Ashrat al-Saah - al-Wabil - Yusuf al-Wabil - (395)

Ashrat al-Saah - al-WabilYusuf al-Wabil

This is what Shaykh Muhammad Rashīd Ridā—may Allah have mercy on him—said!!

These words of his are extremely grave. They impugn hadiths authentically established from the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—and cast doubt on their authenticity, especially those found in the two Sahīh collections, which the Muslim community unanimously received with acceptance.

If only he had carefully examined the chain of transmission of this hadith, recognized that its text was free of the difficulty he alleged, and followed what his eminent scholarly predecessors said on this matter. They believed in what was authentically established from the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—and did not presume to speak of that which they had no knowledge. Rather, they understood the Prophet’s words—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—according to the sound meaning immediately apparent from the hadith.

Abū Sulaymān al-Khattābī said regarding the Prophet’s words—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—“Its resting place is beneath the Throne”:

“We do not deny that it may have a resting place beneath the Throne in a manner that we cannot perceive or witness. We have merely been informed of a matter of the unseen, so we neither reject it as false nor attempt to describe how it occurs, for our knowledge cannot encompass it.”

Then, regarding its prostration beneath the Throne, he said:

“This informs us that the sun prostrates beneath the Throne. It cannot be denied that this may occur when it comes abreast of the Throne in its course and moves in fulfillment of the task for which it has been subjected. As for the words of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, ‘Until, when he reached the setting place of the sun, he found it setting in a spring of murky water’ [al-Kahf: 85], this refers to the limit of one’s visual perception of it as it sets. Its passage beneath the Throne to prostrate occurs only after sunset” (1).

Al-Nawawī said: “As for the sun’s prostration, it occurs by means of a faculty of discernment and perception that Allah Most High creates within it” (2).

(1) Al-Baghawī, *Sharh al-Sunna* (15/95–96), edited by Shuayb al-Arnāūt. (2) Al-Nawawī, *Commentary on Sahīh Muslim* (2/197).

هذا ما قاله الشّيخ محمّد رشيد رضا ﵀!! وكلامه هذا كلامٌ خطير جدًّا، وطعنٌ في الأحاديث الثابتة عن رسول الله ﷺ، وتشكيك في صحَّتها، لا سيما ما كان في "الصحيحين" اللذين أجمعت الأمة على تلقِّيهما بالقبول. ويا ليت انه أنعم النظر في سند هذا الحديث، وسلم متنه من الإِشكال الّذي ادَّعاه، وتبع ما قاله هنا سلفه من العلماء الأعلام الذين آمنوا بما ثبت عن رسول الله ﷺ، ولم يتكلَّفوا ما لا علم لهم به، بل أجروا كلامه ﷺ على المعنى الصّحيح المتبادر من الحديث. قال أبو سليمان الخطابي في قوله ﷺ: "مستقرُّها تحت العرش": "لا ننكر أن يكون لها استقرار تحت العرش؛ من حيث لا ندركه، ولا نشاهده، وإنّما أُخبرنا عن غيب، فلا نكذب به، ولا نكيِّفه؛ لانَ علمنا لا يحيط به". ثمّ قال عن سجودها تحت العرش: "وفي هذا إخبار عن سجود الشّمس تحت العرش، فلا يُنْكَر أن يكون ذلك عند محاذاتها العرش في مسيرها، والتصرف لما سُخِّرت له، وأمّا قوله ﷿: ﴿حَتَّى إِذَا بَلَغَ مَغْرِبَ الشَّمْسِ وَجَدَهَا تَغْرُبُ فِي عَيْنٍ حَمِئَةٍ﴾ [الكهف: ٨٥]؛ فهو نهاية مدرك البصر إياها حالة الغروب، ومصيرها تحت العرش للسجود إنّما هو بعد الغروب" (١). وقال النووي: "وأمّا سجود الشّمس؛ فهو بتمييز وإدراك يخلقه الله تعالى فيها" (٢).

(١) "شرح السنة" للبغوي (١٥/ ٩٥ - ٩٦)، تحقيق شعيب الأرناؤوط. (٢) "شرح النووي لصحيح مسلم" (٢/ ١٩٧).