Tawḍīḥ al-Aḥkām - Abd Allah al-Bassam - (3/84)

Tawḍīḥ al-AḥkāmAbd Allah al-Bassam

8 – It is recommended that the preacher kindle in the people a longing for their Lord and strengthen their hope that He will answer their supplications, so they become energetic and diligent in making duʿāʾ.

9 – As soon as the preacher ascends the pulpit and faces the congregation, he opens with an address appropriate to the occasion: magnifying Allah with takbīr, praising and extolling Him, seeking His forgiveness, manifesting one’s weakness and humility, and casting oneself before Him by openly acknowledging one’s poverty and need of His bounty.

10 – After this praise of Allah, extolling Him, describing His mercy that is universal for all creation and special for His loyal servants, and portraying Him as the Possessor of generosity, wealth, and abundant giving—and after depicting the servant and all creatures as needy, weak, and dependent on their Lord’s grace, kindness, and mercy—then, following these pleas and entreaties, the preacher raises his hands, turns to face the qiblah, and beseeches Allah Most High to send down rain upon them and to make what He sends a source of strength and sufficiency for their worldly life.

11 – At that moment the preacher and all those present turn their cloaks—or whatever outer garment they are wearing—inside out, as an act of hopeful optimism that Allah has transformed their hardship into ease and their poverty into wealth.

12 – The ḥadith before us explicitly states that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) delivered the sermon before the prayer, and a number of scholars have held this view. What is authentically reported from the Prophet himself and from his rightly guided successors, however, is to begin with the prayer and then follow it with the sermon; this is the position of the three imams: Mālik, al-Shāfiʿī, and Aḥmad. Al-Nawawī said: This is also the view of the vast majority of scholars, though not by unanimous agreement.

13 – Ibn al-Qayyim said: “No blessing of Allah is ever drawn down, nor any of His punishments repelled, by anything more potent than obedience to Him and kindness to His creation. The Qur’an is explicit in linking recompense—good or bad—to one’s deeds; whoever gains insight into this matter will benefit from it.”

٨ - يستحب أن يطمِّعهم في ربهم، ويقوَّي رجاءهم باستجابة دعائهم إيَّاه، حتى ينشطوا، ويجتهدوا فيه. ٩ - أول ما يبدأ به الخطيب الصعود على المنبر، واستقباله الناس، ثم يخطب خطبة مناسبة للمقام، من تكبير الله، وحمده، والثناء عليه، واستغفاره، وإظهار العجز والمسكنة، والاطراح بين يديه؛ بإظهار الفاقة والحاجة إلى فضله. ١٠ - ثم بعد حمد الله، والثناء عليه، ووصفه بالرحمة العامة لخلقه، والخاصة باوليائه، ووصفه بالجود والغنى والعطاء. وبعد وصف العبد نفسه، وعموم الخلق بالفقر والضعف، والحاجة إلى فضل ربهم، وإحسانه إليهم، ورحمته بهم. وبعد هذه الابتهالات والتوسلات -يرفع الخطيب يديه، ويستقبل القبلة، ويدعو الله تعالى؛ بأن يُنزل عليهم الغيث، وأن يجعل ما أنزله قوةً وبلاغًا في هذه الحياة. ١١ - وفي هذه الأثناء يحوِّل الخطيب والحاضرون أرديتهم، أو ما يقوم مقامها من الملابس الظاهرة، فيقلبونها تفاؤلاً؛ بأنَّ الله تعالى حوَّل شدَّتهم رخاء، وبؤسهم غنًى. ١٢ - الحديث الذي معنا صريح في أنَّه ﷺ قدم الخطبة على الصلاة؛ وبه قال جماعة من العلماء. والمروي عن النبي ﷺ وخلفائه الراشدين هو البداءة بالصلاة قبل الخطبة؛ وهو مذهب الأئمة الثلاثة: مالك، والشافعي، وأحمد. قال النووي: وبه قال جماهير العلماء، وليس بإجماعِ. ١٣ - قال ابن القيم: ما استُجْلِبَتْ نعم الله، واستُدفعت نِقمه، بمثل طاعته، والإحسان إلى خلقه، والقرآن صريحٌ في ترتيب الجزاء بالخير والشر، ومن تفقه في هذه المسألة، انتفع بها.