Iqtiḍāʾ al-Ṣirāṭ al-Mustaqīm - Ibn Taimiya - (2/377)

Iqtiḍāʾ al-Ṣirāṭ al-MustaqīmIbn Taimiya

Allah, Exalted is He, says:

“Allah sets forth a parable: a man owned by several quarrelsome partners, and another man wholly devoted to one master—are the two alike in comparison?” (al-Zumar 39:29)

Thus, Islam demands surrender to Allah alone and the renunciation of surrender to anything else. This is the very essence of our declaration, “There is no god but Allah.”

Whoever submits to Allah while also submitting to another commits shirk, and Allah does not forgive that partners be ascribed to Him. Whoever does not submit to Him at all is arrogantly refusing His worship. The Exalted has said:

“Call upon Me and I will answer you. Indeed, those who are too proud to worship Me will enter Hell in utter humiliation.” (Ghāfir 40:60)

It is authentically reported in the Sahih that the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said: “No one who has even an atom’s weight of arrogance in his heart will enter Paradise, and no one who has even an atom’s weight of faith in his heart will enter the Fire.”

Someone asked, “O Messenger of Allah, a man likes his clothing and his sandals to be fine— is that arrogance?” He replied, “No. Allah is beautiful and loves beauty. Arrogance is rejecting the truth and belittling people.”

Rejecting the truth means denying it and pushing it away, while belittling people means looking down on them and holding them in contempt.

The Jews are characterized by arrogance, and the Christians are characterized by associating partners with Allah. Concerning the Jews, the Exalted says:

“Whenever a messenger came to you with something your souls did not desire, you grew arrogant; some of them you denied and others you killed.” (al-Baqarah 2:87)

(1) Qurʾan, Surah al-Zumar, 39:29. (2) In manuscript B the wording is: la ilaha illa huwa ("there is no deity but He"). (3) Manuscript A reads: huwa ("He"). (4) Qurʾan, Surah Ghafir, 40:60. (5) Sahih Muslim, Book of Faith, chapter “The Prohibition of Arrogance and Its Clarification,” hadith no. 91 (1/93); Abu Dawud, Book of Dress, chapter “Reports concerning Arrogance,” hadith no. 4090 (4/350); and al-Tirmidhi, Book of Piety and Family Ties, same chapter, hadith no. 1999 (4/361). (6) In manuscript B the reading is: fa-batar ("so he spurned it arrogantly"). (7) Qurʾan, Surah al-Baqarah, 2:87.

قوله تعالى: {ضَرَبَ اللَّهُ مَثَلًا رَجُلًا فِيهِ شُرَكَاءُ مُتَشَاكِسُونَ وَرَجُلًا سَلَمًا لِرَجُلٍ} [الزمر: ٢٩] (١) . فلا بد في الإسلام من الاستسلام لله وحده، وترك الاستسلام لما سواه، وهذا حقيقة قولنا: " لا إله إلا الله (٢) " فمن استسلم لله ولغيره فهو (٣) مشرك، والله لا يغفر أن يشرك به، ومن لم يستسلم له فهو مستكبر عن عبادته، وقد قال تعالى: {وَقَالَ رَبُّكُمُ ادْعُونِي أَسْتَجِبْ لَكُمْ إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يَسْتَكْبِرُونَ عَنْ عِبَادَتِي سَيَدْخُلُونَ جَهَنَّمَ دَاخِرِينَ} [غافر: ٦٠] (٤) . وثبت عنه صلى الله عليه وسلم في الصحيح أنه قال: «لا يدخل الجنة من في قلبه مثقال ذرة من كبر، ولا يدخل النار من في قلبه مثقال ذرة من إيمان ". فقيل له: يا رسول الله، الرجل يحب أن يكون ثوبه حسنا، ونعله حسنا، أفمن الكبر ذاك؟ فقال: " لا، إن الله جميل يحب الجمال، الكبر: بطر الحق، وغمط الناس» (٥) . بطر (٦) الحق: جحده ودفعه، وغمط الناس: ازدراؤهم واحتقارهم. فاليهود موصوفون بالكبر، والنصارى موصوفون بالشرك، قال تعالى في نعت اليهود: {أَفَكُلَّمَا جَاءَكُمْ رَسُولٌ بِمَا لَا تَهْوَى أَنْفُسُكُمُ اسْتَكْبَرْتُمْ فَفَرِيقًا كَذَّبْتُمْ وَفَرِيقًا تَقْتُلُونَ} [البقرة: ٨٧] (٧) .

(١) سورة الزمر: من الآية ٢٩. (٢) في (ب) : لا إله إلا هو. (٣) (أ) : هو. (٤) سورة غافر: الآية ٦٠. (٥) صحيح مسلم، كتاب الإيمان، باب تحريم الكبر وبيانه، حديث رقم (٩١) ، (١ / ٩٣) . وأبو داود، كتاب اللباس، باب ما جاء في الكبر، حديث رقم (٤٠٩٠) ، (٤ / ٣٥٠) . والترمذي في كتاب البر والصلة، باب ما جاء في الكبر، حديث رقم (١٩٩٩) ، (٤ / ٣٦١) . (٦) في (ب) : فبطر. (٧) سورة البقرة: من الآية ٨٧.