Al-Risālah al-Akmalīyah - Ibn Taimiya - (17)

Al-Risālah al-AkmalīyahIbn Taimiya

He also says:

“He sets forth for you an example from among yourselves: do you have, among those whom your right hands possess, partners in what We have provided for you, so that you are equal in it and fear them as you fear one another? Thus do We explain the signs in detail for people who understand.”

[al-Rūm: 28]

Allah, exalted is He, is saying: If you yourselves are not willing for a slave to share ownership with his master, because of the deficiency and injustice this entails, how can you accept such a thing for Me, when I have a greater claim than you to perfection and freedom from need?

This makes clear that He, exalted is He, has a greater claim to every perfection than anyone else. This is like His words:

“When one of them is given news of a daughter, his face darkens and he suppresses his grief. He hides from the people because of the bad news he has received: should he keep her in humiliation or bury her in the earth? How evil is their judgment! Those who do not believe in the Hereafter possess the evil description, while to Allah belongs the highest description. He is the Almighty, the All-Wise. If Allah were to take people to account for their wrongdoing, He would not leave a single living creature upon the earth. But He defers them until an appointed term; when their term comes, they can neither delay it for an hour nor bring it forward. They assign to Allah what they themselves dislike, while their tongues utter the lie that the best awaits them. Without question, the Fire is theirs, and they will be abandoned therein.”

[al-Nahl: 5862]

They used to say that the angels were Allah’s daughters, even though each of them detested having a daughter and regarded it as a deficiency and a disgrace.

It is even more fitting that the Exalted Lord be declared free of every flaw and deficiency than it is for you, for to Him belongs the highest description. Every perfection established for a created being belongs all the more to the Creator, provided that it is free of deficiency; and every deficiency and flaw from which a created being is declared free is something from which the Creator is even more deserving of being declared free.

He also says:

“Say: Are those who know equal to those who do not know?”

[al-Zumar: 9],

وقال تعالى: {ضَرَبَ لَكُم مَّثَلًا مِنْ أَنفُسِكُمْ هَل لَّكُم مِّن مَّا مَلَكَتْ أَيْمَانُكُم مِّن شُرَكَاء فِي مَا رَزَقْنَاكُمْ فَأَنتُمْ فِيهِ سَوَاء تَخَافُونَهُمْ كَخِيفَتِكُمْ أَنفُسَكُمْ كَذَلِكَ نُفَصِّلُ الْآيَاتِ لِقَوْمٍ يَعْقِلُونَ} [الروم: ٢٨] . يقول تعالى: إذا كنتم أنتم لا ترضون بأن المملوك يشارك مالكه لما في ذلك من النقص والظلم، فكيف ترضون ذلك لي، وأنا أحق بالكمال والغنى منكم؟ وهذا يبين أنه تعالى أحق بكل كمال من كل أحد، وهذا كقوله: {وَإِذَا بُشِّرَ أَحَدُهُمْ بِالأُنثَى ظَلَّ وَجْهُهُ مُسْوَدًّا وَهُوَ كَظِيمٌ يَتَوَارَى مِنَ الْقَوْمِ مِن سُوءِ مَا بُشِّرَ بِهِ أَيُمْسِكُهُ عَلَى هُونٍ أَمْ يَدُسُّهُ فِي التُّرَابِ أَلاَ سَاء مَا يَحْكُمُونَ لِلَّذِينَ لاَ يُؤْمِنُونَ بِالآخِرَةِ مَثَلُ السَّوْءِ وَلِلّهِ الْمَثَلُ الأَعْلَىَ وَهُوَ الْعَزِيزُ الْحَكِيمُ وَلَوْ يُؤَاخِذُ اللهُ النَّاسَ بِظُلْمِهِم مَّا تَرَكَ عَلَيْهَا مِن دَآبَّةٍ وَلَكِن يُؤَخِّرُهُمْ إلَى أَجَلٍ مُّسَمًّى فَإِذَا جَاء أَجَلُهُمْ لاَ يَسْتَأْخِرُونَ سَاعَةً وَلاَ يَسْتَقْدِمُونَ وَيَجْعَلُونَ لِلّهِ مَا يَكْرَهُونَ وَتَصِفُ أَلْسِنَتُهُمُ الْكَذِبَ أَنَّ لَهُمُ الْحُسْنَى لاَ جَرَمَ أَنَّ لَهُمُ الْنَّارَ وَأَنَّهُم مُّفْرَطُونَ} [النحل: ٥٨٦٢] حيث كانوا يقولون: الملائكة بنات الله، وهم يكرهون أن يكون لأحدهم بنت فيعدون هذا نقصًا وعيبًا. والرب تعالى أحق بتنزيهه عن كل عيب ونقص منكم، فإن له المثل الأعلى، فكل كمال ثبت للمخلوق، فالخالق أحق بثبوته منه إذا كان مجردًا عن النقص، وكل ما ينزه عنه المخلوق من نقص وعيب، فالخالق أولى بتنزيهه عنه. وقال تعالى: {قُلْ هَلْ يَسْتَوِي الَّذِينَ يَعْلَمُونَ وَالَّذِينَ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ} [الزمر: ٩] ،