Al-Siyasa al-Shar'iyya - Ibn Taimiya - (المقدمة/14)

Al-Siyasa al-Shar'iyyaIbn Taimiya

Likewise, governance is of two kinds: just governance, which forms part of the Sharia and is one of its branches, not a counterpart set over against it; and invalid governance, which stands opposed to the Sharia as injustice stands opposed to justice.

Analogous to this is some people’s division of discourse about religion into revealed law and reason. This division is false. Rather, what is deemed rational is of two kinds. One accords with what the Messenger brought and constitutes the rationally intelligible content of his words and texts, not a counterpart set over against what he brought. The other conflicts with it and is therefore not rational at all. It consists only of fancies and false specious arguments whose proponent imagines them to be rational conclusions, though they are nothing but fancies and specious arguments.

The same holds for analogical reasoning and revealed law: sound analogical reasoning expresses the rational implications of the revealed texts, whereas invalid analogical reasoning that conflicts with those texts stands opposed to revealed law.

This principle marks the distinction between the heirs of the prophets and everyone else. It rests upon a single point: that the Prophet’s mission—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—through the Sunnah comprehensively covers everything Allah’s servants need in matters of understanding, knowledge, and action upon which their welfare in this life and the Hereafter depends; and that there is absolutely no need for anyone besides him. Our only need is for the means by which what he brought is transmitted from him to us. If this is not firmly established in a person’s heart, his footing in faith in the Messenger is not firm. Indeed, one must believe that his mission encompasses all these matters, just as one must believe that it encompasses all morally accountable persons. Just as no human being whatsoever lies outside his mission, no truth pertaining to knowledge or action lies outside what he brought. What he brought is fully sufficient, and the community has no need of anything else. Only one whose share of knowing and understanding it is meager needs something beyond it, and his need is proportionate to the deficiency of his share. After all, the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—passed away, and there was not even a bird flapping its wings in the sky concerning which he had not imparted some knowledge to the community; he taught them everything

وكذلك السياسة نوعان: سياسة عادلة، فهي جزء من الشريعة وقسم من أقسامها لا قسيمتها. وسياسة باطلة، فهي مضادة للشريعة مضادة الظلم للعدل. ونظير هذا: تقسيم بعض الناس الكلامَ في الدين إلى الشرع والعقل هو تقسيمٌ باطل؛ بل المعقول قسمان: قسم يوافق ما جاء به الرسول، فهو معقول كلامه ونصوصه لا قسيم ما جاء به. وقسم يخالفه، فذلك ليس بمعقول؛ وإنما هو خيالات وشُبَه باطلة يظن صاحبها أنها معقولات وإنما هي خيالات وشبهات. وكذلك القياس والشرع، فالقياس الصحيح هو معقول النصوص، والقياس الباطل المخالف للنصوص مضاد للشرع. فهذا الفصل هو فرق ما بين ورثة الأنبياء وغيرهم، وأصله مبني على حرف واحد، وهو عموم رسالة النبي ﷺ بالسنّة إلى كل ما يحتاجُ إليه العباد في معارفهم وعلومهم وأعمالهم التي بها صلاحهم في معاشهم ومعادهم، وأنه لا حاجة إلى أحدٍ سواه البتة، وإنما حاجتنا إلى ما يبلغنا عنه ما جاء به. فمن لم يستقرّ هذا في قلبه لم يرسخ قدمُه في الإيمان بالرسول، بل يجب الإيمان بعموم رسالته في ذلك كما يجب الإيمان بعموم رسالته بالنسبة إلى المكلفين. فكما لا يخرج أحدٌ من الناس عن رسالته البتة فكذلك لا يخرج حق من العلم والعمل عما جاء به، فما جاء به هو الكافي الذي لا حاجة بالأمة إلى سواه، وإنما يحتاج إلى غيره من قلَّ نصيبُه من معرفته وفهمه، فبحسب قلة نصيبه من ذلك تكون حاجته، وإلا فقد توفي رسول الله ﷺ وما طائر يقلِّب جناحيه في السماء إلا وقد ذكر للأمة منه علمًا وعلَّمهم كل شيء ...