This is our Aqeedah
“This is our ‘aqidah . Whoever possesses two eyes then let him read and whoever possesses hearing then let him listen!” All praise is for Allah, the Lord of the worlds, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful, the Master of the Day of Judgment. May the salah and the salam be upon the seal of the Prophets and Messengers and upon all of his family and companions. To proceed: This is a summary of what we believe in and what we worship Allah with from the most important areas of the din . I wrote it in my jail cell after it had reached me that there were some people who were ascribing things to us and putting words in our mouths that we have never said; in particular, in the areas of kufr and iman . Before this, I was never concerned with writing about the likes of this subject. That is because our scholars have sufficed and fulfilled in that. In addition, the seeker of truth who is fair is able to become familiar with our statements from out detailed books. I was not concerned with this until it was requested of me by some of the brothers in tawhid that would often visit us in prison. That was after they came across people who were not clear about our statements in some of the areas of kufr and iman, therefore, I hastened and responded to that noble brother’s request for the sake of outlining the issues and familiarizing others with the general and most important things that we believe and have faith in. Perhaps by that, I can shut the door on those that seek out game in some generalized statements or quote us as saying what we have not said, or to ascribe to us and hold us to implications that are not from our way; especially given the fact that I know that many beginning students of knowledge have access to our books and that some issues may confuse them, especially some of the itlaqat and generalizations that they may read in our da’wah books wherein in many of them we address the tawaghit and their likes from the legislators and their allies from the armies of shirk and partnership and those like them whom Allah has commanded us to proclaim disavowal from them and to censure them. So perhaps we kept some of the texts of threat unrestricted and upon their apparent meaning without interpretation. Or maybe we generalized rulings upon a certain type of action and thus, the weak student of knowledge was not capable of differentiating between that and leveling the ruling upon specific individuals. Maybe we kept some all-inclusive unrestricted statements upon their apparent meanings without any elucidation and interpretation so that it would be more effective in repelling those who were being addressed of those whose crutch is seeking out concessions and points of exit that cause the destruction of sins to become belittled. |
The Criterion Between The Friends of Allah & The Friends of Shaytan
By Shaykhul-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah The Decisive Criterion between the Awliyaa of The Most Merciful and the Awliyaa of Shaytaan Indeed the enmity between man and Shaytaan is old, commencing from the time that Adam (alayhi as-salaam) was created, from the time he was ordered to prostrate to him. Shaytaan refused, become arrogant and hence disobeyed his Lord. His arrogance and pride let him to commit a whole host of sins, it made him expend every effort in misleading the children of Adam and made him beautify and embellish sins such that they accepted them and eagerly committed them Due to this Allah the exalted revealed the Books sent the Messenger and enjoined His servants to various injunctions and admonitions in order to secure them from the evil of Shaytaan. In the light of His advice, profound injunctions and admonitions in order to secure them from the evil of Shaytaan. In the light of His advice, profound injunctions and sever warnings, mankind becomes separated into two groups: a group who were guided and a group who deserved to be misguided. The groups who were guided are the inhabitants of Paradise and the groups who were misguided are the denizens of the Fire. The inhabitants of Paradise are the Awliyaa of the Most Merciful and the denizens of the Fire are the Awliyaa of Shaytaan. |
The Importance of Aqeedah
Aqidah linguistically is derived from the term aqada. In Arabic, one states, “Aqada the rope” when the rope is tied firmly. And, “Aqada the sale” or “He settled the sale” when the person ratifies and contracts a sale or agreement. And Allah says in the Quran, “And as for those whom your right hands have made a covenant (Ar., aqadat)” [Al-Nisa 33]. And Allah also says, “But He will take you to task for the oaths which you swear in earnest (Ar., aqadtum) [Al-Maida, 89] which means asserted and adhered to, as proven in the verse, “And break not oaths after the assertion of them” [An-Nahl, 91]. If one says, “Aqadtu such and such,” it means his heart is firm upon such and such.
Therefore, Aqidah or I’tiqad according to the scholars of Islam is: The firm creed that one’s heart is fixed upon without any wavering or doubt. It excludes any supposition, doubt or suspicion…
By Dr. Abdul Aziz Al-Qari Source: Aqeedah (Matters of Faith) First…If They But Knew salafipublications
The Messenger informed Mu’adh bin Jabal, when he was going to the land of Yemen, “You are going to a people from the People of the Book. Let the first thing that you call them to be the worship of Allah. If they acknowledge Allah, then inform them that Allah has obligated upon them five prayers during their days and nights.” [Al-Bukhari, Muslim]
This hadeeth is clear. It does not require much of an explanation. The Prophet applied this principle in his practical calling to Islam. He stayed in Makkah for thirteen years to teach the people Eemaan and to educate his Companions on this point and to correct the beliefs of the people. That is the pattern upon which the Companions were brought up.
Jundub Ibn Abdullah al-Bajaly said, “We learned Eemaan (faith) and then we learned the Quran and it increased our Eemaan .” Abdullah ibn Umar said, “We lived during an instant of time in which one of us would receive faith first before receiving the Quran and when the surahs were revealed we would learn what they permitted and what they prohibited and what they forbade and what they ordered and what should be the stance towards them. But I have seen many men from whom one is given the Quran before Eemaan and he reads it from the opening of the Book to its closing and he does not know what it orders and what it forbids and what should be his stance towards it. He is like someone who is just throwing out dates [i.e., he does not get any benefit from his recital].”
That is the manner in which the Prophet brought up his companions: Eemaan first and then the Quran. This is similar to what Imaam Abu Hanifah pointed out: Understanding in the religion first (i.e. Tawheed) and then understanding in the science (i.e. the sharee’ah).
The beliefs must be corrected first, then follows all of the other aspects of the religion.
And Imam Ash-Shafi`i said, “That a servant meets Allaah with every sin except Shirk is better say than meeting Him upon any of the innovated beliefs.”
Al-Aqeedah linguistically is derived from the term aqada. In Arabic, one states, “Aqada the rope” when the rope is tied firmly. And, “Aqada the sale” or “He settled the sale” when the person ratifies and contracts a sale or agreement. And Allah says in the Quran, “And as for those whom your right hands have made a covenant (Ar., aqadat)” [Al-Nisa 33]. And Allah also says, “But He will take you to task for the oaths which you swear in earnest (Ar., aqadtum) [Al-Maida, 89] which means asserted and adhered to, as proven in the verse, “And break not oaths after the assertion of them” [An-Nahl, 91]. If one says, “Aqadtu such and such,” it means his heart is firm upon such and such.
Therefore, al-Aqeedah or al-itiqad according to the scholars of Islam is: The firm creed that one’s heart is fixed upon without any wavering or doubt. It excludes any supposition, doubt or suspicion.
Imam Abu Hanifah called this great subject al-Fiqh al-Akbar (“The Greater Understanding”) and the understanding of the religion. He called the science of law (Ar., sharee’ah) the understanding of the science. Many scholars of Islam use the word Tawheed for all matters that a person must believe in. This is because the most important of these matters is the basic Tawheed that is contained in the phrase, “There is none worthy of worship except Allah.”
Tawheed, according to them, may be divided into two categories: Tawheed of cognition and affirmation and Tawheed of purpose and deeds.
Tawheed of cognition and affirmation is the Tawheed of the Oneness of the Creator and the Tawheed of His Names and Attributes [i.e. He is Unique in His being the only Creator and the only One with His names and attributes]. Tawheed of purpose and deeds is Tawheed of lordship or that none should be worshipped except Allah [i.e., He is the only One worthy of worship].
The scholastic theologians (Ar., kalaamiyoon) – and what will explain to you who the scholastic theologians are – call this great subject “the root of the religion” and they call the law “the branches of the religion”. This is their terminology. We also have a dispute with them in this matter but this is not the place to discuss it. All of them give it a name or adjective according to their needs.
But what is the name the Quran gives to this matter?
The Quran gives the grave matter the name iman. Allah says in the Quran, “And thus We inspired in You (Muhammad) a Spirit of Our command. You did not know what the Scripture was, nor what the Faith was. But we have made it a light whereby We guide whom We will of our bondmen…” [Al-Shura, 52].
The general concepts that the heart of the believer must be firm about are the “pillars” of this faith. But one will not be called a believer just by knowing and understanding these pillars but he must come to the level where he submits and implements what is described, in the hadith of Gabriel, as Islam. Iman, in this manner, incorporates Islam.
If iman was simply knowing the facts in one’s heart, then its companion would be equal to Satan and Pharaoh [Note: The Satan was the most knowledgeable of his Lord but he was destroyed because of his pride and envy. And Pharaoh, even though he claimed to be the lord, knew that the
lord is Allah and that none has the right to be worshipped but Him. Allah says, "He said: In truth you know that none sent down these portents save the Lord of the heavens and the earth as proofs..." [al-Isra, 102]. – Although they knew the truth, they did not put it in practice by turning their `ibadah to Allah Alone].
In the hadith of Gabriel, the Prophet explained the pillars of this faith in which every human must believe, when he was asked, “What is iman?”, he said, “To believe in Allah and His angels and His books and His messengers and the Last Day and predestination of good and evil.”
It is a must for every person to know these pillars and to learn them with a correct understanding and to believe in them in the manner that he pious forefathers understood and believed in them, in the same manner that the Companions of the Prophet believed and understood them, as well as their Followers and those who followed on their path. This includes the four imams, Sufyan Al-Thauri, Sufyan ibn Uyaina, Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak and others similar to them, as well as Muhammad ibn Ismail al-Bukhari, Muslim ibn Al-Hajjaj, Shaikh al-Islam ibn Taymiya and al-Hafedh ibn al-Qayyim. And scholars similar to them who followed the same manner of understanding and believing in these pillars.
This is the first obligation upon the responsible human being. There is no difference of opinion on this question among the scholars whose opinions are worth following.Imam Abu-Hanifa said, “The understanding of faith is better than understanding of the science.” What he meant by faith is tauheed and what he meant by science is the shariah. He put the understanding of tawheed before the understanding of the shariah.
And Shaikh al-Islam al-Haruwi al-Ansari (d. 481 AH) stated at the beginning of his book, Itiqad ahl al-Sunnah, “The first obligation upon the slave is the knowledge of Allah. This is proven by the hadith of Muadh, when the Prophet said to him, ‘You will come to a people from the People of the Book. The first thing that you should call them to is the worship of Allah. If they gain the knowledge of Allah, then tell them that Allah obligates upon them five prayers during the day and night…”
From this premise did the great scholars of Islam precede. Ponder, for example, what Imam Muhammad ibn Ismail al-Bukhari did in his book al-Jami al-Sahih, which is the most authentic book after the Book of Allah; one will see that from his detailed knowledge and understanding of this religion, this great Imam began his book with “The Beginning of Revelation” and then he followed it with chapters on faith, followed by the chapters on knowledge. As if he means, may Allah have mercy on him, to point out that the first obligation upon a human being is faith or Iman and the way to attaining faith is knowledge. And the source of faith and knowledge is revelation. So he began by showing how the revelation occurred and what it was like. Then he followed by mentioning faith and knowledge. This arrangement is no accident; by it he makes some important points.
This is the sum of what we wish to mention and what we wish to raise our voices about. The matter of aqidah is the first priority. Faith and knowledge are the means of attaining it. And the source of knowledge and faith is the Book and Sunnah.
