Al-ʿAqīdah Aṭ-Ṭaḥāwiyya
The standard creedal text of Sunni Islam, by
Imām al-Ṭaḥāwī
(d. 321 AH / 933 CE)
Translation and footnotes by Shaykh Ḥamza Yūsuf (حفظه الله)
Abridged Foreword by Shaykh Ḥamza Yūsuf
Imām al-Ṭaḥāwī's goal was to present a basic creedal primer for Muslims to learn quickly and without disputation. His creed can be viewed as a distillation of Qurʿānic doctrine; a gleaning of the principal points of faith that every Muslim should know. He does not refute anyone with arguments; rather, he relies on the authority of illustrious men such as Abū Ḥanīfah, whose creed is the basis of his own treatise. The text was accepted by the Muslims, especially used by those who adhered to the Ḥanafī school.
It was the simplicity of the text that made apparent the need for more discursive creeds when Muslims were confronted with continual assaults from the philosophers and heterodox sects, including the anthropomorphists, rationalists and determinists. The Sunni scholars, particularly those of the Ashʿarī and Māturīdī schools, fulfilled this need; their often polemical works, with elaborate discussions of the competing theologies, became the dominant texts of the great teaching institutions of Islām. These creeds, along with their extensive commentaries, were studied in most of the universities of the Muslim world. That they are still taught today is a testimony to their brilliance and soundness, notwithstanding the malaise that began to afflict the intellectual diciplines of Islam after the tenth century CE and perpetuates the current intellectual stagnation of Muslim theology. Due to this deplorable condition, modern theological works are almost entirely devoid of contemporary issues - such as evolution, dialectical materialism, postmodernism, and quantum physics - that pose serious challenges to all religions.
On the other hand, Islām has never been plagued by an emphasis on theology. The simple creed of tawḥīd, the adherence of the first community to it, and the warnings of the early scholars about diving into uncharted waters was enough to stress ethics and purification through the understanding and practice of the divine law. Imām al-Ghazālī, known as the Proof of Islām (ḥujjat al-Islām) uses sacred law (in both its outer and inner dimensions), not theology as a vehicle for awareness of the Divine in his magnum opus, The Revivification of the Sciences of Religion (Iḥyāʾ ʿulūm al-dīn).
Theology, nonetheless, is necessary. Indeed, in an age of bewildering spiritual and intellectual impoverishment, creed has never been more important. Every Muslim is obliged to learn it and is promised protection from deviant beliefs by following the sound texts of the scholastic community of Islām. Of them all, Imām al-Ṭaḥāwī's text is the simplest, the most effective and the least controversial.
And to your Lord is the end (Qurʿān 24:42)
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| In the name of Allāh, the Beneficent, the Merciful |
الحمد لله رب العالمين. هذا ذكر بيان عقيدة أهل السنة والجماعة على مذهب فقهاء الملة أبي حنيفة النعمان بن ثابت الكوفي وأبي يوسف يعقوب بن إبراهيم الأنصاري وأبي عبدالله محمد بن الحسن الشيباني رضوان الله عليهم أجمعين وما يعتقدون من أصول الدين ويدينون به رب العالمين
Praise belongs to Allāh alone, the Lord of the worlds. This is an exposition of the creed of Ahl al-Sunnah wal Jamā’ah in accordance with the understanding of the jurists of the religion such as Abū Ḥanīfah al-Nu’man ibn Thābit al-Kūfī, Abū Yūsuf Ya’qūb ibn Ibrāhīm al-Anṣāri and Abū ‘Abd Allāh Muhammad ibn al-Ḥasan al-Shaybānī, may Allāh be pleased with them all. It includes their beliefs about the theological foundations of the religion upon which they base their worship of the Lord of the worlds.إِنَّ اللَّهَ تَعالى وَاحِدٌ لا شَرِيكَ لَهُ
1. Allāh is one, without partner.
8. Imaginations cannot attain him; comprehensions cannot perceive Him.
11. He is a creator without any need to create and a provider without any stores of provision.
13. Just as He was possessed of His attributes prior to His creation, so He remains with the same attributes without increasing in them as a result of His creation coming into being.
14. As He was before creation qualified with specific attributes, so He remains forever described by them.
15. It is not after creating the universe that He merits the name the Creator, nor through originating His creatures that He merits the name the Originator.
16. He possesses the quality of sovereignty with or without fief, and the quality of creativity with or without creation.
17. And while he is the Resurrector of the Dead after He resurrects them, He merits the same name before their actual resurrector. Likewise, he merits the name the Creator before their actual creation.
18. That is because He is omnipotent. Everything is dependent on Him, and every affair is effortless for Him. He needs nothing, and There is nothing like Him, yet He is the Hearing, the Seeing (Qurʿān 42:11)
22. None of their actions were concealed from Him before He created them. He knew what they would do before He created them.
23. He commanded them to obey Him and proscribed them from disobeying Him.
24. All things are in accordance with His determination and will, and His will is fulfilled.
25. His servants are without volition except what He wills for them. Thus, what He wills for them will be, and what He does not will for them will not be.
26. He guides, protects and preserves whomever He wills with His grace. And He misguides, forsakes and afflicts whomever He wills with justice. [1]
27. All of them vacillate in His providence between His grace and His justice.
28. He transcends having any opposites or peers.
29. None can thwart His decree, overrule His judgement or override His command.
30. We believe in all that and are certain all of that is from Him.
31. [We believe] Muhammad ﷺ is His chosen one, His preeminent prophet, and His messenger with whom He is well pleased.
32. He is the finality of the prophets, the paragon of the pious, the master of the messengers, and the beloved of the Lord of the worlds.
33. Any claim to prophecy after him to deviation and heresy.
34. He is an emissary to all the jinn [2] and the whole of humanity, with truth and guidance, light and radiance.
35. The Qurʿān is the Word of Allāh that emanated from Him without modality in its expression. He sent it down to His messenger as a revelation. The believers accept it as such literally. They are certain it is, in reality, the Word of Allāh, the Sublime and Exalted.
36. Unlike human speech, it is eternal and uncreated.
37. Whoever hears it and alleges it is human speech has disbelieved, for Allāh has rebuked, censured and promised such a one an agonizing punishment, stating I will roast him in Hellfire (Qurʿān 74:26). Because Allāh threatened those who allege, This is merely human speech (Qurʿān 74:25) with an inferno of torment, we acknowledged and ascertained that it was the Word of the Creator of humanity, and does not resemble human speech.
38. Whoever ascribes any human qualities to Allāh has blasphemed [3]. So whoever perceives this takes heed and refrains from such statements of the disbelievers and knows that Allāh, the Sublime and Exalted, in all of His attributes.
39. The Beatific Vision is a reality for the people of Paradise without enclosure or modality [4], just such as the Book of Allāh pronounces, Some faces will glow that day, gazing at their Lord (72:22-23). Its explanation is as Allāh, the Sublime and Exalted, knows it to be and as He intended.
40. All that came [to us] from the Messenger ﷺ in the authentic hadith [5] is just as he said it was, and the meaning is as he intended. We do not interpret any of it to accord with our opinions, nor do we presume any of it to accord with our whims.
41. No one is secure in his religion until he resigns himself to Allāh, the Sublime and Exalted, and His Messenger ﷺ and consigns whatever obscures his understanding to the One who knows its meaning.
42. One's footing in Islām is not firm save on the ground of resignation and surrender.
43. Whoever covets knowledge that was barred from him, discontented with the limbs of his understanding, shall be veiled from pure unity, unadulterated comprehension and sound faith on account of his covetousness. He will then vacillate between belief and disbelief, assertion and negation, and resolution and denial. Obsessive, aimless, skeptical, and deviant, he is neither an assertive believer nor a resolute denier.
44. Belief in the Beatific Vision of the denizens of Paradise is incorrect for anyone who surmises that it is imaginary or interprets it to be a type of comprehension. For correct interpretation of the Beatific Vision - or any quality annexed to Lordship - lies in leaving interpretation and cleaving to resignation. Upon this are based the religion of the Muslims and the sacred law of the prophets.
45. Whoever does not guard against denying [Allāh's attributes] and against anthropomorphism has erred and failed to acquire understanding of the divine transcendence.
46. For undoubtedly, our Lord, the Sublime and Exalted, is described with attributes of unity and uniqueness. No one in creation is in any way like Him.
49. The Pool [7] that Allāh has honoured him with as a solace for his community is real.
50. The [Prophet's] Intercession [8] that Allāh deferred for them is true, as narrated in the traditions.
51. The covenant [9] that Allāh made with ʾĀdam, peace be upon him, and his progeny is true.
52. Allāh has always known the total number of those who will enter Paradise and those who will enter the Fire. Nothing is added to or subtracted from this number.
53. His knowledge includes all of their actions, which He knew they would perform.
54. "Each is faciliated to do that for which he was created." [10]
55. The judgement of one's deeds lies in one's final assertive act. [11]
56. Those saved are ultimately saved by Allāh's decision, just as those damned are ultimately damned by Allāh's decision.
وَأَصْلُ الْقَدَرِ سِرُّ اللَّهِ تَعَالَى فِي خَلْقِهِ لَمْ يَطَّلِعْ عَلَى ذَلِكَ مَلَكٌ مُقَرَّبٌ وَلَا نَبِيٌّ مُرْسَلٌ
57. The essence of the divine decree is Allāh's secret within creation. No angel or prophetic emissary has ever been privy to it.
58. Delving into the decree is a means to spiritual loss, a descent into deprivation, and a path towards transgression. So beware, and take every precaution against that, whether be through perusal, ideation or suggestion. Allāh, the Sublime and Exalted, has concealed knowledge of the decree from His creation and has prohibited them from desiring it. As the Sublime said in His Book, He [man] is not questioned about what He [Allāh] does - it is he [himself] who will be questioned (Qurʿān 21:23). Hence, anyone who asks, "Why has He done this?" has rejected the judgement of the Book. And whoever rejects the judgement of the Book is among the disbelievers.
59. The above eptiomizes what one with an illumined heart among the protected of Allāh needs. In addition, it is the rank of the deeply rooted in knowledge, given that knowledge is of two types: the humanly accessible and humanly inaccessible. To either deny accessible knowledge or to claim the inaccessible is disbelief. Faith is not sound unless accessible knowledge is embraced and pursuit of the inaccessible is abandoned.
60. We believe in the Pen and Tablet [12] and in all that was inscribed.
61. Hence, if everyone united to remove from existence what Allāh, the Sublime and Exalted, decreed would exist, they could not. Likewise, if they all united to introduce something into existence what Allāh, the Sublime and Exalted, did not decree, they would be unable to do so. The Pen's work is done concerning what is, and will be until the Day of Resurrection.
62. Whatever misses a person could not afflict him. And whatever afflicts him could not have missed him.
63. A servant of Allāh is obliged to know that Allāh's omniscience preceded everything in His creation. He then measured everything out exactly and decisively. There is none among His creatures either in the heavens or on the earth who can nullify, overrule, remove, change, detract from, or add to His decree.
64. All of the aforementioned is part of the doctrine of faith, the principles of knowledge, and the assent of His unity and sovereignty as Allāh, the Sublime and Exalted, said in His Book, And he created every thing and determined its measure (25:2). And He, the Sublime and Exalted, also said, And the command of Allāh is an ordained decree (33:38).
65. So woe to whomever on account of the decree becomes antagonistic with Allāh, the Sublime and Exalted. In his desire to plumb its depths, he summons a morbid heart; in his delusion, he seeks a secret concealed in the unseen, only to end up, in whatever he says concerning it, a wicked forger of lies.
66. The ʿarsh [the most immense of Allāh's memory] and the kursī [a vast luminious creation in the presence of the ʿarsh] are both real. [13]
67. Yet, Allāh has no need of the ʿarsh and whatever is beneath it.
68. He encompasses and transcends everything, and rendered His creation incapable of His encompassment.
69. With faith, conviction, and resignation, we assert that Allāh befriended Abraham, peace be upon him, and Moses, peace be upon him.
70. We believe in the angels, the prophets, and the books which were revealed to the messengers. And we bear witness that they were all following the manifest truth.
71. We refer to the people who face our qibla [14] as Muslim believers, so long as they acknowledge, confirm and do not deny all that the Prophet ﷺ brought, stated and imparted.
72. We do not speculate about Allāh or dispute over Allāh's religion.
73. We do not argue about the Qurʿān. Rather, we testify that it is the Word of the Lord of the universe as revealed through the Trustworthy Spirit [al-rūḥ al-amīn], [15] who taught it to the paragon of messengers, Muhammad ﷺ. It is the Word of God, the Sublime and Exalted. No mortal speech compares to it, and we do not say it is created.
74. We do not dissent from the jamā’at al-muslimīn [united community of Muslims].
75. We do not declare anyone among the people of our qibla a disbeliever for any sin, so long as he does not deem it lawful. [16]
76. Nor do we opine that where there is faith, a sin does not harm the sinner. [17]
77. As for the virtuous among the believers, we trust that Allāh will pardon them and admit them into Paradise by His grace. We do not, however, assume that about them, nor insist they are in Paradise. We pray for the forgiveness for the sinful among them. And while we fear for their salvation, we never engender in them despair.
78. Assurance and despair [of entering Paradise] both displace one from the congregation of Islām. For Muslims, the path of truth lies between them.
79. A believer does not lose his faith except by denying that which made him a believer.
80. Faith [imān] entails assertion with the tongue and conviction in the heart.
81. All that Allāh revealed in the Qurʿān and all that is verified from the Prophet ﷺ concerning sacred law and its explanation is true.
82. Faith is one reality, and the people of faith are essentially the same. Any disparity among them results in distinctions in knowledge, piety, struggle, and adherence to priorities.
83. All believers are the protected of the Beneficent. The noblest of them with Allāh is the most obedient and adherent to the Qurʿān.
84. Faith is belief in Allāh, His angels, His books, His messengers, the Last Day, the resurrection after death and the decree - its good and evil, sweetness and bitterness are all from Allāh, the Sublime and Exalted.
85. We believe in all of the above. We do not distinguish among any of His messengers, and we affirm all that they brought.
86. People of mortal [18] sins among the community of Muhammad ﷺ will not abide in the Fire forever, as long as they died monotheists. This includes the unrepentant that, nonetheless, met Allāh as knowing believers. They are in His judgement and decree. If He pleases, He forgives and pardons them by His grace, as He mentioned in His book, Surely, Allāh does not forgive idolatry, but He forgives anything less of whomever He pleases (4:48). Or, if He pleases, He punishes them in the Fire by His justice, and then removes them by His grace and the intercession of those so granted among His obedient servants. He then sends them to Paradise.
87. The above is such because Allāh protects those who acknowledge him. He will not treat them in either of the two abodes as He treats His deniers who are destitute of His guidance and bereft of His protection. O Allāh, Protector of Islām and its adherents, root us firmly in Islām until we meet You in that state.
88. We consider congregational prayer behind any of the people of qibla, both the virtuous and the sinful, to be valid. We also pray over those among them who have died.
89. We do not specify anyone among them to be either in Paradise or the Fire. We also do not accuse any of them of disbelief [kufr], idolatry [shirk], or hypocrisy [nifāq], as long as none of that manifests from them. We resign their inner states to Allāh, the Sublime and Exalted.
90. We do not consider violence or coercive power against any of the community of Muhammad ﷺ acceptable, unless legislated [by sacred law, such as penal punishments and the suppression of rebellion].
91. We do not accept any rebellion against our leaders or the administrators of our public affairs, even if they are oppressive [19]. We also do not pray for evil to befall any one of them or withdraw our allegiance from them. We consider our civic duty to them concordant with our duty to Allāh, the Sublime and Exalted, and legally binding on us, unless they command us to the immoral. We pray for their probity, success and welfare.
92. We adhere to the Sunnah [20] and the majority [of scholars] and we avoid isolated opinions, discord and sectarianism.
93. We love just and trustworthy people, and we loathe oppressive and treacherous people.
94. In inconclusive matters of knowledge, we asset, "Allāh knows best" [allāhu ʿa'lam].
95. We consider valid the dispensation of wiping over foot-coverings while residing of travelling, as related in authentic reports [21].
96. Ḥajj and jihād are perpetual obligations that are carried out under legitimate Muslim rulers - irrespective of their personal probity - until the End of Time. Nothing can nullify or rescind them.
97. We believe in the noble, angelic scribes whom Allāh has appointed as guardians over us.
98. We believe in the Angel of Death, who is entrusted with seizing the souls of all sentient life.
99. We believe in the punishment of the grave for all who warrant it. We believe in the interrogation by Munkar and Nakīr [22] of the deceased in his grave about his Lord, his religion, and his prophets, as conveyed in the narrations of the Prophet ﷺ and of his companions, may Allāh be pleased with them.
100. One's grave is either a meadow from the gardens of Paradise or a pit from the abyss of the Fire.
101. We believe in the resurrection of the dead, the recompense of deeds on the Day of Judgement, the review [of one's entire life], the reckoning, the recital of [one's own] book [of actions], the reward and punishment, the Bridge over the Fire, and the Scales [upon which one's actions are weighed].
102. Paradise and Hellfire are both created; however they neither perish nor terminate.
103. For Allāh, the Sublime and Exalted, created Paradise and the Fire before creating [the world]. He then created denizens for both abodes. He admits to Paradise whomever He wills by His grace and condemns to the Fire whomever He wills by His justice.
104. All will act in accordance with their design and are moving inexorably toward the purpose for which they are created.
105. Welfare and affliction, good and evil, are determined for everyone.
106. The [divine] enablement that an act requires - for example, an act of obedience - which cannot be attributed to a creature, occurs concurrent with the act. As for the [material] enablement that results from health, capacity, pose and sound means, it precedes the act. In sacred law, it is upon the latter that legal and moral obligation hinge, just as Allāh, the Sublime and Exalted, states, Allāh obliges no soul with more than its own capacity (2:286).
107. Human actions are Allāh's creations but humanity's acquisitions. [23]
108. Allāh, the Sublime and Exalted, has obliged human beings to do what they are capable of doing, and they are only capable of doing what He obliged them to do - hence of the meaning of "No strength or power exists save by the means of Allāh." We assert that no one's strategy, move, or change can avert anyone from any act of disobedience to Allāh, unless accompanied by Allāh's providence; nor has anyone the ability to initiate and fulfill duties to Allāh save by the providence of Allāh, the Sublime and Exalted.
109. Everything is confluent with the will of Allāh, the Sublime and Exalted, and with His knowledge, judgement and decree.
110. His will supersedes all other wills, just as His decree thwarts all ruses to avert it.
111. Allāh does what He wills yet is never iniquitous.
112. Holy is He beyond any evil or adversity, and transcendent is He above any blemish or perversity. He [man] is not questioned about what He [Allah] does - it is they who will be questioned (21:23).
113. In the supplications and charity of the living, there is benefit for the dead.
114. Allāh, the Sublime and Exalted, answers prayers and fulfills needs.
115. He possesses everything, and nothing possesses him.
116. Nothing is independent of Allāh, even for the twinkling of an eye. Whoever imagines he is independent of Allāh for even the twinkling of an eye has disbelieved and is among those brought to ruin.
117. Allāh has wrath and pleasure, but not like that of any human.
118. We love the companions of Allāh's Messenger ﷺ. We are not, however, extreme in our love for any one of them. Nor do we dissociate from any of them. We loathe those who loathe them, and only mention their merits. Loving them is essential to religion [dīn], faith [imān] and spiritual excellence [ʾiḥsān],
119. We assert that the caliphate after the death of the Messenger ﷺ was first for Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq, may Allāh be pleased with him, due to his preeminence and precendence over the entire community, and then for ‘Umar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, may Allāh be pleased with him, followed by ‘Uthmān ibn ‘Affān, may Allāh be pleased with him, and concluding with ‘Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib, may Allāh be pleased with him. They are the Righteous Caliphs and Guided Leaders.
120. We testify, as the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ before us, that the ten whom he designated and assured of Paradise are indeed in Paradise. His pronouncement is true, and they are Abū Bakr, ‘Umar, ‘Uthmān, ‘Alī , Ṭalḥah, Al-Zubayr, Sa’d, Sa’īd, ‘Abd al-Raḥmān ibn ‘Awf, and Abū ‘Ubaydah ibn Al-Jarrāḥ, who was the "Trustree of this Community", may Allāh be pleased with them.
121. Whoever speaks well of the companions of the Prophet ﷺ, his chaste wives and his purified progeny is absolved of hypocrisy.
122. The pious scholars of the past and those after them who follow their path - the people of goodness and tradition, of understanding and profound scholarship - should only be mentioned in the best manner. Anyone who speaks ill of them has deviated from the path.
123. We do not prefer any saint to any prophet. Indeed, we say, "One prophet is better than all of the saints."
124. We believe in the miracles of saints as conveyed and verified by trustworthy narrators.
125. We believe in the signs of the End of Time, including the appearance of the Antichrist and the Descent of Jesus, the son of Mary - peace be upon them - from the celestial realm. We also believe in the sun's rising in the west and the appearance of the Beast of the Earth from its appointed place. [24]
128. The religion of Allāh, both in Heaven and on earth, is one. It is the religion of Islām. Allāh, the Sublime and Exalted, says, Verily, the religion with Allāh is Islām (3:19). The Sublime also states, If anyone seeks other than Islām as a religion, it will not be accepted of him (3:85). Finally, the Sublime states, And I am pleased with Islām as a religion for you. (5:3).
[1] Without exception, Allāh's misguidance of people is in response to their rebellion. In each of the 31 Qurʿānic verses which mention Allāh misguiding people, the Qurʿān either explicitly states He misguides transgressors, the unjust, those who belie His signs, and so on, or the preceding verses clearly refer to such people. (For example, Allāh has sealed their hearts and their hearing and over their eyes is a veil in 2:7 refers to the preceding those who are bent on denying the truth in 2:6.) Finally, 16:36 further clarifies 'misguidance' becomes inevitable for those who reject the call of their prophets and thereby deserve to go wrong.
[2] Jinn are a species of the unseen realm, concealed from humans, though humans are not concealed from them. The word "jinn" comes from the Arabic root meaning "to conceal". The English word "genie" is from the Arabic jinn. Sapient entities created of a smokeless fire, the jinn share free will with humans and thus the capacity for goodness and evil. Iblīs (Satan), often mistaken to be a fallen angel, belongs to the jinn species.
[3] "Blasphemy" is a verbal assault on the sacred. Whilst the Arabic here is kafara, which would normally be glossed as "disbelieved", a more fitting term is the Catholic term "blasphemed". Thomas Aquinas viewed blasphemy like heresy, as a species of disbelief. This is closer to the meaning here, as the term kufr in Islamic theology involves several species of disbelief. The anthropomorphists (al-mujasimmah) referred to here believe in the Qurʿān and Sunnah but still fall into a category of kufr.
[4] The Beatific Vision (al-ru'yah) is the greatest bounty of the next life, whereby the believers will gaze upon the countenance of Allāh without any veil. Likewise, the torment of the next life is being veiled from the countenance of Allāh (Qurʿān 75:22-23, 85:13). The word "modality" here refers to the form in which something is understood, the way in which a quality is or can be possessed by a thing, as in, "Green is a mode of colour". Thus, the Beatific Vision is a vision, the mode of which is incomprehensible. In his commentary on this text, ‘Abd al-Ghanī al-Maydānī (d. 1378 AH/1978 CE) writes:
[6] The Ascension (al-mi‘rāj) is the second part of the Prophet's Night Journey known as laylat al-’isrā’ wal-mi‘rāj. Grammatically, the word mi‘rāj is a noun of instrument, which is a noun used to describe the means by which one does the verbal root's actions. In this case, the root is ‘urūj, which denotes 'ascension'. Morphologically, mi‘rāj can mean a "ladder" or a "means of ascent".
The isrā’ refers to the first part of his Night Journey, in which the Archangel Gabriel - peace be upon him - accompanied the Prophet ﷺ from the Sacred Mosque in Mecca to Jerusalem, as he rode upon a wondrous beast called al-Burāq. In Jerusalem, the Prophet ﷺ led in prayer all previous prophets - peace be upon them.
The Ascension refers to the second part of the Night Journey: his ascent from the Sanctuary in Jerusalem up to the heavenly realm. The Prophet ﷺ rode through the seven heavens upon al-Burāq, whose single stride extended from one horizon to the next. In the seventh heaven, the Prophet ﷺ reached the Lote Tree of the furthermost limit [sidrat al-muntaha] (in Asian traditions, the Lote Tree specifically refers to the point where rational thought ends and super-rational realities emerge). At this point, the Archangel Gabriel, who had acted as his guide thus far on the journey, left him, and the Prophet ﷺ entered the divine presence, that of his Lord. Here, the Prophet ﷺ greeted his Lord, and Muslims recite those salutations in their daily prayers. Indeed, during the Ascension, the Prophet ﷺ received the command for the Muslims to offer fifty prayers daily. However, before the Prophet ﷺ returned from his journey, the obligation was reduced to only five daily prayers, at the behest of Moses, peace be upon him, that he intercede with his Lord to bring ease to the community of believers.
[7] The Pool (al-ḥawḍ) is a vast gift of Allāh for the Prophet ﷺ and his followers in Paradise, from which the Prophet ﷺ will give drink to his followers on the Day of Standing. It was described by the Prophet ﷺ as extending beyond the distance between Ṣan‘ā’ in Yemen and Aylah (a bygone city off the Red Sea coast, east of the Sinai Peninsula, near the Gulf of Aqabah, and south of Gaza). It is the fountain of Kawthar, whose water is white like milk, whose fragrance is akin to musk, and whose goblets outnumber the stars. Whoever drinks from it will never thirst thereafter [Sahih al-Bukhārī, on the authority of ‘Abd Allāh b. ‘Amr (d. 63 AH/682 CE)].
[8] The Intercession (al-shafa‘āh) of the Prophet ﷺ is twofold: His first petitioning is for the entire human race, in order to relieve them of the momentous anxiety of the first stage of the Day of Judgement. His second Intercession for the disobedient among his community; he will pray, asking Allāh to treat His servants mercifully. Allāh promised the Prophet that his prayer will be granted due to his praiseworthy station (maqām maḥmūd [Qurʿān 17:79])
[9] The covenant here refers to the primodial exchange between Allāh and all human souls. After Allāh created all the souls, He gathered them and asked, "Am I not your Lord?". All souls replied, "Yes, we have testified" (Qurʿān 17:79). Hence, all humans testified their belief in Allāh before their souls were placed into their bodies.
[10] A hadith narrated by al-Bukhārī.
[11] All actions are judged by a person's inward state during his or her final act. That is, one who dies submitting to Allāh as one's final action will have the culmination culmination of his or her acts judged in accordance with that belief. Likewise, if one's "final assertive act" is of disbelief, this will result in all of his or her previous actions being judged as disbelief. For this reason, Allāh commands O believers! Be conscious of Allāh with due reverence, and do not die without having surrendered to Allāh (Qurʿān 3:102).
[12] The Pen and Tablet (al-qalam wa al-lawḥ) are among the first of Allāh's creations. A sound hadith in Jāmi‘ at-Tirmidhī states:
[14] The qibla: the direction of the Kaaba (sacred building at Mecca), to which Muslims turn at prayer.
[15] Scholars have understood the mention of al-rūḥ al-amīn in the Qurʿān to mean the Archangel Gabriel. For example, the Qurʿān says, Verily, this is a revelation from the Lord of the worlds. The Trustworthy Spirit (al-rūḥ al-amīn) descended with it to your heart, that you may admonish (26:192-4)
[16] The classical Khawārij [an extremist heterodox sect] held the view that anyone who sins has left the fold of Islām by definition, regardless of whether that sin was among the greater (kabā'ir) or lesser (saghā'ir).
[17] The Murji'iyyah (Antinomians) made this claim.
[18] I [Ḥamza Yūsuf] have chosen to translate kabirah (lit. enormity) as "mortal sin." In classical Western theology, grave or capital siins are termed "moral," as they are sins capable of "killing the life of the soul" and leaving the sinner without sanctifying grace unless he repented. Three criteria are necessary for a sin to be mortal: the matter is grave; the perpetrator is completely aware of his actions; and he commits the sin fully consenting. In Islāmic theology, a grave matter is one ofr which a specific punishment has been decreed or the warning of Hellfire is mentioned in relation to it. Mortal sins were juxtaposed with venial or lesser sins that could be easily forgiven. I feel that is a reasonably accurate gloss to the dual classification of sins in Islām known as greater (kabā'ir) and lesser (saghā'ir) sins. Unfortunately, many of these excellent terms that exist in English to convey similar or identical Islamic concepts have been tainted by past history and current popular use. "Sin" today is almost entirely reduced to sexual misconduct and ignores the grave sins of economic oppression, such as usury, or the abuse of power, such as tyranny, which are of far greater severity and consequence.
[19] [Site admin's footnote] Though Imām al-Ṭaḥāwī posits this as the position of Imām Abū Ḥanīfah and his students, a contradictory view from him is mentioned by the Hanafite jurist Abū Bakr al-Jassas (d. 370 AH/981 CE) in his work Ahkham al-Qurʿān. According to him, Abū Ḥanīfah not only deemed rebellion against oppressive leaders to be an obligation under certain circumstances, but also personally issued legal verdicts encouraging people to do so.
[20] The Sunnah is the normative practice of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. It is derived from his words, actions, tacit approvals and tacit disapprovals. The Sunnah is the second most important source of authority and legislation after the Qurʿān. Scholars of Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh) base the foundation of the Sharīʿah on four primary sources: the Qurʿān, Sunnah, the consensus of the scholars (ijma‘) and analogical reasoning based on precendents (qiyās).
[21] While this matter is actually a legal one usually dealt in the books of jurisprudence and not in a theological treatise, it nonetheless covers well certain theological points; hence, the author placed it in his creed. One is the necessity of belief in multiply-transmitted hadith, which have the status of the Qurʿān in their legal and creedal consideration. In this case, though the Qurʿān commands the washing of feet for ritual ablutions, the hadith permits wiping in lieu of washing as a legally valid license. To reject a multiply-transmitted hadith is akin to rejecting a verse in the Qurʿān and hence is a type of disbelief threatening one's faith. Abu al-Ḥasan al-Karkhī al-Hanafī (d. 340 AH/951 CE) said, "I fear a state of disbelief for the one who rejects wiping over the foot-coverings."
[22] Munkar and Nakīr are the two angels who interrogate the entombed immediately after the deceased can no longer hear the last patter of withdrawing footsteps of the funeral procession. The angels ask the entombed, "Who is your Lord, what is your religion, and what do you say about the messenger sent to you?" The ability of the one questioned to respond correctly depends on how strong his or her faith was while alive. Abū Dawūd relates that the Prophet ﷺ instructed his companions to seek refuge from the punishment of the grave, which is based on how the entombed answers the interrogation of Munkar and Nakīr.
[23] The Arabic word for "acquistion" (kasb) refers to one's livelihood or earnings. Linguistically, it signifies "to earn or to acquire." ‘Alī b. Muhammad al-Jurjānī (d. 816 AH/1413 CE) defines the word linguistically as "that which leads to accruing benefit or warding off harm." He further explains, "Moreover, Allāh's actions cannot be described with it because Allāh, the Sublime and Exalted, is transcendent beyond accruing benefit or avoiding harm."
As a technical term in Islāmic theology, however, it refers to the Sunni doctrine that ostensibly resolves the vexing and perennial dilemma of free will versus predestination. While the doctrine of acquisition has its roots in the Qurʿān, it is considered to be an original Muslim contribution to a problem shared by the three Abrahamic faiths.
According to Abū Bakr Muhammad b. Ḥasan b. Fūrak (d. 406 AH/1015 CE), as a theological term, kasb refers to "the state and decree whereby the human actor among us exercises the relation of his created power to that which has been decreed." Ibn Fūrak mentions that according to Abū al-Ḥasan al-Ashʿarī (d. d. 324 AH/935-6 CE), the founder of the Ashʿarite school of theology, acquisition refers to "what had occurred through created capacity". Ibn Fūrak also quotes al-Shīzārī (d. 476 AH/1083 CE), who said, "It is whatever created capacity is related to, and this meaning is sound because any event not related to created capacity cannot be called 'acquisition' (kasb)" (Kitāb al-ḥudūd fī al-usūl, 85).
al-Taftazānī (d. 792 AH/1390 CE) explains in a commentary on al-Nasafī's creed (d. 710 AH/1310 CE):
[24] The Antichrist (al-masīḥ al-dajjāl) is "The False Messiah, the Imposter of Christ." He is a world leader who emerges in the latter days and is a great personal opponent of Christ's teachings of abstinence, otherworldliness and spirituality. He will false prophet who will spread evil throughout the world - ultimately claiming to be the Lord - before he is killed by Jesus, peace be upon him, at the gates of Lod. According to the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, there will be at least thirty such false prophets, culminating in a final man who leads a large segment of the world astray. He described him as "the worst tribulation to be expected (sharru fitnatin yuntazar). His advent will be shortly before the second coming of Jesus, peace be upon him, and at a time of great famine. Preaching salvation through material exploitation, he is described as having mountains of wheat. According to a hadith, many of the Antichrist's followers will say, "We only follow him because he feeds us." Some hadith state that the world "disbeliever" will be written on his forehead, which every believer will be able to recognize, whether literate or illiterate. He is also described as "leaping between the earth and clouds" and as having an arm "that reaches the bottom of the sea." The Prophet ﷺ said, "The treasures of the earth will follow him like drones follow the queen bee." The False Messiah will raise people from the dead, and he will enter into every city in the world in forty days. In a sound hadith narrated by Muslim (d. 261 AH/875 CE), when the Prophet was asked how the Antichrist would travel so quickly, he replied, "Like a wind what leaves behind a stream of clouds." The Antichrist will come at a time of great disequilibrium in the world, and will hoodwink many through his "miracles" and powers, but devout Muslims, whether literate or not, will be able to identify his lies and trickeries.
The "Beast of the Earth" (dābbat al-ard) is an unprecedented creation that emerges from the substance silicia, according to a hadith recorded in al-Bukhārī's Tarīkh. The beast will speak to humanity in all languages, alerting all about their heedlessness of the signs of Allāh, as mentioned in the Qurʿān (27:82). The appearance of this beast is one of the major signs of the Last Day.
[25] The Anthropomorphists (al-mushabbihah or al-mujassimah) comprise a sect among Muslims who ascribe physical human characteristics to Allah with modality. This group arose in the formative period of Islāmic theology in around the second century after the hijrah. Insisting that all references to Allāh in the Qurʿān are literal, the anthromorphists reject the rhetorical use of metaphor therein. They consequently view certain verses as proof Allāh is located in space and has limbs.
[26] The Rationalists (al-muʿtazilah) are a sect that formed when Wāṣil ibn ʿAṭāʾ (d. 131 AH/748 CE) left the study circle of his teacher, al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī. Rationalists are primarily a theological school (though they also had juristic points as well as a political philosophy). Though not a well-organised group of scholars, the Rationalists did introduce systematic theology to the Muslim community, which forced the Sunni scholars to produce refutations that invariably clarified their own positions within a Sunni framework of theology. The Rationalists presented the greatest doctrinal challenge to the early Muslim community; ironically, Rationalist thought migrated to Europe in the twelth and thirteenth centuries and heavily influenced Catholic thought. Muslims abandoned Rationalism for a middle position between revealed truths that present themselves as supra-rational in many instances and natural theology that demands reasoned thought as a basis for belief and its defense. Some of the Rationalists' beliefs which differ from the Sunnis' are as follows:
[27] The Pantheists (al-jahmiyyah) are followers of Jahm b. Ṣafwān (d. 128 AH/745 CE); known for their negation of the divine attributes, Pantheists claim that "Allāh is everything." They also claim that Hell is not eternal and that human beings are forced to act, a doctrine they share with the Determinists.
[28] The Determinists (al-jabriyyah) claim that human beings have no choice in their actions and thus cannot be held responsible for them. According to Ṣadiq al-Ghiryānī, for the Determinists, "the state of the human being is like that of a feather in the wind; they believe that a man is on parity with an inanimate creation, and that he has neither volition nor choice..."
[29] The Dualists (al-qadariyyah) are followers of Maʿbad al-Juhanī (d. 80 AH/699 CE). Known for their rejection of divine preordainment of good and evil, Dualists believe that God has no volition concerning human action, once free will has been granted; that is, they believe that Allāh creates human beings and then human beings create their own actions. Dualists also believe that while good is from Allāh, evil is not. The Prophet ﷺ predicted their advent and called them the "Zoroastrians of Islām" due to their rejection that evil was also from Allāh.
وَلا شَيْءَ مِثْلُهُ
2. Nothing is like Him.
وَلا شَيْءَ يُعْجِزُهُ
3. Nothing debilitates him.
وَلا إِلهَ غَيْرُهُ
4. No deity exists save him.
قَدِيْمٌ بـِلا ابْتِدَاءٍ، دَائِمٌ بـِلا انْتِهَاءٍ
5. He is preexistent without origin, eternal without end.
لا يَفْنَى وَلا يَبـِيدُ
6. He neither perishes nor ceases to exist.
وَلا يَكُونُ إِلا مَا يُرِيدُ
7. Nothing will be except what He wills.
لا تَبْلُغُهُ الأَوْهامُ، وَلا تُدْرِكُهُ الأَفْهامُ
8. Imaginations cannot attain him; comprehensions cannot perceive Him.
وَلا تُشْبـِهُهُ الأَنامُ
9. Creatures do not bear any similarity to Him.
حَيٌّ لا يَمُوتُ، قَيُّومٌ لا يَنامُ
10. Alive, He never dies; all-sustaining, He never sleeps.
خَالِقٌ بـِلا حَاجَةٍ، رَازِقٌ لَهُمْ بـِلا مُؤْنَةٍ
11. He is a creator without any need to create and a provider without any stores of provision.
مُمِيتٌ بـِلا مَخَافَةٍ، بَاعِثٌ بـِلا مَشَقَّةٍ
12. He seizes life without fear and resurrects without effort.
مَازالَ بـِصِفَاتِهِ قَدِيماً قَبْلَ خَلْقِهِ. لَمْ يَزْدَدْ بـِكَوْنِهِمْ شَيْئاً لَمْ يَكُنْ قَبْلَهُمْ مِنْ صِفَاتِهِ
13. Just as He was possessed of His attributes prior to His creation, so He remains with the same attributes without increasing in them as a result of His creation coming into being.
وَكَما كَانَ بـِصِفَاتِهِ أَزَلِيَّاً كَذلِكَ لا يَزَالُ عَلَيْهَا أَبَدِيَّا
14. As He was before creation qualified with specific attributes, so He remains forever described by them.
لَيْسَ مُنْذُ خَلَقَ الخَلْقَ اسْتَفَادَ اسْمَ الخَالِقِ، وَلا بـِإِحْدَاثِهِ البَرِيَّةَ اسْتَفَادَ اسْمَ البارِي
15. It is not after creating the universe that He merits the name the Creator, nor through originating His creatures that He merits the name the Originator.
لَهُ مَعْنى الرُّبوبـِيَّةِ وَلا مَرْبوبٌ، وَمَعْنى الخَالِقِيَّةِ وَلا مَخْلوقٌ
16. He possesses the quality of sovereignty with or without fief, and the quality of creativity with or without creation.
وَكَمَا أَنَّهُ مُحْيِـي المَوْتَى بَعْدَما أَحْيَاهُمْ، اسْتَحَقَّ هَذا الاسْمَ قَبْلَ إِحْيائِهِمْ، كَذلِكَ اسْتَحَقَّ اسْمَ الخَالِقِ قَبْلَ إِنْشَائِهِمْ،
17. And while he is the Resurrector of the Dead after He resurrects them, He merits the same name before their actual resurrector. Likewise, he merits the name the Creator before their actual creation.
ذلِكَ بـِأَنَّهُ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيْرٌ، وَكُلُّ شَيْءٍ إِلَيْهِ فَقِيرٌ، وَكُلُّ أَمْرٍ عَلَيْهِ يَسيرٌ، لا يَحْتَاجُ إِلَى شَيْءٍ لـــَيْسَ كَمِثـــْلِهِ شَيْءٌ وَهُوَ السَّمِيعُ البَصِيرُ
18. That is because He is omnipotent. Everything is dependent on Him, and every affair is effortless for Him. He needs nothing, and There is nothing like Him, yet He is the Hearing, the Seeing (Qurʿān 42:11)
خَلَقَ الخَلْقَ بـِعِلْمِهِ
19. He originated the creation with His omniscience.
وَقَدَّرَ لَهُمْ أَقْداراً
20. He measured out the lots [of all He created].
وَضَرَبَ لَهُمْ آجالاً
21. He determined the spans of their lives.
لَمْ يَخْفَ عَلَيْهِ شَيْءٌ مِنْ أَفْعَالِهِمْ قَبْلَ أَنْ خَلَقَهُمْ، وَعَلِمَ, مَا هُمْ عَامِلُونَ قَبْلَ أَنْ يَخْلُقَهُمْ
22. None of their actions were concealed from Him before He created them. He knew what they would do before He created them.
وَأَمَرَهُمْ بـِطَاعَتِهِ وَنَهَاهُمْ عَنْ مَعْصِيَتِهِ
23. He commanded them to obey Him and proscribed them from disobeying Him.
وَكُلُّ شَيْءٍ يَجْرِي بـِقُدْرَتِهِ وَمَشِيئَتِهِ. وَمَشِيئَتُهُ تَنْفُذُ
24. All things are in accordance with His determination and will, and His will is fulfilled.
لَا مَشِيئَةَ لِلْعِبَادِ إِلَّا مَا شَاءَ لَهُمْ فَمَا شَاءَ لَهُمْ كَانَ وَمَا لَمْ يَشَأْ لَمْ يَكُنْ
25. His servants are without volition except what He wills for them. Thus, what He wills for them will be, and what He does not will for them will not be.
يَهْدِي مَنْ يَشَاءُ وَيَعْصِمُ وَيُعَافِي فَضْلًا وَيُضِلُّ مَنْ يَشَاءُ وَيَخْذُلُ وَيَبْتَلِي عَدْلًا
26. He guides, protects and preserves whomever He wills with His grace. And He misguides, forsakes and afflicts whomever He wills with justice. [1]
وَكُلُّهُمْ يَتَقَلَّبُونَ فِي مَشِيئَتِهِ بَيْنَ فَضْلِهِ وَعَدْلِهِ
27. All of them vacillate in His providence between His grace and His justice.
وَهُوَ مُتَعَالٍ عَنِ الْأَضْدَادِ وَالْأَنْدَادِ
28. He transcends having any opposites or peers.
لَا رَادَّ لِقَضَائِهِ وَلَا مُعَقِّبَ لِحُكْمِهِ وَلَا غَالِبَ لِأَمْرِهِ
29. None can thwart His decree, overrule His judgement or override His command.
آمَنَّا بِذَلِكَ كُلِّهِ وَأَيْقَنَّا أَنَّ كُلًّا مِنْ عِنْدِهِ
30. We believe in all that and are certain all of that is from Him.
وَإِنَّ مُحَمَّدًا صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ عَبْدُهُ الْمُصْطَفَى وَنَبِيُّهُ الْمُجْتَبَى وَرَسُولُهُ الْمُرْتَضَى
31. [We believe] Muhammad ﷺ is His chosen one, His preeminent prophet, and His messenger with whom He is well pleased.
وَأَنَّهُ خَاتَمُ الْأَنْبِيَاءِ وَإِمَامُ الْأَتْقِيَاءِ وَسَيِّدُ الْمُرْسَلِينَ وَحَبِيبُ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ
32. He is the finality of the prophets, the paragon of the pious, the master of the messengers, and the beloved of the Lord of the worlds.
وَكُلُّ دَعْوَى النُّبُوَّةِ بَعْدَهُ فَغَيٌّ وَهَوًى
33. Any claim to prophecy after him to deviation and heresy.
وَهُوَ الْمَبْعُوثُ إِلَى عَامَّةِ الْجِنِّ وَكَافَّةِ الْوَرَى بِالْحَقِّ وَالْهُدَى وَبِالنُّورِ وَالضِّيَاءِ
34. He is an emissary to all the jinn [2] and the whole of humanity, with truth and guidance, light and radiance.
وَإِنَّ الْقُرْآنَ كَلَامُ اللَّهِ مِنْهُ بَدَا بِلَا كَيْفِيَّةٍ قَوْلًا وَأَنْزَلَهُ عَلَى رَسُولِهِ وَحْيًا وَصَدَّقَهُ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ عَلَى ذَلِكَ حَقًّا وَأَيْقَنُوا أَنَّهُ كَلَامُ اللَّهِ تَعَالَى بِالْحَقِيقَةِ
35. The Qurʿān is the Word of Allāh that emanated from Him without modality in its expression. He sent it down to His messenger as a revelation. The believers accept it as such literally. They are certain it is, in reality, the Word of Allāh, the Sublime and Exalted.
لَيْسَ بِمَخْلُوقٍ كَكَلَامِ الْبَرِيَّةِ
36. Unlike human speech, it is eternal and uncreated.
لَيْسَ بِمَخْلُوقٍ كَكَلَامِ الْبَرِيَّةِ فَمَنْ سَمِعَهُ فَزَعَمَ أَنَّهُ كَلَامُ الْبَشَرِ فَقَدْ كَفَرَ وَقَدْ ذَمَّهُ اللَّهُ وَعَابَهُ وَأَوْعَدَهُ بِسَقَرَ حَيْثُ قَالَ تَعَالَى سَأُصْلِيهِ سَقَرَ فَلَمَّا أَوْعَدَ اللَّهُ بِسَقَرَ لِمَنْ قَالَ إِنْ هَذَا إِلَّا قَوْلُ الْبَشَرِ عَلِمْنَا وَأَيْقَنَّا أَنَّهُ قَوْلُ خَالِقِ الْبَشَرِ وَلَا يُشْبِهُ قَوْلَ الْبَشَرِ
37. Whoever hears it and alleges it is human speech has disbelieved, for Allāh has rebuked, censured and promised such a one an agonizing punishment, stating I will roast him in Hellfire (Qurʿān 74:26). Because Allāh threatened those who allege, This is merely human speech (Qurʿān 74:25) with an inferno of torment, we acknowledged and ascertained that it was the Word of the Creator of humanity, and does not resemble human speech.
وَمَنْ وَصَفَ اللَّهَ بِمَعْنًى مِنْ مَعَانِي الْبَشَرِ فَقَدْ كَفَرَ مَنْ أَبْصَرَ هَذَا اعْتَبَرَ وَعَنْ مِثْلِ قَوْلِ الْكُفَّارِ انْزَجَرَ وَعَلِمَ أَنَّ اللَّهَ بِصِفَاتِهِ لَيْسَ كَالْبَشَرِ
38. Whoever ascribes any human qualities to Allāh has blasphemed [3]. So whoever perceives this takes heed and refrains from such statements of the disbelievers and knows that Allāh, the Sublime and Exalted, in all of His attributes.
وَالرُّؤْيَةُ حَقٌّ لِأَهْلِ الْجَنَّةِ بِغَيْرِ إِحَاطَةٍ وَلَا كَيْفِيَّةٍ كَمَا نَطَقَ بِهِ كِتَابُ رَبِّنَا وُجُوهٌ يَوْمَئِذٍ نَاضِرَةٌ إِلَى رَبِّهَا نَاظِرَةٌ وَتَفْسِيرُهُ عَلَى مَا أَرَادَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى وَعَلِمَهُ
39. The Beatific Vision is a reality for the people of Paradise without enclosure or modality [4], just such as the Book of Allāh pronounces, Some faces will glow that day, gazing at their Lord (72:22-23). Its explanation is as Allāh, the Sublime and Exalted, knows it to be and as He intended.
وَكُلُّ مَا جَاءَ فِي ذَلِكَ مِنَ الْحَدِيثِ الصَّحِيحِ عَنْ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ فَهُوَ كَمَا قَالَ وَمَعْنَاهُ عَلَى مَا أَرَادَ لَا نَدْخُلُ فِي ذَلِكَ مُتَأَوِّلِينَ بِآرَائِنَا وَلَا مُتَوَهِّمِينَ بِأَهْوَائِنَا
40. All that came [to us] from the Messenger ﷺ in the authentic hadith [5] is just as he said it was, and the meaning is as he intended. We do not interpret any of it to accord with our opinions, nor do we presume any of it to accord with our whims.
فَإِنَّهُ مَا سَلِمَ فِي دِينِهِ إِلَّا مَنْ سَلَّمَ لِلَّهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ وَلِرَسُولِهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ وَرَدَّ عِلْمَ مَا اشْتَبَهَ عَلَيْهِ إِلَى عَالِمِهِ
41. No one is secure in his religion until he resigns himself to Allāh, the Sublime and Exalted, and His Messenger ﷺ and consigns whatever obscures his understanding to the One who knows its meaning.
وَلَا تَثْبُتُ قَدَمُ الْإِسْلَامِ إِلَّا عَلَى ظَهْرِ التَّسْلِيمِ وَالْاسْتِسْلَامِ
42. One's footing in Islām is not firm save on the ground of resignation and surrender.
فَمَنْ رَامَ عِلْمَ مَا حُظِرَ عَنْهُ عِلْمُهُ وَلَمْ يَقْنَعْ بِالتَّسْلِيمِ فَهْمُهُ حَجَبَهُ مَرَامُهُ عَنْ خَالِصِ التَّوْحِيدِ وَصَافِي الْمَعْرِفَةِ وَصَحِيحِ الْإِيمَانِ فَيَتَذَبْذَبُ بَيْنَ الْكُفْرِ وَالْإِيمَانِ وَالتَّصْدِيقِ وَالتَّكْذِيبِ وَالْإِقْرَارِ وَالْإِنْكَارِ مُوَسْوِسًا تَائِهًا شَاكًّا زَائِغًا لَا مُؤْمِنًا مُصَدِّقًا وَلَا جَاحِدًا مُكَذِّبًا
43. Whoever covets knowledge that was barred from him, discontented with the limbs of his understanding, shall be veiled from pure unity, unadulterated comprehension and sound faith on account of his covetousness. He will then vacillate between belief and disbelief, assertion and negation, and resolution and denial. Obsessive, aimless, skeptical, and deviant, he is neither an assertive believer nor a resolute denier.
وَلَا يَصِحُّ الْإِيمَانُ بِالرُّؤْيَةِ لِأَهْلِ دَارِ السَّلَامِ لِمَنِ اعْتَبَرَهَا مِنْهُمْ بِوَهْمٍ أَوْ تَأَوَّلَهَا بِفَهْمٍ إِذْ كَانَ تَأْوِيلُ الرُّؤْيَةِ وَتَأْوِيلُ كُلِّ مَعْنًى يُضَافُ إِلَى الرُّبُوبِيَّةِ تَرْكَ التَّأْوِيلِ وَلُزُومَ التَّسْلِيمِ وَعَلَيْهِ دِينُ الْمُسْلِمِينَ
44. Belief in the Beatific Vision of the denizens of Paradise is incorrect for anyone who surmises that it is imaginary or interprets it to be a type of comprehension. For correct interpretation of the Beatific Vision - or any quality annexed to Lordship - lies in leaving interpretation and cleaving to resignation. Upon this are based the religion of the Muslims and the sacred law of the prophets.
وَمَنْ لَمْ يَتَوَقَّ النَّفْيَ وَالتَّشْبِيهَ زَلَّ وَلَمْ يُصِبِ التَّنْزِيهَ
45. Whoever does not guard against denying [Allāh's attributes] and against anthropomorphism has erred and failed to acquire understanding of the divine transcendence.
فَإِنَّ رَبَّنَا جَلَّ وَعَلَا مَوْصُوفٌ بِصِفَاتِ الْوَحْدَانِيَّةِ مَنْعُوتٌ بِنُعُوتِ الْفَرْدَانِيَّةِ لَيْسَ فِي مَعْنَاهُ أَحَدٌ مِنَ الْبَرِيَّةِ
46. For undoubtedly, our Lord, the Sublime and Exalted, is described with attributes of unity and uniqueness. No one in creation is in any way like Him.
وَتَعَالَى عَنِ الْحُدُودِ وَالْغَايَاتِ وَالْأَرْكَانِ وَالْأَعْضَاءِ وَالْأَدَوَاتِ لَا تَحْوِيهِ الْجِهَاتُ السِّتُّ كَسَائِرِ الْمُبْتَدَعَاتِ
47. He is transcendent beyond limbs, ends, supports, components, or instruments. The six directions do not contain him as they do created things.
وَالْمِعْرَاجُ حَقٌّ وَقَدْ أُسْرِيَ بِالنَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ وَعُرِجَ بِشَخْصِهِ فِي الْيَقَظَةِ إِلَى السَّمَاءِ ثُمَّ إِلَى حَيْثُ شَاءَ اللَّهُ مِنَ الْعُلَا وَأَكْرَمَهُ اللَّهُ بِمَا شَاءَ وَأَوْحَى إِلَيْهِ مَا أَوْحَى مَا كَذَبَ الْفُؤَادُ مَا رَأَى فَصَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ فِي الْآخِرَةِ وَالْأُولَى
48. The Ascension [6] is true. The Prophet ﷺ was taken by night and ascended in person and consciously to the heavenly realm, and from there to wherever Allāh willed in the celestial heights. Allāh honoured him with what He willed and revealed to him that which He revealed: His mind did not imagine what he saw (Qurʿān 51:11). May Allāh bless him and grant him peace in this and the final abode.
وَالْحَوْضُ الَّذِي أَكْرَمَهُ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى بِهِ غِيَاثًا لِأُمَّتِهِ حَقٌّ
49. The Pool [7] that Allāh has honoured him with as a solace for his community is real.
وَالشَّفَاعَةُ الَّتِي ادَّخَرَهَا لَهُمْ حَقٌّ كَمَا رُوِيَ فِي الْأَخْبَارِ
50. The [Prophet's] Intercession [8] that Allāh deferred for them is true, as narrated in the traditions.
وَالْمِيثَاقُ الَّذِي أَخَذَهُ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى مِنْ آدَمَ وَذُرِّيَّتِهِ حَقٌّ
51. The covenant [9] that Allāh made with ʾĀdam, peace be upon him, and his progeny is true.
وَقَدْ عَلِمَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى فِيمَا لَمْ يَزَلْ عَدَدَ مَنْ يَدْخُلُ الْجَنَّةَ وَعَدَدَ مَنْ يَدْخُلُ النَّارَ جُمْلَةً وَاحِدَةً فَلَا يُزَادُ فِي ذَلِكَ الْعَدَدِ وَلَا يُنْقَصُ مِنْهُ
52. Allāh has always known the total number of those who will enter Paradise and those who will enter the Fire. Nothing is added to or subtracted from this number.
وَكَذَلِكَ أَفْعَالُهُمْ فِيمَا عَلِمَ مِنْهُمْ أَنْ يَفْعَلُوهُ
53. His knowledge includes all of their actions, which He knew they would perform.
وَكُلٌّ مُيَسَّرٌ لِمَا خُلِقَ لَهُ
54. "Each is faciliated to do that for which he was created." [10]
وَالْأَعْمَالُ بِالْخَوَاتِيمِ
55. The judgement of one's deeds lies in one's final assertive act. [11]
وَالسَّعِيدُ مَنْ سَعِدَ بِقَضَاءِ اللَّهِ وَالشَّقِيُّ مَنْ شَقِيَ بِقَضَاءِ اللَّهِ
56. Those saved are ultimately saved by Allāh's decision, just as those damned are ultimately damned by Allāh's decision.
وَأَصْلُ الْقَدَرِ سِرُّ اللَّهِ تَعَالَى فِي خَلْقِهِ لَمْ يَطَّلِعْ عَلَى ذَلِكَ مَلَكٌ مُقَرَّبٌ وَلَا نَبِيٌّ مُرْسَلٌ
57. The essence of the divine decree is Allāh's secret within creation. No angel or prophetic emissary has ever been privy to it.
فَالْحَذَرَ كُلَّ الْحَذَرِ مِنْ ذَلِكَ نَظَرًا وَفِكْرًا وَوَسْوَسَةً فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ تَعَالَى طَوَى عِلْمَ الْقَدَرِ عَنْ أَنَامِهِ وَنَهَاهُمْ عَنْ مَرَامِهِ كَمَا قَالَ تَعَالَى فِي كِتَابِهِ لَا يُسْأَلُ عَمَّا يَفْعَلُ وَهُمْ يُسْأَلُونَ فَمَنْ سَأَلَ لِمَ فَعَلَ فَقَدْ رَدَّ حُكْمَ الْكِتَابِ وَمَنْ رَدَّ حُكْمَ الْكِتَابِ كَانَ مِنَ الْكَافِرِينَ
58. Delving into the decree is a means to spiritual loss, a descent into deprivation, and a path towards transgression. So beware, and take every precaution against that, whether be through perusal, ideation or suggestion. Allāh, the Sublime and Exalted, has concealed knowledge of the decree from His creation and has prohibited them from desiring it. As the Sublime said in His Book, He [man] is not questioned about what He [Allāh] does - it is he [himself] who will be questioned (Qurʿān 21:23). Hence, anyone who asks, "Why has He done this?" has rejected the judgement of the Book. And whoever rejects the judgement of the Book is among the disbelievers.
فَهَذَا جُمْلَةُ مَا يَحْتَاجُ إِلَيْهِ مَنْ هُوَ مُنَوَّرٌ قَلْبُهُ مِنْ أَوْلِيَاءِ اللَّهِ تَعَالَى وَهِيَ دَرَجَةُ الرَّاسِخِينَ فِي الْعِلْمِ لِأَنَّ الْعِلْمَ عِلْمَانِ عِلْمٌ فِي الْخَلْقِ مَوْجُودٌ وَعِلْمٌ فِي الْخَلْقِ مَفْقُودٌ فَإِنْكَارُ الْعِلْمِ الْمَوْجُودِ كُفْرٌ وَادِّعَاءُ الْعِلْمِ الْمَفْقُودِ كُفْرٌ وَلَا يَثْبُتُ الْإِيمَانُ إِلَّا بِقَبُولِ الْعِلْمِ الْمَوْجُودِ وَتَرْكِ طَلَبِ الْعِلْمِ الْمَفْقُودِ
59. The above eptiomizes what one with an illumined heart among the protected of Allāh needs. In addition, it is the rank of the deeply rooted in knowledge, given that knowledge is of two types: the humanly accessible and humanly inaccessible. To either deny accessible knowledge or to claim the inaccessible is disbelief. Faith is not sound unless accessible knowledge is embraced and pursuit of the inaccessible is abandoned.
وَنُؤْمِنُ بِاللَّوْحِ وَالْقَلَمِ وَبِجَمِيعِ مَا فِيهِ قَدْ رُقِمَ
60. We believe in the Pen and Tablet [12] and in all that was inscribed.
فَلَوِ اجْتَمَعَ الْخَلْقُ كُلُّهُمْ عَلَى شَيْءٍ كَتَبَهُ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى فِيهِ أَنَّهُ كَائِنٌ لِيَجْعَلُوهُ غَيْرَ كَائِنٍ لَمْ يَقْدِرُوا عَلَيْهِ وَلَوِ اجْتَمَعُوا كُلُّهُمْ عَلَى شَيْءٍ لَمْ يَكْتُبْهُ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى فِيهِ لِيَجْعَلُوهُ كَائِنًا لَمْ يَقْدِرُوا عَلَيْهِ جَفَّ الْقَلَمُ بِمَا هُوَ كَائِنٌ إِلَى يَوْمِ الْقِيَامَةِ
61. Hence, if everyone united to remove from existence what Allāh, the Sublime and Exalted, decreed would exist, they could not. Likewise, if they all united to introduce something into existence what Allāh, the Sublime and Exalted, did not decree, they would be unable to do so. The Pen's work is done concerning what is, and will be until the Day of Resurrection.
وَمَا أَخْطَأَ الْعَبْدَ لَمْ يَكُنْ لِيُصِيبَهُ وَمَا أَصَابَهُ لَمْ يَكُنْ لِيُخْطِئَهُ
وَعَلَى الْعَبْدِ أَنْ يَعْلَمَ أَنَّ اللَّهَ قَدْ سَبَقَ عِلْمُهُ فِي كُلِّ كَائِنٍ مِنْ خَلْقِهِ فَقَدَّرَ ذَلِكَ تَقْدِيرًا مُحْكَمًا مُبْرَمًا لَيْسَ فِيهِ نَاقِضٌ وَلَا مُعَقِّبٌ وَلَا مُزِيلٌ وَلَا مُغَيِّرٌ وَلَا مُحَوِّلٌ وَلَا نَاقِصٌ وَلَا زَائِدٌ مِنْ خَلْقِهِ فِي سَمَاوَاتِهِ وَأَرْضِهِ
وذَلِكَ مِنْ عَقْدِ الْإِيمَانِ وَأُصُولِ الْمَعْرِفَةِ وَالِاعْتِرَافِ بِتَوْحِيدِ اللَّهِ تَعَالَى وَرُبُوبِيَّتِهِ كَمَا قَالَ تَعَالَى فِي كِتَابِهِ وَخَلَقَ كُلَّ شَيْءٍ فَقَدَّرَهُ تَقْدِيرًا وَقَالَ تَعَالَى وَكَانَ أَمْرُ اللَّهِ قَدَرًا مَقْدُورًا
فَوَيْلٌ لِمَنْ صَارَ قَلْبُهُ فِي الْقَدَرِ قَلْبًا سَقِيمًا لَقَدِ الْتَمَسَ بِوَهْمِهِ فِي فَحْصِ الْغَيْبِ سِرًّا كَتِيمًا وَعَادَ بِمَا قَالَ فِيهِ أَفَّاكًا أَثِيمًا
وَالْعَرْشُ وَالْكُرْسِيُّ حَقٌّ
66. The ʿarsh [the most immense of Allāh's memory] and the kursī [a vast luminious creation in the presence of the ʿarsh] are both real. [13]
وَهُوَ مُسْتَغْنٍ عَنِ الْعَرْشِ وَمَا دُونَهُ
67. Yet, Allāh has no need of the ʿarsh and whatever is beneath it.
مُحِيطٌ بِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ وَفَوْقَهُ وَقَدْ أَعْجَزَ عَنِ الْإِحَاطَةِ خَلْقَهُ
وَنَقُولُ إِنَّ اللَّهَ اتَّخَذَ إِبْرَاهِيمَ عليه السلام خَلِيلًا وَكَلَّمَ اللَّهُ مُوسَى تَكْلِيمًا إِيمَانًا وَتَصْدِيقًا وَتَسْلِيمًا
وَنُؤْمِنُ بِالْمَلَائِكَةِ وَالنَّبِيِّينَ وَالْكُتُبِ الْمُنَزَّلَةِ عَلَى الْمُرْسَلِينَ وَنَشْهَدُ أَنَّهُمْ كَانُوا عَلَى الْحَقِّ الْمُبِينِ
وَنُسَمِّي أَهْلَ قِبْلَتِنَا مُسْلِمِينَ مُؤْمِنِينَ مَا دَامُوا بِمَا جَاءَ بِهِ النَّبِيُّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ مُعْتَرِفِينَ وَلَهُ بِكُلِّ مَا قَالَهُ وَأَخْبَرَ مُصَدِّقِينَ
وَلَا نَخُوضُ فِي اللَّهِ وَلَا نُمَارِي فِي دِينِ اللَّهِ
72. We do not speculate about Allāh or dispute over Allāh's religion.
وَلَا نُجَادِلُ فِي الْقُرْآنِ وَنَشْهَدُ أَنَّهُ كَلَامُ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ نَزَلَ بِهِ الرُّوحُ الْأَمِينُ فَعَلَّمَهُ سَيِّدَ الْمُرْسَلِينَ مُحَمَّدًا صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ وَهُوَ كَلَامُ اللَّهِ تَعَالَى لَا يُسَاوِيهِ شَيْءٌ مِنْ كَلَامِ الْمَخْلُوقِينَ
وَلَا نُخَالِفُ جَمَاعَةَ الْمُسْلِمِينَ
وَلَا نُكَفِّرُ أَحَدًا مِنْ أَهْلِ الْقِبْلَةِ بِذَنْبٍ مَا لَمْ يَسْتَحِلَّهُ
وَلَا نَقُولُ لَا يَضُرُّ مَعَ الْإِيمَانِ ذَنْبٌ لِمَنْ عَمِلَهُ
76. Nor do we opine that where there is faith, a sin does not harm the sinner. [17]
وَنَرْجُو لِلْمُحْسِنِينَ مِنَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ أَنْ يَعْفُوَ عَنْهُمْ وَيُدْخِلَهُمُ الْجَنَّةَ بِرَحْمَتِهِ وَلَا نَأْمَنُ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَا نَشْهَدُ لَهُمْ بِالْجَنَّةِ وَنَسْتَغْفِرُ لِمُسِيئِيهِمْ وَنَخَافُ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَا نُقَنِّطُهُمْ
وَالْأَمْنُ وَالْإِيَاسُ يَنْقُلَانِ عَنْ مِلَّةِ الْإِسْلَامِ وَسَبِيلُ الْحَقِّ بَيْنَهُمَا لِأَهْلِ الْقِبْلَةِ
وَلَا يَخْرُجُ الْعَبْدُ مِنَ الْإِيمَانِ إِلَّا بِجُحُودِ مَا أَدْخَلَهُ فِيهِ
وَالْإِيمَانُ هُوَ الْإِقْرَارُ بِاللِّسَانِ وَالتَّصْدِيقُ بِالْجَنَانِ
وَجَمِيعُ مَا صَحَّ عَنْ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ مِنَ الشَّرْعِ وَالْبَيَانِ كُلُّهُ حَقٌّ
وَالْإِيمَانُ وَاحِدٌ وَأَهْلُهُ فِي أَصْلِهِ سَوَاءٌ وَالتَّفَاضُلُ بَيْنَهُمْ بِالْخَشْيَةِ وَالتُّقَى وَمُخَالِفَةِ الْهَوَى وَمُلَازِمَةِ الْأَوْلَى
82. Faith is one reality, and the people of faith are essentially the same. Any disparity among them results in distinctions in knowledge, piety, struggle, and adherence to priorities.
وَالْمُؤْمِنُونَ كُلُّهُمْ أَوْلِيَاءُ الرَّحْمَنِ وَأَكْرَمُهُمْ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ أَطْوَعُهُمْ وَأَتْبَعُهُمْ لِلْقُرْآنِ
وَالْإِيمَانُ هُوَ الْإِيمَانُ بِاللَّهِ وَمَلَائِكَتِهِ وَكُتُبِهِ وَرُسُلِهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الْآخِرِ وَالْقَدَرِ خَيْرِهِ وَشَرِّهِ وَحُلْوِهِ وَمُرِّهِ مِنَ اللَّهِ تَعَالَى
وَنَحْنُ مُؤْمِنُونَ بِذَلِكَ كُلِّهِ لَا نُفَرِّقُ بَيْنَ أَحَدٍ مِنْ رُسُلِهِ وَنُصَدِّقُهُمْ كُلَّهُمْ عَلَى مَا جَاءُوا بِهِ
وَإِنْ شَاءَ عَذَّبَهُمْ فِي النَّارِ بِعَدْلِهِ ثُمَّ يُخْرِجُهُمْ مِنْهَا بِرَحْمَتِهِ وَشَفَاعَةِ الشَّافِعِينَ مِنْ أَهْلِ طَاعَتِهِ ثُمَّ يَبْعَثُهُمْ إِلَى جَنَّتِهِ وَأَهْلُ الْكَبَائِرِ مِنْ أُمَّةِ مُحَمَّدٍ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ فِي النَّارِ لَا يُخَلَّدُونَ إِذَا مَاتُوا وَهُمْ مُوَحِّدُونَ وَإِنْ لَمْ يَكُونُوا تَائِبِينَ بَعْدَ أَنْ لَقُوا اللَّهَ عَارِفِينَ وَهُمْ فِي مَشِيئَتِهِ وَحُكْمِهِ إِنْ شَاءَ غَفَرَ لَهُمْ وَعَفَا عَنْهُمْ بِفَضْلِهِ كَمَا ذَكَرَ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ فِي كِتَابِهِ وَيَغْفِرُ مَا دُونَ ذَلِكَ لِمَنْ يَشَاءُ
وَذَلِكَ بِأَنَّ اللَّهَ تَعَالَى تَوَلَّى أَهْلَ مَعْرِفَتِهِ وَلَمْ يَجْعَلْهُمْ فِي الدَّارَيْنِ كَأَهْلِ نَكَرَتِهِ الَّذِينَ خَابُوا مِنْ هِدَايَتِهِ وَلَمْ يَنَالُوا مِنْ وِلَايَتِهِ اللَّهُمَّ يَا وَلِيَّ الْإِسْلَامِ وَأَهْلِهِ ثَبِّتْنَا عَلَى الْإِسْلَامِ حَتَّى نَلْقَاكَ بِهِ
وَنَرَى الصَّلَاةَ خَلْفَ كُلِّ بَرٍّ وَفَاجِرٍ مِنْ أَهْلِ الْقِبْلَةِ وَعَلَى مَنْ مَاتَ مِنْهُمْ
88. We consider congregational prayer behind any of the people of qibla, both the virtuous and the sinful, to be valid. We also pray over those among them who have died.
وَلَا نُنْزِلُ أَحَدًا مِنْهُمْ جَنَّةً وَلَا نَارً اوَلَا نَشْهَدُ عَلَيْهِمْ بِكُفْرٍ وَلَا بِشِرْكٍ أَهْلُ الْقِبْلَةِ لَا يُكَفَّرُونَ وَلَا بِنِفَاقٍ مَا لَمْ يَظْهَرْ مِنْهُمْ شَيْءٌ مِنْ ذَلِكَ وَنَذَرُ سَرَائِرَهُمْ إِلَى اللَّهِ تَعَالَى
وَلَا نَرَى السَّيْفَ عَلَى أَحَدٍ مِنْ أُمَّةِ مُحَمَّدٍ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ إِلَّا مَنْ وَجَبَ عَلَيْهِ السَّيْفُ
وَلَا نَرَى الْخُرُوجَ عَلَى أَئِمَّتِنَا وَوُلَاةِ أُمُورِنَا وَإِنْ جَارُوا وَلَا نَدْعُو عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَا نَنْزِعُ يَدًا مِنْ طَاعَتِهِمْ وَنَرَى طَاعَتَهُمْ مِنْ طَاعَةِ اللَّهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ فَرِيضَةً مَا لَمْ يَأْمُرُوا بِمَعْصِيَةٍ وَنَدْعُو لَهُمْ بِالصَّلَاحِ وَالْمُعَافَاةِ
91. We do not accept any rebellion against our leaders or the administrators of our public affairs, even if they are oppressive [19]. We also do not pray for evil to befall any one of them or withdraw our allegiance from them. We consider our civic duty to them concordant with our duty to Allāh, the Sublime and Exalted, and legally binding on us, unless they command us to the immoral. We pray for their probity, success and welfare.
وَنَتَّبِعُ السُّنَّةَ وَالْجَمَاعَةَ الِالْتِزَامُ بِالسُّنَّةِ وَالْجَمَاعَةِ وَنَجْتَنِبُ الشُّذُوذَ وَالْخِلَافَ وَالْفُرْقَةَ
وَنُحِبُّ أَهْلَ الْعَدْلِ وَالْأَمَانَةِ حُبُّ أَهْلِ الْعَدْلِ مِنْ كَمَالِ الْإِيمَانِ وَنُبْغِضُ أَهْلَ الْجَوْرِ وَالْخِيَانَةِ
وَنَقُولُ اللَّهُ أَعْلَمُ فِيمَا اشْتَبَهَ عَلَيْنَا عِلْمُهُ
وَنَرَى الْمَسْحَ عَلَى الْخُفَّيْنِ فِي السَّفَرِ وَالْحَضَرِ كَمَا جَاءَ فِي الْأَثَرِ
وَالْحَجُّ وَالْجِهَادُ مَاضِيَانِ مَعَ أُولِي الْأَمْرِ مِنَ الْمُسْلِمِينَ بَرِّهِمْ وَفَاجِرِهِمْ إِلَى قِيَامِ السَّاعَةِ لَا يُبْطِلُهُمَا شَيْءٌ وَلَا يَنْقُضُهُمَا
وَنُؤْمِنُ بِالْكِرَامِ الْكَاتِبِينَ فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ قَدْ جَعَلَهُمْ عَلَيْنَا حَافِظِينَ
وَنُؤْمِنُ بِمَلَكِ الْمَوْتِ الْمُوَكَّلِ بِقَبْضِ أَرْوَاحِ الْعَالَمِينَ
وَبِعَذَابِ الْقَبْرِ لِمَنْ كَانَ لَهُ أَهْلًا وَسُؤَالِ مُنْكَرٍ وَنَكِيرٍ فِي قَبْرِهِ عَنْ رَبِّهِ وَدِينِهِ وَنَبِيِّهِ عَلَى مَا جَاءَتْ بِهِ الْأَخْبَارُ عَنْ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ وَعَنِ الصَّحَابَةِ رِضْوَانُ اللَّهِ عَلَيْهِم
وَالْقَبْرُ رَوْضَةٌ مِنْ رِيَاضِ الْجَنَّةِ أَوْ حُفْرَةٌ مِنْ حُفَرِ النِّيرَانِ
وَنُؤْمِنُ بِالْبَعْثِ وَجَزَاءِ الْأَعْمَالِ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ وَالْعَرْضِ وَالْحِسَابِ وَقِرَاءَةِ الْكِتَابِ وَالثَّوَابِ وَالْعِقَابِ وَالصِّرَاطِ وَالْمِيزَانِ
وَالْجَنَّةُ وَالنَّارُ مَخْلُوقَتَانِ لَا تَفْنَيَانِ أَبَدًا وَلَا تَبِيدَانِ
102. Paradise and Hellfire are both created; however they neither perish nor terminate.
فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ تَعَالَى خَلَقَ الْجَنَّةَ وَالنَّارَ قَبْلَ الْخَلْقِ وَخَلَقَ لَهُمَا أَهْلًا فَمَنْ شَاءَ مِنْهُمْ إِلَى الْجَنَّةِ فَضْلًا مِنْهُ وَمَنْ شَاءَ مِنْهُمْ إِلَى النَّارِ عَدْلًا مِنْهُ
103. For Allāh, the Sublime and Exalted, created Paradise and the Fire before creating [the world]. He then created denizens for both abodes. He admits to Paradise whomever He wills by His grace and condemns to the Fire whomever He wills by His justice.
وَكُلٌّ يَعْمَلُ لِمَا قَدْ فُرِغَ لَهُ وَصَائِرٌ إِلَى مَا خُلِقَ لَهُ
وَالْخَيْرُ وَالشَّرُّ مُقَدَّرَانِ عَلَى الْعِبَادِ
وَالِاسْتِطَاعَةُ الَّتِي يَجِبُ بِهَا الْفِعْلُ مِنْ نَحْوِ التَّوْفِيقِ الَّذِي لَا يُوصَفُ الْمَخْلُوقُ بِهِ تَكُونُ مَعَ الْفِعْلِ وَأَمَّا الِاسْتِطَاعَةُ مِنْ جِهَةِ الصِّحَّةِ وَالْوُسْعِ وَالتَّمْكِينِ وَسَلَامَةِ الْآلَاتِ فَهِيَ قَبْلَ الْفِعْلِ وَبِهَا يَتَعَلَّقُ الْخِطَابُ وَهُوَ كَمَا قَالَ تَعَالَى لَا يُكَلِّفُ اللَّهُ نَفْسًا إِلَّا وُسْعَهَا
106. The [divine] enablement that an act requires - for example, an act of obedience - which cannot be attributed to a creature, occurs concurrent with the act. As for the [material] enablement that results from health, capacity, pose and sound means, it precedes the act. In sacred law, it is upon the latter that legal and moral obligation hinge, just as Allāh, the Sublime and Exalted, states, Allāh obliges no soul with more than its own capacity (2:286).
وَأَفْعَالُ الْعِبَادِ خَلْقُ اللَّهِ وَكَسْبٌ مِنَ الْعِبَادِ
وَلَمْ يُكَلِّفْهُمُ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى إِلَّا مَا يُطِيقُونَ وَلَا يُطِيقُونَ إِلَّا مَا كَلَّفَهُمْ وَهُوَ تَفْسِيرُ لَا حَوْلَ وَلَا قُوَّةَ إِلَّا بِاللَّهِ نَقُولُ لَا حِيلَةَ لِأَحَدٍ وَلَا تَحَوُّلَ لِأَحَدٍ وَلَا حَرَكَةَ لِأَحَدٍ عَنْ مَعْصِيَةِ اللَّهِ إِلَّا بِمَعُونَةِ اللَّهِ وَلَا قُوَّةَ لِأَحَدٍ عَلَى إِقَامَةِ طَاعَةِ اللَّهِ وَالثَّبَاتِ عَلَيْهَا إِلَّا بِتَوْفِيقِ اللَّهِ
وَكُلُّ شَيْءٍ يَجْرِي بِمَشِيئَةِ اللَّهِ تَعَالَى وَعِلْمِهِ وَقَضَائِهِ وَقَدَرِهِ
109. Everything is confluent with the will of Allāh, the Sublime and Exalted, and with His knowledge, judgement and decree.
غَلَبَتْ مَشِيئَتُهُ الْمَشِيئَاتِ كُلَّهَا وَغَلَبَ قَضَاؤُهُ الْحِيَلَ كُلَّهَا
110. His will supersedes all other wills, just as His decree thwarts all ruses to avert it.
يَفْعَلُ مَا يَشَاءُ وَهُوَ غَيْرُ ظَالِمٍ أَبَدًا
تَقَدَّسَ عَنْ كُلِّ سُوءٍ، وَتَنَزَّهَ عَنْ كُلِّ عَيْبٍ وَشَيْنٍ، (لاَ يُسْأَلُ عَمَّا يفْعَلُ وَهُمْ يسْأَلوْنَ)
112. Holy is He beyond any evil or adversity, and transcendent is He above any blemish or perversity. He [man] is not questioned about what He [Allah] does - it is they who will be questioned (21:23).
وَفِي دُعَاءِ الْأَحْيَاءِ وَصَدَقَاتِهِمْ مَنْفَعَةٌ لِلْأَمْوَاتِ
وَاللَّهُ تَعَالَى يَسْتَجِيبُ الدَّعَوَاتِ وَيَقْضِي الْحَاجَاتِ
وَيَمْلِكُ كُلَّ شَيْءٍ وَلَا يَمْلِكُهُ شَيْءٌ
115. He possesses everything, and nothing possesses him.
وَلَا غِنَى عَنِ اللَّهِ تَعَالَى طَرْفَةَ عَيْنٍ وَمَنِ اسْتَغْنَى عَنِ اللَّهِ طَرْفَةَ عَيْنٍ فَقَدْ كَفَرَ وَصَارَ مِنْ أَهْلِ الْحَيْنِ
116. Nothing is independent of Allāh, even for the twinkling of an eye. Whoever imagines he is independent of Allāh for even the twinkling of an eye has disbelieved and is among those brought to ruin.
وَلَا أَنَّهُ يَغْضَبُ وَيَرْضَى لَا كَأَحَدٍ مِنَ الْوَرَى
وَنُحِبُّ أَصْحَابَ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ وَلَا نُفَرِّطُ فِي حُبِّ أَحَدٍ مِنْهُمْ وَلَا نَتَبَرَّأُ مِنْ أَحَدٍ مِنْهُمْ وَنُبْغِضُ مَنْ يُبْغِضُهُمْ وَبِغَيْرِ الْخَيْرِ يَذْكُرُهُمْ وَلَا نَذْكُرُهُمْ إِلَّا بِخَيْرٍ وَحُبُّهُمْ دِينٌ وَإِيمَانٌ وَإِحْسَانٌ وَبُغْضُهُمْ كُفْرٌ وَنِفَاقٌ وَطُغْيَانٌ
118. We love the companions of Allāh's Messenger ﷺ. We are not, however, extreme in our love for any one of them. Nor do we dissociate from any of them. We loathe those who loathe them, and only mention their merits. Loving them is essential to religion [dīn], faith [imān] and spiritual excellence [ʾiḥsān],
وَنُثْبِتُ الْخِلَافَةَ بَعْدَ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ أَوَّلًا لِأَبِي بَكْرٍ الصِّدِّيقِ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ تَفْضِيلًا لَهُ وَتَقْدِيمًا عَلَى جَمِيعِ الْأُمَّةِ ثُمَّ لِعُمَرَ بْنِ الْخَطَّابِ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ ثُمَّ لِعُثْمَانَ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ ثُمَّ لِعَلِيِّ بْنِ أَبِي طَالِبٍ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ وَهُمُ الْخُلَفَاءُ الرَّاشِدُونَ وَالْأَئِمَّةُ الْمَهْدِيُّونَ
119. We assert that the caliphate after the death of the Messenger ﷺ was first for Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq, may Allāh be pleased with him, due to his preeminence and precendence over the entire community, and then for ‘Umar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, may Allāh be pleased with him, followed by ‘Uthmān ibn ‘Affān, may Allāh be pleased with him, and concluding with ‘Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib, may Allāh be pleased with him. They are the Righteous Caliphs and Guided Leaders.
وَأَنَّ الْعَشَرَةَ الَّذِينَ سَمَّاهُمْ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ وَبَشَّرَهُمْ بِالْجَنَّةِ نَشْهَدُ لَهُمْ بِالْجَنَّةِ عَلَى مَا شَهِدَ لَهُمْ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ وَقَوْلُهُ الْحَقُّ وَهُمْ أَبُو بَكْرٍ وَعُمَرُ وَعُثْمَانُ وَعَلِيٌّ وَطِلْحَةُ وَالزُّبَيْرُ وَسَعْدٌ وَسَعِيدٌ وَعَبْدُ الرَّحْمَنِ بْنُ عَوْفٍ وَأَبُو عُبَيْدَةَ بْنُ الْجَرَّاحِ وَهُوَ أَمِينُ هَذِهِ الْأُمَّةِ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُمْ أَجْمَعِينَ
وَمَنْ أَحْسَنَ الْقَوْلَ فِي أَصْحَابِ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ وَأَزْوَاجِهِ الطَّاهِرَاتِ مِنْ كُلِّ دَنَسٍ وَذُرِّيَّاتِهِ الْمُقَدَّسِينَ مِنْ كُلِّ رِجْسٍ فَقَدَ بَرِئَ مِنَ النِّفَاقِ
وَعُلَمَاءُ السَّلَفِ مِنَ السَّابِقِينَ وَمَنْ بَعْدَهُمْ مِنَ التَّابِعِينَ أَهْلِ الْخَيْرِ وَالْأَثَرِ وَأَهْلِ الْفِقْهِ وَالنَّظَرِ لَا يُذْكَرُونَ إِلَّا بِالْجَمِيلِ وَمَنْ ذَكَرَهُمْ بِسُوءٍ فَهُوَ عَلَى غَيْرِ السَّبِيلِ
وَلَا نُفَضِّلُ أَحَدًا مِنَ الْأَوْلِيَاءِ عَلَى أَحَدٍ مِنَ الْأَنْبِيَاءِ عَلَيْهِمُ السَّلَامُ وَنَقُولُ نَبِيٌّ وَاحِدٌ أَفْضَلُ مِنْ جَمِيعِ الْأَوْلِيَاءِ
وَنُؤْمِنُ بِمَا جَاءَ مِنْ كَرَامَاتِهِمْ وَصَحَّ عَنِ الثِّقَاتِ مِنْ رِوَايَاتِهِمْ
وَنُؤْمِنُ بِأَشْرَاطِ السَّاعَةِ مِنْ خُرُوجِ الدَّجَّالِ وَنُزُولِ عِيسَى ابْنِ مَرْيَمَ عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ وَنُؤْمِنُ بِطُلُوعِ الشَّمْسِ مِنْ مَغْرِبِهَا وَخُرُوجِ دَابَّةِ الْأَرْضِ مِنْ مَوْضِعِهَا
وَلَا نُصَدِّقُ كَاهِنًا وَلَا عَرَّافًا وَلَا مَنْ يَدَّعِي شَيْئًا يُخَالِفُ الْكِتَابَ وَالسُّنَّةَ وَإِجْمَاعَ الْأُمَّةِ
126. We do not believe diviners or soothsayers or anyone who contradicts the Book, the Sunnah or the consensus of the Muslim scholars [ijma‘].
وَنَرَى الْجَمَاعَةَ حَقًّا وَصَوَابًا وَالْفُرْقَةَ زَيْغًا وَعَذَابًا
127. We consider the mainstream [jamā’ah] to be true and correct, and schism to be deviant and destructive.
وَدِينُ اللَّهِ فِي الْأَرْضِ وَالسَّمَاءِ وَاحِدٌ وَهُوَ دِينُ الْإِسْلَامِ قَالَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى إِنَّ الدِّينَ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ الْإِسْلَامُ وَقَالَ تَعَالَى وَرَضِيتُ لَكُمُ الْإِسْلَامَ دِينًا
128. The religion of Allāh, both in Heaven and on earth, is one. It is the religion of Islām. Allāh, the Sublime and Exalted, says, Verily, the religion with Allāh is Islām (3:19). The Sublime also states, If anyone seeks other than Islām as a religion, it will not be accepted of him (3:85). Finally, the Sublime states, And I am pleased with Islām as a religion for you. (5:3).
وَهُوَ بَيْنَ الْغُلُوِّ وَ التَّقْصِيرِ وَبَيْنَ التَّشْبِيهِ وَالتَّعْطِيلِ وَبَيْنَ الْجَبْرِ وَالْقَدَرِ وَبَيْنَ الْأَمْنِ وَالْإِيَاسِ
129. Islām lies between extremes of excess and neglect, immanence and transcendence, determinism and free will, and assurance of salvation and despair of Allāh's grace.
فَهَذَا دِينُنَا وَاعْتِقَادُنَا ظَاهِرًا وَبَاطِنًا وَنَحْنُ بَرَاءٌ إِلَى اللَّهِ تَعَالَى مِنْ كُلِّ مَنْ خَالَفَ الَّذِي ذَكَرْنَاهُ وَبَيَّنَّاهُ وَنَسْأَلُ اللَّهَ تَعَالَى أَنْ يُثَبِّتَنَا عَلَى الْإِيمَانِ وَيَخْتِمَ لَنَا بِهِ وَيَعْصِمَنَا مِنَ الْأَهْوَاءِ الْمُخْتَلِفَةِ وَالْآرَاءِ الْمُتَفَرِّقَةِ وَالْمَذَاهِبِ الرَّدِيَّةِ مِثْلِ الْمُشَبِّهَةِ وَالْمُعْتَزِلَةِ وَالْجَهْمِيَّةِ وَالْجَبْرِيَّةِ وَالْقَدَرِيَّةِ وَغَيْرِهِمْ مِنَ الَّذِينَ خَالَفُوا الْجَمَاعَةَ وَحَالَفُوا الضَّلَالَةَ وَنَحْنُ مِنْهُمْ بَرَاءٌ وَهُمْ عِنْدَنَا ضُلَّالٌ وَأَرْدِيَاءُ وَبِاللَّهِ الْعِصْمَةُ وَالتَّوْفِيقُ
130. This is our religion and our creed in public and in private. We absolve ourselves before Allāh of anyone who opposes what we have recounted and clarified here. We ask Allāh for a firm foundation in faith, that He seal our lives with it, and that He protect and preserve us from any heresies, variant and baseless opinions, and corrupt doctrines such as those of the anthropomorphists [25], rationalists [26], pantheists [27], determinists [28], dualists [29] and any other deviant sects that oppose the Sunnah and the majority of Muslim scholars and that ally themselves with misguidance. We are completely absolved of them. For us, they are astray and ruined. Ultimately, protection and success is from Allāh alone.
END
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Footnotes
[1] Without exception, Allāh's misguidance of people is in response to their rebellion. In each of the 31 Qurʿānic verses which mention Allāh misguiding people, the Qurʿān either explicitly states He misguides transgressors, the unjust, those who belie His signs, and so on, or the preceding verses clearly refer to such people. (For example, Allāh has sealed their hearts and their hearing and over their eyes is a veil in 2:7 refers to the preceding those who are bent on denying the truth in 2:6.) Finally, 16:36 further clarifies 'misguidance' becomes inevitable for those who reject the call of their prophets and thereby deserve to go wrong.
[2] Jinn are a species of the unseen realm, concealed from humans, though humans are not concealed from them. The word "jinn" comes from the Arabic root meaning "to conceal". The English word "genie" is from the Arabic jinn. Sapient entities created of a smokeless fire, the jinn share free will with humans and thus the capacity for goodness and evil. Iblīs (Satan), often mistaken to be a fallen angel, belongs to the jinn species.
[3] "Blasphemy" is a verbal assault on the sacred. Whilst the Arabic here is kafara, which would normally be glossed as "disbelieved", a more fitting term is the Catholic term "blasphemed". Thomas Aquinas viewed blasphemy like heresy, as a species of disbelief. This is closer to the meaning here, as the term kufr in Islamic theology involves several species of disbelief. The anthropomorphists (al-mujasimmah) referred to here believe in the Qurʿān and Sunnah but still fall into a category of kufr.
[4] The Beatific Vision (al-ru'yah) is the greatest bounty of the next life, whereby the believers will gaze upon the countenance of Allāh without any veil. Likewise, the torment of the next life is being veiled from the countenance of Allāh (Qurʿān 75:22-23, 85:13). The word "modality" here refers to the form in which something is understood, the way in which a quality is or can be possessed by a thing, as in, "Green is a mode of colour". Thus, the Beatific Vision is a vision, the mode of which is incomprehensible. In his commentary on this text, ‘Abd al-Ghanī al-Maydānī (d. 1378 AH/1978 CE) writes:
The vision of the transcendent holy essence of Allāh, the Sublime and Exalted, without encirclement or direction is true and real for the people of Paradise. However, this vision is not with dimensions or limits, due to Allāh's transcendence beyond finiteness, descriptions, limits and containment. It is a-modal (bi lā kayf) in its nature and has no direction, distance, description or light rays connecting the seer and the seen, nor any distance between the one gazing the object of his gaze, for all of that is related to the vision of bodies and substances, and Allah, the Sublime and Exalted, is not a body contained in dimensions. Therefore, envisioning Allah, the Sublime and Exalted, cannot be likened to gazing upon a body. Vision is in accordance with what is being seen."[5] The "hadith" are statements attributed to the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ by which his Sunnah is known. Hadith are considered an authoritative source of legislation and constitute a major source of guidance for Muslims, second only to the Qurʿān.
[6] The Ascension (al-mi‘rāj) is the second part of the Prophet's Night Journey known as laylat al-’isrā’ wal-mi‘rāj. Grammatically, the word mi‘rāj is a noun of instrument, which is a noun used to describe the means by which one does the verbal root's actions. In this case, the root is ‘urūj, which denotes 'ascension'. Morphologically, mi‘rāj can mean a "ladder" or a "means of ascent".
The isrā’ refers to the first part of his Night Journey, in which the Archangel Gabriel - peace be upon him - accompanied the Prophet ﷺ from the Sacred Mosque in Mecca to Jerusalem, as he rode upon a wondrous beast called al-Burāq. In Jerusalem, the Prophet ﷺ led in prayer all previous prophets - peace be upon them.
The Ascension refers to the second part of the Night Journey: his ascent from the Sanctuary in Jerusalem up to the heavenly realm. The Prophet ﷺ rode through the seven heavens upon al-Burāq, whose single stride extended from one horizon to the next. In the seventh heaven, the Prophet ﷺ reached the Lote Tree of the furthermost limit [sidrat al-muntaha] (in Asian traditions, the Lote Tree specifically refers to the point where rational thought ends and super-rational realities emerge). At this point, the Archangel Gabriel, who had acted as his guide thus far on the journey, left him, and the Prophet ﷺ entered the divine presence, that of his Lord. Here, the Prophet ﷺ greeted his Lord, and Muslims recite those salutations in their daily prayers. Indeed, during the Ascension, the Prophet ﷺ received the command for the Muslims to offer fifty prayers daily. However, before the Prophet ﷺ returned from his journey, the obligation was reduced to only five daily prayers, at the behest of Moses, peace be upon him, that he intercede with his Lord to bring ease to the community of believers.
[7] The Pool (al-ḥawḍ) is a vast gift of Allāh for the Prophet ﷺ and his followers in Paradise, from which the Prophet ﷺ will give drink to his followers on the Day of Standing. It was described by the Prophet ﷺ as extending beyond the distance between Ṣan‘ā’ in Yemen and Aylah (a bygone city off the Red Sea coast, east of the Sinai Peninsula, near the Gulf of Aqabah, and south of Gaza). It is the fountain of Kawthar, whose water is white like milk, whose fragrance is akin to musk, and whose goblets outnumber the stars. Whoever drinks from it will never thirst thereafter [Sahih al-Bukhārī, on the authority of ‘Abd Allāh b. ‘Amr (d. 63 AH/682 CE)].
[8] The Intercession (al-shafa‘āh) of the Prophet ﷺ is twofold: His first petitioning is for the entire human race, in order to relieve them of the momentous anxiety of the first stage of the Day of Judgement. His second Intercession for the disobedient among his community; he will pray, asking Allāh to treat His servants mercifully. Allāh promised the Prophet that his prayer will be granted due to his praiseworthy station (maqām maḥmūd [Qurʿān 17:79])
[9] The covenant here refers to the primodial exchange between Allāh and all human souls. After Allāh created all the souls, He gathered them and asked, "Am I not your Lord?". All souls replied, "Yes, we have testified" (Qurʿān 17:79). Hence, all humans testified their belief in Allāh before their souls were placed into their bodies.
[10] A hadith narrated by al-Bukhārī.
[11] All actions are judged by a person's inward state during his or her final act. That is, one who dies submitting to Allāh as one's final action will have the culmination culmination of his or her acts judged in accordance with that belief. Likewise, if one's "final assertive act" is of disbelief, this will result in all of his or her previous actions being judged as disbelief. For this reason, Allāh commands O believers! Be conscious of Allāh with due reverence, and do not die without having surrendered to Allāh (Qurʿān 3:102).
[12] The Pen and Tablet (al-qalam wa al-lawḥ) are among the first of Allāh's creations. A sound hadith in Jāmi‘ at-Tirmidhī states:
The first thing that Allāh created was the Pen, and He said to it, "Write!" The Pen replied, "What shall I write?" And Allāh said, "Write the foreordained (qadar)". And so it wrote what had been and what will be for all eternity.[13] The ‘arsh is the greatest of Allāh's creation and is above the kursī, which extends over the heavens and the earth. Only Allāh knows the reality and vastness of each.
[14] The qibla: the direction of the Kaaba (sacred building at Mecca), to which Muslims turn at prayer.
[15] Scholars have understood the mention of al-rūḥ al-amīn in the Qurʿān to mean the Archangel Gabriel. For example, the Qurʿān says, Verily, this is a revelation from the Lord of the worlds. The Trustworthy Spirit (al-rūḥ al-amīn) descended with it to your heart, that you may admonish (26:192-4)
[16] The classical Khawārij [an extremist heterodox sect] held the view that anyone who sins has left the fold of Islām by definition, regardless of whether that sin was among the greater (kabā'ir) or lesser (saghā'ir).
[17] The Murji'iyyah (Antinomians) made this claim.
[18] I [Ḥamza Yūsuf] have chosen to translate kabirah (lit. enormity) as "mortal sin." In classical Western theology, grave or capital siins are termed "moral," as they are sins capable of "killing the life of the soul" and leaving the sinner without sanctifying grace unless he repented. Three criteria are necessary for a sin to be mortal: the matter is grave; the perpetrator is completely aware of his actions; and he commits the sin fully consenting. In Islāmic theology, a grave matter is one ofr which a specific punishment has been decreed or the warning of Hellfire is mentioned in relation to it. Mortal sins were juxtaposed with venial or lesser sins that could be easily forgiven. I feel that is a reasonably accurate gloss to the dual classification of sins in Islām known as greater (kabā'ir) and lesser (saghā'ir) sins. Unfortunately, many of these excellent terms that exist in English to convey similar or identical Islamic concepts have been tainted by past history and current popular use. "Sin" today is almost entirely reduced to sexual misconduct and ignores the grave sins of economic oppression, such as usury, or the abuse of power, such as tyranny, which are of far greater severity and consequence.
[19] [Site admin's footnote] Though Imām al-Ṭaḥāwī posits this as the position of Imām Abū Ḥanīfah and his students, a contradictory view from him is mentioned by the Hanafite jurist Abū Bakr al-Jassas (d. 370 AH/981 CE) in his work Ahkham al-Qurʿān. According to him, Abū Ḥanīfah not only deemed rebellion against oppressive leaders to be an obligation under certain circumstances, but also personally issued legal verdicts encouraging people to do so.
[20] The Sunnah is the normative practice of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. It is derived from his words, actions, tacit approvals and tacit disapprovals. The Sunnah is the second most important source of authority and legislation after the Qurʿān. Scholars of Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh) base the foundation of the Sharīʿah on four primary sources: the Qurʿān, Sunnah, the consensus of the scholars (ijma‘) and analogical reasoning based on precendents (qiyās).
[21] While this matter is actually a legal one usually dealt in the books of jurisprudence and not in a theological treatise, it nonetheless covers well certain theological points; hence, the author placed it in his creed. One is the necessity of belief in multiply-transmitted hadith, which have the status of the Qurʿān in their legal and creedal consideration. In this case, though the Qurʿān commands the washing of feet for ritual ablutions, the hadith permits wiping in lieu of washing as a legally valid license. To reject a multiply-transmitted hadith is akin to rejecting a verse in the Qurʿān and hence is a type of disbelief threatening one's faith. Abu al-Ḥasan al-Karkhī al-Hanafī (d. 340 AH/951 CE) said, "I fear a state of disbelief for the one who rejects wiping over the foot-coverings."
[22] Munkar and Nakīr are the two angels who interrogate the entombed immediately after the deceased can no longer hear the last patter of withdrawing footsteps of the funeral procession. The angels ask the entombed, "Who is your Lord, what is your religion, and what do you say about the messenger sent to you?" The ability of the one questioned to respond correctly depends on how strong his or her faith was while alive. Abū Dawūd relates that the Prophet ﷺ instructed his companions to seek refuge from the punishment of the grave, which is based on how the entombed answers the interrogation of Munkar and Nakīr.
[23] The Arabic word for "acquistion" (kasb) refers to one's livelihood or earnings. Linguistically, it signifies "to earn or to acquire." ‘Alī b. Muhammad al-Jurjānī (d. 816 AH/1413 CE) defines the word linguistically as "that which leads to accruing benefit or warding off harm." He further explains, "Moreover, Allāh's actions cannot be described with it because Allāh, the Sublime and Exalted, is transcendent beyond accruing benefit or avoiding harm."
As a technical term in Islāmic theology, however, it refers to the Sunni doctrine that ostensibly resolves the vexing and perennial dilemma of free will versus predestination. While the doctrine of acquisition has its roots in the Qurʿān, it is considered to be an original Muslim contribution to a problem shared by the three Abrahamic faiths.
According to Abū Bakr Muhammad b. Ḥasan b. Fūrak (d. 406 AH/1015 CE), as a theological term, kasb refers to "the state and decree whereby the human actor among us exercises the relation of his created power to that which has been decreed." Ibn Fūrak mentions that according to Abū al-Ḥasan al-Ashʿarī (d. d. 324 AH/935-6 CE), the founder of the Ashʿarite school of theology, acquisition refers to "what had occurred through created capacity". Ibn Fūrak also quotes al-Shīzārī (d. 476 AH/1083 CE), who said, "It is whatever created capacity is related to, and this meaning is sound because any event not related to created capacity cannot be called 'acquisition' (kasb)" (Kitāb al-ḥudūd fī al-usūl, 85).
al-Taftazānī (d. 792 AH/1390 CE) explains in a commentary on al-Nasafī's creed (d. 710 AH/1310 CE):
[According to al-Nasafī] 'Allāh, the Sublime and Exalted, is the creator of all the actions of His creatures, including rejection of Allāh, the Sublime and Exalted, or acceptance of Him, obedience to Him or disobedience.' However, this understanding differs from [the belief of] the Rationalists (al-muʿtazilah) who claim that men are 'creators' of their actions [...] The people of truth opposed them for a number of reasons: the first is that if the creature were indeed the creator of his own actions, he would surely know all their particular details, since it follows that power and freedom necessitate such knowledge. The ensuing inevitabilities of such a proposition are patently false. [...] There is also the Qurʿānic verse, Allah is the Creator of every thing (13:17). Rationally, this refers to every contingent thing, and man's actions certaintly constitute a created thing.[The site admin adds:] Thus, the Ashʿarite/Maturidite doctrine of kasb, in its simplified form, can be summarised as follows: Man does not initiate anything; he merely acquires what Allāh has created. Thus man’s responsibility comes from his decision as to which actions he should acquire, for verily Allāh creates both involuntary and voluntary acts, and human beings intrinsically know the difference between the two.
[24] The Antichrist (al-masīḥ al-dajjāl) is "The False Messiah, the Imposter of Christ." He is a world leader who emerges in the latter days and is a great personal opponent of Christ's teachings of abstinence, otherworldliness and spirituality. He will false prophet who will spread evil throughout the world - ultimately claiming to be the Lord - before he is killed by Jesus, peace be upon him, at the gates of Lod. According to the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, there will be at least thirty such false prophets, culminating in a final man who leads a large segment of the world astray. He described him as "the worst tribulation to be expected (sharru fitnatin yuntazar). His advent will be shortly before the second coming of Jesus, peace be upon him, and at a time of great famine. Preaching salvation through material exploitation, he is described as having mountains of wheat. According to a hadith, many of the Antichrist's followers will say, "We only follow him because he feeds us." Some hadith state that the world "disbeliever" will be written on his forehead, which every believer will be able to recognize, whether literate or illiterate. He is also described as "leaping between the earth and clouds" and as having an arm "that reaches the bottom of the sea." The Prophet ﷺ said, "The treasures of the earth will follow him like drones follow the queen bee." The False Messiah will raise people from the dead, and he will enter into every city in the world in forty days. In a sound hadith narrated by Muslim (d. 261 AH/875 CE), when the Prophet was asked how the Antichrist would travel so quickly, he replied, "Like a wind what leaves behind a stream of clouds." The Antichrist will come at a time of great disequilibrium in the world, and will hoodwink many through his "miracles" and powers, but devout Muslims, whether literate or not, will be able to identify his lies and trickeries.
The "Beast of the Earth" (dābbat al-ard) is an unprecedented creation that emerges from the substance silicia, according to a hadith recorded in al-Bukhārī's Tarīkh. The beast will speak to humanity in all languages, alerting all about their heedlessness of the signs of Allāh, as mentioned in the Qurʿān (27:82). The appearance of this beast is one of the major signs of the Last Day.
[25] The Anthropomorphists (al-mushabbihah or al-mujassimah) comprise a sect among Muslims who ascribe physical human characteristics to Allah with modality. This group arose in the formative period of Islāmic theology in around the second century after the hijrah. Insisting that all references to Allāh in the Qurʿān are literal, the anthromorphists reject the rhetorical use of metaphor therein. They consequently view certain verses as proof Allāh is located in space and has limbs.
[26] The Rationalists (al-muʿtazilah) are a sect that formed when Wāṣil ibn ʿAṭāʾ (d. 131 AH/748 CE) left the study circle of his teacher, al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī. Rationalists are primarily a theological school (though they also had juristic points as well as a political philosophy). Though not a well-organised group of scholars, the Rationalists did introduce systematic theology to the Muslim community, which forced the Sunni scholars to produce refutations that invariably clarified their own positions within a Sunni framework of theology. The Rationalists presented the greatest doctrinal challenge to the early Muslim community; ironically, Rationalist thought migrated to Europe in the twelth and thirteenth centuries and heavily influenced Catholic thought. Muslims abandoned Rationalism for a middle position between revealed truths that present themselves as supra-rational in many instances and natural theology that demands reasoned thought as a basis for belief and its defense. Some of the Rationalists' beliefs which differ from the Sunnis' are as follows:
- They say the Qurʿān is created.
- They deny the Beatific Vision.
- They reject Allāh's volition concerning acts of "evil".
- They declare that a Muslim who has committed a grave sin and who has not yet repented is neither a believer nor a disbeliever but is in between - a reprobate or malefactor.
[27] The Pantheists (al-jahmiyyah) are followers of Jahm b. Ṣafwān (d. 128 AH/745 CE); known for their negation of the divine attributes, Pantheists claim that "Allāh is everything." They also claim that Hell is not eternal and that human beings are forced to act, a doctrine they share with the Determinists.
[28] The Determinists (al-jabriyyah) claim that human beings have no choice in their actions and thus cannot be held responsible for them. According to Ṣadiq al-Ghiryānī, for the Determinists, "the state of the human being is like that of a feather in the wind; they believe that a man is on parity with an inanimate creation, and that he has neither volition nor choice..."
[29] The Dualists (al-qadariyyah) are followers of Maʿbad al-Juhanī (d. 80 AH/699 CE). Known for their rejection of divine preordainment of good and evil, Dualists believe that God has no volition concerning human action, once free will has been granted; that is, they believe that Allāh creates human beings and then human beings create their own actions. Dualists also believe that while good is from Allāh, evil is not. The Prophet ﷺ predicted their advent and called them the "Zoroastrians of Islām" due to their rejection that evil was also from Allāh.
