Zād al-Maʿād - Ibn al-Qayyim - (1/82)

Zād al-MaʿādIbn al-Qayyim

As for al-Māhī, al-Hāshir, al-Muqaffī, and al-‘Āqib, these names are explained in the hadith of Jubayr ibn Mut‘im. Al-Māhī—the effacer—is the one through whom Allah effaced disbelief. Through no other created being was disbelief effaced as it was through the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. When he was sent, all the inhabitants of the earth were disbelievers, except for a few remaining people on earth (1). Its inhabitants included idol worshippers; Jews who had incurred Allah’s wrath; Christians who had gone astray; Sabians of the Dahriyya who acknowledged neither a Lord nor resurrection; worshippers of the stars; worshippers of fire; and philosophers who neither knew nor acknowledged the revealed laws of the prophets. Through His Messenger, Allah, glorified is He, effaced all this, until Allah’s religion prevailed over every other religion, reached wherever night and day reach, and his call travelled across the lands as the sun does.

As for al-Hāshir—the gatherer—gathering means bringing together and assembling. He is the one at whose feet people will be gathered, as though he had been sent to gather them.

Al-‘Āqib—the final successor—is the one who came after the prophets, with no prophet to come after him. Al-‘Āqib means the last, so it has the same sense as the seal. Hence he was called “al-‘Āqib” without qualification: he succeeded the prophets, coming after them.

Al-Muqaffī—the one who follows in his predecessors’ footsteps—has a similar meaning. He followed in the footsteps of the messengers who preceded him (2), and Allah sent him to follow in their footsteps. This word derives from qafw (following behind). One says qafāhu, yaqfūhu, meaning that someone came after another. From the same root come qāfiyat al-raʾs (the back of the head) and qāfiyat al-bayt (the rhyme at the end of a verse). Thus al-Muqaffī is the one who followed the messengers before him, becoming their seal and the last of them.

(1) This is the reading in all the manuscripts, but it is an error. The correct reading is “ahl al-kitāb (People of the Book),” as in the Indian edition and others. This wording occurs in the hadith of ‘Iyād ibn Himār al-Mujāshi‘ī in Sahīh Muslim (2865). (2) The phrase “min al-rusul (among the messengers)” is omitted in all printed editions except the Indian edition; this omission is more fitting.

وأما الماحي، والحاشر، والمقفي، والعاقب؛ فقد فُسِّرت في حديث جبير بن مطعم. فالماحي: الذي محا الله به الكفر. ولم يُمحَ الكفر بأحد من الخلق ما مُحِي بالنبي ﷺ، فإنه بُعِث وأهلُ الأرض كلُّهم كفار إلا بقايا من أهل الأرض (١)، وهم ما بين عُبَّاد أوثان، ويهود مغضوب عليهم، ونصارى ضالين، وصابئة دهرية لا يعرفون ربًّا ولا معادًا، وبين عُبَّاد الكواكب، وعُبَّاد النار، وفلاسفة لا يعرفون شرائع الأنبياء، ولا يُقرُّون بها؛ فمحا الله سبحانه برسوله ذلك حتى ظهر دينُ الله على كلِّ دين، وبلغ دينُه ما بلغ الليل والنهار، وسارت دعوته مسيرَ الشمس في الأقطار. وأما الحاشر، فالحشر هو الضَّمُّ والجمع، فهو الذي يُحشَر الناسُ على قدمه، فكأنه بُعِث ليحشُر الناس. والعاقب: الذي جاء عقيب الأنبياء، فليس بعده نبي. فإن العاقب هو الآخر، فهو بمنزلة الخاتم، ولهذا سُمِّي «العاقب» على الإطلاق، أي عقَب الأنبياءَ: جاء بعقبهم. وأما المقفِّي فكذلك، وهو الذي قفَّى على آثار من تقدَّمه من الرسل (٢)، فقفَّى الله به على آثار من سبقه من الرسل. وهذه اللفظة مشتقة من القفو، يقال: قفاه يقفوه: إذا تأخَّر عنه. ومنه: قافية الرأس، وقافية البيت، فالمقفِّي: الذي قفا مَن قبله من الرسل، فكان خاتمهم وآخرهم.

(١) كذا في جميع الأصول، وهو سهو صوابه: «أهل الكتاب» كما في الطبعة الهندية وغيرها. وقد ورد ذلك في حديث عياض بن حمار المجاشعي في «صحيح مسلم» (٢٨٦٥). (٢) حذف «من الرسل» في النسخ المطبوعة ما عدا الطبعة الهندية، وهو أشبه.