Iqtiḍāʾ al-Ṣirāṭ al-Mustaqīm - Ibn Taimiya - (2/59)

Iqtiḍāʾ al-Ṣirāṭ al-MustaqīmIbn Taimiya

In obedience to the words of the Most High,

“Indeed, my prayer, my sacrifice, my living and my dying are for Allah, Lord of all the worlds.”
(al-Anʿām 6:162)

The unbelievers behave toward their deities in the same fashion: at times they pronounce the names of their gods over the animals, at other times they slaughter the animals as an offering to them, and at yet other times they combine both practices. All of this—Allah knows best—falls under what has been “offered up for other than Allah,” for whoever invokes a name other than Allah has thereby dedicated the animal to other than Him. His saying, “In the name of so-and-so,” is a plea for that deity’s aid, whereas his saying, “For so-and-so,” is an act of worship toward it. Hence Allah has coupled the two in His words,

“It is You we worship, and You we ask for help.”
(al-Fātiḥah 1:5)

[What is Slaughtered at the Altars]

Moreover, He—glorified be He—has forbidden “what has been slaughtered on the altars,” meaning everything set up to be worshipped besides Allah.

As for Imam Aḥmad’s argument on this matter with the verse,

“Do not eat of that over which the name of Allah has not been mentioned”
(al-Anʿām 6:121),

the question arises: since pronouncing the tasmiyah is a condition for a Muslim’s slaughter, is it likewise required for the slaughter of a Person of the Scripture? There are two reported opinions. Although al-Khallāl here cites the view that it is not required, his use of this verse corresponds to one of those two reports.

Thus, when the prohibitive general text—His saying,

“and whatever has had a name other than Allah’s invoked over it”
(al-Baqarah 2:173)—
conflicts with the permissive general text, namely His words:

(1) Qur’an, Surah al-Anʿam, verse 162. (2) The text between markers 2 and 3 is missing in manuscript D. (3) Likewise, the passage between those same markers is absent from manuscript D. (4) Manuscript D preserves the wording exactly as in the printed text. (5) Manuscript T reads: kullu ma dhubiha (everything that is slaughtered). (6) Qur’an, Surah al-Anʿam, part of verse 121. (7) The phrase wa huwa qawl (“and this is a statement”) is omitted in manuscript T. (8) Qur’an, Surah al-Baqarah, verse 173. Manuscripts A, B, and D instead read: wa ma uhilla li-ghayr Allah bihi (“and that over which a name other than Allah has been invoked”), Surah al-Maʾidah, verse 3.

اتباعا لقوله تعالى {إِنَّ صَلَاتِي وَنُسُكِي وَمَحْيَايَ وَمَمَاتِي لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ} [الأنعام: ١٦٢] (١) . والكافرون يصنعون بآلهتهم كذلك فتارة يسمون آلهتهم على الذبائح، وتارة (٢) (٢) يذبحونها قربانا إليهم، وتارة (٣) (٣) يجمعون بينهما، وكل ذلك -والله أعلم- يدخل فيما أهل لغير الله به، فإن من سمى غير الله فقد أهل به لغير الله، فقوله: (باسم كذا) استعانة به، وقوله (لكذا) (٤) عبادة له؛ ولهذا جمع الله بينهما في قوله: {إِيَّاكَ نَعْبُدُ وَإِيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِينُ} [الفاتحة: ٥] [ما ذبح على النصب] وأيضا، فإنه سبحانه حرم (٥) ما ذبح على النصب، وهي كل ما ينصب ليعبد من دون الله تعالى. وأما احتجاج أحمد على هذه المسألة بقوله تعالى {وَلَا تَأْكُلُوا مِمَّا لَمْ يُذْكَرِ اسْمُ اللَّهِ عَلَيْهِ} [الأنعام: ١٢١] (٦) فحيث اشترطت التسمية في ذبيحة المسلم؛ هل تشترط في ذبيحة الكتابي؟ على روايتين: وإن كان الخلال هنا قد ذكر عدم الاشتراط، فاحتجاجه بهذه الآية يخرج على إحدى الروايتين. فلما تعارض العموم الحاظر، وهو قول (٧) الله تعالى: {وَمَا أُهِلَّ بِهِ لِغَيْرِ اللَّهِ} [البقرة: ١٧٣] (٨) والعموم المبيح، وهو قوله:

(١) سورة الأنعام: الآية ١٦٢. (٢) (٢، ٣) ما بين الرقمين سقط من (د) . (٣) (٢، ٣) ما بين الرقمين سقط من (د) . (٤) في (د) : كذا. (٥) في (ط) : كل ما ذبح. (٦) سورة الأنعام: من الآية ١٢١. (٧) وهو قول: سقطت من (ط) . (٨) سورة البقرة: الآية ١٧٣. وفي (أب د) : " وما أهل لغير الله به " سورة المائدة: الآية ٣.