Minhaj as-Sunnah - Ibn Taimiya - (5/299)

Minhaj as-SunnahIbn Taimiya

him and grant him peace—concerning the sun and moon:

“They are two of Allah’s signs by which Allah warns His servants.” (1)

Allah Most High has also said:

“We send signs only as a warning.”

[Surah al-Isrā’: 59]

The signs by which Allah warns His servants (2) may occasion a calamity that befalls people. Whoever fears Allah by doing what He has commanded will be protected from that calamity. If these signs had no reality whatsoever, no one would be afraid once he knew that there was no underlying harm. The warning would then affect only the dull-witted ignorant person (3), just as children are frightened by phantoms.

Allah Most High has also said:

“By this Allah warns His servants: ‘O My servants, fear Me!’”

[Surah al-Zumar: 16]

Thus, He warned His servants without qualification and commanded them to fear Him, lest He bring down that which they were warned to fear. He sent the messengers as bearers of glad tidings and as warners, and warning means informing people of something that is to be feared. The things warned of have indeed occurred in this world, and Allah has punished many nations for their sins, as He has related in His Book and as has been witnessed through His signs. He has also informed us, in more than one passage of the Quran, that the people of the Fire will enter the Fire.

Allah Most High said:

“Of all His servants, only those endowed with knowledge truly fear Allah.”

[Surah Fātir: 28]

If the matter were as the ignorant person imagines, then the only ones among His servants who would fear Him would be the ignorant—those who

(1) The hadith is narrated with similar wording from Abū Bakra and Abū Masūd al-Ansārī—may Allah be pleased with them both—in al-Bukhārī, 2/36, Book of Eclipses, chapter “Allah Warns His Servants through an Eclipse”; and Muslim, 2/628, Book of Eclipses, chapter “The Call to the Eclipse Prayer.” Reports conveying the same meaning concerning eclipses are also narrated from several Companions, with varying wordings, in both al-Bukhārī and Muslim, elsewhere in al-Bukhārī, and in the Sunan collections of Abū Dāwūd, al-Nasā’ī, and Ibn Mājah, as well as al-Dārimī, al-Musnad, and al-Muwatta’. (2) “His servants” is added in (H) and (B). (3) Lisān al-Arab defines al-fadm, when used of a person, as someone unable to formulate an argument or speak properly because of dullness, sluggishness, and poor understanding.

عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ - فِي الشَّمْسِ وَالْقَمَرِ: " «إِنَّهُمَا آيَتَانِ مِنْ آيَاتِ اللَّهِ يُخَوِّفُ اللَّهُ بِهِمَا عِبَادَهُ» " (١) . وَقَدْ قَالَ تَعَالَى: {وَمَا نُرْسِلُ بِالْآيَاتِ إِلَّا تَخْوِيفًا} [سُورَةُ الْإِسْرَاءِ: ٥٩] وَالْآيَاتُ الَّتِي خَوَّفَ اللَّهُ بِهَا عِبَادَهُ (٢) تَكُونُ سَبَبًا فِي شَرٍّ يَنْزِلُ بِالنَّاسِ، فَمَنِ اتَّقَى اللَّهَ بِفِعْلِ مَا أَمَرَ بِهِ وُقِيَ ذَلِكَ الشَّرَّ. وَلَوْ كَانَ مِمَّا لَا حَقِيقَةَ لَهُ أَصْلًا لَمْ يَخَفْ أَحَدٌ إِذَا عَلِمَ أَنَّهُ لَا شَرَّ فِي الْبَاطِنِ، وَإِنَّمَا يَبْقَى التَّخْوِيفُ لِلْجَاهِلِ الْفَدْمِ (٣) كَمَا يَفْزَعُ الصِّبْيَانُ بِالْخَيَالِ. وَقَدْ قَالَ - تَعَالَى -: {ذَلِكَ يُخَوِّفُ اللَّهُ بِهِ عِبَادَهُ يَاعِبَادِ فَاتَّقُونِ} [سُورَةُ الزُّمَرِ: ١٦] فَخَوَّفَ الْعِبَادَ مُطْلَقًا، وَأَمْرَهُمْ بِتَقْوَاهُ، لِئَلَّا يُنْزِلَ الْمُخَوِّفَ، وَأَرْسَلَ الرُّسُلَ مُبَشِّرِينَ وَمُنْذِرِينَ، وَالْإِنْذَارُ هُوَ الْإِعْلَامُ بِمَا يُخَافُ مِنْهُ، وَقَدْ وُجِدَتِ الْمُخَوِّفَاتُ فِي الدُّنْيَا، وَعَاقَبَ اللَّهُ عَلَى الذُّنُوبِ أُمَمًا كَثِيرَةً، كَمَا قَصَّهُ فِي كِتَابِهِ، وَكَمَا شُوهِدَ مِنَ الْآيَاتِ، وَأَخْبَرَ عَنْ دُخُولِ أَهْلِ النَّارِ النَّارَ فِي غَيْرِ مَوْضِعٍ مِنَ الْقُرْآنِ. وَقَالَ - تَعَالَى -: {إِنَّمَا يَخْشَى اللَّهَ مِنْ عِبَادِهِ الْعُلَمَاءُ} [سُورَةُ فَاطِرٍ: ٢٨] وَلَوْ كَانَ الْأَمْرُ كَمَا يَتَوَهَّمُهُ الْجَاهِلُ لَكَانَ إِنَّمَا يَخْشَاهُ مِنْ عِبَادِهِ الْجُهَّالُ الَّذِينَ

(١) الْحَدِيثُ بِلَفْظٍ مُقَارِبٍ عَنْ أَبِي بَكْرَةَ، وَأَبِي مَسْعُودٍ الْأَنْصَارِيِّ - رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُمَا - فِي: الْبُخَارِيِّ ٢/٣٦ كِتَابُ الْكُسُوفِ بَابُ يُخَوِّفُ اللَّهُ عِبَادَهُ بِالْكُسُوفِ، مُسْلِمٍ ٢/٦٢٨ كِتَابُ الْكُسُوفِ، بَابُ ذِكْرِ النِّدَاءِ بِصَلَاةِ الْكُسُوفِ، وَجَاءَ الْحَدِيثُ بِمَعْنَاهُ عَنْ عَدَدٍ مِنَ الصَّحَابَةِ وَبِأَلْفَاظٍ مُخْتَلِفَةٍ فِي الْكُسُوفِ فِي كُلٍّ مِنَ الْبُخَارِيِّ وَمُسْلِمٍ، وَفِي مَوَاضِعَ أُخْرَى فِي الْبُخَارِيِّ، وَفِي سُنَنِ أَبِي دَاوُدَ وَالنَّسَائِيِّ وَابْنِ مَاجَهْ وَالدَّارِمِيِّ وَالْمُسْنَدِ وَالْمُوَطَّأِ. (٢) عِبَادَهُ: زِيَادَةٌ فِي (ح) ، (ب) . (٣) فِي اللِّسَانِ: الْفَدْمُ مِنَ النَّاسِ: الْعَيِيُّ عَنِ الْحُجَّةِ وَالْكَلَامُ مَعَ ثِقَلٍ وَرَخَاوَةٍ وَقِلَّةِ فَهْمٍ.