Sharḥ Nawāqiḍ al-Islām - Abd al-Rahman ibn Nasir al-Barrak - (8)

Sharḥ Nawāqiḍ al-IslāmAbd al-Rahman ibn Nasir al-Barrak

as Allah’s conclusive proof against both humankind and jinn until the Hour is established. This has been realized through Allah’s protection of His Noble Book and His preservation of the Sunnah of His Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). The Messenger did not depart this world until his Companions had received from him the Book of Allah together with his verbal, practical, and tacit Sunnah, and had witnessed his blessed life. He instructed them to convey it, saying in the Farewell Sermon, “Let those who are present convey it to those who are absent.” (1) He also said, “Convey from me, even if it is one verse.” (2)

He himself fulfilled this mandate, and his Companions undertook the task of transmission, calling to Allah, and striving in His cause just as the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) had striven. They fought the disbelievers until people entered the religion of Allah in great numbers. Allah the Exalted says:
“When the help of Allah comes and the victory, and you see people entering the religion of Allah in multitudes, then glorify your Lord with His praise and seek His forgiveness; surely He is ever Relenting.” (Qur’an, Surah al-Naṣr 1-3)

ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAbbās (may Allah be pleased with him) said—when ʿUmar (may Allah be pleased with him) asked him about this chapter—“It signified to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) the time of his departure which Allah had informed him of. He said, ‘I know nothing about it beyond what you know.’” (3)

The Successors, the followers of the Successors, and those who came after them across the centuries then carried this religion forward. In every period of decline “there remains a remnant of the people of knowledge who call those who have strayed back to guidance… and who, by the light of Allah, give sight to the blind,” as Imām Aḥmad stated in the preface of his work Ar-Radd ʿalā az-Zanādiqah wa-l-Jahmiyyah. (4) The well-known hadith likewise states: “Indeed, Allah will send to this ummah at the head of every hundred years someone who will renew for it…”

(1) Reported by al-Bukhari, no. 105, and Muslim, no. 1218, on the authority of Abu Bakra—may Allah be pleased with him—and others. (2) Reported by al-Bukhari, no. 3461, on the authority of Abdullah ibn Amr—may Allah be pleased with him. (3) Reported by al-Bukhari, no. 3627, on the authority of Ibn Abbas—may Allah be pleased with him. (4) Al-Radd ala al-Zanadiqa wa al-Jahmiya, p. 55.

حجة الله على الثقلين إلى أن تقوم الساعة، وهذا تحقق بحفظ الله لكتابه العزيز وحفظه لسنة نبيه محمد ﷺ، فالرسول ما مات إلا وقد تلقى عنه أصحابه كتاب الله وسنته القولية والفعلية والتقريرية، وشهدوا سيرته ﷺ، وقد أمرهم بالبلاغ، ففي خطبة حجة الوداع يقول: «فليبلغ الشاهد منكم الغائب» (١)، ويقول: «بلغوا عني ولو آية» (٢)، وقد بلغ هو، وقام أصحابه بالبلاغ والدعوة والجهاد، كما جاهد الرسول ﷺ في سبيل الله، وقاتل الكفار حتى دخل الناس في دين الله أفواجًا، قال تعالى: ﴿إِذَا جَاء نَصْرُ اللَّهِ وَالْفَتْح (١) وَرَأَيْتَ النَّاسَ يَدْخُلُونَ فِي دِينِ اللَّهِ أَفْوَاجًا (٢) فَسَبِّحْ بِحَمْدِ رَبِّكَ وَاسْتَغْفِرْهُ إِنَّهُ كَانَ تَوَّابًا (٣)﴾ [النصر]، قال ابن عباس (رضي الله عنه)؛ لما سأله عمر (رضي الله عنه) عنها: «أَجَلُ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ ﷺ أَعْلَمَهُ إِيَّاهُ قَالَ مَا أَعْلَمُ مِنْهَا إِلا مَا تَعْلَمُ» (٣). ثم حمل هذا الدين التابعون وتابعو التابعين ومن بعدهم على مر القرون، فلم يزل «في كل زمان فترة بقايا من أهل العلم يدعون من ضل إلى الهدى … ويُبصرون بنور الله أهل العمى»، كما قال الإمام أحمد في خطبة كتابه «الرد على الزنادقة والجهمية» (٤)، وجاء في الحديث المشهور «إن الله يبعث لهذه الأمة على رأس كل مائة سنة من يجدد لها

(١) رواه البخاري (١٠٥)، ومسلم (١٢١٨) من حديث أبي بكرة ﵁ وغيره. (٢) رواه البخاري (٣٤٦١) من حديث عبد الله بن عمرو (رضي الله عنه). (٣) رواه البخاري (٣٦٢٧) من حديث ابن عباس (رضي الله عنه). (٤) الرد على الزنادقة والجهمية ص ٥٥.