Al-Jawāb as-Sahīh li-man baddala dīn al-Masīh - Ibn Taimiya - (3/253)

[Section: Clarifying the sound meaning of “the Word of Allah”]

They argue, citing His statement on the tongue of the Prophet Isaiah:

“The thorn-bush withers, the grass dries up, yet His Word endures for ever.”

We reply:

He could have intended by “the Word of Allah” (1) His knowledge, (2) a particular word, or (3) a collective term that embraces every word He utters. Under all three readings, the citation offers you no proof.

For if “the Word of Allah” is a generic designation for everything Allah speaks—just as He says:

“So He made the word of those who disbelieved lowest, while the Word of Allah is the highest” (Q 9:40),

and as the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, declared:

“Whoever fights in order that the Word of Allah be uppermost is striving in the path of Allah”—

[فَصْلٌ: بَيَانُ الْمَعْنَى الصَّحِيحِ لِكَلِمَةِ اللَّهِ] قَالُوا: وَقَوْلُهُ: عَلَى لِسَانِ أَشْعِيَا النَّبِيِّ: (يَيْبَسُ الْقَتَادُ، وَيَجِفُّ الْعُشْبُ، وَكَلِمَتُهُ بَاقِيَةٌ إِلَى الْأَبَدِ) . فَيُقَالُ: إِمَّا أَنْ يُرِيدَ بِكَلِمَةِ اللَّهِ عِلْمَهُ، أَوْ كَلِمَةً مُعَيَّنَةً، أَوْ تَكُونُ كَلِمَةُ اللَّهِ اسْمَ جِنْسٍ، وَعَلَى التَّقْدِيرَاتِ الثَّلَاثَةِ لَا حُجَّةَ لَكُمْ فِي ذَلِكَ، فَإِنَّهُ إِنْ كَانَ كَلِمَةُ اللَّهِ اسْمَ جِنْسٍ لِكُلِّ مَا تَكَلَّمَ اللَّهُ بِهِ كَمَا قَالَ: {وَجَعَلَ كَلِمَةَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا السُّفْلَى وَكَلِمَةُ اللَّهِ هِيَ الْعُلْيَا} [التوبة: ٤٠] . وَقَالَ النَّبِيُّ - صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: - «مَنْ قَاتَلَ لِتَكُونَ كَلِمَةُ اللَّهِ هِيَ الْعُلْيَا فَهُوَ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ»