Iqtiḍāʾ al-Ṣirāṭ al-Mustaqīm - Ibn Taimiya - (1/416)

Iqtiḍāʾ al-Ṣirāṭ al-MustaqīmIbn Taimiya

His statement:

“Obligation rests only upon those who ask your leave while they are well-off, content to remain with those who stay behind. God has set a seal upon their hearts, so they do not know.

When you return to them they will offer you excuses. Say, ‘Make no excuses; we shall never believe you. God has already informed us about you. God will observe your deeds, and so will His Messenger, then you will be returned to the Knower of the unseen and the seen, and He will tell you what you used to do.’

They will swear to you by God when you go back to them, hoping that you will turn away from them. So turn away from them—they are an abomination, and their refuge is Hell, a recompense for what they have been earning.

They swear to you so that you may be pleased with them. But even if you are pleased with them, God is never pleased with a defiantly disobedient people.

The Bedouin are fiercer in disbelief and hypocrisy and more likely to be unaware of the limits of what God has sent down to His Messenger. God is All-Knowing, All-Wise.”
(al-Tawbah 9:93–97)

When God mentioned the hypocrites who had sought permission to stay behind from fighting in the Expedition of Tabūk and censured them—these were people of Madinah—He, exalted is He, then said:

“The Bedouin are fiercer in disbelief and hypocrisy and more likely to be unaware of the limits of what God has sent down to His Messenger.”
(al-Tawbah 9:97)

All goodness, both at its root and in its branches, is confined to knowledge and faith, as He, exalted is He, said:

“God will raise in rank those of you who believe and those who have been given knowledge.”
(al-Mujādilah 58:11)

And He, Most High, also said:

“Those who were given knowledge and faith said…”
(al-Rūm 30:56)

The opposite of faith is either overt disbelief or hidden hypocrisy, and the contrary of knowledge is its absence. Thus the Exalted said concerning the Bedouin that they are more intense in disbelief and hypocrisy than the people of Madinah.

(1) Quran, surah al-Tawbah (9): verses 93–97. (2) The printed edition reads: “They asked the Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him and his family—for permission to stay behind, …” etc. (3) Quran, surah al-Tawbah (9): verse 97. (4) In manuscript (A): wa-fadluhu (“and His bounty”). (5) Quran, surah al-Mujadilah (58): part of verse 11. (6) Quran, surah al-Rum (30): part of verse 56. (7) Manuscripts (J) and (D) read: bi-annahum (“that they …”).

قوله: {إِنَّمَا السَّبِيلُ عَلَى الَّذِينَ يَسْتَأْذِنُونَكَ وَهُمْ أَغْنِيَاءُ رَضُوا بِأَنْ يَكُونُوا مَعَ الْخَوَالِفِ وَطَبَعَ اللَّهُ عَلَى قُلُوبِهِمْ فَهُمْ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ - يَعْتَذِرُونَ إِلَيْكُمْ إِذَا رَجَعْتُمْ إِلَيْهِمْ قُلْ لَا تَعْتَذِرُوا لَنْ نُؤْمِنَ لَكُمْ قَدْ نَبَّأَنَا اللَّهُ مِنْ أَخْبَارِكُمْ وَسَيَرَى اللَّهُ عَمَلَكُمْ وَرَسُولُهُ ثُمَّ تُرَدُّونَ إِلَى عَالِمِ الْغَيْبِ وَالشَّهَادَةِ فَيُنَبِّئُكُمْ بِمَا كُنْتُمْ تَعْمَلُونَ - سَيَحْلِفُونَ بِاللَّهِ لَكُمْ إِذَا انْقَلَبْتُمْ إِلَيْهِمْ لِتُعْرِضُوا عَنْهُمْ فَأَعْرِضُوا عَنْهُمْ إِنَّهُمْ رِجْسٌ وَمَأْوَاهُمْ جَهَنَّمُ جَزَاءً بِمَا كَانُوا يَكْسِبُونَ - يَحْلِفُونَ لَكُمْ لِتَرْضَوْا عَنْهُمْ فَإِنْ تَرْضَوْا عَنْهُمْ فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يَرْضَى عَنِ الْقَوْمِ الْفَاسِقِينَ - الْأَعْرَابُ أَشَدُّ كُفْرًا وَنِفَاقًا وَأَجْدَرُ أَلَّا يَعْلَمُوا حُدُودَ مَا أَنْزَلَ اللَّهُ عَلَى رَسُولِهِ وَاللَّهُ عَلِيمٌ حَكِيمٌ} [التوبة: ٩٣ - ٩٧] (١) . فلما ذكر الله المنافقين الذين استأذنوه في (٢) التخلف عن الجهاد في غزوة تبوك، وذمهم وهؤلاء كانوا من أهل المدينة، قال سبحانه: {الْأَعْرَابُ أَشَدُّ كُفْرًا وَنِفَاقًا وَأَجْدَرُ أَلَّا يَعْلَمُوا حُدُودَ مَا أَنْزَلَ اللَّهُ عَلَى رَسُولِهِ} [التوبة: ٩٧] (٣) فإن الخير كله - أصله وفصله (٤) - منحصر في العلم والإيمان كما قال سبحانه: {يَرْفَعِ اللَّهُ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا مِنْكُمْ وَالَّذِينَ أُوتُوا الْعِلْمَ دَرَجَاتٍ} [المجادلة: ١١] (٥) وقال تعالى: {وَقَالَ الَّذِينَ أُوتُوا الْعِلْمَ وَالْإِيمَانَ} [الروم: ٥٦] (٦) . وضد الإيمان: إما الكفر الظاهر، أو النفاق الباطن، ونقيض العلم: عدمه. فقال سبحانه عن الأعراب: إنهم (٧) أشد كفرا ونفاقا من أهل المدينة

(١) سورة التوبة: الآيات ٩٣- ٩٧. (٢) في المطبوعة: استأذنوا رسول الله صلى الله عليه وعلى آله وسلم في التخلف. . إلخ. (٣) سورة التوبة: الآية ٩٧. (٤) في (أ) : وفضله. (٥) سورة المجادلة: من الآية ١١. (٦) سورة الروم: من الآية ٥٦. (٧) في (ج د) : بأنهم.