Minhaj as-Sunnah - Ibn Taimiya - (4/448)

Minhaj as-SunnahIbn Taimiya

Abu Abd Allah ibn Hāmid related these three views from the companions of Ahmad and others.

Among them are those who say:

“The correct course would have been for no fighting to take place, and refraining from fighting would have been better for both sides. There was nothing right about engaging in battle. However, Alī was closer to the truth than Muāwiya. The fighting was a conflict born of civil strife; it was neither obligatory nor recommended. Refraining from fighting would have been better for both sides, even though Alī had the stronger claim to the truth.”

This is the view of Ahmad, most hadith scholars, and most of the leading (1) jurists. It is also the view of the leading Companions and the Followers [who followed them in excellence] (2). It was the view of Imrān ibn Husayn—may Allah be pleased with him—who used to forbid the sale of weapons for that fighting, saying, “It is the sale of weapons amid civil strife.” It was likewise the view of Usāma ibn Zayd, Muhammad ibn Maslama, Ibn Umar, Sad ibn Abī Waqqās, and most of the surviving forerunners [the first] among the Emigrants (3) and the Helpers—may Allah be pleased with them.

For this reason, one of the positions (4) of Ahl al-Sunnah was to refrain from discussing the disputes that arose among the Companions,

(1) N, M, and W read: “and many of the leading jurists.” (2) “Who followed them in excellence” is omitted from N and M. Ibn Tāhir al-Baghdādī states in *Usūl al-Dīn* (*Foundations of Religion*), p. 289: “Our scholars (the Asharīs) unanimously agreed that Alī—may Allah be pleased with him—was in the right when fighting those at the Battle of the Camel and Muāwiya’s supporters at Siffīn. They held that those who fought him at Basra were in error.” He then states (p. 290): “Most of the Karrāmiyya held that both sides were in the right on the day of the Battle of the Camel. Others among them held that Alī was right to fight the people of the Camel and the people of Siffīn, although it would have been preferable and better had he reached a settlement with them on terms more lenient toward them.” (3) N and M read: “the forerunners and the Emigrants”; W reads: “the earliest Followers among the Emigrants.” (4) A and B read: “part of the doctrine of.”

وَقَدْ حَكَى هَذِهِ الْأَقْوَالَ الثَّلَاثَةَ أَبُو عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنُ حَامِدٍ عَنْ أَصْحَابِ أَحْمَدَ وَغَيْرِهِمْ. وَمِنْهُمْ مَنْ يَقُولُ: كَانَ الصَّوَابُ أَنْ لَا يَكُونَ قِتَالٌ، وَكَانَ تَرْكُ الْقِتَالِ خَيْرًا لِلطَّائِفَتَيْنِ، فَلَيْسَ فِي الِاقْتِتَالِ صَوَابٌ، وَلَكِنْ عَلِيٌّ كَانَ أَقْرَبَ إِلَى الْحَقِّ مِنْ مُعَاوِيَةَ، وَالْقِتَالُ قِتَالُ فِتْنَةٍ لَيْسَ بِوَاجِبٍ وَلَا مُسْتَحَبٍّ، وَكَانَ تَرْكُ الْقِتَالِ خَيْرًا لِلطَّائِفَتَيْنِ، مَعَ أَنَّ عَلِيًّا كَانَ أَوْلَى بِالْحَقِّ. وَهَذَا هُوَ قَوْلُ أَحْمَدَ وَأَكْثَرِ أَهْلِ الْحَدِيثِ وَأَكْثَرِ أَئِمَّةِ (١) الْفُقَهَاءِ، وَهُوَ قَوْلُ أَكَابِرِ الصَّحَابَةِ وَالتَّابِعِينَ [لَهُمْ بِإِحْسَانٍ] (٢) ، وَهُوَ قَوْلُ عِمْرَانَ بْنِ حُصَيْنٍ - رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ -، وَكَانَ يَنْهَى عَنْ بَيْعِ السِّلَاحِ فِي ذَلِكَ الْقِتَالِ، وَيَقُولُ: هُوَ بَيْعُ السِّلَاحِ فِي الْفِتْنَةِ، وَهُوَ قَوْلُ أُسَامَةَ بْنِ زَيْدٍ، وَمُحَمَّدِ بْنِ مَسْلَمَةَ، وَابْنِ عُمَرَ، وَسَعْدِ بْنِ أَبِي وَقَّاصٍ، وَأَكْثَرِ مَنْ بَقِيَ مِنَ السَّابِقِينَ [الْأَوَّلِينَ] مِنَ الْمُهَاجِرِينَ (٣) وَالْأَنْصَارِ - رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُمْ -. وَلِهَذَا كَانَ مِنْ مَذَاهِبِ (٤) أَهْلِ السُّنَّةِ الْإِمْسَاكُ عَمَّا شَجَرَ بَيْنَ الصَّحَابَةِ،

(١) ن، م، و: وَكَثِيرٍ مِنْ أَئِمَّةِ. . (٢) لَهُمْ بِإِحْسَانٍ: لَيْسَتْ فِي (ن) ، (م) . وَذَكَرَ ابْنُ طَاهِرٍ الْبَغْدَادِيُّ فِي كِتَابِهِ " أُصُولِ الدِّينِ " ص ٢٨٩: " أَجْمَعَ أَصْحَابُنَا (الْأَشَاعِرَةُ) عَلَى أَنَّ عَلِيًّا - رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ - كَانَ مُصِيبًا فِي قِتَالِ أَصْحَابِ الْجَمَلِ وَفِي قِتَالِ أَصْحَابِ مُعَاوِيَةَ بِصِفِّينَ، وَقَالُوا فِي الَّذِينَ قَاتَلُوهُ بِالْبَصْرَةِ إِنَّهُمْ كَانُوا عَلَى الْخَطَأِ " ثُمَّ قَالَ (ص ٢٩٠) : وَقَالَ أَكْثَرُ الْكَرَّامِيَّةِ بِتَصْوِيبِ الْفَرِيقَيْنِ يَوْمَ الْجَمَلِ، وَقَالَ آخَرُونَ مِنْهُمْ إِنَّ عَلِيًّا أَصَابَ فِي مُحَارَبَةِ أَهْلِ الْجَمَلِ وَأَهْلِ صِفِّينَ، وَلَوْ صَالَحَهُمْ عَلَى شَيْءٍ أَرْفَقَ بِهِمْ لَكَانَ أَوْلَى وَأَفْضَلَ ". (٣) ن، م: السَّابِقِينَ وَالْمُهَاجِرِينَ ; و: التَّابِعِينَ الْأَوَّلِينَ مِنَ الْمُهَاجِرِينَ. . (٤) أ، ب: مِنْ مَذْهَبِ.