Majmu' al-Fatawa - Ibn Taimiya - (8/36)

Majmu' al-FatawaIbn Taimiya

And the second pertains to His servants: it is a blessing to them in which they rejoice and take pleasure. This applies both to what He commands and to what He creates.

As for what He commands, He loves obedience and is pleased with it. He rejoices at a penitent’s repentance with a joy greater than any people know: His joy exceeds that of someone who, having lost his provisions and mount in a perilous wilderness, finds them after losing all hope. Likewise, His jealousy is greater than that of His servants. His jealousy is aroused when a servant commits what He has forbidden him. Thus, He is jealous when a servant does what He has prohibited, and He rejoices when the servant repents and returns to what He has commanded.

Obedience leads to happiness in this world and the Hereafter, and this is something in which the obedient servant rejoices. Thus, the acts of obedience He has commanded have praiseworthy consequences pertaining both to Him and to His servants. They embody wisdom pertaining to Him and mercy for His servants. Allah Most High says:

“O you who believe, shall I direct you to a trade that will save you from a painful punishment?

Believe in Allah and His Messenger and strive in the cause of Allah with your wealth and your lives. That is better for you, if you only knew.

He will forgive your sins and admit you into gardens beneath which rivers flow, and pleasant dwellings in Gardens of Eternity. That is the supreme triumph.

And another blessing that you love: victory from Allah and an imminent conquest. And give glad tidings to the believers.”

Thus, striving in Allah’s cause brings people a praiseworthy outcome in this world that they love—victory and conquest—and Paradise in the Hereafter. It also brings deliverance from the Fire.

He has said at the beginning of the surah:

“Indeed, Allah loves those who fight in His cause in ranks, as though they were a solidly joined structure.”

He therefore loves this. It embodies wisdom pertaining to Allah Most High and mercy for His servants, namely, the blessings they receive in this world

وَالثَّانِي إلَى عِبَادِهِ هِيَ نِعْمَةٌ عَلَيْهِمْ يَفْرَحُونَ بِهَا وَيَلْتَذُّونَ بِهَا؛ وَهَذَا فِي الْمَأْمُورَاتِ وَفِي الْمَخْلُوقَاتِ. أَمَّا فِي " الْمَأْمُورَاتِ " فَإِنَّ الطَّاعَةَ هُوَ يُحِبُّهَا وَيَرْضَاهَا؛ وَيَفْرَحُ بِتَوْبَةِ التَّائِبِ أَعْظَمَ فَرَحٍ يَعْرِفُهُ النَّاسُ؛ فَهُوَ يَفْرَحُ أَعْظَمَ مِمَّا يَفْرَحُ الْفَاقِدُ لِزَادِهِ وَرَاحِلَتِهِ فِي الْأَرْضِ الْمُهْلِكَةِ إذَا وَجَدَهَا بَعْدَ الْيَأْسِ؛ كَمَا أَنَّهُ يَغَارُ أَعْظَمَ مِنْ غَيْرَةِ الْعِبَادِ؛ وَغَيْرَتِهِ أَنْ يَأْتِيَ الْعَبْدُ مَا حُرِّمَ عَلَيْهِ فَهُوَ يَغَارُ إذَا فَعَلَ الْعَبْدُ مَا نَهَاهُ وَيَفْرَحُ إذَا تَابَ وَرَجَعَ إلَى مَا أَمَرَهُ بِهِ وَالطَّاعَةُ عَاقِبَتُهَا سَعَادَةُ الدُّنْيَا وَالْآخِرَةِ؛ وَذَلِكَ مِمَّا يَفْرَحُ بِهِ الْعَبْدُ الْمُطِيعُ؛ فَكَانَ فِيمَا أَمَرَ بِهِ مِنْ الطَّاعَاتِ عَاقِبَتُهُ حَمِيدَةٌ تَعُودُ إلَيْهِ وَإِلَى عِبَادِهِ فَفِيهَا حِكْمَةٌ لَهُ وَرَحْمَةٌ لِعِبَادِهِ؛ قَالَ تَعَالَى: {يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا هَلْ أَدُلُّكُمْ عَلَى تِجَارَةٍ تُنْجِيكُمْ مِنْ عَذَابٍ أَلِيمٍ} {تُؤْمِنُونَ بِاللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ وَتُجَاهِدُونَ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ بِأَمْوَالِكُمْ وَأَنْفُسِكُمْ ذَلِكُمْ خَيْرٌ لَكُمْ إنْ كُنْتُمْ تَعْلَمُونَ} {يَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ ذُنُوبَكُمْ وَيُدْخِلْكُمْ جَنَّاتٍ تَجْرِي مِنْ تَحْتِهَا الْأَنْهَارُ وَمَسَاكِنَ طَيِّبَةً فِي جَنَّاتِ عَدْنٍ ذَلِكَ الْفَوْزُ الْعَظِيمُ} {وَأُخْرَى تُحِبُّونَهَا نَصْرٌ مِنَ اللَّهِ وَفَتْحٌ قَرِيبٌ وَبَشِّرِ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ} فَفِي الْجِهَادِ عَاقِبَةٌ مَحْمُودَةٌ لِلنَّاسِ فِي الدُّنْيَا يُحِبُّونَهَا: وَهِيَ النَّصْرُ وَالْفَتْحُ؛ وَفِي الْآخِرَةِ الْجَنَّةُ؛ وَفِيهِ النَّجَاةُ مِنْ النَّارِ؛ وَقَدْ قَالَ فِي أَوَّلِ السُّورَةِ: {إنَّ اللَّهَ يُحِبُّ الَّذِينَ يُقَاتِلُونَ فِي سَبِيلِهِ صَفًّا كَأَنَّهُمْ بُنْيَانٌ مَرْصُوصٌ} فَهُوَ يُحِبُّ ذَلِكَ؛ فَفِيهِ حِكْمَةٌ عَائِدَةٌ إلَى اللَّهِ تَعَالَى وَفِيهِ رَحْمَةٌ لِلْعِبَادِ؛ وَهِيَ مَا يَصِلُ إلَيْهِمْ مِنْ النِّعْمَةِ فِي الدُّنْيَا