Minhaj as-Sunnah - Ibn Taimiya - (1/91)

Minhaj as-SunnahIbn Taimiya

offers no benefit but instead causes harm to the mind, soul, body, wealth, and other things, is evil according to both revealed law and reason(1).

For this reason, those who follow him are among the people furthest removed from securing their religious and worldly welfare. Neither their religious nor worldly affairs can be set aright if(2) they do not submit to the authority of others. They are like the Jews, whose affairs cannot be set aright unless they submit to the authority of those outside their religion. They maintain that the infallible Awaited Imam must exist, because, in their view, religious and worldly welfare can be attained only through him. Yet after the Awaited One, they have attained no welfare in either religion or worldly life, whereas those who rejected him have lost no religious or worldly benefit. Rather, they have managed their religious and worldly interests more effectively than his followers.

This makes it evident that their doctrine of the imamate yields nothing but disgrace and regret, and contains nothing honorable. If this is the greatest objective of religion, then they are the people furthest from truth and guidance concerning religion’s greatest objective. If it is not the greatest objective of religion, the falsity of their claim that it is becomes manifest. Their position is therefore false in either case, which is what was to be proven.

[The Rāfidis’ Belief in the Awaited One Is Not Like the Sufis’ Belief in the Men of the Unseen]

If these Rāfidis say:

“Our belief in this infallible Awaited One is like the belief held by many ascetic and religious shaykhs in Elijah, al-Khidr, the ghawth, the qutb(3), [and the men of

(1) N and M read: “according to reason and revealed law.” (2) N and M read: “even if.” (3) Al-Jurjānī states in *al-Taʿrīfāt* (Definitions): “The *ghawth* (source of succor) is the *qutb* (spiritual pole) when recourse is sought in him; he is not called the *ghawth* at any other time.” Ibn ʿArabī states in *Istilāhāt al-Sūfiyya* (Sufi Terminology), p. 35[0–9] (published with al-Jurjānī’s *al-Taʿrīfāt*, Cairo, 1938): “The *qutb*, who is the *ghawth*, is the one in the world upon whom Allah’s gaze rests at every time and place, and he is ‘upon the heart of Isrāfīl’—peace be upon him.” Professor Muhammad Mustafā Hilmī—may Allah have mercy on him—explains what the Sufis mean by their alleged *ghawth* in his annotation on the entry “Badal” in the *Encyclopaedia of Islam*: “The *qutb*, in its specific sense, strongly indicates a philosophical doctrine concerning the Muhammadan Reality, which, according to the philosophizing Sufis—or Sufi philosophers—is the first creature Allah created and which served as an intermediary in the creation of every spiritual and material being in the world.” See also my annotations to *Darʾ Taʿārud al-ʿAql wa-l-Naql*, 5:315–316, and al-Qāshānī’s *Istilāhāt al-Sūfiyya* (Sufi Terminology).

لَيْسَ فِيهِ مَنْفَعَةٌ، بَلْ مَضَرَّةٌ فِي الْعَقْلِ، وَالنَّفْسِ، وَالْبَدَنِ، وَالْمَالِ، وَغَيْرِ ذَلِكَ قَبِيحٌ شَرْعًا، وَعَقْلًا (١) . وَلِهَذَا كَانَ الْمُتَّبِعُونَ لَهُ مِنْ أَبْعَدِ النَّاسِ عَنْ مَصْلَحَةِ الدِّينِ وَالدُّنْيَا، لَا تَنْتَظِمُ لَهُمْ مَصْلَحَةُ دِينِهِمْ، وَلَا دُنْيَاهُمْ إِنْ (٢) لَمْ يَدْخُلُوا فِي طَاعَةِ غَيْرِهِمْ، كَالْيَهُودِ الَّذِينَ لَا تَنْتَظِمُ لَهُمْ مَصْلَحَةٌ إِلَّا بِالدُّخُولِ فِي طَاعَةِ مَنْ هُوَ خَارِجٌ عَنْ دِينِهِمْ، فَهُمْ يُوجِبُونَ وُجُودَ الْإِمَامِ الْمُنْتَظَرِ الْمَعْصُومِ؛ لِأَنَّ مَصْلَحَةَ الدِّينِ وَالدُّنْيَا لَا تَحْصُلُ إِلَّا بِهِ عِنْدَهُمْ، وَهُمْ لَمْ يَحْصُلْ لَهُمْ بَعْدَ الْمُنْتَظَرِ مَصْلَحَةٌ فِي الدِّينِ وَلَا فِي الدُّنْيَا، وَالَّذِينَ كَذَّبُوا بِهِ لَمْ تَفُتْهُمْ مَصْلَحَةٌ فِي الدِّينِ وَلَا فِي الدُّنْيَا، بَلْ كَانُوا أَقْوَمَ بِمَصَالِحِ الدِّينِ وَالدُّنْيَا مِنْ أَتْبَاعِهِ. فَعُلِمَ بِذَلِكَ أَنَّ قَوْلَهُمْ فِي الْإِمَامَةِ لَا يُنَالُ بِهِ إِلَّا مَا يُورِثُ الْخِزْيَ، وَالنَّدَامَةَ، وَأَنَّهُ لَيْسَ فِيهِ شَيْءٌ مِنَ الْكَرَامَةِ، وَأَنَّ ذَلِكَ إِذَا كَانَ أَعْظَمَ مَطَالِبِ الدِّينِ، فَهُمْ أَبْعَدُ النَّاسِ عَنِ الْحَقِّ، وَالْهُدَى فِي أَعْظَمِ مَطَالِبِ الدِّينِ، وَإِنْ لَمْ يَكُنْ أَعْظَمَ مَطَالِبِ الدِّينِ ظَهَرَ بُطْلَانُ مَا ادَّعَوْهُ مِنْ ذَلِكَ، فَثَبَتَ بُطْلَانُ قَوْلِهِمْ عَلَى التَّقْدِيرَيْنِ، وَهُوَ الْمَطْلُوبُ. [إيمان الرافضة بالمنتظر ليس مثل إيمان الصوفية برجال الغيب] فَإِنْ قَالَ هَؤُلَاءِ الرَّافِضَةُ: إِيمَانُنَا بِهَذَا الْمُنْتَظَرِ الْمَعْصُومِ مِثْلُ إِيمَانِ كَثِيرٍ مِنْ شُيُوخِ الزُّهْدِ وَالدِّينِ بِإِلْيَاسَ، وَالْخَضِرِ، وَالْغَوْثِ، وَالْقُطْبِ (٣) ، [وَرِجَالِ

(١) ن، م: عَقْلًا وَشَرْعًا. (٢) ن، م: وَإِنْ. (٣) فِي كِتَابِ " التَّعْرِيفَاتِ " لِلْجُرْجَانِيِّ: " الْغَوْثُ هُوَ الْقُطْبُ حِينَمَا يُلْتَجَأُ إِلَيْهِ وَلَا يُسَمَّى فِي غَيْرِ ذَلِكَ الْوَقْتِ غَوْثًا ". وَفِي كِتَابِ " اصْطِلَاحَاتِ الصُّوفِيَّةِ " لِابْنِ عَرَبِيٍّ، ص [٠ - ٩] ٣٥ (طُبِعَ مَعَ التَّعْرِيفَاتِ لِلْجُرْجَانِيِّ الْقَاهِرَةَ، ١٩٣٨) : " الْقُطْبُ وَهُوَ الْغَوْثُ عِبَارَةٌ عَنِ الْوَاحِدِ الَّذِي هُوَ مَوْضِعُ نَظَرِ اللَّهِ مِنَ الْعَالَمِ فِي كُلِّ زَمَانٍ وَمَكَانٍ، وَهُوَ عَلَى قَلْبِ إِسْرَافِيلَ - عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ - ". وَالْمَقْصُودُ. بِالْغَوْثِ الَّذِي يَزْعُمُهُ الصُّوفِيَّةُ هُوَ - كَمَا يَقُولُ الْأُسْتَاذُ الدُّكْتُور مُحَمَّد مُصْطَفَى حِلْمِي - رَحِمَهُ اللَّهُ - فِي تَعْلِيقِهِ عَلَى مَادَّةِ " بَدَلَ " فِي دَائِرَةِ الْمَعَارِفِ الْإِسْلَامِيَّةِ -: " إِنَّ الْقُطْبَ بِالْمَعْنَى الْخَاصِّ يَدُلُّ دَلَالَةً قَوِيَّةً عَلَى مَذْهَبٍ فَلْسَفِيٍّ فِي الْحَقِيقَةِ الْمُحَمَّدِيَّةِ الَّتِي هِيَ عِنْدَ مُتَفَلْسِفَةِ الصُّوفِيَّةِ، أَوْ صُوفِيَّةِ الْفَلَاسِفَةِ: الْمَخْلُوقُ الْأَوَّلُ الَّذِي خَلَقَهُ اللَّهُ وَكَانَ وَاسِطَةً فِي خَلْقِ كُلِّ مَا فِي الْعَالَمِ مِنَ الْكَائِنَاتِ الرُّوحِيَّةِ وَالْمَادِّيَّةِ ". وَانْظُرْ تَعْلِيقِي عَلَى " دَرْءِ تَعَارُضِ الْعَقْلِ وَالنَّقْلِ " ٥/٣١٥ - ٣١٦. وَانْظُرْ كِتَابَ " اصْطِلَاحَاتِ الصُّوفِيَّةِ " لِلْقَاشَانِيِّ.