Al-Tisʿīniyya - Ibn Taimiya - (3/1016)

Al-TisʿīniyyaIbn Taimiya

And Allah has enabled the believers to obey Him, has shown them kindness, and has looked after their welfare (1); He has reformed them and guided them. In contrast, He has misled the disbelievers, did not guide them, and did not extend to them His subtle grace in faith (2), as the people of deviation and tyranny allege. Had He bestowed that grace upon them (3) and set them aright, they would have become righteous (4); and had He guided them, they would have been rightly guided (3), just as the Blessed and Exalted has said:

“Whoever Allah guides—he alone is guided; and whoever He leads astray, it is they who are the losers.” (5)

Allah is certainly able to reform the disbelievers and to show them His gracious kindness (6) until they become believers, yet He willed that they remain disbelievers, as He knew, and so He abandoned them and sealed their hearts.

Good and evil alike occur by Allah’s decree and predestination. We believe in Allah’s decree and predestination—its good and its evil, its sweetness and its bitterness—and we know that whatever reaches us could never have missed us, and whatever misses us could never have reached us (7). We possess no power to bring benefit to ourselves (8) or to ward off harm (9) except as Allah wills; hence we consign all our affairs (10) to Allah and continually affirm our need and poverty before Him.

And we declare that the Quran is the Speech of Allah, uncreated; whoever claims that it is created (11)

(1) “nazar lahum” (they looked at them): omitted in S; in the Al-Ibana edition it appears as “nazar ilayhim” (they looked toward them). (2) In T, Al-Ibana, and Tabyīn Kathīb al-Muftarī: “bihim” (with them). (3) In T, Al-Ibana, and Tabyīn Kathīb al-Muftarī: “bihim” (with them). (4) In Al-Ibana: “lakānū” (they would have been), in both instances. (5) Surah al-Aʿrāf, verse 178. (6) In T and Al-Ibana: “bihim” (with them). (7) The text between the brackets is an addition from Al-Ibana and Tabyīn Kathīb al-Muftarī. In Al-Ibana it is arranged as follows: “And we know that what we missed could not have reached us, and that what reached us could not have missed us.” (8) In Al-Ibana: “wa-inna al-ʿibād lā yamlikūna li-anfusihim” (and indeed the servants have no possession over themselves). (9) In Al-Ibana: “…wa lā ḍarran” (…nor harm), as Allah the Exalted says: “Say, ‘I do not possess [power] to benefit or harm myself except as Allah wills’” (al-Aʿrāf 188). (10) In Al-Ibana: “wa-innā naljaʾu fī umūrina” (and indeed we seek refuge in our affairs). (11) In S, T, Al-Ibana, and Tabyīn Kathīb al-Muftarī: “bi-khalqi al-Qurʾān” (in the creation of the Qur’an).

وإن الله وفق المؤمنين لطاعته، ولطف بهم ونظر لهم (١) وأصلحهم وهداهم، وأضل الكافرين ولم يهدهم ولم يلطف بهم (٢) بالإيمان كما زعم أهل الزيغ والطغيان، ولو لطف لهم (٣) وأصلحهم كانوا (٤) صالحين، ولو هداهم كانوا (٣) مهتدين، كما قال تبارك وتعالى: {مَنْ يَهْدِ اللَّهُ فَهُوَ الْمُهْتَدِي وَمَنْ يُضْلِلْ فَأُولَئِكَ هُمُ الْخَاسِرُونَ} (٥) ، وإن الله يقدر أن يصلح الكافرين ويلطف لهم (٦) حتى يكونوا مؤمنين، ولكنه أراد أن يكونوا كافرين كما علم، وإنه خذلهم وطبع على قلوبهم. وإن الخير والشر بقضاء الله وقدره، وإنا نؤمن بقضاء الله وقدره خيره وشره حلوه ومره، ونعلم أن ما أصابنا لم [يكن لـ] (٧) يخطئنا وما أخطأنا لم يكن ليصيبنا، وإنا لا نملك لأنفسنا (٨) نفعا ولا ضرًّا (٩) ، إلا ما شاء الله، وأنا نلجئ أمورنا (١٠) إلى الله ونثبت الحاجة والفقر في كل وقت إليه. ونقول: إن القرآن كلام الله غير مخلوق، وإن من قال بخلقه (١١)

(١) نظر لهم: ساقطة من: س. وفي الإبانة: نظر إليهم. (٢) في ط، والإبانة، وتبيين كذب المفتري: بهم. (٣) في ط، والإبانة، وتبيين كذب المفتري: بهم. (٤) في الإبانة: لكانوا. في الموضعين. (٥) سورة الأعراف، الآية: ١٧٨. (٦) في ط، والإبانة: بهم. (٧) ما بين المعقوفتين زيادة من: الإبانة، وتبيين كذب المفتري. وقد جاء في الإبانة تقديم وتأخير على هذا النحو: "ونعلم أن ما أخطأنا لم يكن ليصيبنا، وأن ما أصابنا لم يكن ليخطئنا". (٨) في الإبانة: وإن العباد لا يملكون لأنفسهم. . (٩) في الإبانة:. . ولا ضرًّا كما قال عَزَّ وَجَلَّ: {قُلْ لَا أَمْلِكُ لِنَفْسِي نَفْعًا وَلَا ضَرًّا إلا مَا شَاءَ اللَّهُ} الأعراف: ١٨٨. (١٠) في الإبانة: وإنا نلجأ في أمورنا. (١١) في س، ط، والإبانة، وتبيين كذب المفتري: بخلق القرآن.