Hidāyat al-Ḥayārā - Ibn al-Qayyim - (المقدمة/40)

Hidāyat al-ḤayārāIbn al-Qayyim

—either an identical miracle or one equal to it in evidentiary force, even if it is of a different kind. The signs of his prophethood ﷺ are, in fact, greater and more numerous, and the knowledge of their transmission is definitive: the period is close to us, the transmitters are many, their lands and generations are diverse, and it is impossible that they all conspired in a lie. Certainty about the signs of his prophethood is therefore on the same level as certainty about his very existence and public appearance. If it were permissible to cast doubt on all of that, it would be even more permissible to doubt the existence of Jesus and Moses and the signs of their prophethoods; but if casting doubt on them and on their miracles is impossible, then doubting Muhammad ﷺ and the signs of his prophethood is even more impossible. (1)

If Muhammad had not appeared, prophethood would have collapsed:

Had Muhammad ﷺ not appeared, the prophethood of all the other prophets would have been nullified, for the manifestation of his prophethood confirms theirs and testifies to their truthfulness. His very being sent is one of the signs granted to the prophets before him. God, Exalted is He, alludes to this when He says, “Rather, he has come with the truth and has confirmed the messengers” (Q 37:37). The messengers had given glad tidings of him and foretold his coming; his advent is therefore the embodiment of the truth of their report. His appearance constitutes a confirmation for them, being the concrete realization of what they foretold. This does not contradict the other explanation—that his confirming the messengers means his attestation to their truth and his faith in them—for he confirmed them both by his words and by his arrival: he testified to their truth through his coming, and he testified to their truth through his speech. A parallel is found in the words of the Messiah, as God Most High relates in the Noble Quran: “ … confirming what is before me of the Torah and bringing good news of a messenger who will come after me whose name is Ahmad” (Q 61:6). For when the Torah had given glad tidings of him

= Among the principal works are those of Ibn Taymiyya, Tathbit Dalail al-Nubuwwa by al-Qadi Abd al-Jabbar ibn Ahmad, Dalail al-Nubuwwa by al-Bayhaqi, A‘lam al-Nubuwwa by al-Mawardi, and Izhar al-Haqq by Shaykh Rahmat Allah. The author will later present a selection of these proofs. (1) See the author’s remarks on this point on p. 429 and the pages that follow.

مثلها أو ما هو في الدلالة مثلها، وإن لم يكن من جنسها، فآيات نبوته ﵊ أعظم وأكبر، والعلم بنقلها قطعي، لقرب العهد وكثرة النّقلة واختلاف أمصارهم وأعصارهم واستحالة تواطئهم على الكذب، فالعلم بآيات نبوته كالعلم بنفس وجوده وظهوره، فإذا جاز القدح في ذلك كله، فالقدح في وجود عيسى وموسى وآيات نبوتهما أشد جوازًا، وإن امتنع القدح فيهما وفي آيات نبوتهما فامتناعه في محمد ﷺ وآيات نبوته أشدّ (١). ولو لم يظهر محمد لبطلت نبوة الأنبياء: ولو لم يظهر محمد ﷺ لبطلت نبوة سائر الأنبياء، فظهور نبوته تصديق لنبواتهم وشهادة لها بالصدق، فإرساله من آيات الأنبياء قبله، وقد أشار الله سبحانه إلى هذا المعنى بعينه في قوله: ﴿بَلْ جَاءَ بِالْحَقِّ وَصَدَّقَ الْمُرْسَلِينَ﴾ [الصافات/ ٣٧] فإن المرسلين بشروا به وأخبروا بمجيئه، فمجيؤه هو نفس صدق خبرهم، فكان مجيؤه تصديقًا لهم، إذ هو تأويل ما أخبروا به، ولا تنافي بين هذا وبين القول الآخر: إن تصديقه المرسلين شهادته بصدقهم وإيمانه بهم، فإنه صدقهم بقوله ومجيئه، فشهد بصدقهم بنفس مجيئه، وشهد بصدقهم بقوله، ومثل هذا قول المسيح فيما حكاه الله تعالى في القرآن الكريم عنه: ﴿مُصَدِّقًا لِمَا بَيْنَ يَدَيَّ مِنَ التَّوْرَاةِ وَمُبَشِّرًا بِرَسُولٍ يَأْتِي مِنْ بَعْدِي اسْمُهُ أَحْمَدُ﴾ [الصف/ ٦] فإن التوراة لما بشرت به

= لابن تيمية، "تثبيت دلائل النبوة" للقاضي عبد الجبار بن أحمد، "دلائل النبوة" للبيهقي، و"أعلام النبوة" للماوردي. و"إظهار الحق" للشيخ رحمة الله. وسيذكر المصنف ﵀ طائفة من الأدلة. (١) انظر فيما سيأتي كلام المصنف هذا في ص (٤٢٩) وما بعدها.