Al-Hisba fi al-Islam - Ibn Taimiya - (6)

Al-Hisba fi al-IslamIbn Taimiya

—send blessings upon him, his family, and his Companions, grant them perfect peace, and reward him on our behalf with the finest reward ever granted to a prophet for his community.

To proceed:
This is “A Principle on ḥisbah.” Know, first of all, that every position of authority in Islam was instituted for one purpose only: that the religion be devoted entirely to Allah and that the word of Allah remain supreme. It is for this end that Allah created the creation, revealed the scriptures, dispatched the messengers, and for its sake the Messenger and the believers strove.

Allah the Exalted says: “I did not create jinn and mankind except that they worship Me.” (51:56)
He also says: “We did not send any messenger before you without revealing to him, ‘There is no deity but I; so worship Me.’” (21:25)
And He says: “We surely sent to every nation a messenger, ‘Worship Allah and shun false gods.’” (16:36)
Concerning all the messengers He tells us that each of them said to his people: “Worship Allah; you have no deity other than Him.” (7:59)

Worshipping Him consists in obeying Him and obeying His Messenger. That, in reality, is goodness, righteousness, God-fearingness, good deeds, acts of devotion, the enduring righteous works, and the righteous deed—although there are subtle distinctions among these terms that are not our concern here.

This is the very cause for which people are commanded to fight, as Allah says: “Fight them until there is no persecution and the religion is entirely for Allah.” (2:193)

In the two Ṣaḥīḥs it is reported from Abū Mūsā al-Ashʿarī (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet ﷺ was asked about a man who fights bravely, another who fights out of tribal zeal, and another who fights for show; which of them is in the path of Allah? He replied, “Whoever fights so that the word of Allah may be supreme, he is in the path of Allah.” 1

(1) From the hadith of Abu Musa al-Ashari. Muslim narrates it with this wording in his Sahih, 13/53, and with a slightly different wording at 13/154. The same wording appears in al-Tirmidhi’s Sunan, 7/150, and in the Musnad of Imam Ahmad, 4/397. A similar version is reported by al-Bukhari in his Sahih, 1/222 and 13/441, and by Ibn Majah in his Sunan, 2/931. In our view, the hadith is sound (sahih).

عليه وعلى آله وصحبه وسلم تسليمًا، وجزاه عنا أفضل ما جزى نبيًّا عن أمته. أما بعد: فهذه: "قاعدة في الحسبة". أصل ذلك أن تعلم أن جميع الولايات في الإسلام مقصودها أن يكون الدين كله لله، وأن تكون كلمة الله هي العليا، فإن الله ﷾ إنما خلق الخلق لذلك، وبه أنزل الكتب، وبه أرسل الرسل، وعليه جاهد الرسول والمؤمنون. قال الله تعالى: ﴿وَمَا خَلَقْتُ الْجِنَّ وَالْإِنْسَ إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُونِ﴾ [الذاريات: ٥٦] . وقال تعالى: ﴿وَمَا أَرْسَلْنَا مِنْ قَبْلِكَ مِنْ رَسُولٍ إِلَّا نُوحِي إِلَيْهِ أَنَّهُ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا أَنَا فَاعْبُدُونِ﴾ [الأنبياء: ٢٥] . وقال: ﴿وَلَقَدْ بَعَثْنَا فِي كُلِّ أُمَّةٍ رَسُولًا أَنِ اُعْبُدُوا اللَّهَ وَاجْتَنِبُوا الطَّاغُوتَ﴾ [النحل: ٣٦] . وقد أخبر عن جميع المرسلين أن كلا منهم يقول لقومه: ﴿اعْبُدُوا اللَّهَ مَا لَكُمْ مِنْ إِلَهٍ غَيْرُهُ﴾ [الأعراف: ٥٩] . وعبادته تكون بطاعته وطاعة رسوله، وذلك هو الخير والبر والتقوى والحسنات، والقربات والباقيات الصالحات والعمل الصالح، وإن كانت هذه الأسماء بينها فروق لطيفة ليس هذا موضعها. وهذا الذي يقاتل عليه الخلق، كما قال تعالى: ﴿وَقَاتِلُوهُمْ حَتَّى لَا تَكُونَ فِتْنَةٌ وَيَكُونَ الدِّينُ كُلُّهُ لِلَّهِ﴾ [البقرة: ١٩٣] وفي الصحيحين عن أبي موسى الأشعري ﵁ قال: سئل النبي ﷺ عن الرجل يقاتل شجاعة، ويقاتل حمية، ويقاتل رياء، فأي ذلك في سبيل الله؟ فقال: "من قاتل لتكون كلمة الله هي العليا فهو في سبيل الله" ١.

١ من حديث أبي موسى الأشعري. رواه بهذا اللفظ مسلم في صحيحه "١٣/ ٥٣"، وبنحوه "١٣/ ١٥٤"، وبنفس اللفظ رواه الترمذي في سننه "٧/ ١٥٠"، والإمام أحمد في مسنده "٤/ ٣٩٧"، وروى نحوه البخاري في صحيحه "١/ ٢٢٢" و"١٣/ ٤٤١"، وابن ماجه في سننه "٢/ ٩٣١"، وهو عندنا حديث صحيح.