Minhaj as-Sunnah - Ibn Taimiya - (4/109)

Minhaj as-SunnahIbn Taimiya

all people; rather, He appointed him [so that] (1) all people were required to follow him, whether they obeyed him or disobeyed him.

Thus, in their imamate (2) in religion, these men are on a par (3) with their peers. Ahl al-Sunnah therefore acknowledge their imamate in those matters in which the Sharia indicates that they should be followed, (* and acknowledge imamate wherever it is possible to follow them ) (4). This same status applies to their peers, such as Abū Bakr, Umar, Uthmān, Ibn Mas'ūd, Ubayy ibn Ka'b, Mu'ādh, Abū al-Dardā', and others like them from among the first and foremost; and such figures as Sa'īd ibn al-Musayyib, Sulaymān ibn Yasār, Ubayd Allah ibn Abd Allah, Urwa ibn al-Zubayr, al-Qāsim ibn Muhammad, Abū Bakr ibn Abd al-Rahmān, and Khārija ibn Zayd. These are (5) the jurists of Medina ( the seven of whom it was said:

If asked, “Who are the seven seas of learning?”—
A truthful statement (6), never departing from the truth—
Then say: “Ubayd Allah, Urwa, Qāsim;
Sa'īd, Abū Bakr, Sulaymān, and Khārija.”
*) (7)

Likewise, Alqama, al-Aswad ibn Yazīd (8), Usāma (9), Muhammad ibn Sīrīn, al-Hasan al-Basrī, Sālim ibn Abd Allah ibn Umar, and such figures as Hishām ibn Urwa,

(1) “so that”: only in (A) and (B). (2) (A) and (B) read: “Thus, these are the Imāmiyya”; (W): “Thus, these are within the Muslim community.” (3) (N) reads: “equal.” (4) Omitted from (A) and (B). (5) The pronoun “they” is omitted from (A), (B), and (W). (6) The word “truth” is omitted from (R). (7) The text between the asterisks appears only in (S) and (R). In (N), (M), (W), and (H), only the word “seven” appears; this word is also omitted from (A) and (B). (8) (A) and (B) read: “and al-Aswad ibn Zayd.” (9) “and Usāma” is an addition in (A) and (B).

بِهِ جَمِيعَ النَّاسِ، بَلْ جَعَلَهُ [بِحَيْثُ] (١) يَجِبُ عَلَى النَّاسِ اتِّبَاعُهُ، سَوَاءٌ أَطَاعُوهُ أَمْ عَصَوْهُ. فَهَؤُلَاءِ فِي الْإِمَامَةِ (٢) فِي الدِّينِ أُسْوَةٌ (٣) أَمْثَالُهُمْ، فَأَهْلُ السُّنَّةِ مُقِرُّونَ بِإِمَامَةِ هَؤُلَاءِ فِيمَا دَلَّتِ الشَّرِيعَةُ عَلَى الِائْتِمَامِ بِهِمْ فِيهِ، (* وَعَلَى الْإِمَامَةِ فِيمَا يُمْكِنُ الِائْتِمَامُ بِهِمْ فِيهِ *) (٤) ، كَمَا أَنَّ هَذَا الْحُكْمَ ثَابِتٌ لِأَمْثَالِهِمْ مِثْلِ أَبِي بَكْرٍ، وَعُمَرَ وَعُثْمَانَ، وَابْنِ مَسْعُودٍ، وَأُبَيِّ بْنِ كَعْبٍ، وَمُعَاذٍ، وَأَبِي الدَّرْدَاءِ وَأَمْثَالِهِمْ مِنَ السَّابِقِينَ الْأَوَّلِينَ، وَمِثْلِ سَعِيدِ بْنِ الْمُسَيَّبِ، وَسُلَيْمَانَ بْنِ يَسَارٍ، وَعُبَيْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ، وَعُرْوَةَ بْنِ الزُّبَيْرِ، وَالْقَاسِمِ بْنِ مُحَمَّدٍ، وَأَبِي بَكْرِ بْنِ عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ، وَخَارِجَةَ بْنِ زَيْدٍ. وَهَؤُلَاءِ هُمْ (٥) فُقَهَاءُ الْمَدِينَةِ (* السَّبْعَةُ الَّذِينَ قِيلَ فِيهِمْ: إِذَا قِيلَ مَنْ فِي الْعِلْمِ سَبْعَةُ أَبْحُرٍ ... مَقَالَةَ حَقٍّ (٦) لَيْسَتْ عَنِ الْحَقِّ خَارِجَهْ فَقُلْ هُمْ عُبَيْدُ اللَّهِ عُرْوَةُ قَاسِمٌ ... سَعِيدٌ أَبُو بَكْرٍ سُلَيْمَانُ خَارِجَهْ *) (٧) . وَمِثْلِ عَلْقَمَةَ، وَالْأَسْوَدِ بْنِ يَزِيدَ (٨) وَأُسَامَةَ (٩) وَمُحَمَّدِ بْنِ سِيرِينَ، وَالْحَسَنِ الْبَصْرِيِّ، وَمِثْلِ سَالِمِ بْنِ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ عُمَرَ، وَمِثْلِ هِشَامِ بْنِ عُرْوَةَ

(١) بِحَيْثُ: فِي (أ) ، (ب) فَقَطْ. (٢) أ، ب: فَهَؤُلَاءِ الْإِمَامِيَّةُ، و: فَهَؤُلَاءِ فِي الْأُمَّةِ. (٣) ن: سَوَاءٌ. (٤) سَاقِطٌ مِنْ (أ) ، (ب) . (٥) هُمْ: سَاقِطَةٌ مِنْ (أ) ، (ب) ، (و) . (٦) حَقٍّ: سَاقِطَةٌ مِنْ (ر) . (٧) مَا بَيْنَ النَّجْمَتَيْنِ فِي (ص) ، (ر) فَقَطْ. وَلَا يُوجَدُ إِلَّا كَلِمَةُ " السَّبْعَةِ " فِي (ن) ، (م) ، (و) ، (هـ) . وَسَقَطَتْ هَذِهِ الْكَلِمَةُ أَيْضًا مِنْ (أ) ، (ب) . (٨) أ، ب: وَالْأَسْوَدِ بْنِ زَيْدٍ. (٩) وَأُسَامَةَ: زِيَادَةٌ فِي (أ) ، (ب) .