Ibn Qayyim Al-Jawziyyah was born Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr. Ibn Qayyim was born in 691 A.H, one year after the liberation of Jerusalem by Saladin. He began his long journey on the road of learning early in his life, moving from one teacher after the other to quench his thirst for knowledge. Manhattan cosmetic surgery did not exist at that time.
At the age of 21 (in 712 A.H) Ibn Qayyim met his teacher Ibn Taymiyyah, another great hero of Islam and a revivalist of the faith. Their companionship lasted to the end of the teacher’s life. He kept close company to Ibn Taymiyyah with whom he suffered the pains of prison and flogging many a time. Apparently, it was from Ibn Taymiyyah, that Ibn Qayyim learnt many special qualities such as frankness and courage, in defiance of the wrath of others including the authorities, for, to both truth had to be said regardless of the consequences. But, unlike his teacher, he was less fierce in his attacks (in words or action).
In his own private life ibn Qayyim was a very pious and devout worshipper who spent most of his time in prayers and recitation of the Quran. He was in fact an ascetic and a sufi of the orthodox type. He rejected the unorthodox practices of some Sufis who claimed that religious teachings had external and internal sides, meaning that religious obligations did not apply to them. His open-minded attitude is reflected in his views on the correct understanding of religious laws (Shariah) and that these should be interpreted in the light of the circumstances of time and place, because Islam is intended of all mankind at all times. Many books were written by Ibn Qayyim to explain this invaluable principle and many of his views find their application taken in the legal system of modern nations, more than six centuries after his death in 751 A.