Minhaj as-Sunnah - Ibn Taimiya - (1/318)

Minhaj as-SunnahIbn Taimiya

by some people, for the former preceded the latter (1), and it was that earlier man (2) who built the barrier against Gog and Magog. This Macedonian never reached the barrier. The former was [a Muslim] (3) and a monotheist, whereas this Macedonian was a polytheist (4). He and the people of his country—the Greeks—[were polytheists] (5), worshipping the stars and idols.

It has been said that the last of their kings [was] (6) Ptolemy, author of the Almagest (7), and that after him they embraced the religion of the Messiah, for the law with which the Messiah was sent was greater and more sublime. Indeed, even after the Christians altered and changed the religion of the Messiah, they were closer to guidance and the religion of truth than those philosophers, who were polytheists. The gross (8) polytheism of those people was among the causes that brought about the corruption of the Messiah’s religion, as a group of scholars have stated.

They said:

Those people were (9) worshipping idols, as well as the sun, the moon, and the stars, and prostrating themselves before them.

(1) N and M read: “for that is prior.” (2) A and B read: “and that is the one.” (3) “A Muslim” is an addition in A and B. (4) A and B read: “and this Macedonian is a polytheist.” (5) “They were polytheists” is omitted from N and M. (6) “Was” is omitted from N and M. (7) Some Arab historians follow Ibn Taymiyya in mistakenly identifying Claudius Ptolemy—the scholar who authored the *Almagest* (a work on astronomy)—as one of the Ptolemaic kings. Ibn al-Qiftī noted this error in *Tārīkh al-Hukamā*, pp. 95–96, and stated what is now known: that the last Ptolemaic monarch was Cleopatra. See also: Ibn Juljul, pp. 35–38 (see the annotations of the editor, Professor Fuād Sayyid); *Tabaqāt al-Atibbā*, pp. 35–38; Ibn al-Nadīm, *al-Fihrist*, pp. [0–9] 67–268; al-Maqrīzī, *al-Khitat*, 1:154; *Darʾ Taārud al-Aql wa-al-Naql*, 1:158. (8) N and M use the feminine form of “gross.” (9) N and M read: “if [they] had been.”

طَائِفَةٌ مِنَ النَّاسِ، فَإِنَّ ذَلِكَ كَانَ مُتَقَدِّمًا (١) عَلَى هَذَا، وَذَلِكَ الْمُتَقَدِّمُ هُوَ (٢) الَّذِي بَنَى سَدَّ يَأْجُوجَ وَمَأْجُوجَ، وَهَذَا الْمَقْدُونِيُّ لَمْ يَصِلْ إِلَى السَّدِّ، وَذَاكَ كَانَ [مُسْلِمًا] (٣) مُوَحِّدًا، وَهَذَا الْمَقْدُونِيُّ كَانَ مُشْرِكًا (٤) هُوَ وَأَهْلُ بَلَدِهِ الْيُونَانِيُّونَ، [كَانُوا مُشْرِكِينَ] (٥) يَعْبُدُونَ الْكَوَاكِبَ وَالْأَوْثَانَ وَقَدْ قِيلَ إِنَّ آخِرَ مُلُوكِهِمْ [كَانَ] (٦) هُوَ بَطْلَيْمُوسُ صَاحِبُ الْمِجِسْطَى (٧) ، وَأَنَّهُمْ بَعْدَهُ انْتَقَلُوا إِلَى دِينِ الْمَسِيحِ، فَإِنَّ النَّامُوسَ الَّذِي بُعِثَ بِهِ الْمَسِيحُ كَانَ أَعْظَمَ وَأَجَلَّ، بَلِ النَّصَارَى بَعْدَ أَنْ غَيَّرُوا دِينَ الْمَسِيحِ وَبَدَّلُوا هُمْ أَقْرَبُ إِلَى الْهُدَى وَدِينِ الْحَقِّ مِنْ أُولَئِكَ الْفَلَاسِفَةِ الَّذِينَ كَانُوا مُشْرِكِينَ، وَشِرْكُ أُولَئِكَ الْغَلِيظُ (٨) هُوَ مِمَّا أَوْجَبَ إِفْسَادَ دِينِ الْمَسِيحِ كَمَا ذَكَرَهُ طَائِفَةٌ مِنْ أَهْلِ الْعِلْمِ، قَالُوا: كَانَ (٩) أُولَئِكَ يَعْبُدُونَ الْأَصْنَامَ وَيَعْبُدُونَ الشَّمْسَ وَالْقَمَرَ وَالْكَوَاكِبَ وَيَسْجُدُونَ لَهَا

(١) ن، م: فَإِنَّ ذَلِكَ مُتَقَدِّمٌ. (٢) ا، ب: وَذَاكَ هُوَ. (٣) مُسْلِمًا: زِيَادَةٌ فِي (ا) ، (ب) . (٤) ا، ب: وَهَذَا الْمَقْدُونِيُّ مُشْرِكٌ. (٥) كَانُوا مُشْرِكِينَ: سَاقِطَةٌ مِنْ (ن) ، (م) . (٦) كَانَ: سَاقِطَةٌ مِنْ (ن) ، (م) . (٧) يُتَابِعُ ابْنَ تَيْمِيَةَ بَعْضُ مُؤَرِّخِي الْعَرَبِ الَّذِينَ ظَنُّوا بَطْلَيْمُوسَ الْقَلْوَذِيَّ الْعَالِمَ صَاحِبَ كِتَابِ الْمِجِسْطَى (وَهُوَ كِتَابٌ فِي الْفَلَكِ) وَاحِدًا مِنْ مُلُوكِ الْبَطَالِسَةِ، وَقَدْ لَاحَظَ ابْنُ الْقِفْطِيِّ (تَارِيخَ الْحُكَمَاءِ، ص (٩٥ - ٩٦) هَذَا الْخَطَأَ، وَذَكَرَ مَا هُوَ مَعْرُوفٌ لَدَيْنَا الْيَوْمَ مِنْ أَنَّ آخِرَ مُلُوكِ الْبَطَالِسَةِ هِيَ قِلُوبَطْرَةُ (كِلْيُوبَاتْرَا) . وَانْظُرْ أَيْضًا: ابْنَ جُلْجُلٍ، ص ٣٥ - ٣٨ (انْظُرْ تَعْلِيقَاتِ الْمُحَقِّقِ الْأُسْتَاذِ فُؤَادْ سَيِّدْ) ؛ طَبَقَاتِ الْأَطِبَّاءِ ص ٣٥ - ٣٨؛ الْفِهْرِسْتَ لِابْنِ النَّدِيمِ، ص [٠ - ٩] ٦٧ - ٢٦٨؛ الْخُطَطَ لِلْمَقْرِيزِيِّ ١/١٥٤؛ دَرْءَ تَعَارُضِ الْعَقْلِ وَالنَّقْلِ ١/١٥٨. (٨) ن، م: الْغَلِيظَةُ. (٩) ن، م: لَوْ كَانَ.