Minhaj as-Sunnah - Ibn Taimiya - (3/189)

Minhaj as-SunnahIbn Taimiya

Anyone who wants another person to do something and commands him to do it, yet does not assist him because doing so would be detrimental to the one issuing the command, is not foolish(1).

Thus, the invalidity of what this man and others like him among those who deny divine decree have asserted becomes clear. Likewise, someone who forbids another person from doing something that he himself intends to do is not necessarily foolish, for it [may](2) be harmful to the person being forbidden yet beneficial to the one forbidding him. Thus, a patient who takes laxatives is not foolish if he forbids his young son(3) from taking them.

A snake handler(4) who intends to catch a snake is not foolish if he forbids his son from catching it. A person swimming in the sea is not foolish if he forbids someone incapable of swimming from doing so. Nor is a king who goes out to fight his enemy foolish if he forbids his women from accompanying him. Examples of this are innumerable(5).

[If someone, out of sincere concern, forbids another person from doing something whose performance would harm that person—even though it would serve the interests of the one issuing the prohibition(6) to have him do it for him—he would be commended both for his action and for his sincere counsel. Likewise, many people forbid those whom they advise from doing certain things, though they may ask those same people to do those things when it serves their own interests.

(1) (N) and (ʿA) read: “foolishness.” (2) “May” is omitted from (N). (3) “His son” is omitted from (A) and (B). (4) (ʿA) reads: *wa-l-hawā*; (A) and (B): *wa-l-hiwāʾ*. *Lisān al-ʿArab* states: “The *hāwī* is a snake handler, and the word follows the *fāʿil* pattern. Those who call a snake handler *hāyin* form it on the *fāʿil* pattern from this stem, while those who say *hawwāʾ* form it on the *faʿʿāl* pattern.” (5) Following the phrase “are innumerable,” an omission begins in (N). I shall indicate where it ends at the appropriate place, Allah willing. (6) (A) and (B) read: “if it served the interests of the one issuing the prohibition.”

وَمَنْ كَانَ يُحِبُّ مِنْ غَيْرِهِ أَنْ يَفْعَلَ أَمْرًا فَأَمَرَهُ بِهِ، وَالْآمِرُ لَا يُسَاعِدُهُ عَلَيْهِ، لِمَا فِي ذَلِكَ مِنَ الْمَفْسَدَةِ لَهُ، لَمْ يَكُنْ سَفِيهًا (١) . فَظَهَرَ بُطْلَانُ مَا ذَكَرَهُ هَذَا وَأَمْثَالُهُ مِنَ الْقَدَرِيَّةِ. وَكَذَلِكَ مَنْ نَهَى غَيْرَهُ عَمَّا يُرِيدُ أَنْ يَفْعَلَهُ هُوَ، لَمْ يَلْزَمْ أَنْ يَكُونَ سَفِيهًا، فَإِنَّهُ [قَدْ] (٢) يَكُونُ مَفْسَدَةً لِذَلِكَ مَصْلَحَةً لِلنَّاهِي. فَالْمَرِيضُ الَّذِي يَشْرَبُ الْمُسَهِّلَاتِ إِذَا نَهَى ابْنَهُ (٣) الصَّغِيرَ عَنْ شُرْبِهَا لَمْ يَكُنْ سَفِيهًا. وَالْحَاوِي (٤) الَّذِي يُرِيدُ إِمْسَاكَ الْحَيَّةِ إِذَا نَهَى ابْنَهُ عَنْ إِمْسَاكِهَا لَمْ يَكُنْ سَفِيهًا، وَالسَّابِحُ فِي الْبَحْرِ إِذَا نَهَى الْعَاجِزَ عَنِ السِّبَاحَةِ لَمْ يَكُنْ سَفِيهًا، وَالْمَلِكُ الَّذِي خَرَجَ لِقِتَالِ عَدُوِّهِ إِذَا نَهَى نِسَاءَهُ عَنِ الْخُرُوجِ مَعَهُ لَمْ يَكُنْ سَفِيهًا، وَنَظَائِرُ هَذَا لَا تُحْصَى (٥) . [وَلَوْ نَهَى النَّاهِي غَيْرَهُ عَنْ فِعْلِ مَا يَضُرُّهُ فِعْلُهُ نُصْحًا لَهُ، إِذْ لَوْ كَانَ مَصْلَحَةُ النَّاهِي (٦) أَنْ يَفْعَلَهُ هُوَ بِهِ؛ حُمِدَ عَلَى فِعْلِهِ، وَحُمِدَ عَلَى نُصْحِهِ، كَمَا يُوجَدُ كَثِيرٌ مِنَ النَّاسِ يَنْهَوْنَ مَنْ يَنْصَحُونَهُ عَنْ فِعْلِ أَشْيَاءَ، وَقَدْ يَطْلُبُونَ فِعْلَهَا مِنْهُمْ لِمَصْلَحَتِهِمْ.

(١) ن، ع: سَفَهًا. (٢) قَدْ: سَاقِطَةٌ مِنْ (ن) . (٣) ابْنَهُ: سَاقِطَةٌ مِنْ (أ) ، (ب) . (٤) ع: وَالْحَوَى، أ، ب: وَالْحِوَاءُ، وَفِي لِسَانِ الْعَرَبِ، وَالْحَاوِي: صَاحِبُ الْحَيَّاتِ، وَهُوَ فَاعِلٌ، وَمَنْ قَالَ لِصَاحِبِ الْحَيَّاتِ حَايٍ فَهُوَ فَاعِلٌ مِنْ هَذَا الْبِنَاءِ، وَمَنْ قَالَ حَوَّاءٌ فَهُوَ عَلَى بِنَاءِ فَعَّالٍ. (٥) بَعْدَ عِبَارَةِ لَا تُحْصَى يُوجَدُ سَقْطٌ فِي (ن) سَأُشِيرُ إِلَى نِهَايَتِهِ فِي مَوْضِعِهِ بِإِذْنِ اللَّهِ. (٦) أ، ب: إِذَا كَانَ مَصْلَحَةً لِلنَّاهِي.