Ibn Taymiyya (661/1263-728/1328), perhaps the best known medieval Muslim scholar nowadays, is invariably referred to as theologian, jurisconsult or jurist, mufti, polemicist, political activist, political thinker, and gate keeper of Muslim orthodoxy. He is not known as an historian. Regarding Ibn Taymiyya's education, as presented in the authoritative Encyclopaedia of Islam (second edition) by Henri Laoust, he was deeply erudite not only in the fields of law and theology, but also in heresiography, falsafa, ethics and Sufism. Laoust does not mention history. Yet, Ibn Taymiyya's fatwas on the veneration of saints and shrines include a surprisingly elaborate and sophisticated historical narrative. It is woven into his reasoning against the authenticity of so-called tombs of prophets and members of Ahl al-Bayt, and against the wide spread belief that pilgrimage (ziyara) to such sites is commendable. Ibn Taymiyya analyzes the origins and history of tomb veneration in Islam to reveal their Shi`i, hence illegitimate source. He also emphasizes lacunas, contradictions and unreasonable assertions in the accepted narratives about the whereabouts of the bodies of venerated figures (prophets and saints). Finally, he stresses the temporality of territorial definitions and their dependence on historical context. I will present my claim based on Ibn Taymiyyas fatwas on pilgrimage to Ascalon (one of the erstwhile thughur, frontier garrison towns) and to the shrines dedicated to Ra's Husayn (the severed head of the martyred grandson of the Prophet) in Ascalon, Damascus and Cairo. In order to better appreciate Ibn Taymiyya's historical discourse, I intend to compare his history of Ra's Husayn to those written by late Ayyubid and early Mamluk historians such as Sibt ibn al-Jawzi, Shihab al-Din al-Nuwayri, Ibn Fadl Allah al-`Umari, and Shams al-Din Dhahabi. Ultimately, I hope to contribute to the already rich but still growing study of Mamluk historiography both by adding Ibn Taymiyya and his highly interesting discourse into the discussion, and by highlighting the ways by which history was put into the service of the mufti.