Minhaj as-Sunnah - Ibn Taimiya - (6/387)

Minhaj as-SunnahIbn Taimiya

Moreover, through none of the Twelve Imams did any member of the Muslim community attain all the objectives of the imamate.

As for those below Ali in rank, the benefit people (1) derived from the knowledge and piety of each was only like that derived from his peers. Ali ibn al-Husayn, his son Abū Ja‘far, and the latter’s son Ja‘far ibn Muhammad taught people what Allah had taught them, just as the scholars of their time did. Yet among their contemporaries were those who were more learned than they and of greater benefit to the Muslim community.

This is well known among the learned. Even supposing that they were more learned and devout, people of knowledge and religion did not wield (2) the strength and authority wielded by those vested with rule—compelling people to adhere to the truth and forcibly restraining them from falsehood.

As for those who came after the three, such as the two Askarīs, they displayed no knowledge from which the Muslim community benefited, nor did they possess any power on which the community could call for support. Rather, like their Hāshimite peers (3), they enjoyed sanctity and standing. They possessed the same degree of knowledge as their peers regarding what they needed to know about Islam and religion, which is knowledge held by many ordinary Muslims.

As for knowledge particular to the learned, none was known from them. Hence the learned did not receive knowledge from them as they did from those three. Had they found anything beneficial, they would have taken it from them; but a seeker of knowledge knows what he seeks.

And when (4) a person possesses noble lineage, that (5) is among the things that help him secure acceptance

(1) B reads: “for some people.” (2) N reads: “Thus, there did not arise from the people of knowledge and religion what does not arise”; M reads: “Thus, nothing arose from them except what arises from the people of knowledge and religion, what does not arise. . . . . .” (3) N and M read: “like the peers of those two.” (4) B reads: “Even if.” (5) N and B read: “and it was.”

وَأَيْضًا فَالْأَئِمَّةُ الِاثْنَا عَشَرَ لَمْ يَحْصُلْ لِأَحَدٍ مِنَ الْأُمَّةِ بِأَحَدٍ مِنْهُمْ جَمِيعُ مَقَاصِدِ الْإِمَامَةِ. أَمَّا مَنْ دُونَ عَلِيٍّ فَإِنَّمَا كَانَ يَحْصُلُ لِلنَّاسِ (١) مِنْ عِلْمِهِ وَدِينِهِ مِثْلُ مَا يَحْصُلُ مِنْ نُظَرَائِهِ. وَكَانَ عَلِيُّ بْنُ الْحُسَيْنِ، وَابْنُهُ أَبُو جَعْفَرٍ، وَابْنُهُ جَعْفَرُ بْنُ مُحَمَّدٍ يُعَلِّمُونَ النَّاسَ مَا عَلَّمَهُمُ اللَّهُ، كَمَا عَلَّمَهُ عُلَمَاءُ زَمَانِهِمْ، وَكَانَ فِي زَمَنِهِمْ مَنْ هُوَ أَعْلَمُ مِنْهُمْ وَأَنْفَعُ لِلْأُمَّةِ. وَهَذَا مَعْرُوفٌ عِنْدَ أَهْلِ الْعِلْمِ. وَلَوْ قُدِّرَ أَنَّهُمْ كَانُوا أَعْلَمَ وَأَدْيَنَ، فَلَمْ يَحْصُلْ مِنْ أَهْلِ الْعِلْمِ وَالدِّينِ مَا يَحْصُلُ (٢) مِنْ ذَوِي الْوِلَايَةِ مِنَ الْقُوَّةِ وَالسُّلْطَانِ وَإِلْزَامِ النَّاسِ بِالْحَقِّ، وَمَنْعِهِمْ بِالْيَدِ عَنِ الْبَاطِلِ. وَأَمَّا مَنْ بَعْدَ الثَّلَاثَةِ كَالْعَسْكَرِيِّينَ، فَهَؤُلَاءِ لَمْ يَظْهَرْ عَلَيْهِمْ عِلْمٌ تَسْتَفِيدُهُ الْأُمَّةُ، وَلَا كَانَ لَهُمْ يَدٌ تَسْتَعِينُ بِهِ الْأُمَّةُ، بَلْ كَانُوا كَأَمْثَالِهِمْ (٣) مِنَ الْهَاشِمِيِّينَ لَهُمْ حُرْمَةٌ وَمَكَانَةٌ، وَفِيهِمْ مِنْ مَعْرِفَةِ مَا يَحْتَاجُونَ إِلَيْهِ فِي الْإِسْلَامِ وَالدِّينِ مَا فِي أَمْثَالِهِمْ، وَهُوَ مَا يَعْرِفُهُ كَثِيرٌ مِنْ عَوَامِّ الْمُسْلِمِينَ. وَأَمَّا مَا يَخْتَصُّ بِهِ أَهْلُ الْعِلْمِ، فَهَذَا لَمْ يُعْرَفْ عَنْهُمْ. وَلِهَذَا لَمْ يَأْخُذْ عَنْهُمْ أَهْلُ الْعِلْمِ، كَمَا أَخَذُوا عَنْ أُولَئِكَ الثَّلَاثَةِ. وَلَوْ وَجَدُوا مَا يُسْتَفَادُ لَأَخَذُوا، وَلَكِنَّ طَالِبَ الْعِلْمِ يَعْرِفُ مَقْصُودَهُ. وَإِذَا (٤) كَانَ لِلْإِنْسَانِ نَسَبٌ شَرِيفٌ، كَانَ (٥) ذَلِكَ مِمَّا يُعِينُهُ عَلَى قَبُولِ

(١) ب: لِنَاسٍ. (٢) ن: فَلَمْ يَحْصُلْ مِنْ أَهْلِ الْعِلْمِ وَالدِّينِ مَا لَا يَحْصُلُ، م: فَلَمْ يَحْصُلْ مِنْهُمْ إِلَّا مَا يَحْصُلُ مِنْ أَهْلِ الْعِلْمِ وَالدِّينِ مَا لَا يَحْصُلُ. . . . . (٣) ن، م: كَأَمْثَالِهِمَا. (٤) ب: وَإِنْ. (٥) ن، ب: وَكَانَ.