Sharh Muqaddimat al-Tafsir li-Ibn Taymiyyah - Ibn al-'Uthaymin - (46)

Sharh Muqaddimat al-Tafsir li-Ibn TaymiyyahIbn al-'Uthaymin

However, if someone says, “Praise be to Allah, Who has granted me a concession, yet I am strong and energetic,” that is a different case altogether.

A verse revealed for a particular occasion—if it contains a command or a prohibition—applies both to that individual and to everyone whose circumstances resemble his. If the verse is a statement of praise or blame, it likewise embraces that person and anyone who shares his condition.

Knowing the occasion of revelation (sabab al-nuzul) helps one grasp the verse’s meaning, for knowledge of the cause leads to knowledge of what it causes. Accordingly, the sounder of the jurists’ two opinions is that when the intent of the oath-taker is unknown, we look to the reason that stirred him to swear and to its attendant circumstances.

Explanation

The same rule applies when the intention of a man who pronounces divorce is unclear: we examine the cause that prompted the divorce. For example, suppose a man sees someone with his wife, assumes the person is a stranger, and says to her, “You are divorced,” on the basis that she is accompanied by an unrelated man. Later it becomes clear that the man is in fact her brother; in that situation the divorce does not take effect, for it is as though he had said, “You are divorced because you were with a stranger.”

Likewise, if someone swears, “By Allah, I will not visit So-and-so,” because he was told that the man is wicked, and then learns that he is not, there is no harm in visiting him. The oath was motivated by the belief that the man was an evildoer; when that belief proves false, visiting him does not constitute perjury. The reason functions like a condition, as though he had said, “By Allah, I will not visit him because he is wicked.” Because the reason is treated as an implicit condition, he need not offer expiation: the ruling of the oath has lapsed. Therefore, if a man says, “By Allah, I will not visit him on the grounds that he is wicked,” and then discovers that he is not, he may visit him and incurs no liability, for the oath has been dissolved.

الوجه، وأما من قال: الحمد لله الذي رخص لي لكن أنا قوى ونشيط، فهذا غير. والآية التي لها سبب معين إن كانت أمراً ونهياً فهي متناولة لذلك الشخص ولغيره ممن كان بمنزلته، وإن كانت خبراً بمدح أو ذم فهي متناوله لذلك الشخص ولمن كان بمنزلته أيضاَ. ومعرفة سبب النزول يعين على فهم الآية، فإن العلم بالسبب يورث العلم بالمسبب، ولهذا كان أصح قولي الفقهاء أنه إذا لم يعرف ما نواه الحالف رجع إلي سبب يمينه وما هيجها وآثارها. الشرح وكذلك إذا لم يعرف ما نواه المطلق رجع إلي سبب الطلاق، فمثلاً لو أن رجلاً رأى مع امرأته شخصاً فظنه أجنبياً، فقال لها: أنت طالق. بناء على أن الرجل الذي معها أجنبي، ثم تبين أنه أخوها فإنها لا تطلق؛ لأنه كأنه قال: أنت طالق لأنك صاحبتي رجلاً أجنبياً، وكذلك أيضاً الحالف لو قال: والله لا أزور فلاناً، لأنه قيل له إن الرجل فاسق، ثم تبين له أنه ليس بفاسق، فإنه لا بأس أن يزوره؛ لأن السبب في حلفه هذا أنه رجل فاسق، ثم تبين له بعد ذلك أنه ليس بفاسق فإذا زاره، فإنه لا يحنث؛ لأن السبب كالمشروط فكأنه قال والله لا أزوره لأنه فاسق، فيكون هذا السبب كأنه مشروط، وبهذا لا يكفر لأنه زال حكم اليمين، فلو قال: والله لا أزوره بناء على أنه فاسق، فتبين أنه ليس بفاسق، فهذا يزوره ولا شيء عليه؛ لأن اليمين انحلت