Al-Tafsīr al-Qayyim - Ibn al-Qayyim - (140)

Al-Tafsīr al-QayyimIbn al-Qayyim

can know their innermost thoughts except through a disclosure from the Knower of the unseen, and Allah will never cause their tongues to express a wish for death.

Another group said: When the Jews claimed that the home of the Hereafter with Allah was exclusively theirs, to the exclusion of all others, and that they were His children, His beloved ones, and those whom He honoured, Allah declared their claim false. He said: If you are truthful, then wish for death, so that you may reach Paradise, the abode of bliss; for a lover longs to meet his beloved. Then He, glorified is He, declared that they would never wish for it because of the burdens of sin their own hands had incurred, which stood between them and what they claimed. He said:

“But they will never wish for it because of what their hands have put forth. And Allah knows the wrongdoers well.”

A further group, including Muhammad ibn Ishāq «1» and others, said: This is of the same kind as the verse of mutual imprecation. When they obstinately resisted, rejected guidance plainly before their eyes, and concealed the truth, he called them to something that would decide between him and them: to invoke death upon the lying fabricator. Wishing here means asking and supplicating. Thus, “wish for death” means: ask for it and invoke it upon the one who upholds falsehood, lies, and fabricates.

According to this interpretation, the meaning is not that they should wish for death specifically for themselves, as the proponents of the first two views held. Rather, they were to invoke death and wish it upon the one upholding falsehood. This establishes the proof and demonstrates truthfulness more forcefully, and is less open to their countering with the words: “Then wish for it

(1) He is Muhammad ibn Ishāq ibn Yasār al-Muttalibī, a client of that clan, of Medina, and the author of the Sīra (biography of the Prophet). He saw Anas and heard numerous reports from al-Maqburī, al-A‘raj, and others of their generation. He was a veritable ocean of knowledge: intelligent, endowed with an exceptional memory, an avid seeker of knowledge, a historian, a genealogist, and an eminent scholar. Shu‘ba said: “He is the Commander of the Faithful in hadith.” Ibn Ma‘īn said: “He is trustworthy, but not an authoritative source.” Ahmad ibn Hanbal said: “His hadith is good.” Ibn al-Ahdal said: “His integrity is well known, and most scholars considered him trustworthy in hadith. Al-Bukhārī included none of his reports, while Muslim included only one hadith from him, because of Mālik’s criticism of him. Mālik criticized him only because he had heard that he said: ‘Bring me Mālik’s [hadith], for I am a physician familiar with its defects.’ ‘Abd al-Malik ibn Hishām drew upon Ibn Ishāq’s books, and everyone who has written on prophetic biography relies upon him. He died in Baghdad in 151 AH.” See Shadharāt al-Dhahab. [.....]

يمكن الاطلاع على بواطنهم إلا بإخبار عالم الغيب، ولن ينطق الله ألسنتهم بتمنيه أبدا. وقالت طائفة: لما ادعت اليهود أن لهم الدار الآخرة عند الله خالصة من دون الناس. وأنهم أبناؤه وأحباؤه وأهل كرامته. كذبهم الله في دعواهم. وقال: إن كنتم صادقين فتمنوا الموت، لتصلوا إلى الجنة دار النعيم. فإن الحبيب يتمنى لقاء حبيبه. ثم أخبر سبحانه أنهم لا يتمنونه أبدا بما قدمت أيديهم من الأوزار والذنوب الحائلة بينهم وبين ما قالوه. فقال: وَلَنْ يَتَمَنَّوْهُ أَبَداً بِما قَدَّمَتْ أَيْدِيهِمْ، وَاللَّهُ عَلِيمٌ بِالظَّالِمِينَ. وقالت طائفة، منهم محمد بن إسحاق «١» وغيره: هذه من جنس آية المباهلة. وأنهم لما عاندوا، ودفعوا الهدى عيانا، وكتموا الحق دعاهم إلى أمر يحكم بينهم وبينه. وهو أن يدعوا بالموت على الكاذب المفتري، والتمني: سؤال ودعاء، فتمنوا الموت: أي سلوه، وادعوا به على المبطل الكاذب المفتري. وعلى هذا: فليس المراد تمنوه لأنفسكم خاصة، كما قاله أصحاب القولين الأولين بل ادعوا بالموت وتمنوه للمبطل. وهذا أبلغ في إقامة الحجة، وبرهان الصدق، وأسلم من أن يعارضوا بقولهم: فتمنوه

(١) هو محمد بن إسحاق بن يسار المطلبي مولاهم المدني صاحب السيرة رأى أنسا وسمع الكثير من المقبري والأعرج وهذه الطبقة وكان بحرا من بحور العلم ذكيا حافظا طلابة للعلم أخباريا نسابة علامة. قال شعبة: هو أمير المؤمنين في الحديث. قال ابن معين: هو ثقة وليس بحجة وقال أحمد بن حنبل هو حسن الحديث وقال ابن الأهدل: لا تجهل أمانته ووثقه الأكثرون في الحديث ولم يخرج له البخاري شيئا وخرج له مسلم حديثا واحدا من أجل طعن مالك فيه وإنما طعن فيه مالك لأنه بلغه أنه قال: هاتوا حيث مالك فأنا طبيب بعلله، ومن كتب ابن إسحاق أخذ عبد الملك بن هشام وكل من تكلم في السير فعليه اعتماده، توفي ببغداد سنة إحدى وخمسين ومائة. (انظر شذرات الذهب) . [.....]