Majmu' al-Fatawa - Ibn Taimiya - (9/313)

Majmu' al-FatawaIbn Taimiya

been put in its proper place, just as the eye is put in its proper place when directed towards looking at things. But if the heart is not directed towards knowledge and the truth is not retained within it, then it has forgotten its Lord and has not been placed anywhere; rather, it is lost. We need not say that it has been put in the wrong place: it has not been placed anywhere at all. Its place is the truth, and whatever lies beyond the truth is falsehood. If it is not placed within the truth, nothing remains but falsehood. Falsehood is nothing at all, and what is nothing is even less fit to serve as a place. The heart itself accepts only the truth. If it is not placed there, it will not accept anything other than that for which it was created.

“Allah’s established way.”

“And you will never find any change in Allah’s established way.”

Yet the heart is not simply left empty and unattended. It continues wandering through the valleys of thought and the realms of wishful thinking; it cannot remain idle and unoccupied as the eye and ear can. Thus it has been placed where there is no place—neither free nor suspended, placed yet without a place. This is indeed astonishing! Glory be to our Lord, the Almighty, the All-Wise.

This condition becomes apparent to a person only when he returns to the truth, whether in this world when he turns back to Allah, or when he passes into the Hereafter. He then sees how wretched his former condition was and how far his heart had strayed from the truth. This is the case when the heart is directed towards falsehood.

But if it were left in the natural state in which it was created, unoccupied by any remembrance and free of every thought, it would accept knowledge untainted by ignorance and perceive the truth in which there is no doubt. It would then believe in its Lord and turn to Him. For every child is born upon the natural disposition, and it is his parents who make him a Jew, a Christian, or a Magian, just as an animal gives birth to an offspring whole and intact, with no sign of mutilation.

وُضِعَ فِي مَوْضِعِهِ كَمَا أَنَّ الْعَيْنَ إذَا صُرِفَتْ إلَى النَّظَرِ فِي الْأَشْيَاءِ فَقَدْ وُضِعَتْ فِي مَوْضِعِهَا أَمَّا إذَا لَمْ يُصْرَفْ إلَى الْعِلْمِ وَلَمْ يُوعَ فِيهِ الْحَقُّ فَقَدْ نَسِيَ رَبَّهُ فَلَمْ يُوضَعْ فِي مَوْضِعٍ بَلْ هُوَ ضَائِعٌ وَلَا يَحْتَاجُ أَنْ نَقُولَ قَدْ وُضِعَ فِي مَوْضِعٍ غَيْرِ مَوْضِعِهِ بَلْ لَمْ يُوضَعْ أَصْلًا. فَإِنَّ مَوْضِعَهُ هُوَ الْحَقُّ وَمَا سِوَى الْحَقِّ بَاطِلٌ فَإِذَا لَمْ يُوضَعْ فِي الْحَقِّ لَمْ يَبْقَ إلَّا الْبَاطِلُ وَالْبَاطِلُ لَيْسَ بِشَيْءِ أَصْلًا وَمَا لَيْسَ بِشَيْءِ أَحْرَى أَنْ لَا يَكُونَ مَوْضِعًا. وَالْقَلْبُ هُوَ نَفْسُهُ لَا يَقْبَلُ إلَّا الْحَقَّ. فَإِذَا لَمْ يُوضَعْ فِيهِ فَإِنَّهُ لَا يَقْبَلُ غَيْرَ مَا خُلِقَ لَهُ. {سُنَّةَ اللَّهِ} {وَلَنْ تَجِدَ لِسُنَّةِ اللَّهِ تَبْدِيلًا} وَهُوَ مَعَ ذَلِكَ لَيْسَ بِمَتْرُوكِ مُخِلٍّ فَإِنَّهُ لَا يَزَالُ فِي أَوْدِيَةِ الْأَفْكَارِ وَأَقْطَارِ الْأَمَانِي لَا يَكُونُ عَلَى الْحَالِ الَّتِي تَكُونُ عَلَيْهَا الْعَيْنُ وَالْأُذُنُ مِنْ الْفَرَاغِ وَالتَّخَلِّي فَقَدْ وُضِعَ فِي غَيْرِ مَوْضِعٍ لَا مُطْلَقٍ وَلَا مُعَلَّقٍ مَوْضُوعٍ لَا مَوْضِعَ لَهُ. وَهَذَا مِنْ الْعَجَبِ فَسُبْحَانَ رَبِّنَا الْعَزِيزِ الْحَكِيمِ وَإِنَّمَا تَنْكَشِفُ لِلْإِنْسَانِ هَذِهِ الْحَالُ عِنْدَ رُجُوعِهِ إلَى الْحَقِّ إمَّا فِي الدُّنْيَا عِنْدَ الْإِنَابَةِ أَوْ عِنْدَ الْمُنْقَلَبِ إلَى الْآخِرَةِ فَيَرَى سُوءَ الْحَالِ الَّتِي كَانَ عَلَيْهَا وَكَيْفَ كَانَ قَلْبُهُ ضَالًّا عَنْ الْحَقِّ. هَذَا إذَا صُرِفَ فِي الْبَاطِلِ. فَأَمَّا لَوْ تُرِكَ وَحَالُهُ الَّتِي فُطِرَ عَلَيْهَا فَارِغًا عَنْ كُلِّ ذِكْرٍ خَالِيًا عَنْ كُلِّ فِكْرٍ فَقَدْ كَانَ يَقْبَلُ الْعِلْمَ الَّذِي لَا جَهْلَ فِيهِ وَيَرَى الْحَقَّ الَّذِي لَا رَيْبَ فِيهِ فَيُؤْمِنُ بِرَبِّهِ وَيُنِيبُ إلَيْهِ. فَإِنَّ كُلَّ مَوْلُودٍ يُولَدُ عَلَى الْفِطْرَةِ فَأَبَوَاهُ يُهَوِّدَانِهِ أَوْ يُنَصِّرَانِهِ أَوْ يُمَجِّسَانِهِ كَمَا تُنْتِجُ الْبَهِيمَةُ بَهِيمَةً جَمْعَاءَ لَا يُحَسُّ فِيهَا مِنْ جَدْعٍ