Minhaj as-Sunnah - Ibn Taimiya - (7/37)

Minhaj as-SunnahIbn Taimiya

The adherents of religious innovation followed another path of their own devising and relied upon it (1). In their foundational doctrines, they do not cite hadith—or even the Quran—[except] (2) as corroboration, not as an authority upon which to rely.

The Rāfida possess even less knowledge of and concern for this field, since (3) they neither examine the chain of transmission nor consider whether (4) the other scriptural and rational proofs agree with it or contradict it. Consequently, they never possess any sound, uninterrupted chains of transmission. Rather, every uninterrupted chain they cite necessarily contains someone (5) known for lying or for making numerous errors.

In this respect, they resemble the Jews and Christians, for neither possesses chains of transmission. The chain of transmission is a distinguishing feature of this Muslim community and of Islam itself; within Islam, moreover, it is a distinguishing feature of Ahl al-Sunnah. The Rāfida are among those who devote the least care to it, since (6) they accept as true only what accords with their desires; to them, the mark of its falsity is that it (7) conflicts with their desires. Hence Abd al-Rahmān ibn Mahdī said: “The people of knowledge record what is in their favor and what is against them, whereas the followers of whims record only what is in their favor.”

Furthermore, their early adherents engaged extensively (8) in lying, and their hadiths were passed down to people who could not distinguish the sound from the unsound. They therefore had no means of discerning between them other than to accept them all as true or reject them all as false, and to support that judgment with separate evidence other than the chain of transmission.

(1) (B) reads: “they devised it and adopted it.” (2) *Illā* (“except”) is omitted from (B) and (S). (3) (N), (M), (S), and (B) read *idhā* (“when”); I hope that the reading I have established is correct. (4) (S) reads *bal* (“rather”), which is a corruption. (5) (S) and (B) read *mā* (“what”). (6) (N), (S), and (B) read *idhā* (“when”), which is a corruption. (7) (N) and (M) read *an* (“that”). (8) (N), (M), and (S) read *kathīrīna* (“many”), which is an error.

وَأَهْلُ الْبِدَعِ سَلَكُوا طَرِيقًا آخَرَ ابْتَدَعُوهَا اعْتَمَدُوا عَلَيْهَا (١) ، وَلَا يَذْكُرُونَ الْحَدِيثَ، بَلْ وَلَا الْقُرْآنَ، فِي أُصُولِهِمْ [إِلَّا] (٢) لِلِاعْتِضَادِ لَا لِلِاعْتِمَادِ. وَالرَّافِضَةُ أَقَلُّ مَعْرِفَةً وَعِنَايَةً بِهَذَا، إِذْ (٣) كَانُوا لَا يَنْظُرُونَ فِي الْإِسْنَادِ وَلَا فِي سَائِرِ الْأَدِلَّةِ الشَّرْعِيَّةِ وَالْعَقْلِيَّةِ: هَلْ (٤) تُوَافِقُ ذَلِكَ أَوْ تُخَالِفُهُ؟ وَلِهَذَا لَا يُوجَدُ لَهُمْ أَسَانِيدُ مُتَّصِلَةٌ صَحِيحَةٌ قَطُّ، بَلْ كُلُّ إِسْنَادٍ مُتَّصِلٌ لَهُمْ، فَلَا بُدَّ مِنْ أَنْ يَكُونَ فِيهِ مَنْ (٥) هُوَ مَعْرُوفٌ بِالْكَذِبِ أَوْ كَثْرَةِ الْغَلَطِ. وَهُمْ فِي ذَلِكَ شَبِيهٌ بِالْيَهُودِ وَالنَّصَارَى، فَإِنَّهُ لَيْسَ لَهُمْ إِسْنَادٌ. وَالْإِسْنَادُ مِنْ خَصَائِصِ هَذِهِ الْأُمَّةِ، وَهُوَ مِنْ خَصَائِصِ الْإِسْلَامِ، ثُمَّ هُوَ فِي الْإِسْلَامِ مِنْ خَصَائِصِ أَهْلِ السُّنَّةِ. وَالرَّافِضَةُ مِنْ أَقَلِّ النَّاسِ عِنَايَةً ; إِذْ (٦) كَانُوا لَا يُصَدِّقُونَ إِلَّا بِمَا يُوَافِقُ أَهْوَاءَهُمْ، وَعَلَامَةُ كَذِبِهِ أَنَّهُ (٧) يُخَالِفُ هَوَاهُمْ ; وَلِهَذَا قَالَ عَبْدُ الرَّحْمَنِ بْنُ مَهْدِيٍّ: أَهْلُ الْعِلْمِ يَكْتُبُونَ مَا لَهُمْ وَمَا عَلَيْهِمْ، وَأَهْلُ الْأَهْوَاءِ لَا يَكْتُبُونَ إِلَّا مَا لَهُمْ. ثُمَّ إِنَّ أَوَّلَهُمْ كَانُوا كَثِيرِي (٨) الْكَذِبِ، فَانْتَقَلَتْ أَحَادِيثُهُمْ إِلَى قَوْمٍ لَا يَعْرِفُونَ الصَّحِيحَ مِنَ السَّقِيمِ، فَلَمْ يُمْكِنْهُمُ التَّمْيِيزُ إِلَّا بِتَصْدِيقِ الْجَمِيعِ أَوْ تَكْذِيبِ الْجَمِيعِ، وَالِاسْتِدْلَالُ عَلَى ذَلِكَ بِدَلِيلٍ مُنْفَصِلٍ غَيْرُ الْإِسْنَادِ.

(١) ب: ابْتَدَعُوهَا وَاعْتَمَدُوهَا. (٢) إِلَّا: سَاقِطَةٌ مِنْ (ب) ، (س) . (٣) ن، م، س، ب: إِذَا، وَأَرْجُو أَنْ يَكُونَ الصَّوَابُ مَا أَثْبَتُّهُ. (٤) س: بَلْ، وَهُوَ تَحْرِيفٌ. (٥) س، ب: مَا. (٦) ن، س، ب: إِذَا، وَهُوَ تَحْرِيفٌ. (٧) ن، م: أَنْ. (٨) ن، م، س: كَثِيرِينَ، وَهُوَ خَطَأٌ.