Al-Uqud al-Durriyya - Ibn Abd al-Hadi - (الكتاب/275)

the median among all nations. Thus, with regard to Allah’s attributes they steer a middle way between the Jahmiyyah who strip the attributes away and the anthropomorphists who liken Him to His creation.

When that fair-minded judge saw their collusion and partisanship, noticed how few knowledgeable supporters (1) there were, and became afraid of them, he said, “You have authored the Creed of Imām Aḥmad, so we shall simply say: this is Aḥmad’s creed.”

His point was: a man may write in accordance with his own school, and no one objects to him, for this is a recognized school that people follow. By saying so he hoped to cut short the quarrelling of the opponents.

I replied, “What I have set forth (2) is nothing other than the creed of all the righteous forebears; Imām Aḥmad enjoys no exclusive claim over it. He was merely a transmitter of the knowledge brought by the Prophet ﷺ. If anyone (3) were to speak on his own initiative with something the Messenger did not bring, we would reject it. This is the creed of Muhammad ﷺ.”

And I have said on several occasions: I have granted anyone (4) who disagrees with me on any point of it a respite of three complete years. If within that time he can produce a single letter of evidence from the three generations praised by the Messenger of Allah ﷺ—about whom he said, “The best of generations is the one in which I was sent, then those that follow them, then those that follow them”—

(1) The adopted wording follows the base manuscript and copy Tif; copies F and K read “qillat al-muawin” (few helpers), while copy F alone also has “minhum wa-l-nasir” (among them and the supporter). (2) Copies F, K, and Tif read: “ma jamaʿtu” (what I gathered). (3) This is the reading of the principal manuscripts; copies T and Tif instead have “Ahmad.” (4) Copies F, K, and Tif read: “kullu man” (everyone who).

الوسط في الأمم، فهم وسطٌ في باب صفات الله بين أهل التعطيل الجهمية، وأهل التمثيل المشبِّهة». ولمَّا رأى هذا الحاكمُ العَدْلُ تمالُؤَهم وتعصُّبَهم، ورأى قلَّة العارف الناصر (١)، وخافهم، قال: أنتَ قد صنَّفت اعتقاد الإمام أحمد، فنقول: هذا اعتقادُ أحمد. يعني: والرجلُ يصنِّفُ على مذهبه، فلا يُعتَرضُ عليه، فإنَّ هذا مذهبٌ متبوع. وغرضُهُ بذلك: قطعُ مخاصمة الخصوم. فقلتُ: ما خرَّجتُ (٢) إلاّ عقيدةَ السلف الصالح جميعهم، ليس للإمام أحمد اختصاصٌ بهذا، والإمامُ أحمد إنَّما هو مبلِّغ العلم الذي جاء به النبي ﷺ . ولو قال أحدٌ (٣) من تلقاء نفسه ما لم يجئ به الرسول لم نقبله. وهذه عقيدة محمد ﷺ . وقلتُ مرَّاتٍ: قد أمهلتُ من (٤) خالفني في شيءٍ منها ثلاث سنين، فإن جاء بحرفٍ واحدٍ عن القرون الثلاثة التي أثنى عليها رسول الله ﷺ ، حيث قال: «خيرُ القرونِ القرن الذي بُعِثتُ فيهم، ثمَّ الذين يلونهم، ثمَّ الذين

(١) المثبت من الأصل و (طف)، وفي (ف، ك): «قلة المعاون»، وفي (ف): «منهم والناصر». (٢) (ف، ك، طف): «ما جمعتُ». (٣) كذا في الأصول، وفي (ط، طف): «أحمد». (٤) (ف، ك، طف): «كل من».