Darʾ Taʿâroud al-ʿAql wa-n-Naql - Ibn Taimiya - (7/78)

Darʾ Taʿâroud al-ʿAql wa-n-NaqlIbn Taimiya

abundant motives and incentives, be transmitted.

Do you not see that when one man—al-Ja‘d ibn Dirham—voiced it, people transmitted it? The same happened with Jahm after him. We have not said that this never occurred to anyone, for that cannot be ruled out. Nor has it been reported that any of these people did not privately discuss it with others, for that cannot be ruled out either. Rather, we have said that it did not become publicly known. Its failure to become publicly known, despite the numbers and strength that would necessarily provide abundant motives and incentives to discover and deduce it if it were true, establishes that it is not true. For knowledge of Allah and the attributes that must be affirmed or denied of Him is the greatest of pursuits.

We know necessarily that the early generations of this community were the most eager of all people to pursue this knowledge and the most devoted to it. If the truth lay in the position of those who deny the attributes, and rational proofs supported it that a thinker could discover through reason, then—since they were among the most intelligent people and the most eager to pursue this knowledge—it would have been impossible for none of them to recognize this truth. Once they recognized it, given their strong religious commitment and their desire for al-hayyiz (a spatial domain), they would have proclaimed and explained it. This would necessarily have made it publicly known and widespread, had it been true.

Likewise, the unbelievers would have been eager to discover and proclaim it, had it been true, both because it would have opposed and contradicted the Messenger and because it would have afforded knowledge of the truth.

Know that just as this argument applies to our community, it also applies to the Children of Israel. The Torah is filled with affirmations of attributes that those who deny them call likening Allah to His creation and attributing corporeality to Him.

It is well known that the Torah has circulated among peoples whose numbers only Allah can reckon, and that it has spread among Christians just as it has among Jews. If its affirmations of the attributes and of Allah’s highness contradicted clear reason, this would have been among the greatest matters that

توفر الهمم والدواعي أن ينقل. إلا ترى أنه لما تكلم به واحد، وهو الجعد بن درهم، نقل الناس ذلك؟ ثم الجهم بعده كذلك، ولم نقل إن هذا لم يكن في نفس أحد، فإن هذا لا يمكن نفيه، ولم ينقل أن أحداً من هؤلاء لم يناج به بعض الناس، فإن هذا لا يمكن نفيه، بل قلنا: إنه لم يظهر، وعدم ظهوره مع الكثرة والقوة الموجبة لتوفر الهمم والدواعي على استخراجه واستنباطه: إن كان حقاً يوجب أنه ليس حقاً، فإن معرفة الله وما يستحقه من الصفات نفياً وإثباتاً أعظم المطالب. ونحن نعلم بالاضطرار أن سلف الأمة كانوا أعظم الناس رغبة في هذا ومحبة له، فإذا كان الحق هو قول النفاة، وعلى ذلك أدلة عقلية يستخرجها الناظر بعقله، وهم من أعقل الناس وأرغبهم في هذا المطلب، امتنع مع ذلك أن لا يكون منهم من يفطن لهذا الحق، وإذا تفطن له، مع قوة دينهم ورغبتهم في الحيز، كانوا يظهرونه ويبينونه، وذلك يوجب ظهوره وانتشاره لو كان حقاً. وكذلك الكفار لهم رغبة في معرفة ذلك وإظهاره، لو كان حقاً، لما كان فيه من معارضة الرسول ومناقضته، ولما فيه من معرفة الحق. واعلم أن هذا كما يقال في أمتنا، فإنه يقال في بني إسرائيل، فإن التوراة مملوءة بإثبات الصفات التي يسميها النفاة تشبيهاً وتجسيماً. ومن المعلوم أن التوراة قد تداولها من الأمم ما لا يحصيهم إلا الله، وقد انتشرت بين النصارى كما انتشرت بين اليهود، فلو كان ما فيها من الصفات وإثبات العلو لله مما يناقض صريح العقل، لكان ذلك من أعظم ما كان