أحد بعد رسوله والأخذ عنه فيما جهله من جهله غير أولي الأمر الذين أقامهم بعد الرسول في السمع والطاعة في مقامه ونصبهم لبيان١ ما أشكل علی الأمّة من فرائض دينه وأحكامه واحدًا بعد واحد في كلّ زمان وعصر قائم منهم وشاهد. فمن ردّ إلى من لم يأمر الله عزّ وجلّ بالردّ إليه و قلّد من لم يأذن بتقليده فاتّبعه وقال بقوله وتديّن به وزعم أنّه الحقّ الذي أمر الله عزّ وجلّ به ولم يأمر الله به فقد اتّخذ إلهًا من دونه وأشرك به . قال الله تعالى {ٱتَّخَذُوٓا أَحْبَارَهُمْ وَرُهْبَٰنَهُمْ أَرْبَابًا مِّن دُونِ ٱللهِ} وهم يروون أنّ عديّ بن حاتم قال أتيت النبيّ صلّى الله عليه لمّا أسلمت فرأى في عنقي صليبًا من ذهب ، فقال لي ألقِ هذا الوثن من عنقك. ثمّ افتتح٢ بسورة براءة حتّى إذا انتهى إلى قوله {ٱتَّخَذُوٓا أَحْبَارَهُمْ وَرُهْبَٰنَهُمْ أَرْبَابًا مِّن دُونِ ٱللهِ} فقلت يا رسول الله ما كنّا نعبدهم. فقال أليس كانوا يحلّلون لكم ويحرّمون عليكم فتستحلّون ما أحلّوه وتحرّمون ما حرّموه ؟ فقلت بلى. فقال فتلك عبادتهم. وتلا هذه الآية جعفر بن محمّد صلوات الله عليه ثمّ قال إنّهم ما صلّوا إليهم ولا صاموا لهم ولكنّهم أحلّوا لهم حرامًا فاستحلّوه وحرّموا عليهم حلالًا فحرّموه فكانوا لهم بذلك أربابًا. ومن هذا ونحوه قول النبيّ صلّى الله عليه وعلی آله لتسلكنّ سبل الأمم قبلكم حذو النعل بالنعل والقذّة بالقذّة حتّى لو دخلوا جحر٣ ضبّ لدخلتموه. وروي عن عليّ صلوات الله عليه أنّه قال أدنى ما يكون به المرء مشركًا أن يتديّن بشيء يزعم أنّ الله أمر به ولم يأمر به الله عزّ وجلّ وإنّما أمر به من دونه، ويعبد من زعم أنّه أمر بذلك وهو غير الله عزّ وجلّ فيشرك به. ثمّ قال عليه السلام إنّ من الشرك ما هو أخفى من الذرّة السوداء على المسح الأسود في الليلة الظلماء٤. وتلا قول الله عزّ وجلّ {وَمَا يُؤْمِنُ أَكْثَرُهُم بِٱللهِ إِلَّا وَهُم مُّشْرِكُونَ}.
١ ل: لتبيان. ٢ ل: افتح. ٣ ز، ل: حجر. ٤ ل: المظلمة.
God commanded that, after the passing of His Messenger, no one be regarded as an ultimate authority or accepted as a point of reference by the ignorant with regard to their ignorance except the Ones in Authority, whom He established after the Messenger to be heeded and obeyed in his place, and whom He appointed, one after the other, in every age and epoch, to explain the obligations and rulings of His faith that perplex the members of the nation, to undertake their leadership, and to act as a witness among them. Whoever refers matters to someone whom God did not command be consulted as a reference, and whoever accepts as an authority someone whom God did not permit to be accepted as such, following him, professing his opinions, holding that to be part of his faith, and claiming that it is the truth which God commanded, has adopted a god other than Him and attributed a partner to God the Exalted. For God said, «They adopted their rabbis and their monks as lords instead of God!»84 They have related that ʿAdī ibn Ḥātim recounted, “When I converted to Islam, I came before the Prophet, God bless him, and he saw a cross of gold on my neck. He said to me, ‘Cast off that idol from your neck.’ Then he began reciting the Sūrah of the Ultimatum85 and continued until he reached God’s word, «They adopted their rabbis and their monks as lords instead of God.»86 I broke in, ‘O Messenger of God, we did not worship them.’ He posed the question, ‘Did they not declare things permitted for you or forbidden to you, and did you not consider what they had permitted or forbidden to be so?’ ‘Yes, certainly,’ I responded. ‘So that was worshiping them,’ he said.”87 Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad, God’s blessings be upon him, recited this verse, then said, “The Jews and Christians did not pray to them, nor did they fast for them, but the rabbis and monks made forbidden things lawful for them, and they considered them lawful, and made lawful things forbidden for them, and they considered them forbidden, so that, in this way, they became their lords.” Among such reports, and similar to them, is the statement of the Prophet, “Indeed you will tread the path of the nations before you, as much as one sandal resembles its mate, or an arrow-feather its match. Even if they entered a lizard’s lair, likewise you too would enter it.” It has been related from ʿAlī, God’s blessings upon him, that he said, “The least thing by which a man may be a polytheist is that he adopt something as his faith and claim that God commanded it, when God did not command it, but rather another besides God commanded it. He would then be worshiping the one who claims that God commanded this, who is other than God and thus would be attributing a partner to God.” Then ʿAlī, peace be upon him, said, “Polytheism can be even harder to see than a black speck on a black surface on a dark night,” and he recited God’s word, «Most of them do not believe in God without attributing partners to Him.»88
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وقد أبان عن ذمّ التقليد في غير موضع من كتابه وعلى لسان رسوله لغير من افترض طاعته وأمر بالأخذ عنه والقبول منه. فقال جلّ من قائل {وَإِذَا قِيلَ لَهُمْ تَعَالَوْا إِلَىٰ مَآ أَنزَلَ ٱللهُ وَإِلَى ٱلرَّسُولِ قَالُوا حَسْبُنَا مَا وَجَدْنَا عَلَيْهِ ءَابَآءَنَآ} وقال {مَّنِ ٱهْتَدَىٰ فَإِنَّمَا يَهْتَدِى لِنَفْسِهِۦ ۖ وَمَن ضَلَّ فَإِنَّمَا يَضِلُّ عَلَيْهَا ۚ وَلَا تَزِرُ وَازِرَةٌ وِزْرَ أُخْرَىٰ.} وقال {وَيَوْمَ يَعَضُّ ٱلظَّالِمُ عَلَىٰ يَدَيْهِ يَقُولُ يَٰلَيْتَنِى ٱتَّخَذْتُ مَعَ ٱلرَّسُولِ سَبِيلًا يَٰوَيْلَتَىٰ لَيْتَنِى لَمْ أَتَّخِذْ فُلَانًا خَلِيلًا لَّقَدْ أَضَلَّنِى عَنِ ٱلذِّكْرِ بَعْدَ إِذْ جَآءَنِى.} وقال {إِذْ تَبَرَّأَ ٱلَّذِينَ ٱتُّبِعُوا مِنَ ٱلَّذِينَ