Al-Tafsīr al-Qayyim - Ibn al-Qayyim - (57)

Al-Tafsīr al-QayyimIbn al-Qayyim

resemble them from among the Qadariyyah, for they affirm another creator alongside Allah, even if they do not say that he is His equal. The Magian Qadariyyah affirm creators of acts alongside Allah, whose acts are neither subject to Allah’s power nor created for them. These acts, they hold, proceed without His will, and He has no power over them. Nor is He the One who makes their agents perform them; rather, they themselves make themselves willing, intending agents.

His complete, absolute, all-encompassing lordship over the world invalidates all these positions, for it entails His lordship over every entity, attribute, movement, and act within it.

The position of the Magian Qadariyyah amounts to saying that He, exalted is He, is not the Lord of the acts of living creatures, and that His lordship does not encompass them. How could it encompass what does not fall within His power, will, and creation? Yet the comprehensive nature of the praise due to Him entails praising Him for His creatures’ acts of obedience, since He assists them in these acts, enables them to perform them, and wills these acts from them. As He says in more than one place in His Book:

“And you do not will unless Allah wills.”

He is therefore praised for having willed these acts for them and for making them their performers through His power and will. Thus, in truth, He is the One praised for them. According to these people, however, the creatures themselves are the ones praised for these acts, and the praise for performing them belongs to them. In their view, no praise is due to Allah for their actually performing these acts, nor for the reward and recompense He grants for them.

As for the first, this is because their performance of these acts comes about through themselves, not through Him. As for the second, this is because the recompense is owed by Him just as wages are owed by an employer. It is entirely their due, for which they have given Him something in exchange «1».

His words, “And You alone we ask for help,” contain a clear refutation of them. For seeking His help can only concern something that is in His hands and subject to His power and will. How, then, can someone who controls an act and brings it into existence—bringing it into existence if he wills and not doing so if he wills—seek help from One in whose hands that act does not lie, and under whose power and will it does not fall?

(1) Al-ʿiwad (compensation) is the singular of aʿwād. Its derived verbs are ʿādahu, aʿādahu, ʿawwadahu (verbal noun: taʿwīd), and ʿāwadahu, all meaning “he gave him compensation.”

ضاهاهم من القدرية، فإنهم يثبتون مع الله خالقا آخر، وإن لم يقولوا: إنه مكافئ له، والقدرية المجوسية تثبت مع الله خالقين للأفعال، ليست أفعالهم مقدورة لله، ولا مخلوقة لهم، وهي صادرة بغير مشيئته ولا قدرة له عليها، ولا هو الذي جعل أربابها فاعلين لها، بل هم الذين جعلوا أنفسهم شائين مريدين فاعلين. فربوبية العالم الكاملة المطلقة الشاملة تبطل أقوال هؤلاء كلهم لأنها تقتضي ربوبيته لجميع ما فيه من الذوات والصفات والحركات والأفعال. وحقيقة قول القدرية المجوسية: أنه تعالى ليس ربا لأفعال الحيوان، ولا تناولتها ربوبيته وكيف تتناول ما لا يدخل تحت قدرته ومشيئته وخلقه؟ مع أن في عموم حمده ما يقتضي حمده على طاعات خلقه، إذ هو المعين عليها والموفق لها، وهو الذي شاءها منهم، كما قال في غير موضع من كتابه وَما تَشاؤُنَ إِلَّا أَنْ يَشاءَ اللَّهُ فهو محمود على أن شاءها لهم، وجعلهم فاعليها بقدرته ومشيئته، فهو المحمود عليها في الحقيقة. وعندهم: أنهم هم المحمودون عليها، ولهم الحمد على فعلها، وليس لله حمد على نفس فاعليتها عندهم، ولا على ثوابه وجزائه عليها. أما الأول: فلأن فاعليتها بهم لا به، وأما الثاني: فلأن الجزاء مستحق عليه استحقاق الأجرة على المستأجر، فهو محض حقهم، الذي عاوضوه «١» عليه. وفي قوله: وَإِيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِينُ رد ظاهر عليهم. إذا استعانتهم به إنما تكون عن شيء هو بيده وتحت قدرته ومشيئته، فكيف يستعين من بيده الفعل وهو موجده، إن شاء أوجده وإن شاء لم يوجده، بمن ليس ذلك الفعل بيده ولا هو داخل تحت قدرته ولا مشيئته.

(١) العوض واحد الأعواض تقول منه عاضه وأعاضه وعوضه تعويضا وعاوضه أعطاه العوض.