Al-Siyasa al-Shar'iyya - Ibn Taimiya - (الكتاب/226)

Al-Siyasa al-Shar'iyyaIbn Taimiya

establishing justice and prohibiting every form of injustice, minor or grave. Examples include the wrongful consumption of wealth, which the Quran has forbidden and whose two principal forms it identifies as usury and gambling, as well as the various forms of usury (1) and gambling prohibited by the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—such as sales involving uncertainty; the sale of the future offspring of an unborn animal; the sale of birds in the air or fish in the water; sales with an unspecified term; the sale of animals whose milk has been withheld to make their udders appear full; sales involving concealed defects; sales concluded merely by touching the merchandise or by tossing it to the purchaser; the exchange of fresh dates on the tree for measured dried dates; the sale of grain in the ear for threshed grain; artificially bidding up a price without intending to buy; the sale of fruit before its ripeness becomes evident; and other such practices. Altogether, these comprise about forty types of sale.

He also prohibited invalid forms of partnership, such as crop-sharing arrangements stipulating the crop of a particular plot of land. Some of these are matters over which Muslims have differed because of their obscurity (2) or ambiguity.

One side may regard the contract and the transfer of possession as just and involving no wrong, and therefore deem it valid, while the other may believe that it entails a wrong that renders it invalid. Allah Most High says: “O you who believe, obey Allah and obey the Messenger and those in authority among you. If you disagree over anything, refer it to Allah and the Messenger, if you truly believe in Allah and the Last Day. That is better and best in outcome” [al-Nisā: 59].

The governing principle here is that nothing in the transactions people need is to be forbidden unless the Book and the Sunnah indicate that it is forbidden. Likewise, no act of worship by which they seek nearness to Allah is to be prescribed unless the Book or the Sunnah indicates that it is prescribed. Religion is only what Allah has prescribed, and the forbidden is only what Allah has forbidden. This is unlike those whom Allah censured for taking it upon themselves to forbid what He had not forbidden, associating with Allah that for which He had sent down no authority, and prescribing as religion

(1) The base manuscript reads *al-zinā* (“fornication”). (2) In the base manuscript, this was corrupted to *li-haqānihi*!

تحقيق العدل والنهي عن الظلم دِقِّه وجلِّه، مثل أكل المال بالباطل الذي حرَّمه القرآن، وذَكَر جِنْسَيه: الربا والميسر، ومثل أنواع الربا (١) والميسر التي نهى عنها النبي ﷺ؛ مثل بيع الغَرَر، وبيع حَبَل الحَبَلة، وبيع الطير في الهواء، والسَّمك في الماء، والبيع إلى أجل غير مسمى، وبيع المصرَّاة، وبيع المدلَّس، وبيع الملامسة، والمنابذة، والمزابنة، والمحاقلة، والنَّجَش، وبيع الثَّمَر قبل بُدُوِّ صلاحه، وغير ذلك، وهي نحو أربعين نوعًا من البيع. وما نهى عنه من أنواع المشاركات الفاسدة؛ كالمخابرة بزرع بقعة من الأرض، ومن ذلك ما قد تنازع فيه المسلمون لخفائه (٢) أو اشتباهه. وقد يرى أحدُهما أنَّ العقد والقَبْض عدلٌ لا جورَ فيه، فيكون صحيحًا، وإن كان الآخر يظن أنه مشتمل على جَور يكون به فاسدًا. وقد قال الله تعالى: ﴿يَاأَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا أَطِيعُوا اللَّهَ وَأَطِيعُوا الرَّسُولَ وَأُولِي الْأَمْرِ مِنْكُمْ فَإِنْ تَنَازَعْتُمْ فِي شَيْءٍ فَرُدُّوهُ إِلَى اللَّهِ وَالرَّسُولِ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ تُؤْمِنُونَ بِاللَّهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الْآخِرِ ذَلِكَ خَيْرٌ وَأَحْسَنُ تَأْوِيلًا﴾ [النساء: ٥٩]. والأصل في هذا: أنه لا يُحَرَّم على الناس في المعاملات التي يحتاجون إليها إلا ما دلَّ الكتابُ والسنةُ على تحريمه، كما لا يُشْرَع لهم من العبادات التي يتقربون بها إلى الله إلا ما دلَّ الكتاب أو السنة على شرعه؛ إذ الدين ما شرعه الله والحرام ما حَرَّمه الله، بخلاف الذين ذمَّهم الله، حيث حرَّموا من دون الله ما لم يحرمه وأشركوا بالله ما لم ينزلِّ به سلطانًا، وشرعوا من الدين

(١) الأصل: «الزنا». (٢) تحرفت في الأصل إلى: «لحقانه»!