Minhaj as-Sunnah - Ibn Taimiya - (6/462)

Minhaj as-SunnahIbn Taimiya

If they say:

“This has been established through mass transmission among our companions, who transmit it (1) from the infallible Imams,”

it is said:

“If your companions’ mass transmission (2) from the Imams ensures the preservation and transmission of the Revealed Law, why should the entire Muslim community’s mass transmission from its Prophet not be all the more sufficient to preserve and transmit the Revealed Law, without any need for one individual to transmit from another (3)?”

They also say that the [inherited knowledge] (4) in their possession, received from those who preceded the Awaited One, makes it unnecessary for them to receive anything from the Awaited One. Why, then, should what the Muslim community possesses from its Prophet not make it unnecessary for the community to receive anything from anyone after him? If they claim that what they transmit from any one of the Twelve is established (5), why should what the community transmits from its Prophet not likewise be established?

It is well known that the Muslim community as a whole is many, many times larger than the Rāfidah, and that its members are more eager to [preserve] (6) and convey (7) their Prophet’s religion—and more capable (8) of doing so—than the Rāfidah are to preserve and transmit what these Imams say. This is evident to anyone with even the slightest knowledge of such matters.

The tenth answer:

It may be said: By your statement, “because revelation has ceased and the revealed texts do not cover all the details of legal rulings,” do you mean that they fail to provide a particular statement addressing each specific case, or that they fail to provide a general statement encompassing all particular cases?

(1) B reads: “transmits them”; the word is undotted in M. (2) B reads: “transmission.” (3) The phrase “from one individual” is absent from M. (4) The text in square brackets is absent from N and B. (5) N and M read: *thābitan* (established), which is an error. (6) “Preservation” is absent from N and B. (7) B reads: “and its conveyance.” (8) B reads: “and more capable.”

فَإِنْ قَالُوا: تَوَاتَرَ ذَلِكَ عِنْدَ أَصْحَابِنَا بِنَقْلِهِمْ (١) عَنِ الْأَئِمَّةِ الْمَعْصُومِينَ. قِيلَ: فَإِذَا كَانَ تَوَاتُرُ (٢) أَصْحَابِكُمْ عَنِ الْأَئِمَّةِ يُوجِبُ حِفْظَ الشَّرْعِ وَنَقْلَهُ، فَلِمَاذَا لَا يَجُوزُ أَنْ يَكُونَ تَوَاتُرُ الْأُمَّةِ كُلِّهَا عَنْ نَبِيِّهَا أَوْلَى بِحِفْظِ الشَّرْعِ وَنَقْلِهِ، مِنْ غَيْرِ احْتِيَاجٍ إِلَى نَقْلِ وَاحِدٍ عَنْ وَاحِدٍ (٣) ؟ . وَهُمْ يَقُولُونَ: إِنَّ مَا بِأَيْدِيهِمْ [مِنَ الْعِلْمِ الْمَوْرُوثِ] (٤) عَمَّنْ قَبْلَ الْمُنْتَظَرِ يُغْنِيهِمْ عَنْ أَخْذِ شَيْءٍ مِنَ الْمُنْتَظَرِ، فَلِمَاذَا لَا يَكُونُ مَا بِأَيْدِي الْأُمَّةِ عَنْ نَبِيِّهَا يُغْنِيهَا عَنْ أَخْذِ شَيْءٍ عَمَّنْ بَعْدَهُ؟ وَإِذَا كَانُوا يَدَّعُونَ أَنَّ مَا يَنْقُلُونَهُ عَنْ وَاحِدٍ مِنَ الِاثْنَيْ عَشَرَ ثَابِتٌ (٥) ، فَلِمَاذَا لَا يَكُونُ مَا تَنْقُلُهُ الْأُمَّةُ عَنْ نَبِيِّهَا ثَابِتًا؟ . وَمِنَ الْمَعْلُومِ أَنَّ مَجْمُوعَ الْأُمَّةِ أَضْعَافُ أَضْعَافِ الرَّافِضَةِ بِكَثِيرٍ، وَأَنَّهُمْ أَحْرَصُ عَلَى [حِفْظِ] (٦) دِينِ نَبِيِّهِمْ وَتَبْلِيغِهِ (٧) ، أَقْدَرُ (٨) عَلَى ذَلِكَ مِنَ الرَّافِضَةِ: عَلَى حِفْظِ مَا يَقُولُهُ هَؤُلَاءِ وَنَقْلِهِ. وَهَذَا مِمَّا لَا يَخْفَى عَلَى مَنْ لَهُ أَدْنَى مَعْرِفَةٍ بِالْأُمُورِ. الْوَجْهُ الْعَاشِرُ: أَنْ يُقَالَ: قَوْلُكَ: " لِانْقِطَاعِ الْوَحْيِ وَقُصُورِ النُّصُوصِ عَنْ تَفَاصِيلِ الْأَحْكَامِ " أَتُرِيدُ بِهِ قُصُورَهَا عَنْ بَيَانٍ جُزْئِيٍّ بِعَيْنِهِ؟ أَوْ قُصُورَهَا عَنِ الْبَيَانِ الْكُلِّيِّ الْمُتَنَاوِلِ لِلْجُزْئِيَّاتِ؟

(١) ب: يَنْقُلُهُمْ، وَالْكَلِمَةُ غَيْرُ مَنْقُوطَةٍ فِي (م) . (٢) ب: نَقْلُ. (٣) عِبَارَةُ " عَنْ وَاحِدٍ ": سَاقِطَةٌ مِنْ (م) . (٤) مَا بَيْنَ الْمَعْقُوفَتَيْنِ سَاقِطٌ مِنْ (ن) (ب) . (٥) ن، م: ثَابِتًا، وَهُوَ خَطَأٌ. (٦) حِفْظِ: سَاقِطَةٌ مِنْ (ن) ، (ب) . (٧) ب: وَتَبْلِيغِهِ. (٨) ب: وَأَقْدَرُ.