Minhaj as-Sunnah - Ibn Taimiya - (1/557)

Minhaj as-SunnahIbn Taimiya

In Sahih Muslim, it is related from Abū Hurayrah [may Allah be pleased with him] (1) that the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—said:

“Whoever withdraws from obedience, separates from the united Muslim community, and then dies has died a death of the Age of Ignorance. Whoever is killed under a banner of blind partisanship—becoming angry for a faction, calling to a faction, or supporting a faction (2)—his death is a death of the Age of Ignorance. And whoever rises against my Ummah, (striking both its righteous and its wicked, sparing none of its believers, and failing to honor the covenant of anyone under covenant (3), is not of me) (4), and I am not of him.” (5)

He thus condemned withdrawing from obedience and separating from the united Muslim community, and deemed such a death to be a death of the Age of Ignorance, because the people of the Age of Ignorance had no leader to unite them.

The Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—consistently commanded that a leader be appointed. He even commanded this while traveling when there were only three people, thus requiring leadership among the smallest number and during the briefest gathering.

In Sahih Muslim, Hudhayfah—may Allah be pleased with him—related:

“I said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, we were living in ignorance and evil, and then Allah brought us (6) this good. Will there be, after…”

(1) “May Allah be pleased with him” is added in A and B. (2) N and M read: “becomes angry out of *asabiyya* (partisan group loyalty), or supports the faction”; A reads: “acts as a partisan out of *asabiyya*, or supports *asabiyya*.” (3) N and A read: “nor does he honor anyone under its covenant.” (4) The passage between the two asterisks is omitted from M alone. (5) This hadith appeared previously in abridged form on p. 112. With this wording, the hadith narrated from Abū Hurayrah—may Allah be pleased with him—is found in Muslim, 3:1476–1477 (Book of Leadership, chapter: The Obligation of Adhering to the Muslim Community...); *Sunan al-Nasā'ī*, 7:122–113 (Book on the Prohibition of Bloodshed, chapter: The Stern Warning against Fighting under a Banner of Blind Partisanship); *al-Musnad* (al-Ma'ārif ed.), 15:87–89, 201, and (al-Halabī ed.), 2:488. The hadith also appears in abridged form in *Sunan Ibn Mājah*, 2:1302 (Book of Tribulations, chapter on *asabiyya*). (6) N and M read: “and Allah has brought us.”

وَفِي صَحِيحِ مُسْلِمٍ، عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ [رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ] (١) ، عَنِ النَّبِيِّ - صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ - قَالَ: " «مَنْ خَرَجَ مِنَ الطَّاعَةِ وَفَارَقَ الْجَمَاعَةَ ثُمَّ مَاتَ، مَاتَ مِيتَةً جَاهِلِيَّةً، وَمَنْ قُتِلَ تَحْتَ رَايَةٍ عِمِّيَّةٍ يَغْضَبُ لِعَصَبَةٍ أَوْ يَدْعُو إِلَى عَصَبَةٍ أَوْ يَنْصُرُ عَصَبَةً (٢) فَقُتِلَ فَقِتْلَتُهُ جَاهِلِيَّةٌ، وَمَنْ خَرَجَ عَلَى أُمَّتِي (* يَضْرِبُ بَرَّهَا وَفَاجِرَهَا، وَلَا يَتَحَاشَى مِنْ مُؤْمِنِهَا، وَلَا يَفِي لِذِي عَهْدٍ عَهْدَهُ (٣) فَلَيْسَ مِنِّي *) (٤) وَلَسْتُ مِنْهُ» " (٥) . فَذَمَّ الْخُرُوجَ عَنِ الطَّاعَةِ وَمُفَارَقَةَ الْجَمَاعَةِ وَجَعَلَ ذَلِكَ مِيتَةً جَاهِلِيَّةً؛ لِأَنَّ أَهْلَ الْجَاهِلِيَّةِ لَمْ يَكُنْ لَهُمْ رَأْسٌ يَجْمَعُهُمْ. وَالنَّبِيُّ - صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ - دَائِمًا يَأْمُرُ بِإِقَامَةِ رَأْسٍ، حَتَّى أَمَرَ بِذَلِكَ فِي السَّفَرِ إِذَا كَانُوا ثَلَاثَةً، فَأَمَرَ بِالْإِمَارَةِ فِي أَقَلِّ عَدَدٍ وَأَقْصَرِ اجْتِمَاعٍ. وَفِي صَحِيحِ مُسْلِمٍ، «عَنْ حُذَيْفَةَ - رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ - قَالَ: قُلْتُ: يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ إِنَّا كُنَّا فِي جَاهِلِيَّةٍ وَشَرٍّ فَجَاءَنَا (٦) اللَّهُ بِهَذَا الْخَيْرِ، فَهَلْ بَعْدَ

(١) رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ: زِيَادَةٌ فِي (أ) ، (ب) . (٢) ن، م: يَغْضَبُ لِعَصَبِيَّةٍ أَوْ يَنْصُرُ لِلْعَصَبَةِ؛ أ: تَعَصَّبَ لِعَصَبِيَّةٍ أَوْ يَنْصُرُ لِلْعَصَبِيَّةِ. (٣) ن، أ: وَلَا يَفِي لِذِي عَهْدِهَا. (٤) مَا بَيْنَ النَّجْمَتَيْنِ سَاقِطٌ مِنْ (م) فَقَطْ. (٥) سَبَقَ هَذَا الْحَدِيثُ مُخْتَصَرًا، ص ١١٢. وَالْحَدِيثُ بِهَذِهِ الْأَلْفَاظِ عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ - رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ - فِي مُسْلِمٍ ٣/١٤٧٦ - ١٤٧٧ (كِتَابُ الْإِمَارَةِ، بَابُ وُجُوبِ مُلَازَمَةِ جَمَاعَةِ الْمُسْلِمِينَ. . .) ؛ سُنَنِ النَّسَائِيِّ ٧/١٢٢ - ١١٣ (كِتَابُ تَحْرِيمِ الدَّمِ، بَابُ التَّغْلِيظِ فِيمَنْ قَاتَلَ تَحْتَ رَايَةٍ عِمِّيَّةٍ) ؛ الْمُسْنَدِ (ط. الْمَعَارِفِ) ١٥/٨٧ - ٨٩، ٢٠١، (ط. الْحَلَبِيِّ) ٢/٤٨٨. وَجَاءَ الْحَدِيثُ مُخْتَصَرًا فِي سُنَنِ ابْنِ مَاجَهْ ٢/١٣٠٢ (كِتَابُ الْفِتَنِ، بَابُ الْعَصَبِيَّةِ) . (٦) ن، م: وَقَدْ جَاءَنَا.