Al-Tisʿīniyya - Ibn Taimiya - (2/461)

Al-TisʿīniyyaIbn Taimiya

they held them to be so—“and you have appointed Allah a guarantor over yourselves” (1), that is, within your own hearts by the oath you have undertaken.

Accordingly, his statement, “He made Himself that and named Himself that,” is to be taken in the second sense: He is the One who decreed it and informed of its established reality for Himself (2), and He named (3) Himself by it; no one else bestowed it (4) upon Him (5).

As for his words, “wa-kāna [Allāhu]” (6), this means that He has ever been so. The point is that He has declared this to be a matter that has never ceased to pertain to Him. He Himself decreed it for Himself and named Himself by it; it was not the creation that judged this for Him or named Him with it. He intended thereby to make clear that, were this quality acquired from the creation’s attribution, it would have come into existence only with the emergence of creation. Since, however, He is the One who named—and made—Himself so (7), He, exalted be He, has always been and will always remain thus; for that reason He said that He was so.

Therefore the leading Imams of the Sunnah followed this very principle, as in the statement of Ahmad, related by Hanbal (8): “Allah has ever been Knowing, Speaking, Forgiving.”

(1) Surah an-Nahl, 16:91. (2) In manuscript S: “thubutihi.” (3) The text between the brackets is an addition found in S and T. (4) In S and T: “yanḥalluhu dhalik.” (5) After the word “ghayruhu” there is a blank space equivalent to one word in the Original and in S, and indicated by an asterisk in T. It appears to mark the end of one section and the beginning of another. (6) The text between the brackets is a blank space equivalent to one word in the Original, marked by an asterisk in T. Perhaps what I have supplied restores coherence to the text, as the context suggests. (7) The text between the brackets is an addition found in S and T. (8) He cites Imam Ahmad’s wording as transmitted by the Hanbalite judge Abu Ya‘la in his manuscript Ibtāl al-Ta’wīlāt li-Akhbār al-Ṣifāt, fol. 147, chapter “All the Names and Attributes with which Allah described Himself.”

اعتقدوهم {وَقَدْ جَعَلْتُمُ اللَّهَ عَلَيْكُمْ كَفِيلًا} (١) ، أي: في نفوسكم بما عقدتموه من اليمين. فقوله: جعل نفسه ذلك، وسمى [نفسه ذلك، يخرج على الثاني أي: هو الذي حكم بذلك وأخبر بثبوته (٢) له، وسمى] (٣) به نفسه، لم ينحله (٤) أحدًا غيره (٥) . وقوله: وكان [الله] (٦) أي: لم يزل كذلك، والمعنى: أنه أخبر أن هذا أمر لم يزل عليه، وهو الذي حكم به لنفسه، وسمى به نفسه، لم يكن الخلق هم الذين حكموا بذلك له، وسموه بذلك، فأراد بذلك أنه لو كان ذلك مستفادًا من نحلة الخلق له لكان محدثًا له بحدوث الخلق، فأما إذا كان هو الذي سمى نفسه [وجعل نفسه] (٧) كذلك، فهو سبحانه لم يزل ولا يزال كذلك، فلهذا أخبر بأنه كان كذلك. ولهذا اتبع أئمة السنة ذلك كقول (٨) أحمد في رواية حنبل: لم يزل الله عالمًا متكلمًا غفورًا.

(١) سورة النحل، الآية: ٩١. (٢) في س: ثبوته. (٣) ما بين المعقوفتين زيادة من: س، ط. (٤) في س، ط: ينحله ذلك. (٥) بعد كلمة "غيره" بياض بقدر كلمة في: الأصل، س. ونجمة في: ط. والذي يظهر لي أنه نهاية كلام وبداية آخر. (٦) ما بين المعقوفتين بياض بقدر كلمة في: الأصل، س. ورمز له بنجمة في (ط). ولعل ما أثبته يستقيم به الكلام، وهو ما ظهر لي من السياق. (٧) ما بين المعقوفتين زيادة من: س، ط. (٨) ذكر قول الإمام أحمد في رواية حنبل القاضي أبو يعلى في كتابه "إبطال التأويلات لأخبار الصفات -مخطوط- اللوحة: ١٤٧ - فصل: وجميع الأسماء والصفات التي وصف الله بها نفسه.