Bab fi Karahat as-Su'al
The Dislike of Asking Whether the Qur'an is Created
اُدَارِيْ : I used to defend, I used to bear it. (دَارَأَ يُدَارِءُ مُدَارَأَةً : to defend, to treat gently) اَلْحَدُّ : sharpness - عَلٰى رِسْلِكَ : stay in your place - فَكَرِهْتُ : so it was disliked by me, it was intolerable to me - اُغْضِبَهٗ : I anger him - فَغَضِبَ : I will become angry - اَحْلَمَ : more forbearing - اَوْقَرَ : possessing dignity and gravity - تَزْوِيْرٌ : contemplation, deliberation. "Makar" (plotting) also has the same meaning, but here it is in the sense of thought and light. - فِى بَدِيْهَتِهٖ : extemporaneously, without premeditation. Translation:- Hazrat Abdullah bin Abbas (RA) narrated this hadith from Hazrat Umar Farooq (RA), from the "Hadith of Saqifah" where the narrator says that, "When the orator of the Ansar finished his speech, I intended to say something and I had thought of (some points related to this event) a speech that seemed very good to me, pleasing. I wanted to present this speech before Abu Bakr and in it I used to bear some of his sharp remarks. So when I intended to say something there, Abu Bakr said, 'Stay in your place' ('wait a bit'). I disliked displeasing him, bringing him to anger (so I complied with his word). Then Abu Bakr began to speak. He was more forbearing and dignified than me. So by the oath of God! Abu Bakr did not leave a single thing that pleased me which I had thought of in my mind. But Abu Bakr said extemporaneously (without prior thought) exactly as I had thought, rather better than it." (This hadith is in the third volume of "Taysir")
بَابٌ: فِى كَرَاهِيَةِ السُّؤَالِ عَنِ الْقُرْاٰنِ اَمَخْلُوْقٌ هُوَ اَمْ لَا؟
This chapter is regarding this that "Asking whether the Quran is created or not?" is also disliked. عَنْ اَبِيْ هُرَيْرَةَ قَالَ كُنَّا عِنْدَ عُمَرَ بْنِ الْخَطَّابِ رَضِيَ اللّٰهُ عَنْهُ اِذْجَاءَ هٗ رَجُلٌ يَسْاَلُهٗ عَنِ الْقُرْاٰنِ اَمَخْلُوْقٌ هُوَ اَمْ غَيْرُ مَخْلُوْقٍ؟ فَقَامَ عُمَرُ فَاَخَذَ بِمَجَامِعِ ثَوْبِهٖ حَتّٰى قَادَهٗ اِلٰى عَلِيِّ بْنِ اَبِيْ طَالِبٍ - فَقَالَ يَا اَبَا الْحَسَنِ اَلَا تَسْمَعُ مَا يَقُوْلُ هٰذَا ؟ قَالَ وَمَا يَقُوْلُ ؟ قَالَ جَاءَ نِيْ يَسْأَلُنِيْ عَنِ الْقُرْاٰنِ اَمَخْلُوْقٌ هُوَ اَوْغَيْرُ مَخْلُوْقٍ؟ فَقَالَ عَلِيٌّ هٰذِهٖ كَلِمَةٌ وَ سَيَكُوْنُ لَهَا عِزَّةٌ - لَوْ وُلِّيْتُ مِنَ الْاَمْرِ مَا وُلِّيْتَ لَضَرَبْتُ عُنُقَهٗ - (نص فى الحجة - كنز جلد ١) Vocabulary:- كُنَّا : we were - عِنْدَ : near, close - جَاءَ هٗ : came to him - يَسْأَلُ : asks - مَخْلُوْقٌ : that which is born, created, whose creation occurs - اَمْ : or - اَ : what - مَجَامِعُ : edges, hem - اَخَذَ بِمَجَامِعِ : grabbed by the collar - ثَوْبٌ : cloth - قَائِدٌ : one who leads from behind, leader - قَادَ : led - اَلَا تَسْمَعُ : do you not hear? listen to this! هٰذِهٖ كَلِمَةٌ : this is one matter - today this is a trivial matter - وَسَيَكُوْنُ لَهَا عِزَّةٌ : soon it will have a great force, it will become dominant - لَوْ : if, would that - لَوْ وُلِّيْتُ مِنَ الْاَمْرِ : if I possessed some authority in the matter! عُنُقٌ : neck - لَضَرَبْتُ عُنُقَهٗ : surely I would strike his neck.
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Translation:- It is narrated from Hazrat Abu Huraira (RA) who said, we were with Hazrat Umar (RA) when suddenly a person came to him. He started asking him regarding the Quran whether it is created or uncreated? So Hazrat Umar got up and grabbing the collar of his clothes pulled him and brought him to Hazrat Ali ibn Abi Talib (RA). Then Hazrat Umar said, "O Abu al-Hasan! Do you not hear what this person is saying?" He asked, "What is he saying?" He replied, "He came to me asking about the Quran whether it is created or uncreated?" Hazrat Ali said, "Today this is a single statement, a trivial matter, and soon it will have great force. If I possessed authority such as you hold, I would have severed his neck." (This hadith is in Kitab al-Hujjah and on page 2 of the first volume of Kanz al-'Ummal) Gentlemen! Islam and Muslims were not given as much trouble by the enemies of Islam as by the pseudo-friends. Various sects arose among Muslims and caused such a great fitna that in some instances rivers of blood flowed based on differences in beliefs. Thus, the Mu'tazilite sect gained great strength during the reign of Bani Abbas. During the era of Mamun, Mu'tasim, and Mutawakkil, a person from this sect named Abu Dawud ingrained the belief of the Quran being created in the minds of these kings. Then what? By royal decree, this belief began to be spread forcefully by the sword. The family of Bani Abbas, whose extent of governance can be estimated by the fact that the Caliph Harun al-Rashid's court and government used to have twenty-five thousand curtains woven of gold threads in the royal palace. He himself was a lover of knowledge and virtue, and a patron of knowledge. But involved in this fitna, he established that whoever did not believe the Quran to be created was committing shirk in the attributes of God. The evidence they brought was that "اَللّٰهُ خَالِقُ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ" (Meaning Allah Ta'ala is the Creator of everything). Based on this, the Quran is also a thing. Therefore, its Creator is God, and the Quran is created. Etc. Hazrat Ahmad Hanbal was present in that era. You sternly denied this from the core of your being and also gave robust answers to the Mu'tazilite sect. The intoxication of government makes a man blind. On their instigation, Mamun ordered his imprisonment. The governor imprisoned them and sent them in chains to Mamun at Raqqa. But Hazrat Imam Ahmad Hanbal was still on the way when Mamun passed away and after Mamun, Mu'tasim Billah became the Caliph. He too remained firm on this erroneous belief. Thus, the Imam was imprisoned. You were whipped to the extent that you would become unconscious, pierced with swords, and trampled on the ground, yet the Imam remained steadfast on the Truth. One day Mu'tasim invited the Imam for a debate on this belief. You said, "Bring any verse of the Quran or any hadith before me in evidence, then I will ponder over it. Has the Messenger of Allah ﷺ commanded regarding knowing this issue or not? If you knew it, did you preach it or not? If the Noble Prophet ﷺ preached it, narrate a narration. And if the Noble Prophet ﷺ did not preach this issue
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then what need is there for us to get entangled in this dispute." Despite this solid argument, Mu'tasim, becoming a fanatic, ordered the execution of the Imam, and Mu'tasim himself applied the whips to you. As the whips landed on the Imam's body, he recited the tasbih of Allah. So much so that from the beating of the whips you became unconscious and blood began to flow from your body. Seeing the power of this Truth and the courage and steadfastness of the Imam, Mu'tasim began to tremble and released the Imam. Still this calamity did not lessen, until Mutawakkil Billah becoming the Caliph summoned the Imam to his court and was greatly moved by his arguments and sent you back with great reverence and respect. And along with this, he issued a decree declaring the Quran uncreated throughout his entire kingdom. In this way, after the murder of thousands of innocents, this fitna subsided. Gentlemen! Since this issue is very important, a bit of explanation and detail of it is desired. Every person who talks, first thinks in his heart about what he is going to say? This is a point to ponder. Therefore, when an Arab speaks in his Arabic language, and a Hindi speaker in his Hindi language, whatever he says, before the meaning of it comes into his heart, what will he say? If this is true, then ponder over it. Otherwise, that man should be called completely insane, devoid of intellect, whose intellect has wandered somewhere. Similarly, a poet also first thinks of the poem in his mind, memory, and heart, then utters it with his tongue or writes it on paper etc. Thus, from these examples it is well established that the matter that came to the heart or mind, or the poem that was formed, that is "Kalam-e-Nafsi", and that which was uttered from the mouth is "Kalam-e-Lafzi". And this too has become apparent that "Kalam-e-Nafsi" comes first and "Kalam-e-Lafzi" comes after. Someone asked Hazrat Ali (RA) about the difference between "Ahmaq" (fool) and "Aqlmand" (wise)? You said, "The heart of the wise is before his tongue, and the tongue of the fool is before his heart." Meaning, whatever word the wise person utters with his tongue, he thinks about it properly first, as to how it should be uttered? What should be said and what should not be said. Contrary to this, the fool speaks first and regrets later, saying "Alas! Why did I say such a thing?" But what is the benefit of regretting this? Because ع منھ سے نکلی ، ہوئی پرائی بات (The word that escapes the mouth, becomes another's property) Gentlemen! Writing the poem of "Banat Su'ad", Ka'b bin Zuhayr presented it to the Noble Messenger ﷺ and the Prophet ﷺ bestowed a blessed mantle upon him. Now we read this poem. Our reading it today, does it make the poem new? Ka'b bin Zuhayr composed it in his time. What we are reading today, our tongue is new and temporal. But the poem is not of today. It is thirteen hundred years old. Since we are reading it today, our reading is of today. Our every word is of today, but this poem is not of today. It is thirteen hundred years old. Thus, similarly, the speech of God Ta'ala is also. Our tongue is temporal and of today, our voice is of today, this pen is of today, this paper is of today, and this writing printed today is of today. But the Quran is eternal just like the eternal God. God Ta'ala has always
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