Minhaj as-Sunnah - Ibn Taimiya - (7/521)

Minhaj as-SunnahIbn Taimiya

and one body of legal opinions with another, (everyone) possessed of sense (1) will know as a matter of necessity that Umar possessed many times as much knowledge as Alī. We found Aisha’s corpus of hadiths with connected chains (2) to comprise 2,210 reports (3), and Abū Hurayra’s hadiths with connected chains to number 5,374. We found that Ibn Umar and Anas each had a corpus close in size to Aisha’s; that Jābir and Ibn Abbās each (4) had more (5) than 1,500; and that Ibn Masūd had a little over 800. Each of those we have named, with the exception of Abū Hurayra and Anas, had more legal opinions than Alī, or approximately as many (6). Thus, this ignorant man’s claim is invalid (7).”

He went on to say (8): “If they say: Did the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) appoint [Alī to oversee the one-fifth shares and adjudicate in Yemen? We reply: Yes; but Abū Bakr’s direct observation of the judicial rulings of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace)] (9) was a stronger and more firmly established source of knowledge than what Alī possessed while in Yemen. The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) also appointed

(1) S and B read: *alima dhālika dhā husnin* (“one possessed of goodness knew that”); N and M read: *alima dhālika dhī husnin* (“one possessed of goodness knew that”). The reading adopted in the text is from *Al-Fasl*, 4:213. (2) After the words “what Alī possessed,” *Al-Fasl* reads: “Then we found that, as time passed, there was an ever greater need to consult the Companions regarding the knowledge they possessed; and we found Āisha’s hadiths…” (3) B reads: *masānid* (“reports with connected chains”). (4) The word “one” is absent from S and B. (5) M reads: “more.” (6) S and B read: “and approximately as many.” (7) *Al-Fasl* reads: “Thus, these shameless ignoramuses stand refuted.” (8) This occurs seven lines after his preceding statement; the passage is at 4:214. (9) The text within square brackets appears in M and *Al-Fasl* but is absent from N, S, and B.

وَفَتَاوَى إِلَى فَتَاوَى عَلِمَ (كُلُّ) ذِي حِسٍّ (١) عِلْمًا ضَرُورِيًّا أَنَّ الَّذِي كَانَ عِنْدَ عُمَرَ مِنَ الْعِلْمِ أَضْعَافُ مَا كَانَ عِنْدَ عَلِيٍّ، وَوَجَدْنَا مُسْنَدَ عَائِشَةَ (٢) أَلْفَيْ مُسْنَدٍ وَمِائَتَيْ مُسْنَدٍ وَعَشَرَةَ مَسَانِيدَ (٣) ، وَحَدِيثَ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ خَمْسَةَ آلَافِ مُسْنَدٍ وَثَلَاثَمِائَةِ مُسْنَدٍ وَأَرْبَعَةً وَسَبْعِينَ مُسْنَدًا، وَوَجَدْنَا مُسْنَدَ ابْنِ عُمَرَ وَأَنَسٍ قَرِيبًا مِنْ مَسْنَدِ عَائِشَةَ لِكُلِّ وَاحِدٍ مِنْهُمَا، وَوَجَدْنَا مُسْنَدَ جَابِرٍ وَابْنِ عَبَّاسٍ لِكُلٍّ وَاحِدٍ (٤) مِنْهُمَا أَزْيَدُ (٥) مِنْ أَلْفٍ وَخَمْسِمِائَةٍ، وَوَجَدْنَا لِابْنِ مَسْعُودٍ ثَمَانِمِائَةِ مُسْنَدٍ وَنَيِّفًا، وَلِكُلِّ مَنْ ذَكَرْنَا حَاشَا أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ وَأَنَسٍ مِنَ الْفَتَاوَى أَكْثَرُ مِنْ فَتَاوَى عَلِيٍّ أَوْ نَحْوَهَا (٦) ، فَبَطَلَ قَوْلُ هَذَا الْجَاهِلِ (٧) ". إِلَى أَنْ قَالَ (٨) : " فَإِنْ قَالُوا: قَدِ اسْتَعْمَلَ النَّبِيُّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ [عَلِيًّا عَلَى الْأَخْمَاسِ وَعَلَى الْقَضَاءِ بِالْيَمَنِ؟ قُلْنَا: نَعَمْ، لَكِنَّ مُشَاهَدَةَ أَبِي بَكْرٍ لِأَقْضِيَةِ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ] (٩) أَقْوَى فِي الْعِلْمِ وَأَثْبَتُ مِمَّا عِنْدَ عَلِيٍّ وَهُوَ بِالْيَمَنِ، وَقَدِ اسْتَعْمَلَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ

(١) س، ب: عَلِمَ ذَلِكَ ذَا حُسْنٍ، ن، م: عَلِمَ ذَلِكَ ذِي حُسْنٍ. وَالْمُثْبَتُ مِنَ " الْفِصَلِ " ٤/٢١٣ (٢) الْفِصَلِ: عِنْدَ عَلِيٍّ: ثُمَّ وَجَدْنَا الْأَمْرَ كُلَّمَا طَالَ كَثُرَتِ الْحَاجَةُ إِلَى الصَّحَابَةِ فِيمَا عِنْدَهُمْ مِنَ الْعِلْمِ، فَوَجَدْنَا حَدِيثَ عَائِشَةَ (٣) ب: مَسَانِدَ (٤) وَاحِدٍ: سَاقِطَةٌ مِنْ (س) ، (ب) (٥) م: أَكْثَرُ (٦) س، ب: وَنَحْوَهَا (٧) الْفِصَلِ: فَبَطَلَ هَذِهِ الْوَقَاحِ الْجُهَّالِ (٨) بَعْدَ كَلَامِهِ السَّابِقِ بِسَبْعَةِ أَسْطُرٍ، وَكَلَامُهُ فِي ٤/٢١٤ (٩) مَا بَيْنَ الْمَعْقُوفَتَيْنِ فِي (م) ، " الْفِصَلِ " وَسَقَطَ مِنْ (ن) ، (س) ، (ب)