Minhaj as-Sunnah - Ibn Taimiya - (3/56)

Minhaj as-SunnahIbn Taimiya

For this reason, when the polytheists said:

“If Allah had willed, neither we nor our forefathers would have associated partners with Him, nor would we have forbidden anything.”

[Surah al-An‘ām: 148]

Allah Most High said:

“Say: Do you have any knowledge that you can produce for us? You follow nothing but conjecture, and you do nothing but make false claims. Say: With Allah rests the conclusive proof. Had He willed, He would have guided you all.”

[Surah al-An‘ām: 148, 149]

These polytheists know by their innate disposition and reason that this argument is false and untenable (1). If one of them wronged another regarding his property, committed adultery with the latter’s wife (2), killed his child, or persisted in wrongdoing and was told by the people to desist, and then said, “Had Allah willed, I would not have done this,” they would not accept this argument from him—nor would he accept it from anyone else. Whoever invokes it does so merely to ward off blame without justification.

Allah therefore said to them: “Do (3) you have any knowledge that you can produce for us”—knowledge showing that this association and prohibition were ordained by Allah and constitute a beneficial course (4) that ought to be followed? “You follow nothing but conjecture,” for you possess no knowledge of this; if you believe it to be so, you merely suppose it. “And you do nothing but make false claims”: you make guesses (5) and invent falsehoods. Thus, in reality, your basis is your conjecture and guesswork; your basis (6) is not, in reality, the fact that Allah willed and decreed it. Mere divine will and decree cannot (7) serve as anyone’s basis for acting, nor as an argument by one person against another, nor

(1) B and A read: “and false.” (2) B and A read: “if he wronged the other, or was in straitened circumstances regarding his property, or relieved his wife.” This is a corruption. (3) N reads: “Say: Do….” (4) “A beneficial course” is absent from ʿ. (5) *Tuhrizūna* (“you make conjectural estimates”) is absent from B and A. The verb *haraza* means “to estimate something by conjecture”; in the imperfect, the vowel on the *zāy* may be either *u* or *i*. (6) B and A read: “is not in your basis.” (7) B and A read: “Mere will and power cannot serve [as a basis]”; M and N read: “Mere decree and will cannot serve [as a basis].”

وَلِهَذَا لَمَّا قَالَ الْمُشْرِكُونَ: {لَوْ شَاءَ اللَّهُ مَا أَشْرَكْنَا وَلَا آبَاؤُنَا وَلَا حَرَّمْنَا مِنْ شَيْءٍ} [سُورَةُ الْأَنْعَامِ: ١٤٨] ، قَالَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى: {قُلْ هَلْ عِنْدَكُمْ مِنْ عِلْمٍ فَتُخْرِجُوهُ لَنَا إِنْ تَتَّبِعُونَ إِلَّا الظَّنَّ وَإِنْ أَنْتُمْ إِلَّا تَخْرُصُونَ - قُلْ فَلِلَّهِ الْحُجَّةُ الْبَالِغَةُ فَلَوْ شَاءَ لَهَدَاكُمْ أَجْمَعِينَ} [سُورَةُ الْأَنْعَامِ: ١٤٨، ١٤٩] ، فَإِنَّ هَؤُلَاءِ الْمُشْرِكِينَ يَعْلَمُونَ بِفِطْرَتِهِمْ وَعُقُولِهِمْ أَنَّ هَذِهِ الْحُجَّةَ دَاحِضَةٌ بَاطِلَةٌ (١) . فَإِنَّ أَحَدَهُمْ لَوْ ظَلَمَ الْآخَرَ فِي مَالِهِ، أَوْ فَجَرَ بِامْرَأَتِهِ (٢) أَوْ قَتَلَ وَلَدَهُ، أَوْ كَانَ مُصِرًّا عَلَى الظُّلْمِ فَنَهَاهُ النَّاسُ عَنْ ذَلِكَ، فَقَالَ لَوْ شَاءَ اللَّهُ لَمْ أَفْعَلْ هَذَا، لَمْ يَقْبَلُوا مِنْهُ هَذِهِ الْحُجَّةَ، وَلَا هُوَ يَقْبَلُهَا مِنْ غَيْرِهِ، وَإِنَّمَا يَحْتَجُّ بِهَا الْمُحْتَجُّ دَفْعًا لِلَّوْمِ بِلَا وَجْهٍ، فَقَالَ اللَّهُ لَهُمْ: هَلْ (٣) عِنْدَكُمْ مِنْ عِلْمٍ فَتُخْرِجُوهُ لَنَا بِأَنَّ هَذَا الشِّرْكَ وَالتَّحْرِيمَ مِنْ أَمْرِ اللَّهِ وَأَنَّهُ مَصْلَحَةٌ (٤) يَنْبَغِي فِعْلُهُ، إِنْ تَتَّبِعُونَ إِلَّا الظَّنَّ، فَإِنَّهُ لَا عِلْمَ عِنْدَكُمْ، بِذَلِكَ إِنْ تَظُنُّونَ ذَلِكَ إِلَّا ظَنًّا، وَإِنْ أَنْتُمْ إِلَّا تَخْرُصُونَ: تُحْرِزُونَ (٥) وَتَفْتَرُونَ، فَعُمْدَتُكُمْ فِي نَفْسِ الْأَمْرِ ظَنُّكُمْ وَخَرْصُكُمْ، لَيْسَ عُمْدَتُكُمْ (٦) فِي نَفْسِ الْأَمْرِ كَوْنَ اللَّهِ شَاءَ ذَلِكَ وَقَدَّرَهُ، فَإِنَّ مُجَرَّدَ الْمَشِيئَةِ وَالْقَدَرِ لَا يَكُونُ (٧) عُمْدَةً لِأَحَدٍ فِي الْفِعْلِ، وَلَا حُجَّةً لِأَحَدٍ عَلَى أَحَدٍ، وَلَا

(١) ب، أ: وَبَاطِلَةٌ. (٢) ب، أ: لَوْ ظَلَمَ الْآخَرَ أَوْ حَرِجَ فِي مَالِهِ أَوْ فَرَجَ امْرَأَتَهُ، وَهُوَ تَحْرِيفٌ. (٣) ن: قُلْ هَلْ. . . . (٤) مَصْلَحَةٌ: سَاقِطَةٌ مِنْ (ع) . (٥) تُحْرِزُونَ: سَاقِطَةٌ مِنْ (ب) ، (أ) . وَحَرَزَ الشَّيْءَ يَحْرِزُهُ (بِضَمِّ زَايِ الْمُضَارِعِ وَكَسْرِهَا) : قَدَّرَهُ بِالْحَدْسِ. (٦) ب، أ: لَيْسَ فِي عُمْدَتِكُمْ. (٧) ب، أ: فَإِنَّ مُجَرَّدَ الْمَشِيئَةِ وَالْقُدْرَةِ لَا تَكُونُ، م، ن: فَإِنَّ مُجَرَّدَ الْقَدَرِ وَالْمَشِيئَةِ لَا يَكُونُ.