Ibn Taymiyya (661/1263–728/1328) dedicated over a hundred fatwas, treatises and other genres of writing to polemics against tomb veneration and the sanctification of places. He thought the construction of shrines an offence and did not tire of cautioning that travel (safar) for the purpose of worship in shrines is utterly devoid of religious merit, save for pilgrimage to Mecca. As we have seen, Ibn Taymiyya's fierce opposition to these practices was hardly the majority view. He encountered stiff resistance not only among rank-andfile Muslims, but also from religious scholars and rulers. While many Ayyubid and early-Mamluk-period ʿulamaʾ criticised the flock for improper behaviour at cemeteries and mausolea, they did not object to the visitation of graves per se, as did he. In fact, many of them partook in ziyāras themselves and believed that certain aspects of this practice were permitted, even beneficial.

In making his case, Ibn Taymiyya draws on a wide range of arguments. He often cites the prophetic hadith whereby God will spill his wrath on the Jews and Christians for turning the graves of their prophets into places of prayer. He stresses that

No less frequently Ibn Taymiyya accuses the Shiʿis, whom he regards as ‘the worst people among those who follow the [correct] direction of prayer’, of corrupting Islam and implanting the bidʿa (unwarranted innovation) of tomb worship among the faithful. Ibn Taymiyya dates the spread of this misguided practice to sometime during the Abbasid caliphate's decline. His terminus a quo for its emergence is the fourth generation of Muslims, as he is certain that when Islam was in its prime, during the era of the first three generations, nobody engaged in saint veneration nor erected mashhads. This dovetails neatly with Ibn Taymiyya's oft-repeated appraisal that the first three generations of Islam, the salaf, are superior and constitute authoritative sources for posterity. In his estimation, the visitation of shrines and tombs became commonplace under the loathed Shiʿi Fatimids, Buyids and Qarmatis, who whitewashed the practice by spreading false hadith.