The Science of the Principles of Religion

mujtahidan fa-idhā ʻarafahu wa-lam yafukk taqlīd imāmihi lam yaṣnaʻ shayʼan bal atʻaba nafsahu wa-rakkaba ʻalá nafsihi al-ḥujjah fī masāʼil (١) wa-in kāna yaqraʼuhu li-taḥṣīl al-waẓāʼif wa-li-yuqāla fa-hādhā min al-wabāl wa-huwa ḍarb min al-khabāl .

( ʻilm uṣūl al-dīn )

Hādhā ism ʻaẓīm wa-huwa munṭabiq ʻalá ḥifẓ al-Kitāb wa-al-Sunnah fa-humā uṣūl dīn al-Islām laysa illā wa-ammā al-ʻurf fī hādhā al-ism fa-huwa mukhtalif bi-ikhtilāf al-niḥal fa-uṣūl dīn al-salaf al-īmān bi-Allāh taʻālá wa-kutubihi wa-rusulihi wa-malāʼikatihi wa-bi-ṣifātihi wa-bi-al-qadar wa-bi-anna al-Qurʼān al-munazzal kalām Allāh taʻālá ghayr makhlūq wa-al-taraḍḍī ʻan kull al-ṣaḥābah ilá ghayr dhālika min uṣūl al-Sunnah , wa-uṣūl dīn al-khalaf huwa mā ṣannafū fīhi wa-banawhu ʻalá al-ʻaql wa-al-manṭiq wa-kāna al-salaf yaḥuṭṭūna ʻalá sālikihi wa-yubaddiʻūnahu (١) wa-baynahum ikhtilāf shadīd fī masāʼil minhu tarkuhā min ḥusn islām al-marʼ tarkuhu mā lā yaʻnīhi fa-innahu yūrith amrāḍan fī al-nufūs wa-man lam yuṣaddiqnī yujarrib fa-inna al-uṣūlīyah baynahum al-sayf yukaffir hādhā hādhā wa-yuḍallil hādhā hādhā fa-al-uṣūlī al-wāqif maʻa al-ẓawāhir wa-al-āthār ʻinda khuṣūmihi yajʻalūnahu mujassiman wa-ḥashwīyan wa-mubtadiʻan wa-al-uṣūlī alladhī ṭarada al-taʼwīl ʻinda al-ākharīn jahmīyan wa-muʻtazilīyan wa-ḍāllan wa-al-uṣūlī alladhī athbata baʻḍ al-ṣifāt wa-nafá baʻḍahā wa-taʼawwala fī amākin yaqūlūna mutanāqiḍan , wa-al-salāmah wa-al-ʻāfiyah awlá bika fa-in baraʻta fī al-uṣūl wa-tawābiʻihā min al-manṭiq wa-al-ḥikmah wa-al-falāsifah wa-ārāʼ al-awāʼil wa-muḥārāt al-ʻuqūl wa-iʻtaṣamta maʻa dhālika bi-al-Kitāb wa-al-Sunnah wa-uṣūl al-salaf wa-laffaqta bayna al-ʻaql wa-al-naql fa-mā aẓunnuka fī dhālika tablugh rutbat Ibn Taymīyah wa-lā wa-Allāh tuqārib bihā wa-qad raʼayta mā āla amruhu ilayhi min al-ḥaṭṭ ʻalayhi wa-al-hajr wa-al-taḍlīl wa-al-takfīr wa-al-takdhīb bi-ḥaqq wa-bāṭil fa-qad kāna qabla an yadkhula fī hādhihi al-ṣināʻah munawwaran muḍīʼan ʻalá muḥayyāhu sīmā al-salaf thumma ṣāra muẓliman maksūfan ʻalayhi qatamah ʻinda khalāʼiq min al-nās , wa-dajjālan affākan kāfiran ʻinda aʻdāʼihi , wa-mubtadiʻan fāḍilan muḥaqqiqan bāriʻan ʻinda ṭawāʼif min ʻuqalāʼ al-fuḍalāʼ , wa-ḥāmil

— al-ḥawāshī —

[21] dūna kull ghumr ghirr yaʻjizu ʻan taḥqīq bāb min abwāb al-fiqh ʻalá madhhab min al-madhāhib wa-maʻa dhālika yuṣbiḥu mujtahidan fī jamīʻ al-ʻulūm bi-ilmām yasīr minhu bi-baʻḍ ruʼūs masāʼilihā , a-fa-lā yakūnu li-al-muqallidīn al-khiyarah fī an lā yakhtārū taqlīd mithl hādhā al-mujtahid ! fa-al-ʻālim yajrī ʻalá ʻilmihi wa-man lā yaʻlam yasʼal thiqāt ahl al-ʻilm ʻalá mā naṭaqa bihi al-Kitāb wa-al-Sunnah wa-ʻalayhi istamarra ʻamal al-ummah wa-sim anta dhālika bi-mā shiʼta .

[21] (١) law lam yakun min fawāʼid hādhā al-ʻilm siwá al-tabaṣṣur fī madārik al-aʼimmah wa-wujūh al-istinbāṭ la-kafāhu sharafan wa-bi-hādhā al-mīlaq fa-ḥasb yumkin ikhtibār rāʼij al-masāʼil min zayfihā . wa-bayna al-taqlīd al-baḥt al-jāmid wa-al-ijtihād marātib wa-li-alladhīna ūtū al-ʻilm darajāt , wa-laysa yalzam li-kull man mārasa al-uṣūl an yakhruja ʻan jāddat al-ittibāʻ fīmā anthalaja bihi ṣadruhu wa-istanārat bihi baṣīratuhu ḥattá yataḥaṣṣala bi-dhālika madhāhib wa-ahwāʼ ʻalá ʻadad ashkhāṣ al-ʻulamāʼ fa-lā yantaqiṣu hādhā al-ʻilm dhū lubb , wa-la-qad aḥsana al-Taqī bn Daqīq al-ʻĪd ḥaythu tarāhu kathīran mā yaqūlu fī sharḥ al-Ilmām : uṣūl al-fiqh huwa alladhī yaqḍī wa-lā yuqḍá ʻalayhi .

[22] (١) mā kāna al-khalaf mawjūdan fī ʻahd al-salaf fa-kayfa yataʼattá hādhā al-ḥaṭṭ wa-hal li-hāʼulāʼi dīn wa-li-ulāʼika dīn ākhar ta-Allāh la-tilka iḥdá al-kibar fa-yakūnu muḥaṣṣal kalāmihi anna al-salaf farīqāni mutanābidhāni fī aṣl al-muʻtaqad tābaʻa baʻḍ al-khalaf aḥad al-farīqayn wa-baʻḍuhum al-farīq al-ākhar . wa-al-ḥaqq anna ʻaqīdat al-Sunnah fī al-Islām wāḥidah salafan wa-khalafan lā tataghayyar wa-lā tatabaddal bal alladhī yatajaddad huwa ṭarīq al-difāʻ ʻanhā bi-al-naẓar li-khuṣūmihā al-mutajaddidah , wa-dhamm ʻilm al-kalām mimman kāna fī mawḍiʻ al-imāmah min al-salaf maḥmūl ḥatman ʻalá kalām ahl al-bidaʻ wa-khawḍ al-ʻāmmī fīhi qāla al-ustādh Abū al-Qāsim al-Qushayrī wa-ajāda : lā yajḥadu ʻilm al-kalām illā aḥad rajulayn jāhil rakana ilá al-taqlīd wa-shaqqa ʻalayhi sulūk ṭuruq ahl al-taḥṣīl wa-khalā ʻan ṭuruq ahl al-naẓar wa-al-nās aʻdāʼ mā jahilū fa-lammā intahá ʻan al-taḥaqquq bi-hādhā al-ʻilm nahá al-nās li-yaḍilla kamā ḍalla aw rajul yaʻtaqidu madhāhib fāsidah fa-yanṭawī ʻalá bidaʻ khafīyah yulabbisu ʻalá al-nās ʻawār madhhabihi wa-yuʻammī ʻalayhim faḍāʼiḥ ʻaqīdatihi wa-yaʻlamu anna ahl al-taḥṣīl min ahl al-naẓar hum alladhīna yahtikūna al-sitr ʻan bidaʻihi wa-yuẓhirūna li-al-nās qubḥ maqālātihi wa-al-qallāb lā yuḥibbu man yumayyizu al-nuqūd wa-al-khalal fīmā fī yadihi min al-nuqūd al-fāsidah ka-al-ṣarrāf dhī al-tamyīz wa-al-baṣīrah wa-qad qāla taʻālá ( hal yastawī alladhīna yaʻlamūna wa-alladhīna lā yaʻlamūna ) h . wa-ajraʼ al-nās wa-aktharuhum kharqan li-ḥijāb al-haybah fī ikfār al-mukhālif — maʻa mā warada fī dhālika min al-waʻīd al-shadīd — jamāʻat al-ḥashwīyah kamā yaqūlu Ibn Daqīq al-ʻĪd wa-kamā

[23] yaẓharu min kutubihim fī al-ṣifāt wa-al-tawḥīd wa-al-radd ʻalá al-Jahmīyah wa-dhamm al-kalām wa-al-Sunnah wa-mimmā allafūhu fī naqd al-rijāl , wa-madhhab ahl al-Sunnah ʻadam ikfār al-mukhālif min ahl al-qiblah .