Minhaj as-Sunnah - Ibn Taimiya - (3/215)

Minhaj as-SunnahIbn Taimiya

whatever He wills, for there is no sovereign above Him and no one to command Him; He has not disposed of another’s property, nor has He disobeyed any command deserving obedience.

As for the second approach, which affirms wisdom, its adherents say:

Allah created Iblīs just as He created snakes, scorpions, fire, and other such things, because of the wisdom inherent in His creating him. He has commanded us to ward off harm from ourselves by every means within our power. Among the greatest of these means is our seeking refuge in Him [from him]. He is the All-Wise (1)

(2 in creating Iblīs and everything else; He is the All-Wise in commanding us to seek refuge in Him [from him] (2); and He is the All-Wise (3) 2) since (4) He made us seek refuge in Him. He is the All-Wise in granting us refuge from him, and He acts wisely toward us throughout all of this, doing good to us and graciously bestowing His favor upon us. For He is more merciful to us than a mother is to her child (5), since He (6) is the Creator of that mercy; and the Creator of mercy is surely more merciful than those who show mercy.

The (7) sixth point concerns his statement: “Because they declared Iblīs and the unbeliever (8) free of acts of disobedience and attributed them to Allah, [and so on]” (9)—this is a false accusation against them. They unanimously agree that the sinner is the one characterized by the act of disobedience and censured for it

(1) (N) and (M) read: “our seeking refuge, and He is the All-Wise.” (2) The phrase “from him” is omitted from (N). (3) The marked passage is omitted only from (M). (4) (N), (M), and (ʿ) read: “if.” (5) (ʿ) reads: “than a father is to his child.” (6) (A) and (B) read: “He.” (7) The word “point” is omitted from (N) and (M). (8) (A) and (B) read: “and the unbelievers.” The passage was quoted earlier with the reading: “and the unbeliever.” (9) The phrase “and so on” is an addition in (A) and (B).

مَا يُرِيدُ، إِذْ لَا مَالِكَ فَوْقَهُ، وَلَا آمِرَ لَهُ، وَلَمْ يَتَصَرَّفْ فِي مِلْكِ غَيْرِهِ، وَلَمْ يَعْصِ أَمْرًا مُطَاعًا. وَأَمَّا عَلَى الطَّرِيقَةِ الثَّانِيَةِ الْمُثْبِتَةِ لِلْحِكْمَةِ، فَإِنَّهُمْ يَقُولُونَ: خَلَقَ اللَّهُ إِبْلِيسَ كَمَا خَلَقَ الْحَيَّاتِ وَالْعَقَارِبَ وَالنَّارَ وَغَيْرَ ذَلِكَ، لِمَا فِي خَلْقِهِ ذَلِكَ مِنَ الْحِكْمَةِ. وَقَدْ أَمَرَنَا أَنْ نَدْفَعَ الضَّرَرَ عَنَّا بِكُلِّ مَا نَقْدِرُ عَلَيْهِ، وَمِنْ أَعْظَمِ الْأَسْبَابِ اسْتِعَاذَتُنَا بِهِ [مِنْهُ] ، فَهُوَ الْحَكِيمُ (١) (٢ فِي خَلْقِ إِبْلِيسَ وَغَيْرِهِ، وَهُوَ الْحَكِيمُ فِي أَمْرِنَا بِالِاسْتِعَاذَةِ بِهِ [مِنْهُ] (٢) ، وَهُوَ الْحَكِيمُ (٣) ٢) إِذْ (٤) جَعَلَنَا نَسْتَعِيذُ بِهِ، وَهُوَ الْحَكِيمُ فِي إِعَاذَتِنَا مِنْهُ، وَهُوَ الْحَكِيمُ بِنَا فِي ذَلِكَ كُلِّهِ، الْمُحْسِنُ إِلَيْنَا الْمُتَفَضِّلُ عَلَيْنَا، إِذْ هُوَ أَرْحَمُ بِنَا مِنَ الْوَالِدَةِ بِوَلَدِهَا (٥) إِذْ هُوَ (٦) الْخَالِقُ لِتِلْكَ الرَّحْمَةِ، فَخَالِقُ الرَّحْمَةِ أَوْلَى بِالرَّحْمَةِ مِنَ الرُّحَمَاءِ. الْوَجْهُ (٧) السَّادِسُ: قَوْلُهُ: " لِأَنَّهُمْ نَزَّهُوا إِبْلِيسَ وَالْكَافِرَ (٨) مِنَ الْمَعَاصِي، وَأَضَافُوهَا إِلَى اللَّهِ، [إِلَى آخِرِهِ] " (٩) - فِرْيَةٌ عَلَيْهِمْ، فَإِنَّهُمْ مُتَّفِقُونَ عَلَى أَنَّ الْعَاصِيَ هُوَ الْمُتَّصِفُ بِالْمَعْصِيَةِ، الْمَذْمُومِ عَلَيْهَا

(١) ن، م: اسْتِعَاذَتُنَا وَهُوَ الْحَكِيمُ. (٢) مِنْهُ: سَاقِطَةٌ مِنْ (ن) . (٣) سَاقِطٌ مِنْ (م) فَقَطْ. (٤) ن، م، ع: إِنْ. (٥) ع: مِنَ الْوَالِدِ بِوَلَدِهِ. (٦) أ، ب: هُوَ. (٧) الْوَجْهُ: سَاقِطَةٌ مِنْ (ن) ، (م) . (٨) أ، ب: وَالْكُفَّارَ وَسَبَقَ النَّصُّ وَفِيهِ: وَالْكَافِرَ. (٩) إِلَى آخِرِهِ: زِيَادَةٌ فِي (أ) ، (ب) .