Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (18/511)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

and with him was his vizier Nizām al-Mulk. The leading Hanafi and Shafi‘i imams gathered before the vizier to lodge their complaint against al-Anṣārī and to demand a public debate. So the vizier sent for him. When he arrived, the vizier said, “These men have assembled to debate you. If the truth is on your side, they will return to your school; but if the truth is on their side, you must either adopt their view or at least keep silent about them.”

Al-Anṣārī leapt up and said, “I will debate on the basis of what is in my sleeve.”

The vizier asked, “And what is in your sleeve?”

He replied, “The Book of Allah”—and he pointed to his right sleeve—“and the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah,” pointing to his left sleeve, in which he was carrying the two Ṣaḥīḥs (al-Bukhārī and Muslim).

The vizier looked at the assembled scholars, waiting for their response, (1) but not one of them was prepared to debate him on that ground.(2)

I heard his servant Aḥmad ibn Amīrjah say: “I accompanied the shaykh when he went to greet the vizier Nizām al-Mulk, after our companions had urged him to go. This was after the ordeal and his return to his homeland from Balkh—that is, after he had been exiled. When he entered, the vizier honoured and reverenced him. Leading scholars from both camps were present, and they agreed to question him in the vizier’s presence. Al-Dabbūsī the Alid said, ‘Will the shaykh, the imam, permit me to ask?’

‘Ask,’ he replied.

He said, ‘Did you not curse Abū al-Ḥasan al-Ashʿarī?’

The shaykh remained silent and the vizier lowered his gaze. After a while the vizier said, ‘Answer him.’

He said, ‘I do not know Abū al-Ḥasan; I only curse the one who does not believe that Allah is above in the heaven, that the Quran is what is written in the codex, and who says that the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—is not a prophet today.’

Then he rose and departed,(3) and his sheer presence prevented anyone from speaking. The vizier said to the questioner, ‘Is this what you wanted—that we should hear with our own ears what he used to say in Herat, and what…’

(1) Tadhkirat al-Huffaz records the wording: “seeking clarification from them.” (2) Tadhkirat al-Huffaz, vol. 3, p. 1187. (3) The margin of the autograph manuscript adds: “Whoever describes Allah with the attributes of created beings—such as occupying a spatial dimension and the like—is more deserving of a curse than the Ashari; yet Allah pardons everyone.”

وَمَعَهُ وَزِيْرُهُ نِظَامُ المُلك، فَاجتمع إِلَيْهِ أَئِمَّةُ الحَنَفِيَّة وَأَئِمَّةُ الشَّافِعِيَّة لِلشكوَى مِنَ الأَنْصَارِيّ، وَمُطَالبَتِه، بِالمُنَاظرَة، فَاسْتدَعَاهُ الوَزِيْرُ، فَلَمَّا حضَر، قَالَ: إِنَّ هَؤُلاَءِ قَدِ اجْتَمَعُوا لمنَاظرتك، فَإِنْ يَكُنِ الحَقُّ مَعَكَ؛ رَجَعُوا إِلَى مَذْهَبِكَ، وَإِنْ يَكُن الحَقُّ مَعَهم؛ رَجَعتَ أَوْ تسكتَ عَنْهُم. فَوَثَبَ الأَنْصَارِيّ، وَقَالَ: أُنَاظِرُ عَلَى مَا فِي كُمِّي. قَالَ: وَمَا فِي كُمِّكَ؟ قَالَ: كِتَابُ اللهِ. - وَأَشَارَ إِلَى كُمِّهِ اليَمِين - وَسُنَّةُ رَسُوْلِ اللهِ - وَأَشَارَ إِلَى كَمّه اليَسَار - وَكَانَ فِيْهِ (الصَّحيحَان) . فَنَظَرَ الوَزِيْرُ إِلَيْهِم مُسْتفهمَاتهم (١) ، فَلَمْ يَكُنْ فِيهِم مِنْ نَاظَرَهُ مِنْ هَذَا الطَّرِيْق (٢) . وَسَمِعْتُ خَادِمَه أَحْمَد بن أَمِيْرجه يَقُوْلُ: حضَرتُ مَعَ الشَّيْخ لِلسّلاَم عَلَى الوَزِيْر نِظَام المُلك، وَكَانَ أَصْحَابُنَا كلَّفُوهُ الخُرُوجَ إِلَيْهِ، وَذَلِكَ بَعْد المِحنَة وَرُجُوْعِهِ إِلَى وَطَنه مِنْ بَلْخ - يَعْنِي: أَنَّهُ كَانَ قَدْ غُرِّبَ - قَالَ: فَلَمَّا دَخَلَ عَلَيْهِ؛ أَكرمه وَبجَّلَهُ، وَكَانَ هُنَاكَ أَئِمَّةٌ مِنَ الفَرِيْقَيْنِ، فَاتَّفَقُوا عَلَى أَنْ يَسْأَلُوْهُ بَيْنَ يَدي الوَزِيْر، فَقَالَ العَلَوِيُّ الدبوسِيّ: يَأْذنُ الشَّيْخ الإِمَامُ أَنْ أَسَأَل؟ قَالَ: سَلْ. قَالَ: لَمْ تَلْعَن أَبَا الحَسَنِ الأَشْعَرِيَّ؟ فَسَكَتَ الشَّيْخُ، وَأَطرق الوَزِيْرُ، فَلَمَّا كَانَ بَعْد سَاعَة؛ قَالَ الوَزِيْر: أَجِبْهُ. فَقَالَ: لاَ أَعْرفُ أَبَا الحَسَنِ، وَإِنَّمَا أَلعنُ مَنْ لَمْ يَعتقد أَنَّ اللهَ فِي السَّمَاءِ، وَأَنَّ القُرْآن فِي المُصْحَف، وَيَقُوْلُ: إِنَّ النَّبِيَّ ﷺ اليَوْمَ لَيْسَ بِنَبِيّ. ثُمَّ قَامَ وَانْصَرَفَ (٣) ، فَلَمْ يُمَكِّن أَحَداً أَنْ يَتَكَلَّم مِنْ هَيبته، فَقَالَ الوَزِيْر لِلسَائِل: هَذَا أَرَدْتُمْ! أَن نَسْمَع مَا كَانَ يذكرهُ بهَرَاة بآذَانِنَا، وَمَا

(١) في تذكرة الحفاظ: مستفهما لهم. (٢) " تذكرة الحفاظ " ٣ / ١١٨٧. (٣) في حاشية الأصل ما نصه: الذي يصف الله ﷾ بصفات المحدثين من التحيز ونحوه أحق باللعن من الأشعري، والله يعفو عن الجميع.