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His servants (1) is that they worship Him and associate nothing with Him. Do you know what right His servants have over Allah if they do so? [Their right over Him] is that He will not punish them.” (2)
Invoking divine decree as justification is characteristic of the people of the Age of Ignorance, who act and abstain without knowledge. They follow nothing but conjecture and merely speculate. They invoke divine decree only to justify neglecting their Lord’s right and disobeying His command, not to justify neglecting what they consider their own right [or disobeying their own commands] (3).
Therefore, you find [many of] (4) those who invoke it (5) and rely upon it—among the ascetics, Sufis, religious mendicants, common people, soldiers, jurists, and others—resorting to it whenever they follow conjecture and their own desires. Had they possessed knowledge and guidance, they would never have invoked divine decree as an argument. Rather, they rely upon it because they lack guidance and knowledge (6).
(1) N and M read: “His right over them.”
(2) M and N read: “if they do so, that He not punish them.” The hadith of Muādh ibn Jabal—may Allah be pleased with him—is recorded in al-Bukhārī, 8/105 (Book of Heart-Softening Narrations, chapter “Whoever Strives against Himself in Obedience to Allah”). It begins: “While I was riding behind the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—with only the rear of the saddle between us, he said, ‘O Muādh!’ I replied, ‘At your service, O Messenger of Allah, ever ready to obey.’ He then rode on for a while and said, ‘O Muādh!’ I replied, ‘At your service, O Messenger of Allah, ever ready to obey.’ He then rode on for a while and said, ‘O Muādh ibn Jabal!’ I replied, ‘At your service, O Messenger of Allah, ever ready to obey.’ He asked, ‘Do you know what right Allah has over His servants?…’” [The rest of] the hadith. It is also recorded in al-Bukhārī, 9/114 (Book of Tawhīd, chapter “What Has Been Related concerning the Prophet’s Call—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—to His Community to Affirm Allah’s Oneness, Blessed and Exalted”); Muslim, 1/58–59 (Book of Faith, chapter “Evidence That Whoever Dies upon Tawhīd Will Certainly Enter Paradise”); Sunan al-Tirmidhī, 4/135–136 (Book of Faith, chapter “The Division of This Community”); Sunan Ibn Mājah, 2/1435–1436 (Book of Asceticism, chapter “What May Be Hoped for from Allah’s Mercy on the Day of Resurrection”); and al-Musnad (al-Halabī ed.), 3/260–261 (narrated from Anas ibn Mālik).
(3) “Or disobeying their own commands” is absent from M and N.
(4) “Many of” occurs only in ʿ.
(5) “It” is absent from A and B.
(6) N and M read: “knowledge and guidance.”
عِبَادِهِ
(١)
أَنْ يَعْبُدُوهُ وَلَا يُشْرِكُوا بِهِ شَيْئًا. أَتُدْرِي مَا حَقُّ الْعِبَادِ عَلَى اللَّهِ إِذَا فَعَلُوا ذَلِكَ؟
[حَقُّهُمْ عَلَيْهِ]
أَنْ لَا يُعَذِّبَهُمْ» "
(٢)
.
فَالِاحْتِجَاجُ بِالْقَدَرِ حَالُ أَهْلِ الْجَاهِلِيَّةِ الَّذِينَ لَا عِلْمَ عِنْدَهُمْ بِمَا يَفْعَلُونَ وَيَتْرُكُونَ، إِنْ يَتَّبِعُونَ إِلَّا الظَّنَّ وَإِنْ هُمْ إِلَّا يَخْرُصُونَ. وَهُمْ إِنَّمَا يَحْتَجُّونَ بِهِ فِي تَرْكِ حَقِّ رَبِّهِمْ وَمُخَالَفَةِ أَمْرِهِ، لَا فِي تَرْكِ مَا يَرَوْنَهُ حَقًّا لَهُمْ
[وَلَا فِي مُخَالَفَةِ أَمْرِهِمْ]
(٣)
.
وَلِهَذَا تَجِدُ
[كَثِيرًا مِنْ]
(٤)
الْمُحْتَجِّينَ بِهِ
(٥)
وَالْمُسْتَنِدِينَ إِلَيْهِ مِنَ النُّسَّاكِ وَالصُّوفِيَّةِ وَالْفُقَرَاءِ، وَالْعَامَّةِ وَالْجُنْدِ وَالْفُقَهَاءِ وَغَيْرِهِمْ، يَفِرُّونَ إِلَيْهِ عِنْدَ اتِّبَاعِ الظَّنِّ وَمَا تَهْوَى الْأَنْفُسُ، فَلَوْ كَانَ مَعَهُمْ عِلْمٌ وَهُدًى لَمْ يَحْتَجُّوا بِالْقَدَرِ أَصْلًا، بَلْ يَعْتَمِدُونَ عَلَيْهِ لِعَدَمِ الْهُدَى وَالْعِلْمِ
(٦)
.
(١) ن، م: حَقُّهُ عَلَيْهِمْ.
(٢) م، ن: إِذَا فَعَلُوا ذَلِكَ أَلَّا يُعَذِّبَهُمْ. وَالْحَدِيثُ عَنْ مُعَاذِ بْنِ جَبَلٍ - رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ - فِي: الْبُخَارِيِّ ٨/١٠٥ (كِتَابُ الرِّقَاقِ، بَابُ مَنْ جَاهَدَ نَفْسَهُ فِي طَاعَةِ اللَّهِ) وَأَوَّلُهُ: بَيْنَمَا أَنَا رَدِيفُ النَّبِيِّ - صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ - لَيْسَ بَيْنِي وَبَيْنَهُ إِلَّا آخِرَةُ الرَّحْلِ فَقَالَ: " يَا مُعَاذُ " قُلْتُ: لَبَّيْكَ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ وَسَعْدَيْكَ. ثُمَّ سَارَ سَاعَةً ثُمَّ قَالَ: " يَا مُعَاذُ " قُلْتُ: لَبَّيْكَ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ وَسَعْدَيْكَ. ثُمَّ سَارَ سَاعَةً، ثُمَّ قَالَ: " يَا مُعَاذُ بْنُ جَبَلٍ " قُلْتُ: لَبَّيْكَ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ وَسَعْدَيْكَ. قَالَ: " هَلْ تَدْرِي مَا حَقُّ اللَّهِ عَلَى عِبَادِهِ. . . . الْحَدِيثُ. وَهُوَ أَيْضًا فِي: الْبُخَارِيِّ ٩/١١٤ (كِتَابُ التَّوْحِيدِ، بَابُ مَا جَاءَ فِي دُعَاءِ النَّبِيِّ - صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ - أُمَّتَهُ إِلَى تَوْحِيدِ اللَّهِ تَبَارَكَ وَتَعَالَى) ; مُسْلِمٍ ١/٥٨ - ٥٩ (كِتَابُ الْإِيمَانِ، بَابُ الدَّلِيلِ عَلَى أَنَّ مَنْ مَاتَ عَلَى التَّوْحِيدِ دَخَلَ الْجَنَّةَ قَطْعًا) ; سُنَنَ التِّرْمِذِيِّ ٤/١٣٥ - ١٣٦ (كِتَابُ الْإِيمَانِ، بَابُ افْتِرَاقِ هَذِهِ الْأُمَّةِ) ; سُنَنَ ابْنِ مَاجَهْ ٢/١٤٣٥ - ١٤٣٦ (كِتَابُ الزُّهْدِ، بَابُ مَا يُرْجَى مِنْ رَحْمَةِ اللَّهِ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ) ; الْمُسْنَدَ (ط. الْحَلَبِيِّ) ٣/٢٦٠ - ٢٦١ (عَنْ أَنَسِ بْنِ مَالِكٍ) .
(٣) وَلَا فِي مُخَالَفَةِ أَمْرِهِمْ: هَذِهِ الْعِبَارَةُ سَاقِطَةٌ مِنْ (م) ، (ن) .
(٤) كَثِيرًا مِنْ: فِي (ع) فَقَطْ.
(٥) بِهِ: سَاقِطَةٌ مِنْ (أ) ، (ب) .
(٦) ن، م: الْعِلْمِ وَالْهُدَى.