Risālah fī al-Qurʾān wa-Kalām Allāh - Ibn Qudama - (52)

nor understood it, nor even let it pass before his mind; and Allah, exalted is He, has said: “Indeed, the vilest of creatures in Allah’s sight are the deaf and the dumb who do not reason. Had Allah known any good in them, He would have made them hear; and even if He had made them hear, they would still have turned away in aversion.” 1

The outright unbelievers who refuse to believe in the Qur’an have a stronger plea for their denial than do these people who claim that they believe in it and yet abandon it without the slightest proof. We ask Allah for well-being.

If someone says, “We do not concede that we have contravened the consensus; rather, our view is the very view of the early generations,”

we reply: Produce your evidence. Tell us—who before you ever said that this Qur’an is nothing but an expression and a narration, 2 and that the real Qur’an is a meaning that subsists in

(1) Sura al-Anfal, verses 22–23. (2) In Majmu‘ al-Fatāwā (vol. 12, p. 552), Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Taymiyya distinguishes between ʿibarah (verbal expression) and ḥikāyah (narration), stating: “ʿIbarah is speech concerning the unseen; it refers to someone who harbors a meaning in his mind that is then expressed by another, just as the intent of a mute person is conveyed by someone who understands him.”

ولم يفقه ولم يمر به، وقد قال سبحانه: ﴿إِنَّ شَرَّ الدَّوَابِّ عِندَ اللهِ الصُّمُّ الْبُكْمُ الَّذِينَ لاَ يَعْقِلُونَ وَلَوْ عَلِمَ اللهُ فِيهِمْ خَيْراً لَّأسْمَعَهُمْ وَلَوْ أَسْمَعَهُمْ لَتَوَلَّواْ وَّهُم مُّعْرِضُونَ﴾ .١ والكفار الذين لا يؤمنون بالقرآن أقرب إلى العذر في جحدهم للقرآن من هؤلاء الذين يزعمون أنهم يؤمنون به ثم يتركونه بغير حجة. نسأل الله العافية. فإن قال قائل: لا نسلم أننا خالفنا الإجماع، بل قولنا هو مقالة السلف. قلنا: هاتوا أخبرونا من قال قبلكم: إن هذا القرآن عبارة وحكاية٢، وأن حقيقة القرآن معنى قائم في

١ سورة الأنفال، آية (٢٢-٢٣) . ٢ بين شيخ الإسلام ابن تيمية ﵀ الفرق بين العبارة والحكاية في "مجموع الفتاوى" (١٢/٥٥٢) فقال: "العبارة عن كلام الغيب، يقال لمن في نفسه معنى ثم يعبر عنه غيره، كما يعبر عما في نفس الأخرس من فهم مراده.