Minhaj as-Sunnah - Ibn Taimiya - (3/165)

Minhaj as-SunnahIbn Taimiya

the universal will (1) said: The Lord neither truly loves nor is loved. They interpreted His love [Most High] (2) for His servants as His will (3) to reward them, and their love for Him as their will to obey Him (4) and draw near to Him. A large group [among them] (5) said: He is loved and deserves to be loved, but His love for others means His will.

As for the Salaf and the imams, [and the imams] of the people (6) of hadith, [and the imams] (7) of Sufism, as well as many of those engaged in speculative theology and rational inquiry, they affirmed that He is loved for His own sake. Indeed, none deserves to be loved for His own sake but Him.

This (8) is the very essence of divinity and the very essence of Abraham’s creed. Whoever does not acknowledge this fails to distinguish between lordship and divinity (9), does not regard Allah as worthy of worship for His own sake, does not affirm the delight of beholding Him, and does not affirm that He is dearer to the people of Paradise than anything else.

In truth, this doctrine is among the doctrines of those who have departed from Abraham’s creed and deny that Allah alone is worthy of worship to the exclusion of all else. For this reason, when this doctrine appeared in the early days of Islam, the man who openly proclaimed it—al-Ja‘d ibn Dirham—was put to death on Eid al-Adhā. Khālid ibn Abd Allāh al-Qasrī put him to death with the approval of the scholars of Islam. He said: “Offer your sacrifices, O

(1) (A), (B), and (ʿ) read: “*al-mashīʾa* (will).” (2) “Most High” is an addition in (A) and (B). (3) (A) and (B) read: “as willing.” (4) (N), (M), and (ʿ) read: “obedience to Him.” (5) (N) and (M) read: “and a group.” (6) “And the imams” is omitted from (N) and (M), while “the people of” is omitted from (A) and (B). (7) “And the imams” is omitted from (A) and (M). (8) (ʿ) reads: “and this.” (9) (N) and (M) read: “and *al-ulūhiyya* (divinity).”

الْإِرَادَةُ (١) الْعَامَّةُ، قَالُوا: إِنَّ الرَّبَّ لَا يُحِبُّ فِي الْحَقِيقَةِ وَلَا يُحَبُّ، وَتَأَوَّلُوا مَحَبَّتَهُ [تَعَالَى] (٢) لِعِبَادِهِ بِإِرَادَتِهِ (٣) ثَوَابَهُمْ وَمَحَبَّتَهُمْ لَهُ بِإِرَادَةِ طَاعَتِهِمْ (٤) لَهُ وَالتَّقَرُّبِ إِلَيْهِ، وَ [مِنْهُمْ] طَائِفَةٌ (٥) كَثِيرَةٌ قَالُوا: هُوَ مَحْبُوبٌ يَسْتَحِقُّ أَنْ يُحَبَّ، وَلَكِنَّ مَحَبَّتَهُ لِغَيْرِهِ بِمَعْنَى مَشِيئَتِهِ. وَأَمَّا السَّلَفُ وَالْأَئِمَّةُ [وَأَئِمَّةُ] أَهْلِ (٦) الْحَدِيثِ [وَأَئِمَّةُ] (٧) التَّصَوُّفِ، وَكَثِيرٌ مِنْ أَهْلِ الْكَلَامِ وَالنَّظَرِ، فَأَقَرُّوا بِأَنَّهُ مَحْبُوبٌ لِذَاتِهِ، بَلْ لَا يَسْتَحِقُّ أَنْ يُحَبَّ لِذَاتِهِ إِلَّا هُوَ. وَهَذَا (٨) حَقِيقَةُ الْأُلُوهِيَّةِ، وَهُوَ حَقِيقَةُ مِلَّةِ إِبْرَاهِيمَ، وَمَنْ لَمْ يُقِرَّ بِذَلِكَ لَمْ يُفَرِّقْ بَيْنَ الرُّبُوبِيَّةِ وَالْإِلَهِيَّةِ (٩) وَلَمْ يَجْعَلِ اللَّهَ مَعْبُودًا لِذَاتِهِ، وَلَا أَثْبَتَ التَّلَذُّذَ بِالنَّظَرِ إِلَيْهِ، وَلَا أَنَّهُ أَحَبُّ إِلَى أَهْلِ الْجَنَّةِ مِنْ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ. وَهَذَا الْقَوْلُ فِي الْحَقِيقَةِ هُوَ مِنْ أَقْوَالِ الْخَارِجِينَ عَنْ مِلَّةِ إِبْرَاهِيمَ مِنَ الْمُنْكِرِينَ لِكَوْنِ اللَّهِ هُوَ الْمَعْبُودُ دُونَ مَا سِوَاهُ، وَلِهَذَا لَمَّا ظَهَرَ هَذَا الْقَوْلُ فِي أَوَائِلِ الْإِسْلَامِ قُتِلَ مَنْ أَظْهَرُهُ، وَهُوَ الْجَعْدُ بْنُ دِرْهَمٍ يَوْمَ الْأَضْحَى، قَتَلَهُ خَالِدُ بْنُ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ الْقَسْرِيُّ بِرِضَا عُلَمَاءِ الْإِسْلَامِ، وَقَالَ: " ضَحُّوا أَيُّهَا

(١) أ، ب، ع: الْمَشِيئَةُ. (٢) تَعَالَى: زِيَادَةٌ فِي (أ) ، (ب) . (٣) أ، ب: بِإِرَادَةِ. (٤) ن، م، ع: طَاعَتِهِ. (٥) ن، م: وَطَائِفَةٌ. (٦) وَأَئِمَّةُ: سَاقِطَةٌ مِنْ (ن) ، (م) ، وَ " أَهْلِ " سَاقِطَةٌ مِنَ (أ) ، (ب) . (٧) وَأَئِمَّةُ: سَاقِطَةٌ مِنْ (أ) ، (م) . (٨) ع: وَهَذِهِ. (٩) ن، م: وَالْأُلُوهِيَّةِ.