The Trial of Imam Ahmad and the Shaykh al-Islam: Between Creed and Politics
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
Honorable Shaykh, he says: One of the da'wah workers claims that Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal’s steadfastness in affirming that the Qur'an is not created was merely for a political reason, and a political dispute orchestrated by al-Ma'mun when he saw the large number of Imam Ahmad’s followers and feared for his rule, so he plotted this scheme. Likewise, what happened to Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah was merely for a political reason, not because of his fatwa forbidding tying a pledge to the grave of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), nor because of the issue of divorce; rather, the matter was political.
The Shaykh:
This is a false statement. This contradicts what is found and recorded in the trustworthy books, which are more trustworthy than the words of the one who claims he did this for his creed. How so? He refused to affirm that the Qur'an is created; he refused to affirm that the Qur'an is created, and what happened to him happened before he engaged in politics. He did not engage in politics, nor did he speak about the rule. Even when they suspected him, imprisoned him, and beat him, he did not regret it, nor did he curse them.
Rather, it is narrated from him that he said: If there were a supplication that would be answered, I would direct it against this authority. Imam Ahmad did not engage in politics. Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah did not engage in politics. He did not engage in the rule. Rather, he defended the truth. The one who says this is either ignorant.
Or a Mu'tazili who wants to support the view of the Mu'tazilah and the Jahmiyyah, or a compound ignoramus who does not know and interprets history with an incorrect interpretation. This is the habit of people today: they publish a book, either from the misguided sects, wanting to cover up for the people of falsehood, or they are compound ignoramuses who distort history in their simplicity and their degraded ideas. Yes.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you
Honorable Shaykh, he says: One of the da'wah workers claims that Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal’s steadfastness in affirming that the Qur'an is not created was merely for a political reason, and a political dispute orchestrated by al-Ma'mun when he saw the large number of Imam Ahmad’s followers and feared for his rule, so he plotted this scheme. Likewise, what happened to Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah was merely for a political reason, not because of his fatwa forbidding tying a pledge to the grave of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), nor because of the issue of divorce; rather, the matter was political.
The Shaykh:
This is a false statement. This contradicts what is found and recorded in the trustworthy books, which are more trustworthy than the words of the one who claims he did this for his creed. How so? He refused to affirm that the Qur'an is created; he refused to affirm that the Qur'an is created, and what happened to him happened before he engaged in politics. He did not engage in politics, nor did he speak about the rule. Even when they suspected him, imprisoned him, and beat him, he did not regret it, nor did he curse them.
Rather, it is narrated from him that he said: If there were a supplication that would be answered, I would direct it against this authority. Imam Ahmad did not engage in politics. Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah did not engage in politics. He did not engage in the rule. Rather, he defended the truth. The one who says this is either ignorant.
Or a Mu'tazili who wants to support the view of the Mu'tazilah and the Jahmiyyah, or a compound ignoramus who does not know and interprets history with an incorrect interpretation. This is the habit of people today: they publish a book, either from the misguided sects, wanting to cover up for the people of falsehood, or they are compound ignoramuses who distort history in their simplicity and their degraded ideas. Yes.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you
Source
شرح الكافية الشافية في الانتصار للفرقة الناجية [ القصيدة النونية ] [ صالح الفوزان ]، فصل : في ظهور الفرق المبين بين دعوة الرسل ودعوة المعطلين — islamhouse.com (1:13:45)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.