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when, quicker than one might expect, the shaykh returned. He offered the greeting of peace, sat down, and said, “My request.”
Al-Shafiʿi replied, “Yes. I seek refuge with Allah from Satan the accursed. Allah, Exalted is He, says: ‘Whoever defies the Messenger after guidance has become clear to him and follows a way other than that of the believers—We shall leave him to the path he has chosen and make him burn in Hell…’ (Qur’an 4:115).”
He continued, “Thus He would not threaten a person with Hell for departing from the believers’ path unless adhering to that path were obligatory.”
The shaykh responded, “You have spoken the truth,” then rose and departed.
Al-Shafiʿi said, “I recited the Quran three times each day and night until I came upon this verse.” (1)
I was informed of this incident by Mansur al-Farawi: Muhammad ibn Ismaʿil al-Farisi narrated to us; Abu Bakr al-Bayhaqi narrated to us; Abu ʿAbd Allah the Ḥafiz narrated to us; al-Zubayr related it, and thus the story was conveyed.
(1) The argument drawn from the verse is that Allah threatens anyone who follows a path other than that of the believers; had such conduct not been forbidden, Allah would not have threatened it, and it would not have been appropriate to couple it, in the same threat, with the expressly prohibited act of defying the Messenger—just as it would be incongruous to threaten disbelief jointly with the lawful act of eating bread. Hence, contradicting what the Muslims have unanimously agreed upon is tantamount to following a path other than that of the believers, for acting upon their consensus is obligatory.
The reply is that we do not concede that “the path of the believers” in the verse refers to their consensus, for it may instead denote their path in following the Messenger, in supporting him, in emulating him, or in the very faith by which they became believers; and when several meanings are possible, the proof is invalid.
Imam al-Haramayn states in al-Burhan, as quoted in Sallam al-Wusul, 3/869: “The apparent sense is that the Lord intends thereby whoever chooses disbelief, rejects the Chosen One—peace and blessings be upon him—and strays from the way of truth. The meaning is: whoever opposes the Messenger and follows a path other than that of the believers who emulate him, We shall leave him to what he has chosen.”
If that apparent sense is granted, so be it; otherwise it remains only one possible interpretation and an obvious avenue for objection. Thus reliance on the verse can rest only on an outward meaning open to interpretation, and it is impermissible to base decisive claims on what is subject to doubt. The objector need only present a possible alternative meaning, and a fair-minded scholar has no answer to that.
Al-Ghazali writes in al-Mustasfa, 1/175: “What we hold is that the verse is not explicit for the point in question; rather, the apparent sense is that one who fights the Messenger, opposes him, and follows a path other than that of the believers in supporting and aiding him and warding off his enemies—We shall leave him to what he has chosen.”
Thus mere abstention from opposition is insufficient until it is joined by following the believers’ path in supporting and defending him and submitting to what he commands and forbids. This is the meaning that first comes to mind; and even if it is not obvious, it is at least a plausible reading.
بِأَسْرَعَ مِنْ أَنْ جَاءَ الشَّيْخُ، فَسَلَّمَ وَجَلَسَ، فَقَالَ: حَاجَتِي.
فَقَالَ الشَّافِعِيُّ: نَعْمْ، أَعُوذُ بِاللهِ مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ الرَّجِيْمِ، قَالَ اللهُ تَعَالَى: ﴿وَمَنْ يُشَاقِقِ الرَّسُوْلَ مِنْ بَعْدِ مَا تَبَيَّنَ لَهُ الهُدَى وَيَتَّبِعْ غَيْرَ سِبِيْلِ المُؤْمِنِيْنَ نُوَلِّهِ مَا تَوَلَّى ... ﴾ الآيَةَ [النِّسَاءُ: ١١٥] .
قَالَ: فَلاَ يُصْلِيهِ عَلَى خِلاَفِ المُؤْمِنِيْنَ إِلاَّ وَهُوَ فَرْضٌ.
فَقَالَ: صَدَقْتَ، وَقَامَ فَذَهَبَ.
فَقَالَ الشَّافِعِيُّ: قَرَأْتُ القُرْآنَ فِي كُلِّ يَوْمٍ وَليلَةٍ ثَلاَثَ مَرَّاتٍ حَتَّى وَقَفْتُ عَلَيْهِ (١) .
أُنْبِئْتُ بِهَذِهِ القِصَّةِ، عَنْ مَنْصُوْرٍ الفُرَاوِيِّ، أَخْبَرَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بنُ إِسْمَاعِيْلَ الفَارِسِيُّ، أَخْبَرَنَا أَبُو بَكْرٍ البَيْهَقِيُّ، أَخْبَرَنَا أَبُو عَبْدِ اللهِ الحَافِظُ، حَدَّثَنَا الزُّبَيْرُ، فَذَكَرَهَا.
(١) وجه الاستدلال بالآية أنه تعالى توعد على متابعة غير سبيل المؤمنين، ولو لم يكن ذلك محرما لما توعد الله عليه، ولما حسن الجمع بينه وبين ما حرم من مشاقة الرسول ﵇ في التوعد، كما لا يحسن الجمع في التوعد بين الكفر وأكل الخبز المباح، ومخالفة ما أجمع عليه المسلمون اتباع لغير سبيل المؤمنين بالعمل بإجماعهم واجبا.
وأجيب بأنا لا نسلم أن المراد بسبيل المؤمنين في الآية هو إجماعهم لاحتمال أن يكون المراد سبيلهم في متابعة الرسول ﷺ، أو في مناصرته، أو في الاقتداء به، أو فيما صاروا به مؤمنين، وهو الايمان به، ومع الاحتمال لا يتم الاستدلال.
وقال إمام الحرمين في كتابه " البرهان " فيما نقله عنه صاحب " سلم الوصول " ٣ / ٨٦٩: الظاهر أن الرب ﷾ أراد بذلك من أراد الكفر وتكذيب المصطفى صلوات الله وسلامه عليه، والحيد عن سنن الحق، وترتيب المعنى: ومن يشاقق الرسول، ويتبع غير سبيل المؤمنين المقتدين به، نوله ما تولى.
فإن سلم ظهور ذلك، فذلك، وإلا فهو وجه في التأويل لائح، ومسلك للانكار واضح، فلا يبقى للتمسك بالآية إلا ظاهر معرض للتأويل، ولا يسوغ التمسك بالمحتملات في مطالب القطع، وليس على المعترض إلا أن يظهر وجها في الامكان، ولا يقوم للمحصل عن هذا جواب إن أنصف، وقال الغزالي في " المستصفى " ١ / ١٧٥: والذي نراه أن الآية ليست نصا في الغرض، بل الظاهر أن المراد بها أن من يقاتل الرسول ويشاقه، ويتبع غير سبيل المؤمنين في مشايعته ونصرته، ودفع الاعداء عنه، نوله ما تولى.
فكأنه لم يكتف بترك المشاقة حتى تنضم متابعة سبيل المؤمنين في نصرته والذب عنه، والانقياد له فيما يأمر وينهى.
وهذا هو الظاهر السابق إلى الفهم، فإن لم يكن ظاهرا، فهو محتمل.