Minhaj as-Sunnah - Ibn Taimiya - (5/290)

Minhaj as-SunnahIbn Taimiya

Would any Muslim say that highway robbers who shed people’s blood and seize their property have feared Allah as He deserves to be feared merely because they did not commit shirk, or that those who engage in indecency, drink wine, and wrong others have feared Allah as He deserves to be feared?

The early Muslims—including Ibn Masūd (1) and others such as al-Hasan, Ikrima, Qatāda, and Muqātil—said:

“To fear Him as He deserves is to obey Him and not disobey Him, to show gratitude to Him and not be ungrateful to Him, and to remember Him and not forget Him.” (2)

Some narrate this from Ibn Masūd, from the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace.

In al-Wālibī’s Tafsīr, Ibn Abbās is reported to have said: “It means that the servant should strive for Allah as He deserves, that no critic’s reproach should deter him regarding Allah, and that they should uphold justice for His sake, even against themselves, their fathers, and their sons.” (3)

In another verse (4), Allah says:

“So fear Allah as much as you are able.”

[Surah al-Taghābun: 16]

This verse explains the former. When some of the early Muslims said that it abrogated the former verse, they meant that it dispelled the impression that fearing Allah as He deserves requires something beyond human ability. Allah never commanded that. Whoever claims that Allah commanded it is mistaken.

In the usage of the early Muslims, the term “abrogation” encompassed anything involving some form of setting aside a ruling, an apparent sense, or a meaning initially thought to be indicated. They would therefore call the specification of a general text “abrogation” (5); some of them would even call an exception “abrogation” if it was revealed later.

(1) N and M read: “Ibn Masūd said”; A reads: “The early authority Ibn Masūd said.” (2) N and M read: “to remember Him and not forget Him, and to show gratitude to Him and not be ungrateful to Him.” (3) Ibn Kathīr cited these statements in his Tafsīr, 2/72. (4) B alone reads: “And in a verse.” (5) Manuscript A ends at the phrase “the specification of a general text,” with the word naskhan (“abrogation”) appearing at the bottom of the page, as I noted in the introduction.

أَفَيَقُولُ مُسْلِمٌ: إِنَّ قُطَّاعَ الطَّرِيقِ الَّذِينَ يَسْفِكُونَ دِمَاءَ النَّاسِ وَيَأْخُذُونَ أَمْوَالَهُمُ اتَّقَوُا اللَّهَ حَقَّ تُقَاتِهِ لِكَوْنِهِمْ لَمْ يُشْرِكُوا، وَإِنَّ أَهْلَ الْفَوَاحِشِ وَشُرْبِ الْخَمْرِ وَظُلْمِ النَّاسِ اتَّقَوُا اللَّهَ حَقَّ تُقَاتِهِ؟ . وَقَدْ قَالَ السَّلَفُ: ابْنُ مَسْعُودٍ (١) وَغَيْرُهُ: كَالْحَسَنِ، وَعِكْرِمَةَ، وَقَتَادَةَ، وَمُقَاتِلٍ: " حَقَّ تُقَاتِهِ أَنْ يُطَاعَ فَلَا يُعْصَى، وَأَنْ يُشْكَرَ فَلَا يُكْفَرُ، وَأَنْ يُذْكَرَ فَلَا يُنْسَى " (٢) . وَبَعْضُهُمْ يَرْوِيهِ عَنِ ابْنِ مَسْعُودٍ عَنِ النَّبِيِّ - صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ -. وَفِي تَفْسِيرِ الْوَالِبِيِّ عَنِ ابْنِ عَبَّاسٍ قَالَ: هُوَ أَنْ يُجَاهِدَ الْعَبْدُ فِي اللَّهِ حَقَّ جِهَادِهِ، وَأَنْ لَا تَأْخُذَهُ فِي اللَّهِ لَوْمَةُ لَائِمٍ، وَأَنْ يَقُومُوا لَهُ بِالْقِسْطِ وَلَوْ عَلَى أَنْفُسِهِمْ وَآبَائِهِمْ وَأَبْنَائِهِمْ (٣) . وَفِي الْآيَةِ (٤) أُخْرَى: {فَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ مَا اسْتَطَعْتُمْ} [سُورَةُ التَّغَابُنِ: ١٦] وَهَذِهِ مُفَسِّرَةٌ لِتِلْكَ. وَمَنْ قَالَ مِنَ السَّلَفِ هِيَ نَاسِخَةٌ لَهَا، فَمَعْنَاهُ أَنَّهَا رَافِعَةٌ لِمَا يُظَنُّ مِنْ أَنَّ الْمُرَادَ مِنْ حَقِّ تُقَاتِهِ: مَا يَعْجِزُ الْبَشَرُ عَنْهُ ; فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ لَمْ يَأْمُرْ بِهَذَا قَطُّ. وَمَنْ قَالَ إِنَّ اللَّهَ أَمَرَ بِهِ، فَقَدْ غَلِطَ. وَلَفْظُ النَّسْخِ فِي عُرْفِ السَّلَفِ يَدْخُلُ فِيهِ كُلُّ مَا فِيهِ نَوْعُ رَفْعٍ لِحُكْمٍ، أَوْ ظَاهِرٍ، أَوْ ظَنِّ دَلَالَةٍ حَتَّى يُسَمُّوا تَخْصِيصَ الْعَامِّ نَسْخًا (٥) ، وَمِنْهُمْ مَنْ يُسَمِّي الِاسْتِثْنَاءَ نَسْخًا إِذَا تَأَخَّرَ نُزُولُهُ.

(١) ن، م: وَقَالَ ابْنُ مَسْعُودٍ، أ: وَقَالَ السَّلَفُ ابْنُ مَسْعُودٍ (٢) ن، م: وَأَنْ يُذْكَرَ فَلَا يُنْسَى، وَأَنْ يُشْكَرَ فَلَا يُكْفَرُ (٣) أَوْرَدَ هَذِهِ الْعِبَارَاتِ ابْنُ كَثِيرٍ فِي تَفْسِيرِهِ ٢/٧٢ (٤) ب فَقَطْ: وَفِي آيَةٍ. (٥) عِنْد عِبَارَةِ تَخْصِيصِ الْعَامِّ وَفِي أَسْفَلِ الصَّفْحَةِ كَلِمَةُ نَسْخًا تَنْتَهِي نُسْخَةُ (أ) كَمَا أَشَرْتُ إِلَى ذَلِكَ فِي الْمُقَدِّمَةِ.