Al-Radd ʿalā al-Manṭiqiyyīn - Ibn Taimiya - (482)

Al-Radd ʿalā al-ManṭiqiyyīnIbn Taimiya

As for dreams, it is established in the sound collections that the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—said:

“Dreams are of three kinds: a dream from Allah; a dream that springs from what a person occupies himself with while awake and then sees it in his sleep; and a dream from Satan.”

Thus the Truthful, Truth-confirmed Messenger clarified that some dreams arise from one’s own inner thoughts, while others are the whisperings of Satan. The Almighty has commanded us to seek refuge from both kinds of whisperers in His words:

“Say: I seek refuge in the Lord of mankind, the Sovereign of mankind, the God of mankind, from the evil of the lurking whisperer, who whispers in the hearts of mankind, whether he be from the jinn or from mankind.”

It is therefore imperative to distinguish truth from falsehood. Yet nothing in what these people—or anyone else—have presented furnishes a reliable criterion for that distinction. In absolute terms, only the prophets can make this discrimination. For that reason Allah has ordered us to believe in everything brought by the prophets, for they are divinely protected and, by unanimous agreement of the Muslims, are not left in error concerning what they transmit from Allah. The Exalted says:

“Say: We believe in Allah and in what has been sent down to us, in what was sent down to Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, and the Tribes, in what was given to Moses and Jesus, and in what the prophets received from their Lord.”

And He says:

“Rather, righteousness is for whoever believes in Allah, the Last Day, the angels, the Book, and the prophets.”

For this very reason, those devoted to spiritual exercises, asceticism, and worship—among the Sufis and others—often witness inner experiences that they imagine to be true when in reality they are false. Hence some scholars, such as Abu al-Qasim al-Suhayli and others, have remarked, “We seek refuge in Allah from a philosophical syllogism and a Sufi fantasy.” The same was said by his teacher Abu Bakr ibn al-ʿArabi who, despite his great respect for his own teacher Abu Hamid al-Ghazali, used to declare:

وأما الرؤيا فقد ثبت في الصحيح عن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم أنه قال: "الرؤيا ثلاثة رؤيا من الله ورؤيا مما يحدث به الرجل نفسه في اليقظة فيراه في المنام ورؤيا من الشيطان" فقد بين الصادق المصدوق أن من الرؤيا ما هو من حديث النفس ومنها ما هو من وسوسة الشيطان وقد أمرنا سبحانه أن نستعيذ من هذين الواسواسين في قوله: {قُلْ أَعُوذُ بِرَبِّ النَّاسِ مَلِكِ النَّاسِ إِلَهِ النَّاسِ مِنْ شَرِّ الْوَسْوَاسِ الْخَنَّاسِ الَّذِي يُوَسْوِسُ فِي صُدُورِ النَّاسِ مِنَ الْجِنَّةِ وَالنَّاسِ} . ولا بد من التمييز بين الصدق والكذب وليس فيما ذكروه ولا فيما يذكره غيرهم ما يميز بين هذا وهذا ولا يميز بين هذا وهذا مطلقا إلا الأنبياء ولهذا أمرنا الله أن نؤمن بكل ما جاؤوا به الأنبياء فإنهم معصومون لا يقرون على الخطأ فيما يبلغونهه عن الله باتفاق المسلمين قال تعالى: {قُولُوا آمَنَّا بِاللَّهِ وَمَا أُنْزِلَ إِلَيْنَا وَمَا أُنْزِلَ إِلَى إِبْرَاهِيمَ وَإِسْمَاعِيلَ وَإِسْحَاقَ وَيَعْقُوبَ وَالْأَسْبَاطِ وَمَا أُوتِيَ مُوسَى وَعِيسَى وَمَا أُوتِيَ النَّبِيُّونَ مِنْ رَبِّهِمْ} وقال تعالى: {وَلَكِنَّ الْبِرَّ مَنْ آمَنَ بِاللَّهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الْآخِرِ وَالْمَلائِكَةِ وَالْكِتَابِ وَالنَّبِيِّينَ} . ولهذا كان أهل الرياضة والزهد والعبادة من الصوفية وغيرهم يرون أشياء في الباطن يظنونها حقا ويكون باطلا ولهذا يقول من يقول من أهل العلم كأبي القاسم السهيلى وغيره نعوذ بالله من قياس فلسفي وخيال صوفي وهذا مما كان يقوله شيخه أبو بكر بن العربي وكان مع تعظيمه لشيخه أبى حامد الغزالي يقول: