Minhaj as-Sunnah - Ibn Taimiya - (6/159)

Minhaj as-SunnahIbn Taimiya

As for his designation of the six, the matter was perfectly clear to him, for he knew that they were the people most entitled to this office.

[Response to the Rāfidī’s claim concerning Umar: “Then he continued reducing their number until he entrusted the choice to Abd al-Rahmān ibn Awf”]

As for his statement:

“He then reduced their number(1), confining the choice to four, then to three, and then to one. Thus, he entrusted Abd al-Rahmān ibn Awf with making the choice, after having described him as weak and deficient.”

The response(2) is as follows: First, anyone who adduces a report as evidence must first establish its authenticity(3). If someone says, “This report is not known to be authentic,” it cannot serve as evidence against him. The authentic report found in Sahīh al-Bukhārī and elsewhere contains none of this. Rather, it proves the opposite: the six themselves entrusted the matter to three, and those three then entrusted the choice to Abd al-Rahmān ibn Awf, who was one of them. Umar had no part in that decision.

In the authentic hadith narrated by Amr ibn Maymūn(4), when Umar ibn al-Khattāb was stabbed, he said(5): “The people are saying, ‘[Appoint a successor.]’ Yet the matter(6) rests with these six with whom the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—was pleased when he died: Ali, Uthmān, Talhah, al-Zubayr, Abd al-Rahmān ibn Awf, and Sa‘d ibn Mālik; and they shall be attended by

(1) (H), (M), (Y), and (B) read: “contradicted.” (2) “Thus, the response” is the reading in (B); all other manuscripts read: “And the response.” (3) (N) and (M) read: “clarify it.” (4) (N) and (M) read: “from Amr ibn Awf,” which is an error. The following passage, with some variation in wording, appears in Sahīh al-Bukhārī, 5/15–18 (Book of the Virtues of the Companions of the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—chapter: “The Merits of Uthmān: The Account of the Pledge and the Agreement upon Uthmān”). (5) The following passage, with some variation in wording, appears in Sahīh al-Bukhārī, 5/17. (6) (N) and (M) read: “They say that the matter…”

وَأَمَّا تَعْيِينُ السِّتَّةِ فَهُوَ عِنْدَهُ وَاضِحٌ بَيِّنٌ، لِعِلْمِهِ أَنَّهُمْ أَحَقُّ النَّاسِ بِهَذَا الْأَمْرِ. [الرد على قول الرافضي في عمر ثم ناقص حتى جعل الاختيار إلى عبد الرحمن بن عوف] وَأَمَّا قَوْلُهُ: " ثُمَّ نَاقَصَ (١) فَجَعَلَهَا فِي أَرْبَعَةٍ، ثُمَّ فِي ثَلَاثَةٍ، ثُمَّ فِي وَاحِدٍ، فَجَعَلَ إِلَى عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ بْنِ عَوْفٍ الِاخْتِيَارَ، بَعْدَ أَنْ وَصَفَهُ بِالضَّعْفِ وَالْقُصُورِ " . فَالْجَوَابُ (٢) : أَوَّلًا: أَنَّهُ يَنْبَغِي لِمَنِ احْتَجَّ بِالْمَنْقُولِ أَنْ يُثْبِتَهُ (٣) أَوَّلًا. وَإِذَا قَالَ الْقَائِلُ: هَذَا غَيْرُ مَعْلُومِ الصِّحَّةِ، لَمْ يَكُنْ عَلَيْهِ حُجَّةٌ. وَالنَّقْلُ الثَّابِتُ فِي صَحِيحِ الْبُخَارِيِّ وَغَيْرِهِ لَيْسَ فِيهِ شَيْءٌ مِنْ هَذَا، بَلْ هُوَ يَدُلُّ عَلَى نَقِيضِ هَذَا، وَأَنَّ السِّتَّةَ هُمُ الَّذِينَ جَعَلُوا الْأَمْرَ فِي ثَلَاثَةٍ، ثُمَّ الثَّلَاثَةُ جَعَلُوا الِاخْتِيَارَ إِلَى عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ بْنِ عَوْفٍ وَاحِدٍ مِنْهُمْ، لَيْسَ لِعُمَرَ فِي ذَلِكَ أَمْرٌ. وَفِي الْحَدِيثِ الثَّابِتِ عَنْ عَمْرِو بْنِ مَيْمُونٍ (٤) أَنَّ عُمَرَ بْنَ الْخَطَّابِ لَمَّا طُعِنَ قَالَ (٥) : " إِنَّ النَّاسَ يَقُولُونَ: [اسْتَخْلِفْ،] وَإِنَّ الْأَمْرَ (٦) إِلَى هَؤُلَاءِ السِّتَّةِ الَّذِينَ تُوُفِّيَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ - صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ - وَهُوَ عَنْهُمْ رَاضٍ: عَلِيٌّ وَعُثْمَانُ وَطَلْحَةُ وَالزُّبَيْرُ وَعَبْدُ الرَّحْمَنِ بْنُ عَوْفٍ وَسَعْدُ بْنُ مَالِكٍ، وَيَشْهَدُهُمْ

(١) ح، م، ي، ب: نَاقَضَ. (٢) فَالْجَوَابُ: كَذَا فِي (ب) ، وَفِي سَائِرِ النُّسَخِ: وَالْجَوَابُ. (٣) ن، م: أَنْ يُبَيِّنَهُ. (٤) ن، م: عَنْ عَمْرِو بْنِ عَوْفٍ، وَهُوَ خَطَأٌ، وَالْكَلَامُ التَّالِي مَعَ اخْتِلَافٍ فِي اللَّفْظِ، فِي الْبُخَارِيِّ: ٥/١٥ - ١٨ (كِتَابُ فَضَائِلِ أَصْحَابِ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، بَابُ مَنَاقِبِ عُثْمَانَ، قِصَّةُ الْبَيْعَةِ وَالِاتِّفَاقِ عَلَى عُثْمَانَ) (٥) الْكَلَامُ التَّالِي مَعَ اخْتِلَافٍ فِي الْأَلْفَاظِ فِي: الْبُخَارِيِّ ٥/١٧ (٦) ن، م: يَقُولُونَ إِنَّ الْأَمْرَ.