Minhaj as-Sunnah - Ibn Taimiya - (8/23)

Minhaj as-SunnahIbn Taimiya

from created beings; rather, He is absolute existence, or existence conditioned upon the negation (1) of affirmative predicates concerning Allah, or upon the negation of both affirmative and negative predicates. At times they say: He is the very existence of created beings, or He inheres in them, or He is neither this nor that.

This, in their view, is the highest attainment of every messenger and prophet (2): prophethood, for them, consists in receiving from the imaginative faculty that casts intelligible meanings into forms of the imagination. They call it the sacred faculty; hence, they place sainthood above prophethood.

These people are of the same kind as the heretical esotericist Qarmatians. Yet these people appeared in the guise of Sufism, asceticism, and claims to spiritual realization and devotion to Allah (3), whereas the Qarmatians appeared in the guise of Shiism and allegiance. The former exalt their shaykhs to the point of regarding them as superior to the prophets, and they may exalt sainthood to the point of regarding it as superior to prophethood. The latter exalt the institution of the imamate to the point that they may regard the imams as greater than the prophets and the imam as greater than the prophet, as the Ismailis maintain.

The leading figures in both groups are philosophers (4) who regard the prophet as a philosopher and say that he is distinguished by a sacred faculty. Some of them rank the prophet above the philosopher, while others rank the philosopher above the prophet. They claim that prophethood

(1) N reads: “He negates.” (2) B reads: “and the basis.” (3) N reads: “and devotion to Allah, and that”; S and B read: “and similar things.” (4) N reads: *wa-kilāhumā yubātinā al-falāsifa* (“the two secretly associate with the philosophers”); S and B read: *wa-kilāhumā yubātināni al-falāsifa* (“the two secretly associate with the philosophers”); M reads: *wa-kilāhum asātīn al-falāsifa* (“both are leading philosophers”). The reading I have adopted is probably correct. The point is that among the Sufis, Shiites, and Ismailis are leading philosophers—such as Ibn Sīnā, Ibn Arabī, and others—who make such-and-such claims, and so forth.

لِلْمَخْلُوقَاتِ، بَلْ هُوَ وُجُودٌ مُطْلَقٌ، أَوْ مَشْرُوطٌ بِنَفْيِ (١) الْأُمُورِ الثُّبُوتِيَّةِ عَنِ اللَّهِ، أَوْ نَفْيِ الْأُمُورِ الثُّبُوتِيَّةِ وَالسَّلْبِيَّةِ، وَقَدْ يَقُولُونَ: هُوَ وُجُودُ الْمَخْلُوقَاتِ، أَوْ حَالٌّ فِيهَا، أَوْ لَا هَذَا وَلَا هَذَا. فَهَذَا عِنْدَهُمْ غَايَةُ كُلِّ رَسُولٍ وَنَبِيٍّ (٢) : النُّبُوَّةُ عِنْدَهُمُ الْأَخْذُ عَنِ الْقُوَّةِ الْمُتَخَيَّلَةِ الَّتِي صَوَّرَتِ الْمَعَانِيَ الْعَقْلِيَّةَ فِي الْمُثُلِ الْخَيَالِيَّةِ، وَيُسَمُّونَهَا الْقُوَّةَ الْقُدْسِيَّةَ ; فَلِهَذَا جَعَلُوا الْوِلَايَةَ فَوْقَ النُّبُوَّةِ. وَهَؤُلَاءِ مِنْ جِنْسِ الْقَرَامِطَةِ الْبَاطِنِيَّةِ الْمَلَاحِدَةِ، لَكِنَّ هَؤُلَاءِ ظَهَرُوا فِي قَالَبِ التَّصَوُّفِ وَالتَّنَسُّكِ وَدَعْوَى التَّحْقِيقِ وَالتَّأَلُّهِ (٣) ، وَأُولَئِكَ ظَهَرُوا فِي قَالَبِ التَّشَيُّعِ وَالْمُوَالَاةِ، فَأُولَئِكَ يُعَظِّمُونَ شُيُوخَهُمْ حَتَّى يَجْعَلُوهُمْ أَفْضَلَ مِنَ الْأَنْبِيَاءِ، وَقَدْ يُعَظِّمُونَ الْوِلَايَةَ حَتَّى يَجْعَلُوهَا أَفْضَلَ مِنَ النُّبُوَّةِ، وَهَؤُلَاءِ يُعَظِّمُونَ أَمْرَ الْإِمَامَةِ، حَتَّى قَدْ يَجْعَلُونَ الْأَئِمَّةَ أَعْظَمَ مِنَ الْأَنْبِيَاءِ، وَالْإِمَامَ أَعْظَمَ مِنَ النَّبِيِّ، كَمَا يَقُولُهُ الْإِسْمَاعِيلِيَّةُ. وَكِلَاهُمَا أَسَاطِينُ الْفَلَاسِفَةِ (٤) الَّذِينَ يَجْعَلُونَ النَّبِيَّ فَيْلَسُوفًا، وَيَقُولُونَ: إِنَّهُ يَخْتَصُّ بِقُوَّةٍ قُدْسِيَّةٍ، ثُمَّ مِنْهُمْ مَنْ يُفَضِّلُ النَّبِيَّ عَلَى الْفَيْلَسُوفِ، وَمِنْهُمْ مَنْ يُفَضِّلُ الْفَيْلَسُوفَ عَلَى النَّبِيِّ. وَيَزْعُمُونَ أَنَّ النُّبُوَّةَ

(١) ن: يَنْفِي. (٢) ب: وَمَبْنًى. (٣) ن: وَالتَّأَلُّهِ وَذَلِكَ، س، ب: وَأَمْثَالِ ذَلِكَ. (٤) ن: وَكِلَاهُمَا يُبَاطِنَا الْفَلَاسِفَةَ، س، ب: وَكِلَاهُمَا يُبَاطِنَانِ الْفَلَاسِفَةَ، م: وَكِلَاهُمْ أَسَاطِينُ الْفَلَاسِفَةِ. وَلَعَلَّ الصَّوَابَ مَا أَثْبَتُّهُ، وَالْمَقْصُودُ أَنَّ كُلًّا مِنَ الْمُتَصَوِّفَةِ وَالشِّيعَةِ وَالْإِسْمَاعِيلِيَّةِ مِنْ أَسَاطِينِ الْفَلَاسِفَةِ مِثْلَ ابْنِ سِينَا وَابْنِ عَرَبِيٍّ وَغَيْرِهِمَا يَقُولُونَ كَذَا وَكَذَا. . إِلَخْ.