Iqtiḍāʾ al-Ṣirāṭ al-Mustaqīm - Ibn Taimiya - (1/411)

Iqtiḍāʾ al-Ṣirāṭ al-MustaqīmIbn Taimiya

Among the Companions of the Messenger of God, peace and blessings be upon him—whether they came to him as delegations or otherwise—there were Bedouins who surpassed many of the town-dwellers.(1)

Thus the Book of God praises certain Bedouins and censures others, and it does the same with the inhabitants of the cities. The Exalted says:

“Among the Bedouins who live around you there are hypocrites, and among the people of Madinah there are those who have become hardened in hypocrisy. You do not know them, but We know them. We shall punish them twice, then they will be returned to a tremendous torment.” [al-Tawbah 9:101] (2)

This makes clear that hypocrites are found both among the Bedouins and among the settled folk. Much of Sūrat al-Tawbah condemns the hypocrites from Madinah and from the Bedouins, while it also lauds the foremost pioneers among the Emigrants and the Helpers, those who follow them with excellence, and the Bedouins who regard their spending as a means of drawing near to God and of earning the prayers of the Messenger.

The same principle applies to the non-Arabs—Persians, Romans, Turks, Berbers, Abyssinians, and others—for they too are divided into believer and unbeliever, righteous and wicked, just as the Bedouins are.(3) God Most High says:

“O mankind! We have created you from a male and a female and made you into peoples and tribes so that you may come to know one another. Surely the most honored of you in the sight of God is the most God-fearing. God is All-Knowing, All-Aware.” [al-Ḥujurāt 49:13] (4)

In a sound hadith the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, declared: “God has removed from you the arrogant conceit(5) of the Age of Ignorance and its pride in ancestry. (Now there is only) a pious believer or a wretched sinner. All of you are children of Adam, and Adam was created from dust.” (6)

(1) Here, al-qurawiyyun refers to the settled population—the inhabitants of towns and villages—as opposed to the desert Bedouins. (2) Surah al-Tawbah, verse 101. (3) The manuscripts Ab and T read: “al-ʿarab.” (4) Surah al-Hujurat, verse 13. (5) The manuscript At has ʿaybah, but the reading adopted here is correct. See 1/247 of this book. ʿUbbiyat al-jahiliyyah (the arrogant pride and boastfulness of the pre-Islamic era) denotes unwarranted self-glorification. (6) This hadith has already been cited; consult the Hadith Index.

وقد كان في أصحاب رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم ممن وفد عليه ومن غيرهم من الأعراب، من هو أفضل من كثير من القرويين (١) . فهذا كتاب الله يحمد بعض الأعراب، ويذم بعضهم، وكذلك فعل بأهل الأمصار، فقال سبحانه: {وَمِمَّنْ حَوْلَكُمْ مِنَ الْأَعْرَابِ مُنَافِقُونَ وَمِنْ أَهْلِ الْمَدِينَةِ مَرَدُوا عَلَى النِّفَاقِ لَا تَعْلَمُهُمْ نَحْنُ نَعْلَمُهُمْ سَنُعَذِّبُهُمْ مَرَّتَيْنِ ثُمَّ يُرَدُّونَ إِلَى عَذَابٍ عَظِيمٍ} [التوبة: ١٠١] (٢) فبين أن المنافقين في الأعراب وذوي القرى، وعامة سورة التوبة فيها الذم للمنافقين من أهل المدينة ومن الأعراب، كما فيها الثناء على السابقين الأولين من المهاجرين والأنصار، والذين اتبعوهم بإحسان، وعلى الأعراب الذين يتخذون ما ينفقون قربات عند الله وصلوات الرسول. وكذلك العجم وهم من سوى العرب من الفرس والروم والترك والبربر والحبشة وغيرهم ينقسمون إلى المؤمن والكافر، والبر والفاجر، كانقسام الأعراب (٣) قال الله تعالى: {يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ إِنَّا خَلَقْنَاكُمْ مِنْ ذَكَرٍ وَأُنْثَى وَجَعَلْنَاكُمْ شُعُوبًا وَقَبَائِلَ لِتَعَارَفُوا إِنَّ أَكْرَمَكُمْ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ أَتْقَاكُمْ إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَلِيمٌ خَبِيرٌ} [الحجرات: ١٣] (٤) . وقال النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم في الحديث الصحيح: «إن الله قد أذهب عنكم عبية (٥) الجاهلية، وفخرها بالآباء، مؤمن تقي وفاجر شقي، أنتم بنو آدم، وآدم من تراب» (٦) .

(١) يقصد بالقرويين هنا: الحاضرة سكان المدن والقرى. مقابل البادية. (٢) سورة التوبة: الآية ١٠١. (٣) في (أب ط) : العرب. (٤) سورة الحجرات: الآية ١٣. (٥) في (أط) : عيبة. والصحيح ما أثبته. انظر: (١ / ٢٤٧) من هذا الكتاب. وعبية الجاهلية: كبرها وفخرها ونخوتها بغير حق. (٦) سبق تخريج الحديث. انظر: فهرس الأحاديث.