Minhaj as-Sunnah - Ibn Taimiya - (4/516)

Minhaj as-SunnahIbn Taimiya

or more—did not pledge allegiance to him. Neither Saʿd ibn Abī Waqqās, Ibn ʿUmar, nor others pledged allegiance to him.

It may also be said, twelfth: Your statement, “He took his place,” is a lie. Muʿāwiya did not initially seek the caliphate for himself, nor did he go to ʿAlī to remove him from (1) his rule. Rather, he and his companions refrained (2) from pledging allegiance to him, and he remained as he had been, governing those whom he had governed (3) during the time of ʿUmar and ʿUthmān. When the two arbiters issued their ruling, he held authority only over his own subjects.

If what is meant by his taking ʿAlī’s place is that he exercised exclusive authority, independently of him, in those lands, then this is correct. Muʿāwiya—may Allah be pleased with him—says: “I did not dispute with him over anything that was in his possession, nor had anything been established to me that would require me to enter (4) into obedience to him.”

Whether this statement was true or false, it does not entail that the one who made it was worse than Iblīs. Whoever regards the Companions of the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—as worse than Iblīs has left no conceivable limit unreached in fabricating lies against Allah, His Messenger, and the believers, and in assailing the best of generations (5) in a matter such as this.

“Allah will surely support His messengers and those who believe during the life of this world and on the Day when the witnesses will stand.” When caprice carries a person to such an extreme, it takes him beyond the bounds of reason, let alone knowledge and religion. We therefore ask Allah for protection from every affliction. Indeed, Allah has surely taken it upon Himself to humble the proponents of such

(1) A, B: “from.” (2) A, B: “from.” (3) The passage between markers 2–2 is absent from S and B. R reads: “as he had been.” (4) W: “entering.” (5) N, M: “against the best of the factions”; H, W: “against the finest of generations.”

أَوْ أَكْثَرُ لَمْ يُبَايِعُوهُ، وَلَمْ يُبَايِعْهُ سَعْدُ بْنُ أَبِي وَقَّاصٍ وَلَا ابْنُ عُمَرَ وَلَا غَيْرُهُمَا. وَيُقَالُ: ثَانِي عَشَرَ: قَوْلُكُمْ: " إِنَّهُ جَلَسَ مَكَانَهُ " . كَذِبٌ ; فَإِنَّ مُعَاوِيَةَ لَمْ يَطْلُبِ الْأَمْرَ لِنَفْسِهِ ابْتِدَاءً، وَلَا ذَهَبَ إِلَى عَلِيٍّ لِيَنْزِعَهُ عَنْ (١) إِمَارَتِهِ، وَلَكِنِ امْتَنَعَ هُوَ وَأَصْحَابُهُ عَنْ (٢) مُبَايَعَتِهِ، وَبَقِيَ عَلَى مَا كَانَ عَلَيْهِ وَالِيًا عَلَى مَنْ كَانَ وَالِيًا عَلَيْهِ (٣) فِي زَمَنِ عُمَرَ وَعُثْمَانَ. وَلَمَّا جَرَى حُكْمُ الْحَكَمَيْنِ إِنَّمَا كَانَ مُتَوَلِّيًا عَلَى رَعِيَّتِهِ فَقَطْ. فَإِنْ أُرِيدَ بِجُلُوسِهِ فِي مَكَانِهِ أَنَّهُ اسْتَبَدَّ بِالْأَمْرِ دُونَهُ فِي تِلْكَ الْبِلَادِ، فَهَذَا صَحِيحٌ، لَكِنَّ مُعَاوِيَةَ - رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ - يَقُولُ: إِنِّي لَمْ أُنَازِعْهُ شَيْئًا هُوَ فِي يَدِهِ، وَلَمْ يَثْبُتْ عِنْدِي مَا يُوجِبُ عَلَيَّ دُخُولِي (٤) فِي طَاعَتِهِ. وَهَذَا الْكَلَامُ سَوَاءٌ كَانَ حَقًّا أَوْ بَاطِلًا لَا يُوجِبُ كَوْنَ صَاحِبِهِ شَرًّا مِنْ إِبْلِيسَ، وَمَنْ جَعَلَ أَصْحَابَ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ - صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ - شَرًّا مِنْ إِبْلِيسَ، فَمَا أَبْقَى غَايَةً فِي الِافْتِرَاءِ عَلَى اللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ وَالْمُؤْمِنِينَ، وَالْعُدْوَانِ عَلَى خَيْرِ الْقُرُونِ (٥) فِي مِثْلِ هَذَا الْمَقَامِ، وَاللَّهُ يَنْصُرُ رُسُلَهُ وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا فِي الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا وَيَوْمَ يَقُومُ الْأَشْهَادُ، وَالْهَوَى إِذَا بَلَغَ بِصَاحِبِهِ إِلَى هَذَا الْحَدِّ فَقَدْ أَخْرَجَ صَاحِبَهُ عَنْ رِبْقَةِ الْعَقْلِ، فَضْلًا عَنِ الْعِلْمِ وَالدِّينِ، فَنَسْأَلُ اللَّهَ الْعَافِيَةَ مِنْ كُلِّ بَلِيَّةٍ، وَإِنَّ حَقًّا عَلَى اللَّهِ أَنْ يُذِلَّ أَصْحَابَ مِثْلِ هَذَا

(١) أ، ب: مِنْ. (٢) أ، ب: مِنْ. (٣) (٢ - ٢) : سَاقِطٌ مِنْ (ص) ، (ب) . وَفِي (ر) : عَلَى مَا كَانَ عَلَيْهِ. (٤) و: دُخُولًا. (٥) ن، م: عَلَى خَيْرِ الْفِرَقِ ; هـ، و: عَلَى خِيَارِ الْقُرُونِ.