The Impact of the Translators and al-Ma'mun on the Entry of Greek Books
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The questioner:
Honorable Shaykh, we have heard that the evil with which the Muslims were afflicted due to the entry of Greek books did not stop with al-Ma'mun and the Greeks, but the translators participated with them; because they were a mixture of non-Arabs and disbelievers. Is this correct?
The Shaykh:
Yes, and everyone who assists in falsehood will be affected by it. As for the work of the translators, the root of the fitnah (trial, discord or temptation) is al-Ma'mun. He is the one who opened this door upon the people of the Prophet. Al-Ma'mun was an Abbasid caliph from the House of the Prophet, a smart and strong man, but the reason he associated with the people of the Mu'tazilah is that they influenced him. This is due to the badness of his inner circle. The man was originally good and of pure origin, there is no doubt about that, but the inner circle that sat with him is what influenced him, and it is what cast these things into his mind.
In any case, this evil is attributed to him, but he hopes for Allah's forgiveness for him because of his faith, but he opened this evil upon the people.
The questioner:
May Allah reward you.
The Shaykh:
To declare al-Ma'mun a disbeliever? No, but it is said that he opened a door of evil upon the people, and Allah is sufficient for the Muslims against this evil, and He will forgive this believer for what happened to him, but the cause of this was the wicked inner circle he had.
Honorable Shaykh, we have heard that the evil with which the Muslims were afflicted due to the entry of Greek books did not stop with al-Ma'mun and the Greeks, but the translators participated with them; because they were a mixture of non-Arabs and disbelievers. Is this correct?
The Shaykh:
Yes, and everyone who assists in falsehood will be affected by it. As for the work of the translators, the root of the fitnah (trial, discord or temptation) is al-Ma'mun. He is the one who opened this door upon the people of the Prophet. Al-Ma'mun was an Abbasid caliph from the House of the Prophet, a smart and strong man, but the reason he associated with the people of the Mu'tazilah is that they influenced him. This is due to the badness of his inner circle. The man was originally good and of pure origin, there is no doubt about that, but the inner circle that sat with him is what influenced him, and it is what cast these things into his mind.
In any case, this evil is attributed to him, but he hopes for Allah's forgiveness for him because of his faith, but he opened this evil upon the people.
The questioner:
May Allah reward you.
The Shaykh:
To declare al-Ma'mun a disbeliever? No, but it is said that he opened a door of evil upon the people, and Allah is sufficient for the Muslims against this evil, and He will forgive this believer for what happened to him, but the cause of this was the wicked inner circle he had.
Source
شرح الكافية الشافية في الانتصار للفرقة الناجية [ القصيدة النونية ] [ صالح الفوزان ]، بداية من قوله : وكذاك إن قلنا يُرى سبحانه — islamhouse.com (1:13:03)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.