Al-Qawl al-Mufid ala Kitab al-Tawhid — Volume 2 (القول المفيد على كتاب التوحيد) — Page 314

Line-by-line translation · المعاني

الثَّانِيَةُ : أَنْ يُضِيفَهُ إِلَى سَبَبٍ صَحِيحٍ ثَابِتٍ شَرْعاً أَوْ حِسّاً فَهَذَا جَائِزٌ بِشَرْطِ أَنْ لَا يَعْتَقِدَ أَنَّ السَّبَبَ مُؤَثِّرٌ بِنَفْسِهِ أَوْ أَنْ لَا يَتَنَاسَى الْمُنْعِمَ بِذَلِكَ.

The second: To attribute it to a valid cause that is established by religious law or sensory observation, and this is permissible on the condition that one does not believe that the cause is effective by itself, or that one does not forget the Bestower of that [cause].

الثَّالِثَةُ : أَنْ يُضِيفَهُ إِلَى سَبَبٍ ظَاهِرٍ، لَكِنْ لَمْ يَثْبُتْ كَوْنُهُ سَبَباً لَا شَرْعاً وَلَا حِسّاً فَهَذَا نَوْعٌ مِنَ الشِّرْكِ الْأَصْغَرِ، وَذَلِكَ مِثْلُ : التِّوَلَةِ وَالْقَلَائِدِ الَّتِي يُقَالُ إِنَّهَا تَمْنَعُ الْعَيْنَ وَمَا أَشْبَهَ ذَلِكَ ؛ لِأَنَّهُ أَثْبَتَ سَبَباً لَمْ يَجْعَلْهُ اللَّهُ سَبَباً فَكَانَ مُشَارِكاً لِلَّهِ فِي إِثْبَاتِ الْأَسْبَابِ.

The third: To attribute it to an apparent cause, but it has not been established as a cause either by religious law or sensory observation; this is a type of minor polytheism (shirk), such as: love charms (tiwalah) and amulets that are said to prevent the evil eye, and similar things; because he has established a cause that Allah has not made a cause, so he has become a partner with Allah in establishing causes.

وَيَدُلُّ لِهَذَا التَّفْصِيلِ أَنَّهُ ثَبَتَ إِضَافَةُ [لَوْلَا] إِلَى السَّبَبِ وَحْدَهُ بِقَوْلِ النَّبِيِّ فِي عَمِّهِ أَبِي طَالِبٍ : لَوْلَا أَنَا لَكَانَ فِي الدَّرْكِ الْأَسْفَلِ مِنَ النَّارِ»(١)، وَلَا شَكَّ أَنَّ النَّبِيَّ ﷺ أَبْعَدُ النَّاسِ عَنِ الشِّرْكِ، وَأَخْلَصُ النَّاسِ تَوْحِيداً لِلَّهِ تَعَالَى

Evidence for this distinction is that it is established that the word 'lawla' (if it were not for) was attributed to the cause alone in the statement of the Prophet (peace be upon him) regarding his uncle Abu Talib: 'If it were not for me, he would have been in the lowest depth of the Fire,' and there is no doubt that the Prophet (peace be upon him) is the furthest of people from polytheism, and the most sincere of people in monotheism toward Allah the Exalted.

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Vocabulary · المفردات (30 verbs · 43 nouns)

• أَضَافَ — to attribute
• ثَبَتَ — to be proven
• جَازَ — to be permissible
• ثَانِيَة — second
• سَبَب — cause
• شَرْع — law/religion