Hadith No: 3
Ibn Kathir - Al-Bidaya wa'l-Nihaya
Then the year 728 AH (1328 CE) entered - The Death of Sheikh Taqi al-Din Ibn Taymiyya
Volume: (18) - Page Number: (295)
Seeking Blessings from Ibn Taymiyya's Funeral- Sheikh of Islam Abu al-Abbas Taqi al-Din Ahmad ibn Taymiyya, Sheikh Ilm al-Din al-Barzali stated in his history: On the night of Monday, the 20th of Dhul-Qi'dah, the esteemed Sheikh, Imam, Scholar, Renowned Alim, Jurist, Hafiz, Ascetic, Devout Worshiper, Role Model, Sheikh of Islam Taqi al-Din Abu al-Abbas Ahmad, son of our Sheikh, Imam, Notable Alim, and Mufti Shahab al-Din Abi al-Mahasin Abd al-Halim, son of the Sheikh, Imam, Sheikh of Islam Abu al-Barakat Abd al-Salam ibn Abdullah ibn Abi al-Qasim Muhammad ibn al-Khadr ibn Muhammad ibn al-Khadr ibn Ali ibn Abdullah ibn Taymiyya al-Harrani, and then al-Dimashqi, passed away in the Citadel of Damascus in the hall where he had been confined. A large crowd gathered at the citadel, and they were permitted to enter him.
Many sat with him before the washing, reciting the Qur'an, seeking blessings through seeing and kissing him, and then they departed. Then a group of women came and did the same, before they also left. They limited themselves to those who would wash him. When they finished washing him, he was taken out, and people gathered at the citadel and along the road to the mosque, filling the mosque as well as its courtyard, the classes, the Gate of the Post, the Gate of the Hours, and the Gate of the Linen Merchants with crowds. The funeral was present at around the fourth hour of the day and was placed in the mosque while the soldiers kept a close watch over it to protect it from the people due to the intense crowding. Prayers were first offered for him at the citadel, led by Sheikh Muhammad ibn Tamam, and then in the Umayyad Mosque immediately after the noon prayer. The gathering of people increased beyond what had already been mentioned, and the crowd grew until the courtyards and alleys were cramped with those present. After the prayers were completed, he was carried on heads and shoulders and the procession exited through the Gate of the Post, where the crowd grew thicker, and voices rose in crying, mourning, and invoking mercy upon him, along with praises and prayers for him.
People cast their handkerchiefs, turbans, and garments onto his bier, and shoes disappeared from the feet of many, along with clogs and handkerchiefs and turbans, without anyone paying attention to them, so absorbed were they in watching the funeral. The bier moved on the heads of the people, sometimes advancing, sometimes retreating, and sometimes stopping to allow others to pass until the people exited the mosque from all its doors, which were extremely crowded, each door more congested than the last. Then people left from all the gates of the city due to the severe congestion, but the majority of the crowd was at four gates: the Gate of Relief, from which the funeral was taken out, the Gate of Paradise, the Gate of Victory, and the Gate of al-Jabiya. The situation intensified in the Horse Market as the number of people multiplied, and the funeral was laid there. His brother, Zayn al-Din Abd al-Rahman, advanced to pray for him there. When the prayer was completed, he was taken to the Sufi cemetery and buried beside his brother Sharaf al-Din Abdullah, may Allah have mercy on them both. His burial took place shortly before the afternoon prayer, due to the large number of those who came to pray for him, including residents of the orchards, the Ghouta, villages, and others. People closed their shops, and only those who were unable to attend remained, all showing mercy and praying for him, and if they could have, they would not have missed the opportunity to attend. Many women were present, estimated to be around fifteen thousand, not including those on the rooftops and others, all mourning and weeping for him. What was said is that
the men were estimated to be sixty thousand to one hundred thousand or more, up to two hundred thousand. All the water that remained from his washing was consumed, and a group divided the remaining soap used to wash him. One hundred fifty dirhams were placed in the thread that contained the mercury that had been around his neck due to lice, and it was said that the cap he wore on his head contained five hundred dirhams. There was much noise, crying, and supplication at the funeral, and many ختمات (Quranic recitations or prayers) were held for him in the Sufi mosque and throughout the city. People continued to visit his grave for many days, night and day, staying overnight and returning in the morning, and many righteous visions were seen for him. He was mourned by many through numerous poems.