The Book of Faith-08a
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The reciter: Alī ibn Ḥujayr al-Saʿdī narrated to us, Ismāʿīl—meaning ibn ʿUlayyah—narrated to us from Manṣūr ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, from al-Shaʿbī, from Jarīr, that he heard him say: .
The Shaykh : Why? Because if it is traced back to the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), it serves as a proof. And Basra at that time was teeming with the Khawarij, who hold that the one who commits a major sin is a disbeliever. So if he said: or , they would say: "This is evidence for us, because it is traced back to the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him)."
But in any case, this is an exercise of independent legal reasoning (ijtihad) by Manṣūr; he may have been correct or he may have been mistaken. It can be said: We proclaim the truth, and if the people of falsehood understand it other than as truth, that is their affair. It can also be said: If he narrates it another time as traced back to the Prophet, but he did not narrate it as traced back to the Prophet in this place where he fears fitnah (trial, discord or temptation), then there is no harm in it, for this is like the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) refraining from rebuilding the Ka'bah on the foundations of Ibrāhīm out of fear of fitnah.
Any slave who runs away from his masters has committed disbelief until he returns to them. Manṣūr said: "By Allah, it has been narrated from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), but I dislike it being narrated from me here in Basra."
أيّما عبدٍ أبق من مواليه فقد كفر حتّى يرجع إليهم قال منصورٌ: قد والله روي عن النّبيّ صلى الله عليه وسلم ولكنّي أكره أن يروى عنّي هاهنا بالبصرةThe Shaykh : Why? Because if it is traced back to the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), it serves as a proof. And Basra at that time was teeming with the Khawarij, who hold that the one who commits a major sin is a disbeliever. So if he said:
Any slave who runs away is a disbeliever.
أيما عبد أبق فهو كافرHe has committed disbelief
فقد كفرBut in any case, this is an exercise of independent legal reasoning (ijtihad) by Manṣūr; he may have been correct or he may have been mistaken. It can be said: We proclaim the truth, and if the people of falsehood understand it other than as truth, that is their affair. It can also be said: If he narrates it another time as traced back to the Prophet, but he did not narrate it as traced back to the Prophet in this place where he fears fitnah (trial, discord or temptation), then there is no harm in it, for this is like the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) refraining from rebuilding the Ka'bah on the foundations of Ibrāhīm out of fear of fitnah.