Taqrib al-Tadmuriyyah - Ibn al-'Uthaymin - (42)

Taqrib al-TadmuriyyahIbn al-'Uthaymin

meaning, we would never have understood or comprehended it.

As for its difference in reality, this is shown by the Almighty’s words: “No soul knows what comfort of the eyes has been hidden for them as a reward for what they used to do” (As-Sajdah 32:17); and by His statement in the Sacred Hadith: “I have prepared for My righteous servants what no eye has ever seen, no ear has ever heard, and has never occurred to the human heart.” Ibn ʿAbbās (d. 68 AH) said: “Nothing in this world resembles what is in Paradise except the names alone.”

If these names truly denote their referents, yet their correspondence with the names we know in this world does not mean that the named realities themselves are identical—indeed, between them lies a disparity known only to Allah—then the difference between the Creator and the creation is far greater and more evident than the difference between one created thing and another. The divergence among created things is a divergence between creatures of the same order; when that divergence is obvious, it is still more obvious—and worthier—that the gap between them and the Creator be greater.

People, with respect to affirming faith in Allah and the Last Day, have split into three groups:

The first group consists of the early generations, the leading scholars, and their followers. They believed in everything Allah has reported about Himself and about the Hereafter, holding it to be literally true while also affirming the distinction between what exists in this world and what exists in the next, and recognising that the difference between the Creator and the creation is even greater, clearer, and more deserving of affirmation. Allah says: “There is nothing like unto Him, and He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing” (Ash-Shūrā 42:11).
The second group comprises factions of scholastic theologians. They accept what Allah has reported about the Hereafter—reward and punishment—yet reject many of the attributes that Allah has reported about Himself.
The third group—the Qarāmiṭah, the Bāṭinīs, and the philosophers—do not believe in what Allah has reported

المعنى؛ ما فهمناه ولا عقلناه. - وأما مخالفته له في الحقيقة فلقوله تعالى: ﴿فَلا تَعْلَمُ نَفْسٌ مَا أُخْفِيَ لَهُمْ مِنْ قُرَّةِ أَعْيُنٍ جَزَاءً بِمَا كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ﴾ [السجدة: ١٧] . وقوله في الحديث القدسي: "أعددت لعبادي الصالحين ما لا عين رأت، ولا أذن سمعت، ولا خطر على قلب بشر" قال ابن عباس – ﵄: "ليس في الدنيا شيء مما في الجنة إلا الأسماء" فإذا كانت هذه الأسماء دالة على مسمياتها حقيقة، وكان اتفاقها مع ما في الدنيا من الأسماء لا يستلزم اتفاق المسميات في الحقيقة، بل بينهما من التباين ما لا يعلمه إلا الله، فإن مباينة الخالق للمخلوق أعظم وأظهر من مباينة المخلوق للمخلوق؛ لأن التباين بين المخلوقات تباين بين مخلوق ومخلوق مثله، فإذا ظهر التباين بينها كان بينها وبين الخالق أظهر وأولى. وقد انقسم الناس في هذا المقام – مقام الإيمان بالله واليوم الآخر – إلى ثلاث فرق: الفرقة الأولى: السلف والأئمة وأتباعهم: آمنوا بما أخبر الله به عن نفسه، وعن اليوم الآخر، وأنه حق على حقيقته مع اعتقادهم التباين بين ما في الدنيا وما في الآخرة، وأن التباين بين الخالق والمخلوق أولى وأعظم وأبين؛ لقوله تعالى: ﴿لَيْسَ كَمِثْلِهِ شَيْءٌ وَهُوَ السَّمِيعُ الْبَصِيرُ﴾ [الشورى:١١] . الفرقة الثانية: طوائف من أهل الكلام يؤمنون بما أخبر الله به عن اليوم الآخر من الثواب والعقاب، وينفون كثيراً مما أخبر الله به عن نفسه من الصفات. الفرقة الثالثة: القرامطة، والباطنية، والفلاسفة لا يؤمنون بما أخبر الله به