Ithbāt Ṣifat al-ʿUlū - Ibn Qudama - (63)

Ithbāt Ṣifat al-ʿUlūIbn Qudama

Introduction

(O Lord, make it easy and aid us by Your bounty and mercy) (1)
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

All praise is due to Allah, Who is exalted above His heaven, Who illumines the hearts of His friends with certitude, Who chooses the best for them in His decree and blesses them in His judgment. I bear witness that there is no god worthy of worship but Allah alone, without partner—a testimony given by one who believes he will meet Him—and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant, His Messenger, and the Seal of His prophets. To proceed:

Allah, exalted is He, has described Himself as being aloft in the sky, and Muhammad, the Seal of the prophets, affirmed the same. All the scholars—those God-fearing Companions and the leading jurists—are unanimously agreed upon this. Reports to that effect have come down to us in such abundance that they yield absolute certainty; Allah has united the hearts of the Muslims upon it and ingrained it in the very nature of all created beings. Thus, when calamity descends upon them you see them instinctively cast their eyes toward the sky, raise their hands toward it in supplication (2), await relief from their Lord, and voice that expectation with their tongues. None denies this except an innovator who has gone to extremes in his innovation, or someone beguiled (by blindly following) (3) him in his misguidance.

Accordingly, I shall cite in this treatise some of the reports that have reached me on this matter from the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—his Companions, and the imams (who follow) (4) his sunnah, in a manner that produces decisive knowledge and certitude regarding their authenticity and demonstrates that their transmission has reached the level of tawātur (mass-transmission). Whoever among the believers examines this (5) will find his faith increased; whoever was unaware of it will be alerted to it until he perceives it as though seeing it with his own eyes; and it will stand for the adherent of the sunnah as proof and evidence.

Know—may Allah have mercy on you—that the validity of tawātur which confers certitude does not require

(1) From manuscripts H and R. (2) It is the proof of the fitra (innate disposition) that was previously explained. (3) In H and R it reads bi-taqlīd (imitation), and I have supplied the hā’ from M. (4) In M it reads al-mutaqaddimīn (the predecessors). (5) From the beginning of the text to this point it is not found in the original.

المقدمة (رب يسر وأعن بمنك ورحمتك) (١) ﷽ الحمد لله الذي علا في سمائه، وجلا باليقين قلوب أوليائه، وخار لهم في قدره وبارك لهم في قضائه، وأشهد أن لا إله إلا الله وحده لا شريك له، شهادة مؤمن بلقائه، وأشهد أن محمدا عبده ورسوله وخاتم أنبيائه. أما بعد: فإن الله تعالى وصف نفسه بالعلو في السماء، ووصفه بذلك محمد خاتم الأنبياء، وأجمع على ذلك جميع العلماء من الصحابة الأتقياء والأئمة من الفقهاء، وتوارترت الأخبار بذلك على وجه حصل به اليقين، وجمع الله تعالى عليه قلوب المسلمين، وجعله مغروزا في طباع الخلق أجمعين، فتراهم عند نزول الكرب بهم يلحظون السماء بأعينهم، ويرفعون نحوها للدعاء أيديهم (٢) ، وينتظرون مجيء الفرج من ربهم، وينطقون بذلك بألسنتهم لا ينكر ذلك إلا مبتدع غال في بدعته، أم مفتون (بتقليده) (٣) واتباعه على ضلالته، وأنا ذاكر في الجزء بعض بلغني من الأخبار في ذلك عن رسول الله ﷺ، وصحابته والأئمة (المقتدين) (٤) بسنته على وجه يحصل القطع واليقين بصحة ذلك عنهم، ويعلم تواتر الرواية بوجوده منهم، ليزداد من وقف عليه (٥) من المؤمنين إيمانا وينتبه من خفي عليه ذلك، حتى يصير كالمشاهد له عيانا، ويصير للمتمسك بالسنة حجة وبرهانا. واعلم -رحمك الله- أنه ليس من شرط صحة التواتر الذي يحصل به اليقين

(١) من (هـ) و (ر) . (٢) وهو دليل الفطرة التي سبق إيضاحه. (٣) في (هـ) و (ر) بتقليد، وأضفت الهاء من (م) . (٤) في (م) (المتقدمين) . (٥) من أول الكلام إلى هنا لا يوجد في الأصل.