Al-Tisʿīniyya - Ibn Taimiya - (2/654)

Al-TisʿīniyyaIbn Taimiya

is One who speaks, and knowledge that He is a Speaker comes only after knowing [that] (1) He is living. Knowledge that He is living, in turn, follows the recognition that He is an Agent, which itself follows (2) knowledge of the act and that the universe is His act. This necessarily entails knowing that He is powerful [and that He possesses power] (3), that He is knowing and possesses knowledge, that He is willing and possesses (4) will, together with every other attribute without whose acknowledgment knowledge of God Most High is not sound—these being among the prerequisites of faith (5).

He said (6): “Revelation has further added other conditions, namely, that nothing indicating unbelief—whether by commission or omission—be joined to that faith. Thus, the Sacred Law has commanded him (7) to refrain from bowing and worshipping an idol; were he to do so, it would signal his unbelief. Likewise, if he were to kill a prophet or treat him with contempt, that would signify unbelief; if he failed to venerate the muṣḥaf (written copy of the Quran) or the Kaʿbah, that too would signify unbelief. In the same way, if he opposed the unanimous consensus of both specialists and laypeople on any matter upon which they all agree, such opposition would point to unbelief. Therefore, should any one of these acts—each of which the Law rules cannot coexist with faith—be found alongside what must accompany faith, that fact would show us that the affirmation (taṣdīq) which is īmān is absent from his heart (8).

(1) The text enclosed in brackets is an addition found in manuscripts S, T, and in Ibn Taymiyya’s al-Imān. (2) In manuscript T: “wa ba‘da.” (3) The text enclosed in brackets is an addition from al-Imān. (4) In manuscript S: “wa murīdan lahu wa lahu,” a scribal corruption. (5) After the word “al-Imān,” Shaykh al-Islām—may God have mercy on him—added the following comment to Abu al-Hasan al-Ash‘ari’s earlier statement in his Book al-Imān (p. 125): “I said: This is one of the issues on which al-Ash‘ari differed, namely whether ignorance of certain attributes necessarily implies ignorance of the described entity. Two opinions exist, but the correct one, as held by the majority and adopted as his later position, is that it does not entail ignorance of the described. He furthermore regarded the affirmation of attributes as part of faith, in which he differed from al-Jahm, for al-Jahm went to extremes in negating attributes and even names.” (6) Speaker: Abu al-Hasan al-Ash‘ari; al-Imān, p. 125. (7) In the original: “amr.” The appropriate reading was supplied from manuscripts S, T, and al-Imān. (8) The text enclosed in brackets is an addition from the Book al-Imān that renders the passage coherent.

متكلم، والعلم بأنه متكلم بعد العلم [بأنه] (١) حي، والعلم بأنه حي بعد العلم بأنه فاعل بعد (٢) العلم بالفعل وكون العالم فعلًا له، وذلك يتضمن العلم بكونه قادرًا [وله قدرة (٣) ، وعالمًا وله علم، ومريدًا وله (٤) إرادة، وسائر ما لا يصح العلم بالله تعالى إلا بعد العلم به من شرائط الإيمان (٥) ". قال (٦) : "ثم السمع قد ورد بضم شرائط أخر إليه، وهو أن لا يقترن به ما يدل على كفر من يأتيه فعلًا وتركًا، وهو أن الشرع أمره (٧) بترك السجود والعبادة للصنم، فلو أتى به دل على كفره، وكذلك لو قتل نبيًّا أو استخف به دل على كفره، وكذلك لو ترك تعظيم المصحف والكعبة دل على كفره، وكذلك لو خالف إجماع الخاص والعام في شيء أجمعوا عليه دل خلافه إياهم على كفره، فأي واحد مما استدللنا به على كفره مما منع الشرع أن يقرنه بالإيمان إذا وجب ضمه إلى الإيمان -لو وجد- دلنا ذلك على [أن] (٨) التصديق الَّذي هو الإيمان مفقود من قلبه،

(١) ما بين المعقوفتين زيادة من: س، ط، والإيمان لابن تيمية. (٢) في ط: وبعد. (٣) ما بين المعقوفتين زيادة من: الإيمان. (٤) في س: ومريدًا له وله. وهو تصحيف. (٥) بعد كلمة "الإيمان" علق شيخ الإسلام -رحمه الله- على كلام أبي الحسن الأشعري المتقدم في كتاب "الإيمان" ص: ١٢٥، بقوله: "قلت: هذا مما اختلف فيه قول الأشعري، وهو أن الجهل ببعض الصفات هل يكون جهلًا بالموصوف، أم لا؟ على قولين، والصحيح الَّذي عليه الجمهور وهو آخر قوليه، أنَّه لا يستلزم الجهل بالموصوف، وجعل إثبات الصفات من الإيمان مما خالف فيه الأشعري جهمًا، فإن جهمًا غالى في نفي الصفات، بل وفي الأسماء". (٦) القائل: أبو الحسن الأشعري. الإيمان ص: ١٢٥. (٧) في الأصل: أمر. وأثبت المناسب من: س، ط، والإيمان. (٨) ما بين المعقوفتين زيادة يستقيم بها الكلام من كتاب الإيمان.