, halting their livelihood and work - and all of the authorities, governors, scholars, jurists, soldiers, generals, men, women, and children from all levels of the society came out for his funeral. To our knowledge, nobody stayed behind from his funeral except for three people who were known for their enmity towards the Shaykh. They ran away and hid themselves out of fear that if they went out, the people would throw stones at them and kill them.

So, he (may Allah be Pleased with him) was washed and shrouded.

When he was being washed, the people crowded around so that they would each get some of the water that fell away from his body.Then, he was brought out for his janazah. As soon as the people saw him, they crowded around him from every corner of the city to seek the blessing of being there. This was to the point that it was feared that he would fall to the ground before arriving at his grave. So, the authorities gathered around where his body was and held the crowds back to prevent it from falling, as they began pushing and shoving each other viscously. They kept pushing them back from the janazah with all their might, and this only served to increase the crowd’s force. He was finally brought into the Umayyid Mosque, and despite the fact that it was thought that there would be enough space for everyone, there still remained a large group of people outside. So, they prayed over him (may Allah be Pleased with him) in the mosque, and he was then carried by the hands of the nobles and citizens of Damascus until he was finally placed in a wide hole in the ground, and the rest of the people prayed over him there.

A group of those who were present that day agreed that upon seeing the number of people who prayed over him that day, they easily exceeded 500,000. The experts in history say that they never heard of a funeral prayer that was as big as this except that of al-Imam Ahmad bin Hambal (may Allah be Pleased with him).Shams ad-Din al-Wazir finally appeared when he was brought to his grave, as he had not been present before, and he and the governors with him prayed over Ibn Taymiyyah.

No janazah was ever seen evoking such feelings of respect, veneration, glorification, esteem, and praise from the people, and this was all due to the his knowledge, deeds, zuhd, worship, rejection of the dunya, preoccupation with the Hereafter, his poverty, concern, generosity, manhood, patience, firmness, courage, deep perception, straightforwardness in speaking the truth, harshness against the enemies of Allah and His Messenger and deviants from His Religion, supporting Allah and His Messenger and His Religion, his humility, generosity, honor, and respect towards the awliya’ of Allah, his lack of attention to the worldly delights, his extreme desire for the Hereafter, and his constant pursuit of it. And you would hear of these things and more from men, women, and children, and they would all praise him for what that they knew of him.

He was buried that day (may Allah be Pleased with him and allow us to be granted similar blessings once again). The people then began gathering from the various villages and towns riding and on foot to pray in turns over his grave, and whenever news of his death reached a certain land, they would offer the prayer in absentia for him in all of its mosques, especially in the towns and villages of Egypt, Sham, Iraq, Tabriz, al-Basrah, etc.

This was all because of what they felt they owed the Shaykh (may Allah be Pleased with him) for guiding them to the truth and the correct methodology with the clear, evident textual and intellectual proofs, especially in regards to the principles of the Religion. Allah blessed the people in this era in which innovations emerged that killed off the sunan, and the majority of its people were drowning in innovation and the haram in a way they did not even realise! And Allah blessed them by having him clarify the principles of the Religion and the true and correct belief for them, as well as his distinguishing refutation of the innovators in a way that has so far remained unsurpassed. This was all done by his tongue, his pen, his books, and the principles he abided by that conformed to the truth and its implications, as well as the clear, simple textual and intellectual proofs he presented that none of the philosophers or debaters could even come close to. He did all of this until he was able to assert his absolute authority and dominance over every innovator, and was able to expose and wipe out the doubts of those who espoused and wished to spread them.

So, may Allah reward him with the best of rewards on behalf of Islam and the Muslims, and Glorified is the One who gave him what he had, granted him the best guidance to what he was guided to, and provided him with the most beautiful patience until he died, and may He be Pleased with him, and may He grant us and all the Muslims a life and death that is in accordance with the Qur’an and Sunnah until we meet Him, and cause us to hold firmly to them in all that they contain.