Al-Tisʿīniyya - Ibn Taimiya - (1/218)

Al-TisʿīniyyaIbn Taimiya

the angels do not rise toward Allah, do not ascend to Him, and do not descend from Him; that Jesus was never taken up to Him, and that Muhammad was never carried (1) up to Him; that human beings do not turn with their hearts toward a God above to invoke and seek Him, nor do they raise their hands to Him in supplication—once this is laid bare, the reality of such speech becomes manifest to the people, and light is separated from darkness.

It is well known that anyone who says this would never dare say it in an assembly of believers; he voices it only among his fellow hypocrites (2)—those who, when they gather, whisper conspiratorially, and when they part, backbite one another. Though they claim to be the people of verified knowledge, they merely imitate their predecessors among the hypocrites. Allah the Exalted says:

“When it is said to them, ‘Believe as the people have believed,’ they reply, ‘Shall we believe as the foolish have believed?’ Truly, it is they who are the foolish, but they do not know. (13) And when they meet those who believe, they say, ‘We believe,’ but when they withdraw to their devils they say, ‘We are with you…’ ” (3) up to His words, “and He extends them in their rebellion, wandering blindly.” (4)

And He, Most High, says:

“Have you not seen those who claim to believe in what was sent down to you and what was sent down before you, yet they wish to seek judgment from the false deity, though they were commanded to reject it…” (5) up to His statement, “They swear by Allah, ‘We only desired goodwill and harmony.’ ”

(1) The discussion concerning al-Isra’ (the Night Journey) and al-Mi‘raj (the Ascension), including their definitions and their reality: see the above discussion on p. 115. (2) al-Munafiqun (the hypocrites): plural of munafiq (hypocrite), its verbal noun is nifaq (hypocrisy). Linguistically, nifaq is a masdar (verbal noun) of the verb nafaqa, derived from the jerboa’s burrow—so called because when the jerboa is attacked by larger rodents it strikes the roof of its burrow with its head and emerges, revealing one aspect while concealing the other. Accordingly, nifaq is defined as the outward display of faith while concealing disbelief, or as entering Islam in one respect and departing from it in another. See: Lisan al-‘Arab by Ibn Manzur, vol. 10, pp. 358–359 (s.v. nafaqa); Taj al-‘Arus by al-Zabidi, vol. 7, p. 79 (s.v. nafaqa); al-Ta‘rifat by al-Jurjani, p. 245. (3) Surah al-Baqarah, vv. 13–15. (4) In the S and T editions it reads: “And Satan wishes to lead them far astray.” (5) Surah an-Nisa’, vv. 60–62.

الملائكة لا تعرج إلى الله، ولا تصعد إليه، ولا تنزل من عنده، وأن عيسى لم يرفع إليه ومحمد لم يعرج (١) به إليه، وأن العباد لا يتوجهون بقلوبهم إلى إله هناك يدعونه ويقصدونه، ولا يرفعون أيديهم من دعائهم إليه، فحينئذ ينكشف للناس حقيقة هذا الكلام، ويظهر الضوء من الظلام. ومن المعلوم أن قائل ذلك لا يجترئ أن يقوله في ملأ من المؤمنين، وإنما يقوله بين إخوانه من المنافقين (٢) ، الذين إذا اجتمعوا يتناجون، وإذا افترقوا يتهاجون، وهم وإن زعموا أنهم أهل المعرفة المحققين، فقد شابهوا من سبق من إخوانهم المنافقين، قال الله تعالى: {وَإِذَا قِيلَ لَهُمْ آمِنُوا كَمَا آمَنَ النَّاسُ قَالُوا أَنُؤْمِنُ كَمَا آمَنَ السُّفَهَاءُ أَلَا إِنَّهُمْ هُمُ السُّفَهَاءُ وَلَكِنْ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ (١٣) وَإِذَا لَقُوا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا قَالُوا آمَنَّا وَإِذَا خَلَوْا إِلَى شَيَاطِينِهِمْ قَالُوا إِنَّا مَعَكُمْ} (٣) إلى قوله: {وَيَمُدُّهُمْ فِي طُغْيَانِهِمْ يَعْمَهُونَ} (٤) ، وقال تعالى: {أَلَمْ تَرَ إِلَى الَّذِينَ يَزْعُمُونَ أَنَّهُمْ آمَنُوا بِمَا أُنْزِلَ إِلَيْكَ وَمَا أُنْزِلَ مِنْ قَبْلِكَ يُرِيدُونَ أَنْ يَتَحَاكَمُوا إِلَى الطَّاغُوتِ وَقَدْ أُمِرُوا أَنْ يَكْفُرُوا بِهِ} (٥) إلى قوله: {يَحْلِفُونَ بِاللَّهِ إِنْ أَرَدْنَا إلا إِحْسَانًا وَتَوْفِيقًا} .

(١) الكلام عن الإسراء والمعراج وتعريفهما وحقيقتهما: تقدم الكلام عليهما ص: ١١٥. (٢) المنافقون: جمع منافق، وفعله: نفاق. والنفاق لغة: مصدر نفق، وهو مشتق من نافقاء اليربوع، موضع يرققه من جحره، فإذا أوذي من قبل القاصعاء وضرب النافقاء برأسه فخرج، فهو يظهر أحدهما ويخفي الآخر. وعلى هذا عرف النفاق بأنه: إظهار الإيمان وكتمان الكفر، أو الدخول في الإِسلام من وجه، والخروج عنه من وجه آخر. راجع: لسان العرب -لابن منظور- ١٠/ ٣٥٨، ٣٥٩ (نفق). وتاج العروس -للزبيدي- ٧/ ٧٩ (نفق). والتعريفات -للجرجاني- ص: ٢٤٥. (٣) سورة البقرة، الآيات: ١٣ - ١٥. (٤) في: س، ط: (ويريد الشيطان أن يضلهم ضلالًا بعيدًا). (٥) سورة النساء، الآيتان: ٦٠ - ٦٢.