Al-Tafsīr al-Qayyim - Ibn al-Qayyim - (80)

Al-Tafsīr al-QayyimIbn al-Qayyim

The fourth category: Those whose deeds conform to the command but are done for other than Allah. Examples include the acts of obedience performed by those who show off, or a man who fights out of ostentation, partisan zeal, or bravery; performs Hajj to gain praise; or recites the Quran to gain praise. Outwardly, their deeds are righteous acts that have been commanded, but they are not sincere and are therefore not accepted:

“They were commanded only to worship Allah, sincerely devoting their religion to Him.” 98:5

Everyone has been commanded only to worship Allah as He has prescribed and to be sincere to Him in worship. They are the people of “You alone we worship, and You alone we ask for help.”

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Those who occupy the station of “You alone we worship” follow four approaches concerning which form of worship is best, most beneficial, and most deserving of being preferred and made one’s particular pursuit. Accordingly, they fall into four groups.

The first group holds that the most beneficial and excellent acts of worship are those hardest and most difficult for the soul.

They say, “This is because they are furthest removed from its desires, and this is the very essence of servitude.”

They also say, “Reward is proportionate to hardship,” and narrate a hadith that has no basis:

“The best deeds are the hardest.”

That is, the most difficult and arduous. These are the people who strive against their souls and treat them harshly.

They say, “Souls can only be set right in this way, for their nature is laziness, baseness, and attachment to earthly things. They can therefore only be set right by braving terrors and enduring hardships.”

The second group says, “The best forms of worship are detachment, renouncing worldly life, taking as little of it as possible, casting aside concern for it, and being indifferent to everything belonging to it.”

These people are then divided into two groups:

The ordinary among them thought that this was an end in itself, so they devoted their energies to attaining it, worked towards it, and called people

الضرب الرابع: من أعماله على متابعة الأمر، لكنها لغير الله. كطاعة المرائين، وكالرجل يقاتل رياء وحمية وشجاعة، ويحج ليقال، ويقرأ القرآن ليقال، فهؤلاء أعمالهم ظاهرها أعمال صالحة مأمور بها، لكنها غير خالصة فلا تقبل ٩٨: ٥ وَما أُمِرُوا إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُوا اللَّهَ مُخْلِصِينَ لَهُ الدِّينَ فكل أحد لم يؤمر إلا بعبادة الله بما أمر، والإخلاص له في العبادة. وهم أهل «إِيَّاكَ نَعْبُدُ وَإِيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِينُ» . فصل ثم أهل مقام «إياك نعبد» لهم في أفضل العبادة وأنفعها وأحقها بالإيثار والتخصص أربعة طرق. فهم في ذلك أربعة أصناف. الصنف الأول: عندهم أنفع العبادات وأفضلها أشقها على النفوس وأصعبها. قالوا: لأنه أبعد الأشياء من هواها، وهو حقيقة التعبد. قالوا: والأجر على قدر المشقة، ورووا حديثا لا أصل له «أفضل الأعمال أحمزها» أي أصعبها وأشقها، وهؤلاء: هم أهل المجاهدات والجور على النفوس. قالوا: وإنما تستقيم النفوس بذلك، إذ طبعها الكسل والمهانة، والإخلاد إلى الأرض، فلا تستقيم إلا بركوب الأهوال وتحمل المشاق. الصنف الثاني: قالوا: أفضل العبادات التجرد، والزهد في الدنيا، والتقلل منها غاية الإمكان، وطرح الاهتمام بها، وعدم الاكتراث بكل ما هو منها. ثم هؤلاء قسمان: فعوامهم: ظنوا أن هذا غاية، فشمروا إليه وعملوا عليه. ودعوا الناس