Huquq Al al-Bayt - Ibn Taimiya - (54)

Huquq Al al-BaytIbn Taimiya

So if the Sacred Law has not delegated to a man the management of his own affairs, how could it possibly entrust to him the affairs of the entire community?

And how can someone be deemed imam of the ummah when no one sees him or hears the slightest report of him—while Allah never obliges His servants to obey one who is beyond their reach? Four hundred and forty years have passed, with his followers still waiting for him to emerge, yet he has never appeared at all, for he simply does not exist.

Why has he not shown himself to his trusted inner circle and companions as his forefathers did? What could justify so extreme a concealment when none of his ancestors ever behaved in this way?

Throughout history, sensible people have laughed at anyone who affirms such a claim and hangs his religion upon it. Freethinkers have used this and similar notions as a pretext to attack the religion itself and to mock the intellects of believers who would hold such views.

Because of this, people of knowledge have discovered a great many hypocritical heretics who cloak themselves in professions of loyalty to this doctrine and the like, hoping thereby to win the hearts and minds of the weak and of those driven by desire. Through it, corruption has spread—its extent known only to Allah. There is no might nor power except with Allah, the Most High, the Most Great. May Allah rectify the condition of this ummah, guide them, and set them aright.

Vows made for shrines and mosques

The same discussion applies to vows dedicated to mosques and shrines. In His Book and in the Sunnah of His Prophet—conveyed by the earliest generation and their successors, both from his family and from others—Allah has commanded the building and maintenance of mosques and the establishment of prayer within them to the fullest extent possible. He has forbidden constructing mosques over graves and has cursed those who do so. Allah the Exalted says: “The only people who should maintain the mosques of Allah are those who believe in Allah and the Last Day, establish the prayer, give alms, and fear none but Allah; it is they who are expected to be rightly guided.” 1

(1) Surah al-Tawbah, verse 18.

فمن لم تفوض الشريعة إليه أمر نفسه كيف تفوض إليه أمر الأمة؟ وكيف يجوز أن يكون إماما على الأمة من لا يرى ولا يسمع له خبر؟ مع أن الله لا يكلف العباد بطاعة من لا يقدرون على الوصول إليه, وله أربعمائة وأربعون سنة ينتظره من ينتظره وهو لم يخرج, إذ لا وجود له. وكيف لم يظهر لخواصه وأصحابه المأمون عليه كما ظهر آباؤه, وما الموجب لهذا الاختفاء الشديد دون غيره من الآباء؟ وما زال العقلاء قديما وحديثا يضحكون بمن يثبت هذا, ويعلق دينه به, حتى جعل الزنادقة هذا وأمثاله طريقا إلى القدح في الملة, وتسفيه عقول أهل الدين إذا كانوا يعتقدون مثل هذا. لهذا قد اطلع أهل المعرفة على خلق كثير منافقين زنادقة يتسترون بإظهار هذا وأمثاله, ليستميلوا قلوب وعقول الضعفاء وأهل الأهواء, ودخل بسبب ذلك من الفساد ما الله به عليم, ولا حول ولا قوة إلا بالله العلي العظيم, والله يصلح أمر هذه الأمة ويهديهم ويرشدهم. النذور للمشاهد والمساجد: وكذلك ما يتعلق بالنذور للمساجد والمشاهد, فإن الله في كتابه وسنة نبيه التي نقلها السابقون والتابعون من أهل بيته وغيرهم قد أمر بعمارة المساجد, وإقامة الصلوات فيها بحسب الإمكان, ونهى عن بناء المساجد على القبور, ولعن من يفعل ذلك, قال الله تعالى: ﴿إِنَّمَا يَعْمُرُ مَسَاجِدَ اللَّهِ مَنْ آمَنَ بِاللَّهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الْآخِرِ وَأَقَامَ الصَّلاةَ وَآتَى الزَّكَاةَ وَلَمْ يَخْشَ إِلَّا اللَّهَ فَعَسَى أُولَئِكَ أَنْ يَكُونُوا مِنَ الْمُهْتَدِينَ﴾ ١.

١-سورة التوبة, آية:١٨.