Majmu' al-Fatawa - Ibn Taimiya - (5/45)

Majmu' al-FatawaIbn Taimiya

Thus, whatever Allah has described of Himself and named through His Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, we name just as He has named it, without presuming to ascribe anything else to Him. We follow neither of the two courses: we neither deny what He has described nor presume to know what He has not described.

Know—may Allah have mercy on you—that safeguarding your religion means stopping where you have been directed to stop and not exceeding the limits set for you. Recognizing what is right and rejecting what is wrong are among the foundations that sustain religion. Whatever is recognized, in which hearts find reassurance, whose basis is mentioned in the Book and the Sunnah, and whose knowledge the Muslim community has passed down, do not fear that mentioning it and describing your Lord as He has described Himself entails any imperfection. Nor should you presume to determine a measure for what has been described to you.

Whatever your soul rejects, and which you find mentioned neither in your Lord’s Book nor in a hadith from your Prophet concerning your Lord’s attributes, do not strain to comprehend it through your own reason or describe Him with it. Remain silent about it, just as the Lord has remained silent about it concerning Himself. For presuming to know what He has not described of Himself is like denying what He has described. Just as you regard the deniers’ denial of what He has described of Himself as a grave matter, so too regard as grave the presumption of those who ascribe to Him what He has not described of Himself.

Rare indeed, by Allah, are those Muslims who recognize what is right, through whom it is recognized, and who reject what is wrong, through whose rejection it is rejected. They hear these descriptions that Allah has given of Himself in His Book, and similar reports that have reached them from His Prophet. No Muslim’s heart has been troubled by mentioning these attributes and naming them, nor has any believer presumed to describe their measure or to ascribe anything else to the Lord.

فَمَا وَصَفَ اللَّهُ مِنْ نَفْسِهِ وَسَمَّاهُ عَلَى لِسَانِ رَسُولِهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ سَمَّيْنَاهُ كَمَا سَمَّاهُ وَلَمْ نَتَكَلَّفْ مِنْهُ صِفَةَ مَا سِوَاهُ - لَا هَذَا وَلَا هَذَا - لَا نَجْحَدُ مَا وَصَفَ وَلَا نَتَكَلَّفُ مَعْرِفَةَ مَا لَمْ يَصِفْ. اعْلَمْ - رَحِمَك اللَّهُ - أَنَّ الْعِصْمَةَ فِي الدِّينِ أَنْ تَنْتَهِيَ فِي الدِّينِ حَيْثُ انْتَهَى بِك وَلَا تُجَاوِزْ مَا قَدْ حَدَّ لَك فَإِنَّ مِنْ قِوَامِ الدِّينِ مَعْرِفَةَ الْمَعْرُوفِ وَإِنْكَارَ الْمُنْكَرِ فَمَا بُسِطَتْ عَلَيْهِ الْمَعْرِفَةُ وَسَكَنَتْ إلَيْهِ الْأَفْئِدَةُ وَذُكِرَ أَصْلُهُ فِي الْكِتَابِ وَالسُّنَّةِ وَتَوَارَثَتْ عِلْمَهُ الْأُمَّةُ: فَلَا تَخَافَنَّ فِي ذِكْرِهِ وَصِفَتِهِ مِنْ رَبِّك مَا وَصَفَ مِنْ نَفْسِهِ عَيْبًا؛ وَلَا تَتَكَلَّفَنَّ بِمَا وُصِفَ لَك مِنْ ذَلِكَ قَدْرًا. وَمَا أَنْكَرَتْهُ نَفْسُك وَلَمْ تَجِدْ ذِكْرَهُ فِي كِتَابِ رَبِّك وَلَا فِي حَدِيثٍ عَنْ نَبِيِّك - مِنْ ذِكْرِ صِفَةِ رَبِّك - فَلَا تُكَلِّفَنَّ عَلَمَهُ بِعَقْلِك؛ وَلَا تَصِفْهُ بِلِسَانِك؛ وَاصْمُتْ عَنْهُ كَمَا صَمَتَ الرَّبُّ عَنْهُ مِنْ نَفْسِهِ فَإِنَّ تَكَلُّفَك مَعْرِفَةَ مَا لَمْ يَصِفْ مِنْ نَفْسِهِ مِثْلُ إنْكَارِ مَا وَصَفَ مِنْهَا؛ فَكَمَا أَعْظَمْت مَا جَحَدَهُ الْجَاحِدُونَ مِمَّا وَصَفَ مِنْ نَفْسِهِ: فَكَذَلِكَ أَعْظِمْ تَكَلُّفَ مَا وَصَفَ الْوَاصِفُونَ مِمَّا لَمْ يَصِفْ مِنْهَا. فَقَدَ - وَاَللَّهِ - عَزَّ الْمُسْلِمُونَ؛ الَّذِينَ يَعْرِفُونَ الْمَعْرُوفَ وَبِهِمْ يُعْرَفُ؛ وَيُنْكِرُونَ الْمُنْكَرَ وَبِإِنْكَارِهِمْ يُنْكَرُ؛ يَسْمَعُونَ مَا وَصَفَ اللَّهُ بِهِ نَفْسَهُ مِنْ هَذَا فِي كِتَابِهِ وَمَا بَلَغَهُمْ مِثْلُهُ عَنْ نَبِيِّهِ فَمَا مَرِضَ مِنْ ذِكْرِ هَذَا وَتَسْمِيَتِهِ قَلْبُ مُسْلِمٍ وَلَا تَكَلَّفَ صِفَةَ قَدْرِهِ وَلَا تَسْمِيَةَ غَيْرِهِ مِنْ الرَّبِّ مُؤْمِنٌ.