al-Aqida

al-Aqida (The Creed) is an introductory theological treatise that defines Islamic creed, explains its core characteristics, and articulates the rational and scriptural foundations of belief in God, His attributes, and the unseen al-Aqida+1.

Scope and Structure

The work defines Islamic creed as the set of principles and fundamentals concerning the Creator, prophethood, and unseen matters revealed to the messengers—such as angels, resurrection, and the Day of Judgment—which require decisive affirmation and rejection of whatever contradicts them al-Aqida. It highlights that the Islamic religion constitutes an integrated structure resting upon creed as its foundation, noting that early Quranic revelation in Mecca focused on doctrinal grounding before subsequent legal enactments were revealed in Medina al-Aqida. The text systematically examines the characteristics of Islamic creed, the rational and historical arguments for the existence of God, the divisions of tawhid (divine unity), the principles governing the divine names and attributes, and the nature of faith (iman) and the unseen (al-ghayb) al-Aqida+1.

Characteristics of Islamic Creed

The treatise outlines five principal characteristics of the Islamic creed:

1. Clarity (al-Wuduh): It presents an unambiguous doctrine of one Creator without partner, peer, or offspring, rejecting blind imitation in favor of insight and reflection al-Aqida. In illustrating the limits of purely speculative methods, the work cites the retreat of Fakhr al-Din al-Razi from philosophical scholasticism to the Quranic method al-Aqida.
2. Innate disposition (al-Fitriyya): The creed aligns naturally with human disposition (fitrah), as supported by the Prophetic tradition: كل مولود يولد على الفطرة فأبواه يهودانه أو يمجسانه أو ينصرانه ("Every child is born upon the natural disposition, then his parents make him a Jew, a Magian, or a Christian") al-Aqida.
3. Demonstrative grounding (Qai'ma ala al-Barahin): It rests upon rational, internal, and cosmological proofs while adhering to textual boundaries al-Aqida.
4. Constancy and permanence (Thabitah wa-Da'imah): Preserved by divine revelation, it admits no addition, deletion, or distortion by political rulers or religious councils, citing the hadith: من أحدث في أمرنا هذا ما ليس منه فهو رد ("Whoever innovates into this affair of ours that which is not part of it, it is rejected") al-Aqida.
5. A middle path (Wasat): It avoids both materialist denial and polytheistic anthropomorphism, rejecting Greek philosophical over-abstraction as well as corporealist comparison (tashbih), and mediating between blind conformism and intellectual overextension regarding the modality of divine attributes al-Aqida+1.

Proofs of Existence

The book engages historical, rational, and natural proofs to demonstrate God's existence. Historically, it notes findings from anthropology and the history of religions showing that belief in a supreme Creator is the oldest form of human religious awareness al-Aqida. Rationally, it constructs arguments based on universal logical axioms: the impossibility of contingency without a determinant (butlan al-tarjih bi-ghayr murajjih), the impossibility of an infinite regress of causes (butlan al-tasalsul), the impossibility of circular causation (butlan al-dawr), and the principle of causality al-Aqida+1.

To corroborate cosmological design, the text cites the observable order in astronomy, human physiology, and the animal and plant kingdoms al-Aqida. It also adduces statements from modern Western scientists acknowledging a Creator, including physicist Isaac Newton, astronomer John Herschel, biochemist Walter Oscar Lundberg, and physiologist Andrew Conway Ivy al-Aqida+1.

Divine Unity and Attributes

The treatise presents tawhid across three interconnected facets: unity of Lordship (tawhid al-rububiyyah) through creation, sovereignty, and governance; unity of names and attributes (tawhid al-asma' wa-al-sifat); and singling out God alone in worship (tawhid al-uluhiyyah) al-Aqida+1.

Regarding the divine essence and attributes, the text establishes three main foundations:

• God is described and named exclusively by what is established in revelation al-Aqida.
• God is entirely transcendent above any resemblance to created beings al-Aqida.
• The human mind cannot perceive the inner modality (kayfiyyah) of the divine essence or attributes, referencing the dictum of Malik ibn Anas on divine ascension (istiwa'): that the ascension is known, the modality is beyond comprehension, belief in it is obligatory, and asking about its modality is an innovation al-Aqida+1.

Faith and the Unseen

The treatise defines iman as comprising conviction in the heart, verbal confession, and outward action of the limbs al-Aqida. It highlights belief in the unseen (al-ghayb) as a distinguishing characteristic of human faith and categorizes the unseen into three types:

• Absolute unseen (al-ghayb al-mutlaq): Divided into matters conveyed exclusively via revelation (such as angels and jinn) and matters known only to God (such as the timing of the Day of Judgment and the exact moment of death) al-Aqida.
• Relative restricted unseen (al-ghayb al-muqayyad al-nisbi): Matters concealed from some individuals but known to others, such as historical events al-Aqida.
• Non-relative restricted unseen (al-ghayb al-muqayyad ghayr al-nisbi): Matters veiled by temporal or spatial distance that will later become manifest, such as the soul and the major and minor signs of the Hour al-Aqida+1.

The text concludes with the six canonical pillars of faith: belief in God, His angels, His revealed scriptures, His messengers, the Last Day, and divine decree (al-qada' wa-al-qadar) al-Aqida.