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By
Dr. Abdul Aziz Al-Qari
Source: Aqeedah (Matters of Faith)
First...If They But Knew salafipublications
 The Messenger informed Mu'adh bin Jabal, when he was going to the
land of Yemen, "You are going to a people
from the People of the Book. Let the first
thing that you call them to be the worship
of Allah. If they acknowledge Allah, then
inform them that Allah has obligated upon
them five prayers during their days and
nights." [Al-Bukhari, Muslim]
This hadeeth is clear. It does not require
much of an explanation. The Prophet applied
this principle in his practical calling to
Islam. He stayed in Makkah for thirteen
years to teach the people Eemaan and to
educate his Companions on this point and to
correct the beliefs of the people. That is
the pattern upon which the Companions were
brought up.
Jundub Ibn Abdullah al-Bajaly said, "We
learned Eemaan (faith) and then we learned
the Quran and it increased our Eemaan ."
Abdullah ibn Umar said, "We lived during an
instant of time in which one of us would
receive faith first before receiving the
Quran and when the surahs were revealed we
would learn what they permitted and what
they prohibited and what they forbade and
what they ordered and what should be the
stance towards them. But I have seen many
men from whom one is given the Quran before
Eemaan and he reads it from the opening of
the Book to its closing and he does not know
what it orders and what it forbids and what
should be his stance towards it. He is like
someone who is just throwing out dates
[i.e., he does not get any benefit from his
recital]."
That is the manner in which the Prophet
brought up his companions: Eemaan first and
then the Quran. This is similar to what
Imaam Abu Hanifah pointed out: Understanding
in the religion first (i.e. Tawheed) and
then understanding in the science (i.e. the
sharee'ah).
The beliefs must be corrected first, then
follows all of the other aspects of the
religion.
And Imam Ash-Shafi`i said, "That a servant
meets Allaah with every sin except Shirk is
better say than meeting Him upon any of the
innovated beliefs."
Al-Aqeedah linguistically is derived from
the term aqada. In Arabic, one states, "Aqada
the rope" when the rope is tied firmly. And,
"Aqada the sale" or "He settled the sale"
when the person ratifies and contracts a
sale or agreement. And Allah says in the
Quran, "And as for those whom your right
hands have made a covenant (Ar., aqadat)"
[Al-Nisa 33]. And Allah also says, "But He
will take you to task for the oaths which
you swear in earnest (Ar., aqadtum)
[Al-Maida, 89] which means asserted and
adhered to, as proven in the verse, "And
break not oaths after the assertion of them"
[An-Nahl, 91]. If one says, "Aqadtu such and
such," it means his heart is firm upon such
and such.
Therefore, al-Aqeedah or al-itiqad according
to the scholars of Islam is: The firm creed
that one's heart is fixed upon without any
wavering or doubt. It excludes any
supposition, doubt or suspicion.
Imam Abu Hanifah called this great subject
al-Fiqh al-Akbar ("The Greater
Understanding") and the understanding of the
religion. He called the science of law (Ar.,
sharee'ah) the understanding of the science.
Many scholars of Islam use the word Tawheed
for all matters that a person must believe
in. This is because the most important of
these matters is the basic Tawheed that is
contained in the phrase, "There is none
worthy of worship except Allah."
Tawheed, according to them, may be divided
into two categories: Tawheed of cognition
and affirmation and Tawheed of purpose and
deeds.
Tawheed of cognition and affirmation is the
Tawheed of the Oneness of the Creator and
the Tawheed of His Names and Attributes
[i.e. He is Unique in His being the only
Creator and the only One with His names and
attributes]. Tawheed of purpose and deeds is
Tawheed of lordship or that none should be
worshipped except Allah [i.e., He is the
only One worthy of worship].
The scholastic theologians (Ar., kalaamiyoon)
- and what will explain to you who the
scholastic theologians are - call this great
subject "the root of the religion" and they
call the law "the branches of the religion".
This is their terminology. We also have a
dispute with them in this matter but this is
not the place to discuss it. All of them
give it a name or adjective according to
their needs.
But what is the name the Quran gives to this
matter?
 The Quran gives the grave matter the name
iman. Allah says in the Quran, "And thus We
inspired in You (Muhammad) a Spirit of Our
command. You did not know what the Scripture
was, nor what the Faith was. But we have
made it a light whereby We guide whom We
will of our bondmen..." [Al-Shura, 52].
The general concepts that the heart of the
believer must be firm about are the
"pillars" of this faith. But one will not be
called a believer just by knowing and
understanding these pillars but he must come
to the level where he submits and implements
what is described, in the hadith of Gabriel,
as Islam. Iman, in this manner, incorporates
Islam.
If iman was simply knowing the facts in
one's heart, then its companion would be
equal to Satan and Pharaoh [Note: The Satan
was the most knowledgeable of his Lord but
he was destroyed because of his pride and
envy. And Pharaoh, even though he claimed to
be the lord, knew that the
lord is Allah and that none has the right to
be worshipped but Him. Allah says, "He said:
In truth you know that none sent down these
portents save the Lord of the heavens and
the earth as proofs..." [al-Isra, 102]. -
Although they knew the truth, they did not
put it in practice by turning their `ibadah
to Allah Alone].
In the hadith of Gabriel, the Prophet
explained the pillars of this faith in which
every human must believe, when he was asked,
"What is iman?", he said, "To believe in
Allah and His angels and His books and His
messengers and the Last Day and
predestination of good and evil."
It is a must for every person to know these
pillars and to learn them with a correct
understanding and to believe in them in the
manner that he pious forefathers understood
and believed in them, in the same manner
that the Companions of the Prophet believed
and understood them, as well as their
Followers and those who followed on their
path. This includes the four imams, Sufyan
Al-Thauri, Sufyan ibn Uyaina, Abdullah ibn
al-Mubarak and others similar to them, as
well as Muhammad ibn Ismail al-Bukhari,
Muslim ibn Al-Hajjaj, Shaikh al-Islam ibn
Taymiya and al-Hafedh ibn al-Qayyim. And
scholars similar to them who followed the
same manner of understanding and believing
in these pillars.
This is the first obligation upon the
responsible human being. There is no
difference of opinion on this question among
the scholars whose opinions are worth
following.Imam Abu-Hanifa said, "The
understanding of faith is better than
understanding of the science." What he meant
by faith is tauheed and what he meant by
science is the shariah. He put the
understanding of tawheed before the
understanding of the shariah.
And Shaikh al-Islam al-Haruwi al-Ansari (d.
481 AH) stated at the beginning of his book,
Itiqad ahl al-Sunnah, "The first obligation
upon the slave is the knowledge of Allah.
This is proven by the hadith of Muadh, when
the Prophet said to him, 'You will come to a
people from the People of the Book. The
first thing that you should call them to is
the worship of Allah. If they gain the
knowledge of Allah, then tell them that
Allah obligates upon them five prayers
during the day and night..."
From this premise did the great scholars of
Islam precede. Ponder, for example, what
Imam Muhammad ibn Ismail al-Bukhari did in
his book al-Jami al-Sahih, which is the most
authentic book after the Book of Allah; one
will see that from his detailed knowledge
and understanding of this religion, this
great Imam began his book with "The
Beginning of Revelation" and then he
followed it with chapters on faith, followed
by the chapters on knowledge. As if he
means, may Allah have mercy on him, to point
out that the first obligation upon a human
being is faith or Iman and the way to
attaining faith is knowledge. And the source
of faith and knowledge is revelation. So he
began by showing how the revelation occurred
and what it was like. Then he followed by
mentioning faith and knowledge. This
arrangement is no accident; by it he makes
some important points.
This is the sum of what we wish to mention
and what we wish to raise our voices about.
The matter of aqidah is the first priority.
Faith and knowledge are the means of
attaining it. And the source of knowledge
and faith is the Book and Sunnah. |
