A Critical Analysis of Ibn Taymiyyah's Views about the Caliph's Commandership of Expeditions

Ibn Taymiyyah, whose views and works are considered as the basic source of Wahhabism, claims that the first two Caliphs were appointed as commanders of several expeditions but Imam Ali (the Commander of the Faithful–A.S) commanded only one expedition. Of course, a study of the Sunni resources proves that the expeditions attributed to the first caliph, Abu Bakr, are in fact different names for a single expedition. Furthermore, the researchers have doubts about his commandership of that expedition and so they reject this claim. As for the idea of only expedition led by the second Caliph, 'Omar, it is open to dispute and the questions about this idea remained unanswered. Sunni resources attribute the commandership of no expedition to the third caliph, 'Othman, while they have recorded many expeditions led by Imam Ali. Therefore, Ibn Taymiyyah's claim clearlycontradicts the Sunni resources and has no historical grounds. The present paper provides an overview of the Sunni resources and then evaluates the Ibn Taymiyyah's claim.