Subul al-Salam — Sharh Nawaqid al-Islam by Ibn Baz (شرح نواقض الإسلام) — Page 266

Line-by-line translation · المعاني

سُبُلُ السَّلَامِ شَرْحُ نَوَاقِضِ الْإِسْلَامِ.

Subul al-Salam is a commentary on the Nullifiers of Islam.

وَالشَّاطِبِيُّ فِي الِاعْتِصَامِ وَغَيْرُهُمْ؛ وَتَشْبِيهُ طَلَبِهِمْ بِطَلَبِ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ لَا يَلْزَمُ مِنْهُ الْمُشَابَهَةُ لَهُمْ مِنْ كُلِّ وَجْهٍ، وَلِأَنَّ الْحَدِيثَ لَيْسَ فِيهِ التَّصْرِيحُ بِطَلَبِهِمْ عِبَادَةَ هَذِهِ الشَّجَرَةِ بِسُؤَالِهَا أَوْ اعْتِقَادِ أَنَّهَا تَنْفَعُ وَتَضُرُّ بِذَاتِهَا، وَلِأَنَّهُ يَبْعُدُ جِدًّا أَنْ يَطْلُبُوا عِبَادَةَ هَذِهِ الشَّجَرَةِ مَعَ انْتِشَارِ الْإِسْلَامِ وَمَعَ عِلْمِهِمْ أَنَّ الرَّسُولَ ﷺ لَمْ يُقَاتِلْ أَهْلَ مَكَّةَ وَلَا تَوَجَّهَ بِهِمْ أَيْضًا لِقِتَالِ أَهْلِ الطَّائِفِ إِلَّا مِنْ أَجْلِ إِفْرَادِ اللَّهِ بِالْعِبَادَةِ، فَهُمْ دَخَلُوا فِي هَذَا الدِّينِ مُتَبَرِّئِينَ مِنْ كُلِّ كُفْرٍ وَشِرْكٍ، مُذْعِنِينَ لِلتَّوْحِيدِ، فَيَبْعُدُ أَنْ يَطْلُبُوا الشِّرْكَ مِنَ النَّبِيِّ ﷺ وَهُمْ مَا أَسْلَمُوا إِلَّا بِالْكُفْرِ بِهِ وَالْإِيمَانِ بِضِدِّهِ، وَإِنَّمَا شُبِّهَ طَلَبُهُمْ بِطَلَبِ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ؛ لِأَنَّ الْبِدَعَ بَرِيدُ الشِّرْكِ الْأَكْبَرِ، فَطَلَبُهُمْ هَذَا قَدْ يَؤُولُ إِلَى الْكُفْرِ بِاللَّهِ مَعَ تَقَادُمِ الزَّمَانِ، فَغَلُظَ عَلَيْهِمْ فِي ذَلِكَ كَمَا غَلُظَ عَلَى مَنْ قَالَ: مَا شَاءَ اللَّهُ وَشِئْتَ، فَقَالَ: أَجَعَلْتَنِي لِلَّهِ نِدًّا.

And al-Shatibi in al-I'tisam, and others; the comparison of their request to the request of the Children of Israel does not necessitate that they are similar in every respect, and because the Hadith does not explicitly state that they requested the worship of this tree by asking it or believing that it benefits and harms by its own essence, and because it is highly unlikely that they would request the worship of this tree while Islam was spreading and while they knew that the Messenger (peace be upon him) did not fight the people of Mecca, nor did he lead them to fight the people of Ta'if, except for the sake of singling out Allah with worship; for they entered this religion disavowing every form of disbelief and polytheism, submitting to monotheism, so it is unlikely that they would request polytheism from the Prophet (peace be upon him) when they only embraced Islam by disbelieving in it and believing in its opposite, and their request was only compared to the request of the Children of Israel because innovations are the messenger of major polytheism, so this request of theirs could lead to disbelief in Allah with the passage of time, so he was harsh with them regarding that, just as he was harsh with the one who said, 'What Allah wills and you will,' to which he replied, 'Have you made me an equal to Allah?'

وَقِيلَ: مَا طَلَبُوهُ هُوَ مِنَ الشِّرْكِ الْأَكْبَرِ، وَإِنَّمَا لَمْ يُكَفَّرْ هَؤُلَاءِ؛ لِأَنَّهُمْ لَمْ يَفْعَلُوا الشِّرْكَ وَلَمْ يَعْتَقِدُوهُ، بَلْ مَرُّوا عَلَى قَوْمٍ لَهُمْ ذَاتُ أَنْوَاطٍ فَخَطَرَتْ لَهُمْ خَاطِرَةٌ فِي جَوَازِهِ وَاسْتِحْسَانِهِ فَسَأَلُوا النَّبِيَّ ﷺ وَاسْتَأْذَنُوهُ أَنْ يَخْتَارَ وَيَجْعَلَ لَهُمْ ذَاتَ أَنْوَاطٍ يَتَبَرَّكُونَ بِهَا، وَلَوْ كَانُوا مُتَيَقِّنِينَ أَنَّ هَذَا قُرْبَةٌ وَطَاعَةٌ لَبَادَرُوا إِلَى فِعْلِهِ فَوْرًا، وَالْأُمُورُ الْعَارِضَةُ بِمَنْزِلَةِ الظَّنِّ الْمُضْمَحِلِّ فِي سَاعَتِهِ لَا يُؤَثِّرُ فِي الْأُمُورِ الثَّابِتَةِ وَلِذَلِكَ قَالَ فِي كَشْفِ الشُّبُهَاتِ فِي فَوَائِدِ هَذِهِ الْقِصَّةِ: تُفِيدُ أَنَّ الْمُسْلِمَ الْمُجْتَهِدَ إِذَا تَكَلَّمَ بِكَلَامِ كُفْرٍ وَهُوَ لَا يَدْرِي فَنُبِّهَ عَلَى ذَلِكَ فَتَابَ مِنْ سَاعَتِهِ أَنَّهُ لَا يُكَفَّرُ، فَتَأَمَّلْ قَوْلَهُ: فَتَابَ مِنْ سَاعَتِهِ أَيْ: سَاعَةَ تَكَلُّمِهِ بِذَلِكَ الْكُفْرِ الَّذِي عَرَضَ فِي قَلْبِهِ وَخَطَرَ لَهُ لَا مِنْ سَاعَةِ تَنْبِيهِهِ، فَهَذَا الْكُفْرُ الَّذِي خَطَرَ لَهُ بِمَنْزِلَةِ الْوَسَاوِسِ فِي ذَاتِ اللَّهِ تَعَالَى الَّتِي تَمُرُّ عَلَى الْقَلْبِ وَلَا تَسْتَقِرُّ فِيهِ، فَفَرَّقَ بَيْنَ الِاعْتِقَادِ الْجَازِمِ وَبَيْنَ الْخَاطِرِ الْعَارِضِ غَيْرِ الْمُسْتَقِرِّ، وَلِذَلِكَ أَيْضًا قَالَ الْعَلَّامَةُ سُلَيْمَانُ بْنُ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ فِي فَوَائِدِ الْقِصَّةِ: وَفِيهَا: أَنَّ مَنْ أَرَادَ أَنْ يَفْعَلَ الشِّرْكَ جَهْلًا فَنُهِيَ عَنْ ذَلِكَ فَانْتَهَى لَا يُكَفَّرُ، فَلَمْ يَقُلْ: إِنَّ مَنْ فَعَلَ الشِّرْكَ، بَلْ عَبَّرَ بِالْإِرَادَةِ الْعَارِضَةِ، فَفَرَّقَ بَيْنَ الشَّكِّ الْعَارِضِ وَالشَّكِّ الثَّابِتِ، هَذَا عَلَى الْقَوْلِ بِأَنَّهُمْ طَلَبُوا مِنَ النَّبِيِّ عِبَادَةَ هَذِهِ الشَّجَرَةِ، وَالْأَوَّلُ أَظْهَرُ، عَلَى أَنَّ الْحَدِيثَ لَيْسَ فِيهِ التَّعَرُّضُ لِلتَّكْفِيرِ وَعَدَمِهِ، وَلَيْسَ كُلُّ مَنْ كَفَرَ بِكُفْرٍ وَقَعَ فِيهِ يَجِبُ أَنْ يُوَاجَهَ بِالتَّكْفِيرِ عَلَنًا، رَوَى الْإِمَامُ الْمَرْوَزِيُّ فِي تَعْظِيمِ قَدْرِ الصَّلَاةِ عَنْ إِسْحَاقَ بْنِ رَاهَوَيْهِ أَنَّهُ قَالَ: كُلُّ مَنْ كَانَ كُفْرُهُ مِنْ جِهَةِ الْجَهْلِ وَغَيْرِ الِاسْتِهَانَةِ رُفِقَ بِهِ حَتَّى يَرْجِعَ إِلَى مَا أَنْكَرَهُ كَمَا رُفِقَ النَّبِيُّ بِالْأَعْرَابِيِّ.

It is said: What they requested is indeed major polytheism, and these people were not declared disbelievers because they did not commit the polytheism nor did they believe in it; rather, they passed by a people who had a 'Dhat Anwat' (a tree to hang weapons on), so a thought occurred to them regarding its permissibility and desirability, so they asked the Prophet (peace be upon him) and sought his permission to choose and make for them a 'Dhat Anwat' to seek blessings from. If they had been certain that this was an act of worship and obedience, they would have rushed to do it immediately. Transient matters are like a fleeting thought that vanishes in its moment and does not affect established matters. Therefore, he said in Kashf al-Shubuhat, regarding the benefits of this story: It indicates that if a striving Muslim speaks words of disbelief without knowing, and is alerted to that and repents immediately, he is not declared a disbeliever. So contemplate his saying: 'and repented immediately,' meaning: at the moment of his speaking that disbelief which occurred in his heart and crossed his mind, not from the moment of his being alerted. This disbelief that crossed his mind is like the whisperings regarding the Essence of Allah Almighty that pass through the heart but do not settle in it. Thus, he distinguished between firm belief and a transient, unsettled thought. For this reason, the scholar Sulayman ibn Abdullah also said in the benefits of the story: And in it is that whoever intends to commit polytheism out of ignorance, and is forbidden from that and desists, is not declared a disbeliever. He did not say: 'whoever commits polytheism,' but rather expressed it as a transient intention, thus distinguishing between transient doubt and fixed doubt. This is based on the view that they requested from the Prophet the worship of this tree, and the first view is more apparent, given that the Hadith does not address declaring someone a disbeliever or not, and not everyone who falls into an act of disbelief must be confronted with being declared a disbeliever publicly. Imam al-Marwazi narrated in Ta'zim Qadr al-Salah from Ishaq ibn Rahwayh that he said: Everyone whose disbelief is due to ignorance and not due to contempt should be treated with gentleness until he returns to what he denied, just as the Prophet treated the Bedouin with gentleness.

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Vocabulary · المفردات (50 verbs · 74 nouns)

• لَزِمَ — to be necessary
• نَفَعَ — to benefit
• ضَرَّ — to harm
• سَبِيل — path
• سَلَام — peace
• شَرْح — explanation