Minhaj as-Sunnah - Ibn Taimiya - (1/276)

Minhaj as-SunnahIbn Taimiya

Allah is the Creator of all things [and their Sovereign] (1), that Allah created the heavens and the earth in six days, and that He created the heavens, the earth, and all that lies between them; thus, [these] (2) created things came into existence after not having existed.

This being so, we know what the prophets and the overwhelming majority of rational thinkers intended by these expressions. We thereby (3) also learn that whoever intends by them something other than this meaning does not agree with what they intended. If he then claims that they intended the same as he does—namely, that they are inseparable from the Lord from eternity and will remain so forever—it is known that he is plainly lying about the prophets and the overwhelming majority (4) of rational thinkers.

They do the same with the term (origination). The meaning of origination is understood by learned and ordinary people alike and is recurrently attested in every language. Yet these people devised an unprecedented convention (5) of their own, saying:

“Origination is used in two senses. The first is temporal: it means that a thing comes into existence after having had no existence at an earlier time.

“The second is that a thing does not depend upon itself (6), but upon something else, whether that dependence is confined to a particular time or continues throughout [all] (7) time.”

They say, “This is origination (8) in the intrinsic sense.”

(1) “And their Sovereign” is added in A and B. (2) “These” is added in A and B. (3) A and B read: “and our basis for this.” (4) N and M read: “and the majority of.” (5) N reads: “as a term”; M: “as a description.” (6) B reads: “that the thing has no basis of dependence in itself,” with *mustanadun* in the nominative; A has the same wording, but with *mustanadan* in the accusative. (7) “All” is omitted in N and M. (8) N and M read: “the originated entity.”

اللَّهَ خَالِقُ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ، [وَمَلِيكُهُ] (١) ، وَأَنَّ اللَّهَ خَلَقَ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ فِي سِتَّةِ أَيَّامٍ، وَأَنَّهُ خَلَقَ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ، وَمَا بَيْنَهُمَا، فَحَدَثَتْ [هَذِهِ] (٢) الْمَخْلُوقَاتُ بَعْدَ أَنْ لَمْ تَكُنْ. وَإِذَا كَانَ كَذَلِكَ حَصَلَ لَنَا عِلْمٌ بِمُرَادِ الْأَنْبِيَاءِ وَجَمَاهِيرِ الْعُقَلَاءِ بِهَذِهِ الْعِبَارَاتِ، وَاسْتَفَدْنَا بِذَلِكَ (٣) أَنَّ مَنْ قَصَدَ بِهَا غَيْرَ هَذَا الْمَعْنَى لَمْ يَكُنْ مُوَافِقًا لَهُمْ فِي الْمُرَادِ بِهَا، فَإِذَا ادَّعَى أَنَّ مُرَادَهُمْ هُوَ مُرَادُهُ فِي كَوْنِهَا مُلَازِمَةً لِلرَّبِّ أَزَلًا وَأَبَدًا، عُلِمَ أَنَّهُ كَاذِبٌ عَلَى الْأَنْبِيَاءِ وَجَمَاهِيرِ (٤) الْعُقَلَاءِ كَذِبًا صَرِيحًا. كَمَا يَصْنَعُونَ مِثْلَ ذَلِكَ فِي لَفْظِ (الْإِحْدَاثِ) ، فَإِنَّ الْإِحْدَاثَ مَعْنَاهُ مَعْقُولٌ عِنْدَ الْخَاصَّةِ وَالْعَامَّةِ، وَهُوَ مِمَّا تَوَاتَرَ مَعْنَاهُ فِي اللُّغَاتِ كُلِّهَا، وَهَؤُلَاءِ جَعَلُوا لَهُمْ وَضْعًا (٥) مُبْتَدَعًا، فَقَالُوا: الْحُدُوثُ يُقَالُ: عَلَى وَجْهَيْنِ: أَحَدُهُمَا: زَمَانِيٌّ، وَمَعْنَاهُ حُصُولُ الشَّيْءِ بَعْدَ أَنْ لَمْ يَكُنْ لَهُ وُجُودٌ فِي زَمَانٍ سَابِقٍ، وَالثَّانِي: أَنْ لَا يَكُونَ الشَّيْءُ مُسْتَنِدًا إِلَى ذَاتِهِ (٦) ، بَلْ إِلَى غَيْرِهِ سَوَاءٌ كَانَ ذَلِكَ الِاسْتِنَادُ مَخْصُوصًا بِزَمَانٍ مُعَيَّنٍ، أَوْ كَانَ مُسْتَمِرًّا فِي [كُلِّ] (٧) الزَّمَانِ قَالُوا: وَهَذَا هُوَ الْحُدُوثُ (٨) الذَّاتِيُّ.

(١) وَمَلِيكُهُ: زِيَادَةٌ فِي (أ) ، (ب) . (٢) هَذِهِ: زِيَادَةٌ فِي (أ) ، (ب) . (٣) أ، ب: وَمُسْتَنَدُنَا لِذَلِكَ. (٤) ن، م: وَجُمْهُورِ (٥) ن: لَفْظًا ; م: وَصْفًا. (٦) ب: أَنْ لَا يَكُونَ لِلشَّيْءِ مُسْتَنَدٌ إِلَى ذَاتِهِ ; أ: أَنْ لَا يَكُونَ لِلشَّيْءِ مُسْتَنَدًا إِلَى ذَاتِهِ. (٧) كُلِّ: سَاقِطَةٌ مِنْ (ن) ، (م) . (٨) ن، م: الْحَادِثُ.