Minhaj as-Sunnah - Ibn Taimiya - (3/123)

Minhaj as-SunnahIbn Taimiya

The messengers—all of them, may Allah’s blessings be upon them—reported that (1) Allah created the heavens, the earth, and all that lies between them in six days, and that His Throne was upon the water before that. This is known (2) by necessity through mass transmission from the religion of the messengers (3). Nothing in your proofs entails the eternity of the heavens. Thus, your assertion that they are eternal is supported by no (4) rational proof and amounts to denying the truthfulness of the messengers without any grounds.

Furthermore, sound reason invalidates your position. The celestial spheres and the other constituents of the cosmos necessarily entail (5) temporal events. If the cosmos were eternal, it would necessarily have to proceed from an eternal cause that necessitates it. The necessitating cause would then necessarily entail (6) its effect, and what it requires could not lag behind it. For if its effect could lag behind it, [it would not (7) be a complete cause, since a complete cause necessarily entails its effect. If it were not (8) a complete cause, its effect could not coexist with it, for an effect cannot be eternal without a complete cause. Furthermore, if its effect could lag behind it] (9), although it could also coexist with it from eternity, selecting (10) either of these two possibilities for it would require a determining factor other than the cause that necessitates by its very essence (11). Yet there is no other determining factor; it would therefore be impossible for

(1) N and M read: “and the messengers related that”; B reads: “reported that.” (2) ʿ reads: “among the things known.” (3) A and B read: “from the religion of Islam.” (4) N, M, and ʿ read: “has no.” (5) A, B, and M have the feminine form of “necessarily entailing.” (6) N reads: “eternal; thus, the necessitating cause’s necessarily entailing”; M reads: “thus, the Lord would necessarily entail.” (7) A and B read the masculine form: “it would not be.” (8) A and B read the masculine form: “it would not be.” (9) The text between square brackets is omitted in N and M. (10) After the word “its selection,” two lines appear in manuscripts A and B. Their wording is the same as that of the sentences omitted from all the manuscripts but found in manuscript ʿ and mentioned in an earlier note, with a few minor differences. These passages appear here out of their proper place. (11) A and B read: “other than the Necessary Existent in Himself.”

وَالرُّسُلُ صَلَوَاتُ اللَّهِ عَلَيْهِمْ أَجْمَعِينَ أَخْبَرَتْ بِأَنَّ (١) اللَّهَ خَلَقَ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ وَمَا بَيْنَهُمَا فِي سِتَّةِ أَيَّامٍ، وَأَنَّ عَرْشَهُ كَانَ عَلَى الْمَاءِ قَبْلَ ذَلِكَ، وَهَذَا مِمَّا عُلِمَ (٢) بِالِاضْطِرَارِ وَالنَّقْلِ الْمُتَوَاتِرِ مِنْ دِينِ الرُّسُلِ (٣) ، وَأَدِلَّتُكُمْ لَيْسَ فِيهَا مَا يُوجِبُ قِدَمَ السَّمَاوَاتِ فَقَوْلُكُمْ بِقِدَمِهَا لَيْسَ فِيهِ (٤) حُجَّةٌ عَقْلِيَّةٌ، فَهُوَ تَكْذِيبٌ لِلرُّسُلِ بِلَا سَبَبٍ. وَأَيْضًا فَالْعَقْلُ الصَّرِيحُ يُبْطِلُ قَوْلَكُمْ، فَإِنَّ الْأَفْلَاكَ وَغَيْرَهَا مِنَ الْعَالَمِ مُسْتَلْزِمٌ (٥) لِلْحَوَادِثِ، فَلَوْ كَانَ قَدِيمًا لَلَزِمَ أَنْ يَكُونَ صَادِرًا عَنْ مُوجِبٍ لَهُ قَدِيمٌ، فَحِينَئِذٍ يَكُونُ الْمُوجِبُ مُسْتَلْزِمًا (٦) لِمُوجِبِهِ وَمُقْتَضَاهُ لَا يَتَأَخَّرُ عَنْهُ، إِذْ لَوْ جَازَ تَأَخُّرُ مُوجِبِهِ عَنْهُ [لَمْ تَكُنْ (٧) عِلَّةً تَامَّةً لِاسْتِلْزَامِ الْعِلَّةِ التَّامَّةِ مَعْلُولَهَا وَإِذَا لَمْ تَكُنْ (٨) عِلَّةً تَامَّةً امْتَنَعَ أَنْ يُقَارِنَهُ مُوجِبُهُ لِامْتِنَاعِ قِدَمِ الْمَعْلُولِ بِدُونِ عِلَّةٍ تَامَّةٍ. وَأَيْضًا فَلَوْ جَازَ تَأَخُّرُ مُوجِبِهِ] (٩) مَعَ جَوَازِ مُقَارَنَتِهِ لَهُ فِي الْأَزَلِ لَافْتَقَرَ تَخْصِيصُهُ (١٠) بِأَحَدِهِمَا إِلَى مُرَجِّحٍ غَيْرِ الْمُوجِبِ بِذَاتِهِ (١١) ، وَلَيْسَ هُنَاكَ مُرَجِّحٌ غَيْرُهُ فَامْتَنَعَ

(١) ن، م: وَالرُّسُلُ خَبَّرَتْ بِأَنَّ، وَفِي (ب) : أَخْبَرَتْ أَنَّ. (٢) ع: مِمَّا يُعْلَمُ. (٣) أ، ب: مِنْ دِينِ الْإِسْلَامِ. (٤) ن، م، ع: لَيْسَ لَهُ. (٥) أ، ب، م: مُسْتَلْزِمَةٌ. (٦) ن: قَدِيمٌ فَكَوْنُ الْمُوجِبُ مُسْتَلْزِمًا، م: فَيَكُونُ الرَّبُّ مُسْتَلْزِمًا. (٧) أ، ب: لَمْ يَكُنْ. (٨) أ، ب: لَمْ يَكُنْ. (٩) مَا بَيْنَ الْمَعْقُوفَتَيْنِ سَاقِطٌ مِنْ (ن) ، (م) . (١٠) بَعْدَ كَلِمَةِ تَخْصِيصِهِ جَاءَ سَطْرَانِ فِي نُسْخَتَيْ (أ) ، (ب) كَلِمَاتُهُمَا هِيَ نَفْسُ كَلِمَاتِ الْجُمَلِ السَّاقِطَةِ مِنَ النُّسَخِ كُلِّهَا وَالْمَوْجُودَةِ فِي نُسْخَةِ (ع) وَالْمُشَارِ إِلَيْهَا فِي تَعْلِيقٍ سَابِقٍ مَعَ بَعْضِ الِاخْتِلَافِ الْيَسِيرِ، وَقَدْ جَاءَتْ هَذِهِ الْعِبَارَاتُ فِي غَيْرِ مَكَانِهَا الصَّحِيحِ. (١١) أ، ب: غَيْرِ الْوَاجِبِ بِذَاتِهِ.