Al-Ṣafadiyyah - Ibn Taimiya - (2/246)

Al-ṢafadiyyahIbn Taimiya

Allah—exalted be He—has said concerning the people of felicity:

“Race toward forgiveness from your Lord and a Garden whose breadth is like the breadth of the heavens and the earth, prepared for those who believe in Allah and His messengers.”
(Sūrat al-Ḥadīd 57:21)

He thus made it plain that Paradise has been prepared for those who believe in Allah and in His messengers. He also said:

“Whenever guidance comes to you from Me, then whoever follows My guidance shall neither go astray nor become miserable. But whoever turns away from My remembrance will have a constricted life, and on the Day of Resurrection We shall raise him blind. He will say, ‘My Lord, why have You raised me blind when I used to see?’ He will be told, ‘Thus it is: Our signs came to you and you forgot them, and today you yourself are forgotten.’”
(Sūrat Ṭā Hā 20:123–126)

This affirms that whoever follows the guidance that has come from Him—that is, what the messengers brought—will never stray or be wretched; rather, he will be among the rightly guided and prosperous, just as He described them:

“This is the Book in which there is no doubt—a guidance for the God-fearing: those who believe in the unseen, establish prayer, and spend out of what We have provided for them; those who believe in what has been sent down to you and what was sent down before you, and who are certain of the Hereafter. Such people are upon guidance from their Lord, and it is they who are the successful.”
(Sūrat al-Baqarah 2:2–5)

For this reason we recite in al-Fātiḥah:

“Guide us to the straight path—the path of those upon whom You have bestowed favor, not of those who have incurred anger nor of those who are astray.”

Those who have incurred anger and those who are astray are the people of misery and deviation; it is about them that He said:

“Indeed, the wicked are in error and madness.”
(Sūrat al-Qamar 54:47)

They stand in stark opposition to the people of guidance and success. The latter—who possess both knowledge and felicity—are the followers of the revealed Book. Hence, anyone who believes in part of the Book and disbelieves in another part—like the Jews and the Christians—cannot belong to this company. How much less, then, can one who does not believe in the Book at all, but is among those who

وقد قال تعالى في حق السعداء: {سَابِقُوا إِلَى مَغْفِرَةٍ مِنْ رَبِّكُمْ وَجَنَّةٍ عَرْضُهَا كَعَرْضِ السَّمَاءِ وَالأَرْضِ أُعِدَّتْ لِلَّذِينَ آمَنُوا بِاللَّهِ وَرُسُلِهِ} (سورة الحديد ٢١) فبين أن الجنة أعدت للذين آمنوا بالله ورسله وقال تعالى: {فَإِمَّا يَأْتِيَنَّكُمْ مِنِّي هُدىً فَمَنِ اتَّبَعَ هُدَايَ فَلا يَضِلُّ وَلا يَشْقَى وَمَنْ أَعْرَضَ عَنْ ذِكْرِي فَإِنَّ لَهُ مَعِيشَةً ضَنْكاً وَنَحْشُرُهُ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ أَعْمَى قَالَ رَبِّ لِمَ حَشَرْتَنِي أَعْمَى وَقَدْ كُنْتُ بَصِيراً قَالَ كَذَلِكَ أَتَتْكَ آيَاتُنَا فَنَسِيتَهَا وَكَذَلِكَ الْيَوْمَ تُنْسَى} (سورة طه ١٢٣-١٢٦) فبين أن من اتبع الهدى الذي جاء من عنده وهو ما جاءت به الرسل فإنه لا يضل ولا يشقى بل يكون من المهتدين المفلحين كما قال تعالى في نعتهم: {ذَلِكَ الْكِتَابُ لا رَيْبَ فِيهِ هُدىً لِلْمُتَّقِينَ الَّذِينَ يُؤْمِنُونَ بِالْغَيْبِ وَيُقِيمُونَ الصَّلاةَ وَمِمَّا رَزَقْنَاهُمْ يُنْفِقُونَ والذين يؤمنون بما أنزل إليك وَالَّذِينَ يُؤْمِنُونَ بِمَا أُنْزِلَ إِلَيْكَ وَمَا أُنْزِلَ مِنْ قَبْلِكَ وَبِالآخِرَةِ هُمْ يُوقِنُونَ أُولَئِكَ عَلَى هُدىً مِنْ رَبِّهِمْ وَأُولَئِكَ هُمُ الْمُفْلِحُونَ} (سورة البقرة ٢ ٤) ولهذا قال في الفاتحة: {اهْدِنَا الصِّرَاطَ الْمُسْتَقِيمَ صِرَاطَ الَّذِينَ أَنْعَمْتَ عَلَيْهِمْ غَيْرِ الْمَغْضُوبِ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلا الضَّالِّينَ} . فأهل الغضب والضلال هم أهل الشقاء والضلال وهم الذين قيل فيهم: {إِنَّ الْمُجْرِمِينَ فِي ضَلالٍ وَسُعُرٍ} (سورة القمر ٤٧) وهم ضد أهل الهدى والفلاح فأهل الهدى الذي يتضمن العلم والسعادة هم المتبعون للكتاب المنزل فمن آمن ببعض الكتاب وكفر ببعض كاليهود والنصارى لم يكن من هؤلاء فكيف بمن لم يؤمن بالكتاب بل هو ممن