Muslim by birth is not always better than a revert

25-9-2014 | IslamWeb

Question:

Is this quote proven from Ibn Taymiyyah? To believe that a person who was born Muslim originally (i.e. to a muslim family) is better than a revert is wrong. Rather it is all about the actions and the end (time of death) and Taqwa. - Aadaab ash-Sharee'ah of Ibn Muflih

Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallAllaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.

After searching at length in Ibn Muflih’s Al-Aadaab Ash-Shar‘iyyah and the books of Shaykhul Islam Ibn Taymiyyah available to us – many as they are – we did not find the statement that comprehends the meaning referred to in the question.

However, the meaning is correct; the only criterion of superiority by which people are regarded as superior to others is piety. Ibn Taymiyyah  may  Allaah  have  mercy  upon  him said, “One may embrace Islam late but becomes a better Muslim than those who had embraced Islam before him. Like the case with ‘Umar; he embraced Islam at the age of forty while ‘Uthmaan ibn ‘Affaan, Talhah, Az-Zubayr, Sa‘ad, and ‘Abd Ar-Rahmaan ibn ‘Awf all embraced Islam at the hands of Abu Bakr before 'Umar, and the virtues of 'Umar outweigh theirs. . .” May Allaah be pleased with all the Companions.

Allaah Knows best.

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