Al-Tisʿīniyya - Ibn Taimiya - (1/125)

Al-TisʿīniyyaIbn Taimiya

and everything else that Allah has informed us of—His knowledge, power, will, mercy, pardon, forgiveness, pleasure, wrath, love, dislike, hearing, sight, and His ʿuluw (transcendence) (1), together with His majesty, greatness, and the like—all of that counts among the verses that deal with the Divine attributes. Shall a person who believes in Allah and His Messenger be told to turn away from all of this, not to convey these verses, or the like of them from the (2) prophetic reports, to the believers of the community of Muhammad (may Allah bless him and grant him peace); not to send the words of Allah and His Messenger—those very verses and hadiths on the attributes—to other lands; and neither to give nor seek legal opinions based on them? Yet Allah the Exalted has said:

“He is the One who has sent among the unlettered a Messenger from among themselves who recites to them His verses, purifies them, and teaches them the Book and wisdom.” (3)

The worst condition for ordinary people is to remain illiterate. Is it then permissible to forbid (4) the recitation of Allah’s verses to the unlettered, or to forbid (5) teaching them the Book and wisdom? It is well known that all those to whom the Messenger was first sent from among the Arabs were, prior to the coming of the Message, more ignorant than the average believers today. Was the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) prevented from reciting these matters to them and teaching them, or was he commanded to do so? Is this not among the greatest ways of turning people away from the path of Allah? Allah the Exalted has said (6):

“Say, O People of the Scripture, why do you turn away from the path of Allah those who have believed?” (7) … to the end of the verse; and He also said:

“Because of the wrongdoing of those who were Jews, We forbade them certain good things that had been lawful to them, and for their turning many away from the path of Allah.” (8)

Is that not, in fact, a form of ordering people to abandon the Qur’an and the hadith and to refrain from listening to them? And Allah the Exalted has said:

(1) In the manuscript: "waʿlū". (2) In the original: "fī"; confirmed in both the manuscript and the edition, and likely the appropriate reading. (3) Sūrah al-Jumuʿah, verse 2. (4) "ʿan" is omitted in both the manuscript and the edition. (5) Text in parentheses is an addition in both the manuscript and the edition. (6) In both the manuscript and the edition: "qāla Allāh". (7) Sūrah Āl ʿImrān, verse 99. (8) Sūrah an-Nisāʾ, verse 160.

وما أخبر الله بعلمه، وقدرته، ومشيئته، ورحمته، وعفوه، ومغفرته، ورضاه، وسخطه، ومحبته، وبغضه، وسمعه، وبصره، وعلوه (١) ، وكبريائه، وعظمته، وغير ذلك، كل ذلك من آيات الصفات، فهل يؤمر من آمن بالله ورسوله بأن يعرض عن هذا كله، وأن لا يبلغ المؤمنين من أمة محمَّد - صلى الله عليه وسلم - هذه الآيات ونحوها من (٢) الأحاديث وأن لا يكتب بكلام الله وكلام رسوله الذي هو آيات الصفات وأحاديثها إلى البلاد ولا يفتى من ذلك ولا به، وقد قال الله تعالى: {هُوَ الَّذِي بَعَثَ فِي الْأُمِّيِّينَ رَسُولًا مِنْهُمْ يَتْلُو عَلَيْهِمْ آيَاتِهِ وَيُزَكِّيهِمْ وَيُعَلِّمُهُمُ الْكِتَابَ وَالْحِكْمَةَ} (٣) وأسوأ أحوال العامة أن يكونوا أميين، فهل يجوز أن ينهى عن (٤) أن يتلى على الأميين آيات الله أو عن [أن] (٥) يعلموا الكتاب والحكمة. ومعلوم أن جميع من أرسل إليه الرسول من العرب كانوا قبل معرفة الرسالة أجهل من عامة المؤمنين اليوم، فهل كان النبي - صلى الله عليه وسلم - ممنوعًا من تلاوة ذلك عليهم وتعليمهم إياه أو مأمورًا به؟ أوليس هذا من أعظم الصد عن سبيل الله؟ وقد قال (٦) تعالى: {قُلْ يَاأَهْلَ الْكِتَابِ لِمَ تَصُدُّونَ عَنْ سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ مَنْ آمَنَ} (٧) . . . . الآية، وقال: {فَبِظُلْمٍ مِنَ الَّذِينَ هَادُوا حَرَّمْنَا عَلَيْهِمْ طَيِّبَاتٍ أُحِلَّتْ لَهُمْ وَبِصَدِّهِمْ عَنْ سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ كَثِيرًا} (٨) أوليس هذا نوعًا من الأمر بهجر القرآن والحديث وترك استماعه، وقد قال تعالى:

(١) في س: "وعلو". (٢) في الأصل: "في ". والمثبت من: س، ط. ولعله المناسب. (٣) سورة الجمعة، الآية: ٢. (٤) "عن": ساقطة من: س، ط. (٥) ما بين المعقوفتين زيادة من: س، ط. (٦) في س، ط: "قال الله". (٧) سورة آل عمران، الآية: ٩٩. (٨) سورة النساء، الآية: ١٦٠.