Al-Tafsīr al-Qayyim - Ibn al-Qayyim - (416)

Al-Tafsīr al-QayyimIbn al-Qayyim

The way to emerge safely from the first question is through unalloyed sincerity; the way to emerge safely from the second is through faithfully following the Messenger. The heart must be free of any intention that conflicts with sincerity and any desire that conflicts with following him. This is the true meaning of a sound heart. Whoever has a sound heart is assured of salvation and happiness.

[Surah al-Shu'arā' (26): verse 98]
“When we held you as equals to the Lord of the worlds.” (98)

This equating concerned only love, worship, and following what they prescribed—not creation, power, or lordship. This is the setting up of equals that Allah attributes to the disbelievers, as in His words:

6:1 “All praise is for Allah, Who created the heavens and the earth and made darkness and light. Yet those who disbelieve set up equals to their Lord.”

The sounder of the two interpretations is that the meaning is: “Yet those who disbelieve set up equals to their Lord.” They assign Him a rival that they love, sanctify, and worship just as they worship Allah, worshipping that rival and revering its command.

He said in Tarīq al-Hijratayn:

Their equating did not concern actions and attributes, such that they believed these objects of worship to be equal to Allah, glorified is He, in His actions and attributes. Rather, they equated them with Allah in love, servitude, and reverence, while acknowledging the difference between Allah and them. Setting this right is what it means to set right the testimony that there is no god worthy of worship except Allah.

Anyone who sincerely seeks his own good and desires his soul’s happiness and salvation should therefore give this matter careful attention, in both knowledge and practice. It should be his greatest concern and the foremost of his pursuits in knowledge and action, for everything depends on it and revolves around it, and it is what he will be questioned about on the Day of Resurrection. Allah Most High says:

15:92–93 “So by your Lord, We will surely question them all about what they used to do.”

More than one of the early generations said: “This concerns the statement, ‘There is no god worthy of worship except Allah.’” This is true, for all questioning concerns it,

فطريق التخلص من السؤال الأول: بتجريد الإخلاص. وطريق التخلص من السؤال الثاني: بتحقيق المتابعة. وسلامة القلب من إرادة تعارض الإخلاص ومن هوى يعارض الاتباع. فهذا حقيقة سلامة القلب. فمن سلم قلبه ضمنت له النجاة والسعادة. [سورة الشعراء (٢٦) : آية ٩٨] إِذْ نُسَوِّيكُمْ بِرَبِّ الْعالَمِينَ (٩٨) وهذه التسوية إنما كانت في الحب والتأليه واتباع ما شرعوا، لا في الخلق والقدرة والربوبية وهي العدل الذي أخبر به عن الكفار، كقوله: ٦: ١ الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ الَّذِي خَلَقَ السَّماواتِ وَالْأَرْضَ وَجَعَلَ الظُّلُماتِ وَالنُّورَ ثُمَّ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا بِرَبِّهِمْ يَعْدِلُونَ. وأصح القولين: أن المعنى: ثم الذين كفروا بربهم يعدلون، فيجعلون له عدلا يحبونه ويقدسونه ويعبدونه، كما يعبدون الله ويعبدونه، ويعظمون أمره. وقال في طريق الهجرتين: وهذه التسوية لم تكن منهم في الأفعال والصفات، بحيث اعتقدوا أنها مساوية لله سبحانه في أفعاله وصفاته. وإنما كانت تسوية منهم بين الله وبينها في المحبة والعبودية والتعظيم، مع إقرارهم بالفرق بين الله وبينها. فتصحيح هذه: هو تصحيح شهادة أن لا إله إلّا الله. فحقيق لمن نصح نفسه، وأحب سعادتها ونجاتها: أن يتيقظ لهذه المسألة علما وعملا، وتكون أهم الأشياء عنده، وأجلّ علومه وأعماله، فإن الشأن كله فيها، والمدار كله عليها، والسؤال يوم القيامة عنها. قال تعالى: ١٥: ٩٢- ٩٣ فَوَ رَبِّكَ لَنَسْئَلَنَّهُمْ أَجْمَعِينَ عَمَّا كانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ قال غير واحد من السلف: هو عن قول «لا إله إلا الله» وهذا حق. فإن السؤال كله عنها،