Egyptian Journalist and TV Host Ibrahim Eissa: Ibn Taymiyyah No Different than Hitler

Talking about conflicts between Arabs and non-Arabs in the history of Islam, Egyptian journalist and TV host Ibrahim Eissa said that Ibn Taymiyyah, with his "abominable fanaticism," had "destroyed all the values of equality." "If those who claim to be Sunnis, or Salafis, or Wahhabis, or Ibn Taymiyyah's followers believe that the Arabs are superior to all non-Arabs... how is this any different from the racism and Nazism of Hitler?" he asked. Eissa's address aired on Al-Hurra TV on September 2, 2018.

Following are excerpts:

Egyptian TV Host Ibrahim Eissa: The hadith says: "There is no superiority for an Arab over a non-Arab, except by piety." The Quran says: "We have made you people and tribes that you may know one another. The most noble of you in the eyes of Allah is the most righteous of you." However, the tradition and the history of our nation tell us about conflicts between Arabs and non-Arabs over the leadership of Islam.

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Ibn Taymiyyah believed that the Arabs are superior to the non-Arabs. And he is referred to as "Sheikh of Islam"… This is a very strange and peculiar – with his abominable fanaticism, Ibn Taymiyyah destroyed all the values of equality that Islam established and made obligatory among human beings. Are we all alike, like peas in a pod, with "no superiority for an Arab over a non-Arab, except by piety"? Or do we have people who are more highly regarded than others, a nation that is better than other nations? Are Arabs better than non-Arabs and the rest of the world? It is possible that Ibn Taymiyyah, back then, was under the pressure of the invasions of other nations [into the Islamic world.] Perhaps, in light of the infiltration of non-Arabs into high-level positions, he was trying to compensate the Arabs for their incompetence, by claiming that they were racially superior to all other races. The real question is this: If Ibn Taymiyyah believed that the Arabs are superior, what is the difference between what Ibn Taymiyyah said and what Adolf Hitler said about the superior Aryan race, and Germany above all? If those who claim to be Sunnis, or Salafis, or Wahhabis, or Ibn Taymiyyah's followers believe that the Arabs are superior to all non-Arabs, and that they are more important and better than non-Arabs, how is this any different from the racism and Nazism of Hitler?