Minhaj as-Sunnah - Ibn Taimiya - (3/457)

Minhaj as-SunnahIbn Taimiya

outside the saved group, for they stand outside the community of Muslims: they brand as unbelievers or sinners (the leading figures(1) of the Community, such as Abū Bakr, Umar, and Uthmān—not to mention Mu'āwiya and the Umayyad and Abbasid kings; and they likewise brand as unbelievers or sinners)(2) the Community’s scholars and devout worshippers, such as Mālik, al-Thawrī, al-Awzā'ī, al-Layth ibn Sa'd, Abū Hanīfa, al-Shāfi'ī, Ahmad(3), Ishāq, Abū 'Ubayd, Ibrāhīm ibn Adham, al-Fudayl ibn 'Iyād, Abū Sulaymān al-Dārānī, Ma'rūf al-Karkhī, and others like them.

They are further than anyone from knowing how the Companions conducted themselves and from following their example—whether during the Prophet’s lifetime, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, or afterward—for(4) such matters are known only to people(5) versed in hadith and transmitted reports and knowledgeable about narrators(6), both weak and trustworthy. Yet they are among those with the greatest(7) ignorance of hadith and hatred for it(8), as well as hostility toward the people of hadith.

If, then, the saved group is characterized as those who follow the Companions as they were during the lifetime of Allah’s Messenger—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—and that is the hallmark of the Sunnah and the Community, then the saved group is the People of the Sunnah and the Community. The Sunnah, then, is the way he [may Allah bless him and grant him peace](9) and his Companions followed(10)

(1) (N), (W), (H), (R), and (S) read: “for the leading figures.” (2) The text between the two asterisks is omitted from (M). (3) “And Ahmad” is omitted from (N). (4) (A) reads: “not during the lifetime of the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—for”; (B) reads: “during the lifetime of the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—for.” (5) (A) and (B) read: “for this is known only to those versed in.” (6) (A) and (B) read: “reports concerning.” (7) (W) reads: “most severely.” (8) (A) reads: *ba‘dan lahu* (“some of it”); (B) reads: *bughdan lahu* (“hatred for it”). (9) “May Allah bless him and grant him peace” is an addition in (A) and (B). (10) (A) and (B) read: *alayhā* (“upon it,” feminine).

خَارِجُونَ عَنِ الْفِرْقَةِ النَّاجِيَةِ، فَإِنَّهُمْ خَارِجُونَ عَنْ جَمَاعَةِ الْمُسْلِمِينَ: يُكَفِّرُونَ أَوْ يُفَسِّقُونَ (* أَئِمَّةَ (١) . الْجَمَاعَةِ كَأَبِي بَكْرٍ وَعُمَرَ وَعُثْمَانَ، دَعْ مُعَاوِيَةَ وَمُلُوكَ بَنِي أُمَيَّةَ وَبَنِي الْعَبَّاسِ، وَكَذَلِكَ يُكَفِّرُونَ أَوْ يُفَسِّقُونَ *) (٢) . عُلَمَاءَ الْجَمَاعَةِ وَعُبَّادَهُمْ، كَمَالِكٍ وَالثَّوْرِيِّ وَالْأَوْزَاعِيِّ وَاللَّيْثِ بْنِ سَعْدٍ وَأَبِي حَنِيفَةَ وَالشَّافِعِيِّ وَأَحْمَدَ (٣) . وَإِسْحَقَ وَأَبِي عُبَيْدٍ وَإِبْرَاهِيمَ بْنِ أَدْهَمَ وَالْفُضَيْلِ بْنِ عِيَاضٍ وَأَبِي سُلَيْمَانَ الدَّارَانِيِّ وَمَعْرُوفٍ الْكَرْخِيِّ وَأَمْثَالِ هَؤُلَاءِ، وَهُمْ أَبْعَدُ النَّاسِ عَنْ مَعْرِفَةِ سِيَرِ الصَّحَابَةِ وَالِاقْتِدَاءِ بِهِمْ، لَا فِي حَيَاةِ النَّبِيِّ - صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ - وَلَا بَعْدَهُ، فَإِنَّ (٤) . هَذَا إِنَّمَا يَعْرِفُهُ أَهْلُ (٥) . الْعِلْمِ بِالْحَدِيثِ وَالْمَنْقُولَاتِ، وَالْمَعْرِفَةِ بِالرِّجَالِ (٦) . الضُّعَفَاءِ وَالثِّقَاتِ، وَهُمْ مِنْ أَعْظَمِ (٧) . النَّاسِ جَهْلًا بِالْحَدِيثِ وَبُغْضًا لَهُ (٨) .، وَمُعَادَاةً لِأَهْلِهِ، فَإِذَا كَانَ وَصْفُ الْفِرْقَةِ النَّاجِيَةِ أَتْبَاعَ الصَّحَابَةِ عَلَى عَهْدِ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ - صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ - وَذَلِكَ شِعَارُ السُّنَّةِ وَالْجَمَاعَةِ - كَانَتِ الْفِرْقَةُ النَّاجِيَةُ هُمْ أَهْلَ السُّنَّةِ وَالْجَمَاعَةِ، فَالسُّنَّةُ مَا كَانَ [صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ] (٩) . هُوَ وَأَصْحَابُهُ عَلَيْهِ (١٠) .

(١) ن، و، هـ، ر، ص: لِأَئِمَّةِ (٢) مَا بَيْنَ النَّجْمَتَيْنِ سَاقِطٌ مِنْ (م) (٣) وَأَحْمَدَ: سَاقِطَةٌ مِنْ (ن) (٤) أ: لَا فِي حَيَاةِ النَّبِيِّ - صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ - فَإِنَّ ; ب: فِي حَيَاةِ النَّبِيِّ - صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ - فَإِنَّ (٥) أ، ب: فَإِنَّ هَذَا لَا يَعْرِفُهُ إِلَّا أَهْلُ (٦) أ، ب: بِأَخْبَارِ (٧) و: أَشَدِّ (٨) أ: بَعْضًا لَهُ، ب: بُغْضًا لَهُ (٩) صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: زِيَادَةٌ فِي (أ) ، (ب) (١٠) أ، ب: عَلَيْهَا.