Minhaj as-Sunnah - Ibn Taimiya - (7/206)

Minhaj as-SunnahIbn Taimiya

layers of darkness, one above another.

They imagined that His statement:

“Allah is sufficient for you—and for those believers who follow you”

meant: “Allah and those believers who follow you are sufficient for you.” They then claimed that the believers who followed him were (1) Ali ibn Abi Talib.

Their ignorance [concerning] (2) this matter is more evident than their ignorance concerning the first. The first may be unclear to some people, but this is (3) not hidden from anyone possessed of reason. Ali alone [of all creation] (4) was not sufficient for the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace). Had the Messenger had no one with him other than Ali, he could not have established his religion.

Ali himself, despite having most of the armies on earth with him, could not even prevail on his own behalf. When Muawiyah fought him alongside the people of Syria, Muawiyah either held his own against him or had the upper hand—whether through prowess in battle or through cunning and stratagem (5)—for war is deception:

Sound judgment comes before the courage of the brave;
it ranks first, and courage takes second place.
If the two should ever join within one soul,
that soul attains (6) every pinnacle of glory (7).

If, then, he could not prevail on his own behalf after Islam had become dominant and most people on earth had embraced it, how could he have been sufficient for the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), when all the people of the earth were his enemies?!

And if it is said:

“The only reason Ali did not defeat Muawiyah and those with him was that his troops would not obey him but were instead divided against him.”

(1) Omitted from S and B. (2) The word “concerning” occurs only in B. (3) [Unidentified siglum] and M read: *fa-mā* (“so it is not”). (4) “Of creation” is added only in M. (5) “And choice”; S and B read: “and testing.” (6) [Unidentified siglum], S, and B read: “If the two should ever come together in a servant, they would attain.” (7) The two lines are by al-Mutanabbī and occur at the beginning of a poem praising Sayf al-Dawla upon his return from Byzantine territory in 345 AH. See Abd al-Rahmān al-Barqūqī, *Sharh Dīwān al-Mutanabbī*, Dār al-Kitāb al-Arabī, Beirut, 4:307.

ظُلُمَاتٍ بَعْضُهَا فَوْقَ بَعْضٍ، فَظَنُّوا أَنَّ قَوْلَهُ: {حَسْبُكَ اللَّهُ وَمَنِ اتَّبَعَكَ مِنَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ} مَعْنَاهُ: أَنَّ اللَّهَ وَمَنِ اتَّبَعَكَ مِنَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ حَسْبُكَ، ثُمَّ جَعَلُوا الْمُؤْمِنِينَ الَّذِينَ اتَّبَعُوهُ هُمْ (١) عَلِيُّ بْنُ أَبِي طَالِبٍ. وَجَهْلُهُمْ [فِي] (٢) هَذَا أَظْهَرُ مِنْ جَهْلِهِمْ فِي الْأَوَّلِ، فَإِنَّ الْأَوَّلَ قَدْ يَشْتَبِهُ عَلَى بَعْضِ النَّاسِ، وَأَمَّا هَذَا فَلَا (٣) يَخْفَى عَلَى عَاقِلٍ، فَإِنَّ عَلِيًّا لَمْ يَكُنْ وَحْدَهُ [مِنَ الْخَلْقِ] (٤) كَافِيًا لِرَسُولِ اللَّهِ - صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ -، وَلَوْ لَمْ يَكُنْ مَعَهُ إِلَّا عَلِيٌّ لَمَا أَقَامَ دِينَهُ. وَهَذَا عَلِيٌّ لَمْ يُغْنِ عَنْ نَفْسِهِ وَمَعَهُ أَكْثَرُ جُيُوشِ الْأَرْضِ، بَلْ لَمَّا حَارَبَهُ مُعَاوِيَةُ مَعَ أَهْلِ الشَّامِ، كَانَ مُعَاوِيَةُ مُقَاوِمًا لَهُ أَوْ مُسْتَظْهِرًا، سَوَاءٌ كَانَ ذَلِكَ بِقُوَّةِ قِتَالٍ أَوْ قُوَّةِ مَكْرٍ وَاحْتِيَالٍ (٥) ، فَالْحَرْبُ خُدْعَةٌ: الرَّأْيُ قَبْلَ شَجَاعَةِ الشُّجْعَانِ ... هُوَ أَوَّلٌ وَهِيَ الْمَحَلُّ الثَّانِي فَإِذَا هُمَا اجْتَمَعَا لِنَفْسٍ مَرَّةً بَلَغَتْ (٦) مِنَ الْعَلْيَاءِ كُلَّ مَكَانِ (٧) . فَإِذَا لَمْ يُغْنِ عَنْ نَفْسِهِ بَعْدَ ظُهُورِ الْإِسْلَامِ وَاتِّبَاعِ أَكْثَرِ أَهْلِ الْأَرْضِ لَهُ، فَكَيْفَ يُغْنِي عَنِ الرَّسُولِ - صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ -، وَأَهْلُ الْأَرْضِ كُلُّهُمْ أَعْدَاؤُهُ؟ ! وَإِذَا قِيلَ: إِنَّ عَلِيًّا إِنَّمَا لَمْ يَغْلِبْ مُعَاوِيَةَ وَمَنْ مَعَهُ لِأَنَّ جَيْشَهُ لَا يُطِيعُونَهُ، بَلْ كَانُوا مُخْتَلِفِينَ عَلَيْهِ.

(١) : سَاقِطَةٌ مِنْ (س) ، (ب) . (٢) : فِي (ب) فَقَطْ. (٣) ، م: فَمَا. (٤) الْخَلْقِ: زِيَادَةٌ فِي (م) فَقَطْ. (٥) : وَاحْتِيَارٍ، س، ب: وَاخْتِبَارٍ. (٦) ، س، ب: فَإِذَا هُمَا اجْتَمَعَا لِعَبْدٍ مَرَّةً: بَلَغَا. (٧) الْبَيْتَانِ لِلْمُتَنَبِّي فِي مَطْلَعِ قَصِيدَةٍ يَمْدَحُ بِهَا سَيْفَ الدَّوْلَةِ عِنْدَ مُنْصَرَفِهِ مِنْ بِلَادِ الرُّومِ سَنَةَ ٣٤٥ انْظُرْ: شَرْحَ دِيوَانِ الْمُتَنَبِّي ٤/٣٠٧ وَضْعَ الْأُسْتَاذِ عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ الْبُرْقُوقِيِّ، ط. دَارِ الْكِتَابِ الْعَرَبِيِّ، بَيْرُوتَ.