Zād al-Maʿād - Ibn al-Qayyim - (1/592)

Zād al-MaʿādIbn al-Qayyim

indeed, the preferable alternative according to one view. He uttered those words only because he had witnessed the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, and his successors consistently praying two units when travelling.

In Sahīh al-Bukhārī (1), Ibn ‘Umar said: “I accompanied the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, and he never prayed more than two units when travelling; likewise Abū Bakr, ‘Umar and ‘Uthmān—may Allah be pleased with them.” This refers to the early part of ‘Uthmān’s caliphate, for ‘Uthmān did pray in full towards the end of his caliphate, and this was one of the matters for which he was censured.

Several interpretations have been advanced to explain his action (2):

The first is that the Bedouins had come to perform Hajj that year, and he wanted to teach them that the obligatory prayer consisted of four units, lest they imagine that it consisted of two units both at home and when travelling. This interpretation was rejected on the grounds that they would have been even more likely to have this misconception during the Prophet’s Hajj: they had only recently embraced Islam, and their acquaintance with prayer was recent. Yet the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, did not lead them in four units.

The second interpretation is that he was the leader of the people, and wherever the leader stayed was his administrative territory and the seat of his authority, making it as though it were (3) his home. This interpretation was rejected on the grounds that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, as the leader of all people without exception, would have had greater grounds for doing so. His leadership was unrestricted, yet he did not pray four units.

The third interpretation is that Minā had been built up and had become a village, and there were many (4)

(1) Nos. 1102 and 1082, 1655; also recorded by Muslim (689). (2) Some of these interpretations have been transmitted from al-Zuhrī and Ibrāhīm al-Nakha‘ī. Al-Mundhirī responded to them in Mukhtasar al-Sunan, and the author draws on his discussion. See the author’s Tahdhīb al-Sunan (1:389). (3) Sād, Jīm, and Kāf read: fa-kāna (“and so it was”). ‘Ayn originally had the same reading, but it was subsequently corrected. (4) Sād, Jīm, and Kāf read: wa-kathurat bihā (“and [dwellings] became numerous there”).

بل الأولى على قول. وإنما استرجع لما شاهده من مداومة النبي ﷺ وخلفائه على صلاة ركعتين في السفر. وفي «صحيح البخاري» (١) عن ابن عمر قال: «صحِبتُ رسولَ الله ﷺ، فكان لا يزيد في السفر على ركعتين، وأبا بكر وعمر وعثمان ﵃». يعني في صدر خلافة عثمان، وإلا فعثمان قد أتمَّ في آخر خلافته، وكان ذلك أحد الأسباب التي أُنكِرَت عليه. وقد خُرِّج لفعله تأويلاتٌ (٢): أحدها: أن الأعراب كانوا قد حجُّوا تلك السَّنة، فأراد أن يعلِّمهم أنَّ فرض الصلاة أربع، لئلا يتوهَّموا أنها ركعتان في الحضر والسفر. ورُدَّ هذا التأويل بأنَّهم كانوا أحرى بذلك في حجِّ النبي ﷺ، وكانوا حديثي عهد بالإسلام، والعهدُ بالصلاة قريب، ومع هذا فلم يربِّع بهم النبي ﷺ. التأويل الثاني: أنه كان إمامًا للناس، والإمامُ حيث نزل فهو عملُه ومحلُّ ولايته، فكأنه (٣) وطنه. ورُدَّ هذا التأويل بأنَّ إمام الخلائق على الإطلاق رسول الله ﷺ كان أولى بذلك، وكان هو الإمام المطلق، ولم يربِّع. التأويل الثالث: أنَّ منًى كانت قد بنيت، وصارت قريةً، وكثر فيها (٤)

(١) برقم (١١٠٢ و ١٠٨٢، ١٦٥٥)، وأخرجه مسلم (٦٨٩). (٢) وقد روي بعضها عن الزهري وإبراهيم النخعي، وأجاب عنها المنذري في «مختصر السنن» والمؤلف صادر عن كلامه. انظر: «تهذيب السنن» له (١/ ٣٨٩). (٣) ص، ج، ك: «فكان»، وكذا كان في ع ثم أصلح. (٤) ص، ج، ك: «وكثرت بها».