Al-Sharḥ al-Mumtiʿ - Ibn al-'Uthaymin - (6/294)

Al-Sharḥ al-MumtiʿIbn al-'Uthaymin

anything, refer it to Allah and the Messenger, if you truly believe in Allah and the Last Day. That is better and more fitting in outcome.” [al-Nisa 4:59]

Referring a matter to Allah means referring it to His Book, and referring it to the Messenger means referring it to his sunnah and guidance, during his lifetime and after his death.

Allah Most High also says:

“By your Lord, they will not truly believe until they make you judge in all their disputes, then find no reluctance within themselves toward what you have decided, and submit with full submission.” [al-Nisa 4:65]

Thus, Allah Most High swears by His lordship over His Messenger—an especially particular lordship—an emphatic oath that there can be no faith unless we appoint the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, as judge in every dispute among us; unless we feel no unease or constraint in our hearts regarding what the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, has decreed; and unless we submit to that with complete submission, through full compliance and implementation. Reflect on how He reinforced submission by using the verbal noun: it indicates that complete submission is indispensable, without deviation or hesitation.

Also reflect on the correspondence between that by which the oath is sworn and that which is affirmed by it. The oath is sworn by Allah’s lordship over His Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, while what is affirmed is that faith is absent unless the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, is made judge in a complete sense—a judgment that entails openness of heart, compliance, and acceptance. For Allah’s lordship over His Messenger entails that his judgments conform to what his Lord has permitted and approved. The implication of the special lordship connected to messengership is that Allah would not leave him upon an error that He does not approve for him.

If the truth does not become clear to him from the Quran and Sunnah, then he must follow the view which he believes most likely to be closest to the truth, in light of the knowledge and religious commitment possessed by its holder. For the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “You must adhere to my sunnah and the sunnah of the rightly guided caliphs who come after me. Hold fast to it and bite upon it with your molar teeth.” (1) The people most deserving of this description are the four caliphs: Abu Bakr and Umar,

(1) Previously referenced; see p. 162.

شَيْءٍ فَرُدُّوهُ إِلَى اللَّهِ وَالرَّسُولِ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ تُؤْمِنُونَ بِاللَّهِ وَالْيَومِ الآخِرِ ذَلِكَ خَيْرٌ وَأَحْسَنُ تَأْوِيلاً﴾ [النساء: ٥٩] والرد إلى الله هو الرد إلى كتابه، والرد إلى الرسول هو الرد إلى سنته، وهديه حياً وميتاً. وقال الله تعالى: ﴿فَلَا وَرَبِّكَ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ حَتَّى يُحَكِّمُوكَ فِيمَا شَجَرَ بَيْنَهُمْ ثُمَّ لَا يَجِدُوا فِي أَنْفُسِهِمْ حَرَجًا مِمَّا قَضَيْتَ وَيُسَلِّمُوا تَسْلِيمًا *﴾ [النساء: ٦٥]. فأقسم الله تعالى بربوبيته لرسوله ﷺ التي هي أخص ربوبية قسماً مؤكداً على أنه لا إيمان إلاّ بأن نحكم النبي ﷺ في كل نزاع بيننا، وألاّ يكون في نفوسنا حرج وضيق مما قضى به رسول الله ﷺ، وأن نسلم لذلك تسليماً تاماً بالانقياد الكامل والتنفيذ، وتأمل كيف أكد التسليم بالمصدر، فإنه يدل على أنه لا بد من تسليم تام، لا انحراف فيه، ولا توانيَ. وتأمل أيضاً المناسبة بين المقسم به والمقسم عليه، فالمقسم به ربوبية الله لنبيه ﷺ، والمقسم عليه هو عدم الإيمان إلا بتحكيم النبي ﷺ تحكيماً تاماً، يستلزم الانشراح والانقياد والقبول، فإن ربوبية الله لرسوله تقتضي أن يكون ما حكم به مطابقاً لما أذن به ربه ورضيه، فإن مقتضى الربوبية الخاصة بالرسالة ألا يقره على خطأ لا يرضاه له، وإذا لم يظهر له الحق من الكتاب والسنة وجب عليه أن يأخذ بقول من يغلب على ظنه أنه أقرب إلى الحق بما معه من العلم والدين فإن النبي ﷺ يقول: «عليكم بسنتي وسنة الخلفاء الراشدين المهديين من بعدي تمسكوا بها وعضوا عليها بالنواجذ» (١) وأحق الناس بهذا الوصف الخلفاء الأربعة أبو بكر، وعمر،

(١) سبق تخريجه ص (١٦٢).