'Imam
Tahawi's al-'Aqidah, representative of the viewpoint of Ahl As-Sunnah
Wal-Jamaa'at, has long been the most widely acclaimed, and indeed
indispensable, reference work on Muslim beliefs, of which this is an edited
English translation.
Imam Abu
Ja'far Ahmad bin Muhammad bin Salamah bin Salmah bin `Abd al Malik bin Salmah
bin Sulaim bin Sulaiman bin Jawab Azdi, popularly known as Imam Tahawi, after
his birth-place in Egypt, is among the most outstanding authorities of the
Islamic world on Hadith and fiqh (jurisprudence). He lived 239-321 A.H., an
epoch when both the direct and indirect disciples of the four Imams: Imam Abu
Hanifah, Imam Malik, Imam Ash-Shafi'i and Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal - were teaching
and practicing. This period was the zenith of Hadith and fiqh studies, and Imam
Tahawi studied with all the living authorities of the day. He began as a
student of his maternal uncle, Isma'il bin Yahya Muzni. a leading disciple of
Imam Shafi'i. Instinctively, however, Imam Tahawi felt drawn to the corpus of
Imam Abu Hanifah's works. Indeed, he had seen his uncle and teacher turning to
the works of Hanafi scholars to resolve thorny issues of Fiqh, drawing heavily
on the writings of Imam Muhammad Ibn al-Hasan al-Shaybani and Imam Abu Yusuf,
who had codified Hanafi fiqh. This led Imam Tahawi to devote his whole
attention to studying the Hanafi works and he eventually joined the Hanafi
school.
Imam Tahawi
stands out not only as a prominent follower of the Hanafi school but, in view
or his vast erudition and remarkable powers of assimilation, as one of its
leading scholars. His monumental scholarly works, such as Sharh Ma'ani
al-Athar and Mushkil al-Athar, are encyclopaedic in scope and have
long been regarded as indispensable for training students of fiqh.
Al-'Aqidah
though small in size, is a basic text for all times, listing what a Muslim must
know and believe and inwardly comprehend.
There is
consensus among the Companions, Successors and all the leading Islamic
authorities such as Imam Abu Hanifah, Imam Abu Yusuf, Imam Muhammad, Imam
Malik, Imam Shafi'i and Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal on the doctrines enumerated in
this work. For these doctrines shared by Ahl As-Sunnah Wal-Jamaa'at owe their
origin to the Holy Quran and consistent and confirmed Ahadith - the undisputed
primary sources of Islam.
Being a text
on the Islamic doctrines, this work draws heavily on the arguments set forth in
the Holy Qur'an and Sunnah. Likewise, the arguments advanced in refuting the
views of sects that have deviated from the Sunnah, are also taken from the Holy
Qur'an and Sunnah.
As regards the
sects mentioned in this work, a study of Islamic history up to the time of Imam
Tahawi would be quite helpful. References to sects such as Mu'tazilah,
Jahmiyyah, Qadriyah, and Jabriyah are found in the work. Moreover,
it contains allusions to the unorthodox and deviant views of the Shi'ah,
Khawarij and such mystics as had departed from the right path. There is an
explicit reference in the work to the nonsensical controversy on Khalq-al
-Qu'ran in the times of Ma'mun and some other `Abbasid Caliphs.
While
the permanent relevance of the statements of belief in al-'Aqidah is
obvious, the historical weight and point of certain of these statements can be
properly appreciated only if the work is used as a text for study under the
guidance of some learned person able to elucidate its arguments fully, with
reference to the intellectual and historical background of the sects refuted in
the work. Such study helps one to better understand the Islamic doctrines and
avoid the deviations of the past or the present.
May Allah
grant us a true undersanding of faith and include us with those to whom Allah
refers as
'those
who believe, fear Allah and do good deeds'; and `he who fears Allah, endures
affliction, then Allah will not waste the reward of well-doers.'
-Iqbal
Ahmad A'zami
The Qur'an>
- The Qur'an is the word of Allah. It came from
Him as speech without it being possible to say how. He sent it down on His
Messenger as revelation. The believers accept it, as absolute truth. They
are certain that it is, in truth, the word of Allah.
It is not created, as is the speech of human beings, and anyone who hears
it and claims that it is human speech has become an unbeliever. Allah warns him
and censures him and threatens him with Fire when He says, Exalted is He: `I
will burn him in the Fire.' [al-Muddaththir 74:26] When Allah threatens
with the Fire those who say `This is just human speech.' [al-Muddaththir
74:25] We know for certain that it is the Speech of the Creator of mankind and
that it is totally unlike the speech of mankind.
Likeness of Allah
- Anyone who describes Allah as being in any
way the same as a human being has become an unbeliever. All those who
grasp this will take heed and refrain from saying things such as the
unbelievers say, and they will know that He, in His Attributes, is not
like human beings.
Vision of Allah
- `The Seeing of Allah by the People of the
Garden' (Al-Jannah) is true, without their vision being all-encompassing
and without the manner of their vision being known. As the Book of our
Lord has expressed it: `Faces on that Day radiant, looking at their
Lord'. [al-Qiyamah 75:22-3] The explanation of this is as Allah knows
and wills. Everything that has come down to us about this from the
Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, in authentic
traditions, is as he said and means what he intended.
We do not delve into that, trying to interpret it according to our own opinions
or letting our imaginations have free rein. No one is safe in his religion
unless he surrendershimself completely to Allah, the Exalted and Glorified and
to His Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and leaves the
knowledge of things that are ambiguous to the one who knows them.
A True Muslim
- A man's Islam is not secure unless it is
based on submission and surrender. Anyone who desires to know things which
it is beyond his capacity to know, and whose intellect is not content with
surrender, will find that his desire veils him from a pure understanding
of Allah's True Unity, clear knowledge and correct belief, and that he
veers between disbelief and belief, confirmation and denial and acceptance
and rejection. He will be subject to whisperings and find himself confused
and full of doubt, being neither an accepting believer nor a denying
rejector.
- Belief of a man in the `seeing of Allah by
the people of the Garden is not correct if he imagines what it is like, or
interprets it according to his own understanding since the interpretation
of this seeing' or indeed, the meaning of any of the subtle phenomena
which are in the realm of Lordship, is by avoiding its interpretation and
strictly adhering to the submission. `This is the deen (religion) of
Muslims. Anyone who does not guard himself against negating the attributes
of Allah, or likening Allah to something else, has gone astray and has
failed to understand Allah's Glory, because our Lord, the Glorified and
the Exalted, can only possibly be described in terms of Oneness and
Absolute Singularity and no creation is in any way like Him.
- He is beyond having limits placed on Him, or
being restricted, or having parts or limbs. Nor is He contained by the six
directions as all created things are.
Al-Mi'raj>:
The Ascension
- Al-Mi'raj (The Ascent Through the Heavens) is true. The Prophet, was taken by
night and ascended in his bodily form, while awake, through the heavens,
to whatever heights Allah willed for him. Allah ennobled him in the way
that He ennobled him and revealed to him what He revealed to him, `and
his heart was not mistaken about what it saw' [al-Najm 53:11]. Allah
blessed him and granted him peace in this world and the next.
Al-Hawd:
The Pool
- Al-Hawd, (the Pool which Allah will grant the
Prophet as an honour to quench the thirst of His Ummah on the Day Of
Judgement), is true.
Ash-Shifa'ah>:
The Intercession
- Ash-Shifa'ah, (the intercession, which is
stored up for Muslims), is true, as related in the (consistent and
confirmed) Ahadith.
Al-Qadr:
The Decree
- The covenant `which Allah made with Adam and
his offspring' is true.
- Allah knew, before the existence of time, the
exact number of those who would enter the Garden (Al-Jannah) and the exact
number of those who would enter the Fire (Jahannam). This number will
neither be increaser nor decreased.
- The same applies to all actions done by
people, which are done exactly as Allah knew they would be done. Everyone
is cased to what he was created for and it is the action with which a
man's life is sealed which dictates his fate. Those who are fortunate are
fortunate by the decree of Allah, and those who are wretched are wretched
by the decree of Allah.
- The exact nature of the decree is Allah's
secret in His creation, and no angel near the Throne, nor Prophet sent
with a message, has been given knowledge of it. Delving into it and
reflecting too much about it only leads to destruction and loss, and
results in rebelliousness. So be extremely careful about thinking and
reflecting on this matter or letting doubts about it assail you, because
Allah has kept knowledge of the decree away from human beings, and
forbidden them to enquire about it, saying in His Book, `He is not
asked about what He does but they are asked'. [al-Ambiya' 21:23] So
anyone who asks: `Why did Allah do that?' has gone against a judgement of
the Book, and anyone who goes against a judgement of the Book is an
unbeliever.
- This in sum is what those of Allah's friends
with enlightened hearts need to know and constitutes the degree of those
firmly endowed with knowledge. For there are two kinds of knowledge:
knowledge which is accessible to created beings, and knowledge which is
not accessible to created beings. Denying the knowledge which is
accessible is disbelief, and claiming the knowledge which is inaccessible
is disbelief. Belief can only be firm when accessible knowledge is
accepted and inaccessible knowledge is not sought after.
Al-Lawh Wal-Qalam: The Tablet and The Pen
- We believe in Al-Lawh (The Tablet) and
Al-Qalam (The Pen) and in everything written on it. Even if all created
beings were to gather together to make something fail to exist, whose
existence Allah had written on the Tablet, they would not be able to do
so. And if all created beings were to gather together to make something
exist which Allah had not written on it, they would not be able to do so.
The Pen has dried having written down all that will be in existence until
the Day of Judgement. Whatever a person has missed he would have never got
it, and whatever one gets, he would have never missed it.
- It is necessary for the servant to know that
Allah already knows everything that is going to happen in His creation and
decreed it in a detailed and decisive way. There is nothing that He has
created in either the heavens or the earth that can contradict it, or add
to it, or erase it, or change it, or decrease it, or increase it in any
way. This is a fundamental aspect of belief and a necessary element of all
knowledge and recognition of Allah's Oneness and Lordship. As Allah says
in His Book: `He created everything and decreed it he a detailed way'.
[al-Furqan 25:2] And He also says: `Allah's command is always a decided
decree'. [al-Ahzab 33:38] So woe to anyone who argues with Allah
concerning the decree and who, with a sick heart, starts delving into this
matter. In his delusory attempt to investigate the Unseen, he is seeking a
secret that can never be uncovered, and he ends up an evil-doer, telling
nothing but lies.
Al-'Arsh wal-Kursi>:
The Tablet and The Pen
- Al-'Arsh (the Throne) and al-Kursi (the Chair)
are true.
- He is independent of the Throne and what is
beneath it.
- He encompasses everything and is above it,
and what He has created is incapable of encompassing Him.
Al-Ambiya:
The Prophets
- We say with belief, acceptance and submission
that Allah took Ibrahim as an intimate friend and that He spoke directly
to Musa.
- We believe in the angels, and the Prophets,
and the books which were revealed to the messengers, and we bear witness
that they were all following the manifest Truth.
Al-'Ummah:
The Community
- We call the people of our qiblah Muslims and
believers as long as they acknowledge what the Prophet, , brought, and
accept as true everything that he said and told us about.
- We do not enter into vain talk about Allah
nor do we allow any dispute about the religion Of Allah.
- We do not argue about the Qur'an and we bear
witness that it is the speech of the Lord of all the Worlds which the
Trustworthy Spirit came down with and taught the most honoured Of all the
Messengers, Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. It is the
speech of Allah and no speech of any created being is comparable to it. We
do not say that it was created and we do not go against the Jama'ah of the
Muslims regarding it.
- We do not consider any of the people of our
qiblah to he unbelievers because of any wrong action they have done, as
long as they do not consider that action to have been lawful.
- Nor do we say that the wrong action of a man
who has belief does not have a harmful effect on him.
- We hope that Allah will pardon the people of
right action among the believers and grant them entrance into the Garden
through His Mercy, but we cannot be certain of this, and we cannot bear
witness that it will definitely happen and that they will be in the
Garden. We ask forgiveness for the people of wrong action among the
Believers and, although we are afraid for them, we are not in despair
about them.
- Certainty and despair both remove one from
the religion, but the path of truth for the people of the qiblah lies
between the two (e.g. a person must fear and be conscious of Allah's
reckoning as well as be hopeful of Allah's mercy).
- A person does not step out or belief except
by disavowing what brought him into it.
- Belief consists of affirmation by the tongue
and acceptance by the heart.
- And the whole of what is proven from the
Prophet, upon him be peace, regarding the Shari'ah and the explanation (of
the Qur'an and of Islam) is true.
- Belief is, at base, the same for everyone,
but the superiority of some over others in it is due to their fear and
awareness of Allah, their opposition to their desires, and their choosing
what is more pleasing to Allah.
- All the believers are `friends' of Allah and
the noblest of them in the sight of Allah are those who are the most
obedient and who most closely follow the Qur'an.
- Belief consists of belief in Allah. His
Angels, His Books, His Messengers, the Last Day, and belief that the
Decree - both the good of it and the evil of it, the sweet of it and the
bitter or it - is all from Allah.
- We believe in all these things. We do not
make any distinction between any of the messengers, we accept as true what
all of them brought.
- Those of the Ummah of Muhammad, may Allah
bless him and grant him peace, who have committed grave sins will be in
the Fire, but not forever, provided they die and meet Allah as believers
affirming His unity even if they have not repented. They are subject to
His will and judgement. If He wants, He will forgive them and pardon them
out of His generosity, as is mentionied in the Qur'an when He says: `And
He forgives anything less than that (shirk) to whoever He wills'
[an-Nisa' 4: 116]; and if He wants, He will punish them in the Fire out of
His justice and then bring them out of the Fire through His mercy, and for
the intercession of those who were obedient to Him, and send them to the
Garden. This is because Allah is the Protector of those who recognize Him
and will not treat them in the Next World in the same way as He treats
those who deny Him and who are bereft of His guidance and have failed to
obtain His protection. O Allah, You are the Protector of Islam and its
people; make us firm in Islam until the day we meet You.
- We agree with doing the prayer behind any of
the people of the qiblah whether right-acting or wrong-acting, and doing
the funeral prayer over any of them when they die.
- We do not say that any of them will
categorically go to either the Garden or the Fire, and we do not accuse
any of them of kufr (disbelief), shirk (associating partners with Allah),
or nifaaq (hypocrisy), as long as they have not openly demonstrated any of
those things. We leave their secrets to Allah.
- We do not agree with killing any of the Ummah
of Muhammad, , unless it is obligatory by Shari'ah to do so.
- We do not recognize rebellion against our
Imam or those in charge of our affairs even if they are unjust, nor do we
wish evil on them, nor do we withdraw from following them. We hold that
obedience to them is part of obedience to Allah, The Glorified, and
therefore obligatory as long as they do not order to commit sins. We pray
for their right guidance and pardon from their wrongs.
- We follow the Sunnah of the Prophet and the
Jama'ah of the Muslims, and avoid deviation, differences and divisions.
- We love the people of justice and
trustworthiness, and hate the people of injustice and treachery.
- When our knowledge about something is
unclear, we say: `Allah knows best'.
- We agree with wiping over leather socks (in
Wudu) whether on a journey or otherwise, just as has come in the
(consistent and confirmed) ahadith.
- Hajj and jihad under the leadership of those
in charge of the Muslims, whether they are right or wrong-acting, are
continuing obligations until the Last Hour comes. Nothing can annul or
controvert them.
Al-Akhirah: The After-Life
- We believe in Kiraman Katibin (the noble
angels) who write down our actions for Allah has appointed them over us as
two guardians.
- We believe in the Angel of Death who is
charged with taking the spirits of all the worlds.
- We believe in the punishment in the grave for
those who deserve it, and in the questioning in the grave by Munkar and
Nakir about one's Lord, one's religion and one's prophet, as has come down
in ahadith from the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him
peace, and in reports from the Companions, may Allah be pleased with them
all.
- The grave is either one of the meadows of the
Garden or one of the pits of the Fire.
- We believe in being brought back to life
after death and in being recompensed for our actions on the Day of
Judgement, and al-'Ard, having been shown them and al-Hisab, brought to
account for them. And Qira'at al-Kitab, reading the book, and the reward
or punishments and in al-Sirat (the Bridge) and al-Mizan (the Balance).
- The Garden and the Fire are created things
that never come to an end and we believe that Allah created them before
the rest of creation and then created people to inhabit each of them.
Whoever He wills goes to the Garden out of His Bounty and whoever He wills
goes to the Fire through His justice. Everybody acts in accordance with
what is destined for him and goes towards what he has been created for.
- Good and evil have both been decreed for
people.
- The capability in terms of Tawfiq (Divine
Grace and Favour) which makes an action certain to occur cannot be
ascribed to a created being. This capability is integral with action,
whereas the capability of an action in terms of having the necessary
health, and ability, being in a position to act and having the necessary
means, exists in a person before the action. It is this type of capability
which is the object of the dictates of Shariah. Allah the Exalted says: `Allah
does not charge a person except according to his ability'. [al-Baqarah
2: 286]
- People's actions are created by Allah but
earned by people.
- Allah, the Exalted, has only charged people
with what they are able to do and people are only capable to do what Allah
has favoured them. This is the explanation of the phrase: `There is no
power and no strength except by Allah.' We add to this that there is no
stratagem or way by which anyone can avoid or escape disobedience to Allah
except with Allah's help; nor does anyone have the strength to put
obedience to Allah into practice and remain firm in it, except if Allah
makes it possible for them to do so.
- Everything happens according to Allah's will,
knowledge, predestination and decree. His will overpowers all other wills
and His decree overpowers all stratagems. He does whatever He wills and He
is never unjust. He is exalted in His purity above any evil or perdition
and He is perfect far beyond any fault or flaw. `He will not be asked
about what He does but they will he asked.' [Al-Ambiya 21: 23]
- There is benefit for dead people in the
supplication and alms-giving of the living.
- Allah responds to people's supplications and
gives them what they ask for.
- Allah has absolute control over everything
and nothing has any control over Him. Nothing can be independent of Allah
even for the blinking of an eye, and whoever considers himself independent
of Allah for the blinking of an eye is guilty of unbelief and becomes one of
the people of perdition.
- Allah is angered and can be pleased but not
in the same way as any creature.
As-Sahabah: The Companions
- We love the Companions of the Messenger of
Allah but we do not go to excess in our love for any one individual among
them nor do we disown any one of them. We hate anyone who hates them or
does not speak well of them and we only speak well of them. Love of them
is a part of Islam, part of belief and part of excellent behaviour, while
hatred of them is unbelief, hypocrisy and rebelliousness.
- We confirm that, after the death of the
Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, the caliphate
went first to Abu Bakr As-Siddiq, may Allah be pleased with him, thus
proving his excellence and superiority over the rest of the Muslims; then
to `Umar ibn Al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him; then to `Uthman,
may Allah be pleased with him; and then to `Ali ibn Abi Talib, may Allah
be pleased with him. These are the Rightly-Guided Khaliphs (Al-Khulafa
Ar-Rashidoon) and upright leaders.
- We bear witness that the ten who were named
by the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and
who were promised the Garden by him, will be in the Garden, as the
Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, whose word is
truth, bore witness that they would he. The ten are: Abu Bakr, `Umar,
`Uthman, `Ali, Talhah, Zubayr, Sa'd, Sa'id, `Abdur-Rahman ibn `Awf and Abu
`Ubaydah ibn Al-Jarrah whose title was the trustee of this Ummah, may
Allah be pleased with all of them.
- Anyone who speaks well of the Companions of
the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and his
wives and offspring, who are all pure and untainted by any impurity, is
free from the accusation of hypocrisy.
Al-'Ulama wal-'Awliya: The Learned Scholars and The Saints
- The learned men of the first community and
those who followed in their footsteps - the people of virtue, the
narrators of the Ahadith, the jurists and analysts- they must only be
spoken about in the best way and anyone who says anything bad about them
is not on the right path.
- We do not prefer any of the saintly men among
the Ummah over any of the Prophets but rather we say that any one of the
Prophets is better than all the awliya' put together.
- We believe in what we know of Karamat, the
marvels of the awliya' and in authentic stories about them from
trustworthy sources.
- We believe in the signs of the Hour such as
the appearance of the Dajjal and the descent of `Isa ibn Maryam, peace be
upon him, from heaven and we believe in the rising of the sun from where
it sets and in the emergence of the Beast from the earth.
- We do not accept as true what soothsayers and
fortune-tellers say, nor do we accept the claims of those who affirm
anything which goes against the Book, the Sunnah and the consensus of the
Muslim Ummah.
Unity in Al-Islam
- We agree that holding together is the true
and right path and that separation is deviation and torment.
- There is only one religion of Allah in the
heavens and the earth and that is the religion of Islam. Allah says: `Surely
religion in the sight of Allah is Islam'. [Al `Imran 3:19] And He also
says: `I am pleased with Islam as a religion for you'. [Am-Matidah
5:3]
- Islam lies between going to excess and
falling short, between Tashbih (likening of Allah's attributes to anything
else), and Tatil (denying Allah's attributes), between Fatalism and
refusing Decree as proceeding from Allah and between certainty (without
being conscious of Allah's reckoning) and despair (of Allah's Mercy).
- This is our religion and it is what we
believe in, both inwardly and outwardly, and we renounce any connection,
before Allah, with anyone who goes against what we have said and made
clear.
Ad-Du'a>:
The Supplication
We ask Allah to make us firm in our belief and seal our lives
with it and to protect us from variant ideas, scattering opinions and evil
schools of view such as those of the Mushabbihah, the Mu'tazilah,
the Jahmiyyah the Jabriyah, the Qadriyah and others like
them who go against the Sunnah and Jama'ah and have allied themselves with
error. We renounce any connection with them and in our opinion they are in
error and on the path of destruction.
We ask Allah to protect us from all falsehood and
we ask His Grace and Favour to do all good.