Minhaj as-Sunnah - Ibn Taimiya - (8/361)

[Section: The Rāfidī’s Rejection of the Hadith “Follow the Two Who Come after Me, Abū Bakr and ʿUmar,” and the Response to Him]

Section

The Rāfidī said (1):

“Second: What they narrated (2) from the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—that he said: ‘Follow the two who come after me, Abū Bakr and ʿUmar.’

“The response is to dispute both the report and its indication of the imamate. For (3) following jurists does not necessarily mean that they are imams. Moreover, Abū Bakr and ʿUmar did (4) disagree on many rulings, so it is impossible to follow both of them. Furthermore, this conflicts with what (5) they narrated of his saying: ‘My Companions are like the stars: whichever of them you follow, you will be rightly guided, despite their consensus that they were not imams.’”

The response has several aspects:

First: This hadith is, by the consensus of hadith scholars, stronger than the text they narrate concerning ʿAlī’s imamate. This report is well known in the authoritative books of hadith scholars. Abū Dāwūd narrated it in his Sunan, Ahmad in his Musnad, and al-Tirmidhī in his Jāmiʿ (6).

(1) ك: p. 198 (م). (2) ك: mā rawāhu al-jumhūr (“what the majority narrated”). (3) ك: li-anna (“because”). (4) Qad (an emphatic particle) is omitted in (ك). (5) ك: bi-mā (“with what”). (6) This hadith was previously cited in 1:489.

[فصل قول الرافضي برد حديث اقتدوا بالذين من بعدي أبي بكر وعمر والرد عليه] فَصْلٌ. قَالَ الرَّافِضِيُّ (١) : " الثَّانِي: مَا رَوَوْهُ (٢) عَنِ النَّبِيِّ - صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ - أَنَّهُ قَالَ: «اقْتَدُوا بِاللَّذَيْنِ مِنْ بَعْدِي أَبِي بَكْرٍ وَعُمَرَ» . وَالْجَوَابُ: الْمَنْعُ مِنَ الرِّوَايَةِ وَمِنْ دَلَالَتِهَا عَلَى الْإِمَامَةِ؛ فَإِنَّ (٣) الِاقْتِدَاءَ بِالْفُقَهَاءِ لَا يَسْتَلْزِمُ كَوْنَهُمْ أَئِمَّةً، وَأَيْضًا فَإِنَّ أَبَا بَكْرٍ وَعُمَرَ قَدْ (٤) اخْتَلَفَا فِي كَثِيرٍ مِنَ الْأَحْكَامِ فَلَا يُمْكِنُ الِاقْتِدَاءُ بِهِمَا وَأَيْضًا فَإِنَّهُ مُعَارِضٌ لِمَا (٥) رَوَوْهُ مِنْ قَوْلِهِ: " «أَصْحَابِي كَالنُّجُومِ بِأَيِّهُمُ اقْتَدَيْتُمُ اهْتَدَيْتُمْ مَعَ إِجْمَاعِهِمْ عَلَى انْتِفَاءِ إِمَامَتِهِمْ» ". وَالْجَوَابُ مِنْ وُجُوهٍ: أَحَدُهَا: أَنْ يُقَالَ: هَذَا الْحَدِيثُ بِإِجْمَاعِ أَهْلِ الْعِلْمِ بِالْحَدِيثِ أَقْوَى مِنَ النَّصِّ الَّذِي يَرْوُونَهُ فِي إِمَامَةِ عَلِيٍّ؛ فَإِنَّ هَذَا أَمْرٌ مَعْرُوفٌ فِي كُتُبِ أَهْلِ الْحَدِيثِ الْمُعْتَمِدَةِ. وَرَوَاهُ أَبُو دَاوُدَ فِي سُنَنِهِ، وَأَحْمَدُ فِي مُسْنَدِهِ وَالتِّرْمِذِيُّ فِي جَامِعِهِ (٦) .

(١) ك: ص ١٩٨ (م) (٢) ك: مَا رَوَاهُ الْجُمْهُورُ. (٣) ك: لِأَنَّ. (٤) قَدْ: لَيْسَتْ فِي (ك) . (٥) ك: بِمَا (٦) سَبَقَ هَذَا الْحَدِيثُ فِيمَا مَضَى ١/٤٨٩.