Al-Jawāb as-Sahīh li-man baddala dīn al-Masīh - Ibn Taimiya - (3/68)

[Section: The Duty to Challenge the Wrongdoers among the Polytheists and the People of the Book]

As for His words, “There is no argument between us and you” ⦗Ash-Shura 15⦘, this is not directed solely at the Christians; it is addressed to everyone. Yet these Christians imagined that it means: do not dispute with the People of the Book.

Likewise, they supposed that His statement, “And do not argue with the People of the Book except in a manner that is best—unless it be those of them who commit injustice” ⦗Al-ʿAnkabut 46⦘, signifies: Do not argue with the People of the Book—that is, the Christians—except in the best manner, except those who commit injustice, namely the Jews. End of their claim.

This is to wrench God’s words from their proper contexts, resembling their distortion of the Torah, the Gospel, the Psalms, and the rest of the prophetic scriptures, for they exercise greater license in corrupting those texts’ meanings than they do in—

[فَصْلٌ: وُجُوبُ مُحَاجَّةِ الظَّالِمِينَ مِنْ مُشْرِكِينَ وَأَهْلِ كِتَابِ] وَأَمَّا قَوْلُهُ: {لَا حُجَّةَ بَيْنَنَا وَبَيْنَكُمُ} [الشورى: ١٥] . الْآيَةَ، فَهَذَا لَيْسَ خِطَابًا لِلنَّصَارَى خُصُوصًا، بَلْ هُوَ خِطَابٌ لِلْجَمِيعِ، وَهَؤُلَاءِ النَّصَارَى ظَنُّوا أَنَّ مَعْنَى هَذَا لَا تُحَاجُّوا أَهْلَ الْكِتَابِ، كَمَا ظَنُّوا فِي قَوْلِهِ تَعَالَى: {وَلَا تُجَادِلُوا أَهْلَ الْكِتَابِ إِلَّا بِالَّتِي هِيَ أَحْسَنُ إِلَّا الَّذِينَ ظَلَمُوا مِنْهُمْ} [العنكبوت: ٤٦] . أَنَّ مَعْنَاهُ: لَا تُجَادِلُوا أَهْلَ الْكِتَابِ - أَيِ النَّصَارَى - إِلَّا بِالَّتِي هِيَ أَحْسَنُ إِلَّا الَّذِينَ ظَلَمُوا، أَيِ الْيَهُودَ اهـ. وَهَذَا تَحْرِيفُ كَلِمِ اللَّهِ عَنْ مَوَاضِعِهِ، وَهُوَ شَبِيهٌ بِتَحْرِيفِهِمْ لِمَا عِنْدَهُمْ مِنَ التَّوْرَاةِ وَالْإِنْجِيلِ وَالزَّبُورِ، وَسَائِرِ النُّبُوَّاتِ، فَإِنَّهُمْ أَعْظَمُ تَسَلُّطًا عَلَى تَحْرِيفِ مَعَانِيهَا مِنْهُمْ عَلَى تَحْرِيفِ مَعَانِي