Al-Ṣawāʿiq al-Murṣala - Ibn al-Qayyim - (المقدمة/35)

Al-Ṣawāʿiq al-MurṣalaIbn al-Qayyim

extent of their tawḥīd (monotheism). By means of it they imagine that they have proved the existence of the Creator, whereas it is plainly one of the strongest arguments for denying the Creator, for it strips Him of power, will, knowledge, and life. Were these attributes, according to their claim, to be affirmed for Him, He would be a composite being, and every composite being is dependent on something outside itself; therefore He could not be necessary in and of Himself.”

He also says (p. 832): “The consequences that follow for the negationist disbelievers (al-muʿaṭṭilah al-nufāt) are worse than those that follow for the outright anthropomorphists, let alone for those who affirm the realities of the divine names and attributes while declaring Allah transcendent above all resemblance to created things; ten consequences inescapably follow for them.” He then enumerates those ten points in detail.

See further (pp. 646–647, 675, 913).

He next lays down a general rule, saying (p. 1078): “Such is the condition of all their mendacious propositions that entail disabling what Allah has affirmed for Himself and what His Messenger has affirmed for Him: they necessarily involve affirming falsehood and abolishing truth.”

– He exposes their contradiction of sound reason even while they claim to uphold it, stating (p. 1109): “It is astonishing that, despite their extreme attachment to what they call ‘rational proofs’ and their devotion to them, once they set those proofs against revelation they combine two opposites: they affirm a thing while denying its entailment, and they deny an entailment while affirming the thing that entails it. This flatly contradicts plain reason.”

– He refutes the spurious implications that opponents try to fasten upon Ahl al-Sunnah, showing that such implications do not in fact apply to them, and that whatever is a necessary implication of the truth is itself true.

– Ibn al-Qayyim at times refers the reader to his other works for a full presentation of the evidences, as on (pp. 846, 890, 915, 1025).

– He also repeats certain ideas in different wording in order to reinforce the meaning and fix it firmly in the mind.

توحيدهم، وبه أثبتوا الخالق على زعمهم، ومعلومٌ أن هذا من أعظم الأدلة على نفي الخالق؛ فإنه ينفي قدرته ومشيئته وعلمه وحياته؛ إذ لو ثبتت له هذه الصِّفات ـ بزعمهم ـ لكان مركبًا، والمركب مفتقرٌ إلى غيره، فلا يكون واجبًا بنفسه». وقوله (ص ٨٣٢): «إن اللوازم التي تلزم المعطلة النُّفاة شرٌّ من اللوازم التي تلزم المشبهة المحضة، دع المثبتة لحقائق الأسماء والصفات المنزهين الله عن شبه المخلوقات، فإنهم يلزمهم عشرة لوازم». ثم فصَّلها. وينظر (ص ٦٤٦ - ٦٤٧، ٦٧٥، ٩١٣). ثم قرر قاعدةً عامةً فيقول (ص ١٠٧٨): «هذا شأن جميع قضاياهم الكاذبة التي تتضمن تعطيل ما وصف الله به نفسه ووصفه به رسوله، فإنها تستلزم إثبات الباطل وإبطال الحقِّ». - وبيَّن مخالفتهم للعقل مع ادعائهم التمسك به، فيقول (ص ١١٠٩): «والعجب أن هؤلاء مع شدة تمسكهم بالعقليات واعتنائهم بها حين عارضوا بينها وبين الوحي يجمعون بين النقيضين، ويُثبتون الشيء وينفون لازمه، وينفون اللازم ويثبتون ملزومه، وذلك مخالفةٌ لصريح العقل». - ودفع إلزامات المخالفين لأهل السنة اللوازم الباطلة، وبيَّن أنها غير لازمة لهم، ويبين أن لازم الحق حقٌّ. - وأحال ابن القيِّم لاستيفاء الأدلة على كتبه الأخرى أحيانًا؛ كما في (ص ٨٤٦، ٨٩٠، ٩١٥، ١٠٢٥). - وكرر ابن القيِّم بعض المعاني مرارًا بألفاظ مختلفة ليثبت المعنى ويرسخه في الأذهان.