Disagreements of the Jurists. al-Qadi al-Nu'man
In these and in many additional examples, God reported that they posed questions to the Messenger of God but that he did not answer until God revealed the answer to their questions.
٢٤
وقد أخبر الله بأنّه أكمل دينه فكيف يزعم هؤلاء أنّه لم يكمله حتّى أكملوه١ وزعموا أنّ الله عزّ وجلّ لم يبعث نبيّه إلى الناس بكلّ ما يحتاجون إليه وأنّ كتابه قد فرّط فيه حتّى أتمّوا هم ذلك وأكملوه وأتوا الناس بما احتاجوا إليه . ورسول الله صلّى الله عليه وعلى آله وسلّم يقول: اتّبعوا ولا تبتدعوا فكلّ بدعة ضلالة، وكلّ ضلالة في النار.
١ ز: كملوه.
God reported that He perfected His religion, so how could those people claim that He did not perfect it, such that they had to perfect it themselves? How could they claim that God did not send His Prophet to the people with everything that they needed, and that He rendered His Book deficient so that they had to complete and perfect it and provide the people with what they needed? The Messenger of God said: “Follow, and do not innovate, for every innovation is an error, and every error leads into the Fire.”65
٢٥
هذا مع الحديث المشهور الذي رواه عنه أمير المؤمنين١ عليّ صلوات الله عليه الذي يؤيّد ما ذكرناه أنّ كتاب الله عزّ وجلّ جامع لكلّ٢ ما يحتاج إليه. رواه٣ الحارث الأعور عنه قال الحارث : دخلت المسجد فإذا الناس قد وقّعوا في الأحاديث فأتيت عليًّا صلوات الله عليه فقلت: يا أمير المؤمنين إنّ الناس قد وقّعوا في الأحاديث. فقال: وقد فعّلوها؟ قلت: نعم. قال: أما إنّي سمعت النبيّ٤ صلّى الله عليه وعلى آله وسلّم يقول: أما إنّها ستكون فتنة. قلت: ما المخرج منها يا رسول الله؟ قال: كتاب الله تعالى. فيه نبأ من قبلكم وخبر من بعدكم وحكم ما بينكم. هو الفصل ليس بالهزل٥ . من تركه من جبّار قصمه الله، ومن ابتغى الهدى في غيره أضلّه الله. هو حبل الله المتين وهو الذكر الحكيم وهو الصراط المستقيم وهو الذي لا تزيغ٦ عنه الأهواء، ولا تلبس فيه الألسن ولا يشبع منه العلماء ولا يخلق على ردّ ولا تنقضي عجائبه. هو الذي لم تلبث٧ الجنّ إذ سمعتْه أن قالوا: {إِنَّا سَمِعْنَا قُرْءَانًا عَجَبًا يَهْدِىٓ إِلَى ٱلرُّشْدِ فَـَٔامَنَّا بِهِۦ}. من قال به٨ صدق، ومن عمل به أُجر، ومن حكم به عدل، ومن دعا إليه هدى إلى صراط مستقيم، ومن استعصم به عصم. خذها يا أعور.
١ ساقطة في ل. ٢ ل: بكلّ. ٣ ز: راواه. ٤ ل: رسول الله. ٥ كذا في خ، و في ز: الفضل ليس بالهزلي، ل: الفصل ليس بالهزل. ٦ ل: يزيع. ٧ خ، ل: تنتهِ. ٨ ساقطة في ز.
This is corroborated by the famous report that ʿAlī, God’s blessings upon him, related from the Messenger an account that supports what we have stated: that the Book of God contains all that people need. Al-Ḥārith al-Aʿwar related this from him: “I entered the mosque, and there, before me, the people had taken to attacking Prophetic reports. So I came to ʿAlī, God’s blessings upon him and his descendants, and said, ‘O Commander of the Faithful! The people have attacked Prophetic reports.’ He asked, ‘Have they also fabricated Prophetic reports?’ I answered, ‘Yes.’ He said, ‘Hear ye! I heard the Messenger of God say, “A time of discord will certainly occur.” I asked, “What will be the way out of it, O Messenger of God?” He answered, “The Book of God. In it is an account of those who came before you and a report of those who will come after you, and judgment between your disputing parties. It is decisive speech, and not frivolity. Whatever tyrant forsakes it, God will batter down. Whoever seeks guidance in any other source, God will lead astray. It is God’s sturdy cable, the wise message, and the straight path. People do not tire of hearing it and so turn their attention elsewhere, nor do their tongues falter in reciting it. Scholars never get their fill of it. It is not worn out by repetition, and its wonders never cease. When the genies heard it, they soon declared, «We have heard a wondrous Qurʾan, which guides to righteousness, so we have accepted belief in it.»66 He who speaks thereby will speak the truth, and he who practices thereby will be rewarded, he who judges thereby will be just, he who calls thereto will guide to the straight path, and he who seeks protection in it will be safe.” Take this to heart, O Aʿwar.’”67
٢٦
فأخبر رسول الله صلّى الله عليه وعلى آله وسلّم أنّ في القرآن نبأ من مضى ومن يأتي والحكم والهدى والفصل والقضاء. ولذلك سمّاه١ الله تعالى حكمًا وتبيانًا وهدًى وشفاءً . وأخبر رسول الله صلّى الله عليه وعلى آله أنّه من ابتغى٢ الهدى في غيره أضلّه الله. فكيف يزعم هؤلاء الجاهلون أنّ شيئًا تعبّد الله سبحانه به خلقه لم ينزله في كتابه ولا بعث به رسوله؟ وإذا كان ذلك كذلك فكيف تعبّد الله الخلق به ؟ ومن ذا الذي علّمهم علم ذلك إذا لم يكن في كتاب الله ولا جاء على لسان رسوله ؟
١ ز: سمّى. ٢ ل: اتّبع.
The Messenger of God reported that the Qurʾan contains accounts of past and future generations, wisdom, guidance, decisive pronouncements, and legal rulings. In addition, God called the Qurʾan wisdom, an explanation, guidance, and a cure. The Messenger of God reported that if anyone seeks guidance in any other source besides it, God will lead him astray. How can these ignorant people claim that God chose to impose as faith on his people something which He did not reveal in His Book and which He did not convey through His Messenger? This being the case, how could God impose such a thing on creation, and who could teach it to them, when such knowledge is not to be found in the Book of God, nor has it come down to us in the utterances of His Messenger?
٢٧
وهو