al-Asas fi al-Sunnah wa Fiqhiha - al-Aqaid al-Islamiyya
- Author died
- 1409 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-Salām lil-Ṭibā‘ah wa-al-Nashr wa-al-Tawzī‘ wa-al-Tarjamah
al-Asas fi al-Sunnah wa Fiqhiha - al-Aqaid al-Islamiyya (The Foundation in the Sunnah and Its Jurisprudence: Islamic Creeds) is a multivolume treatise on Islamic theology and creed authored by the Syrian scholar Said Hawwa (1354–1409 AH / 1935–1989 CE) . It constitutes the second major section of his broader Hadith compendium, al-Asas fi al-Sunnah wa Fiqhiha, which forms the second branch of his foundational curriculum series titled al-Asas fi al-Manhaj .
Background and Purpose
Hawwa designed al-Asas fi al-Manhaj as a comprehensive trilogy providing Muslims with a structured grounding in the primary Islamic sciences: the first part dedicated to Quranic exegesis (al-Asas fi al-Tafsir), the second to Hadith and its legal and practical dimensions (al-Asas fi al-Sunnah wa Fiqhiha), and the third to epistemological principles and textual interpretation (al-Asas fi Qawa'id al-Ma'rifah wa Dawabit al-Fahm li-l-Nusus) .
Within al-Asas fi al-Sunnah wa Fiqhiha, Hawwa arranged the material into five sequential parts: the prophetic biography (al-Sirah al-Nabawiyyah), Islamic creeds (al-Aqaid al-Islamiyya), major acts of worship (al-Ibadat), ethics and daily life (al-Akhlaqiyyat wa al-Hayatiyyat), and governance and human rights (al-Hukm wa Huquq al-Insan) . He placed the section on creed directly after the Prophet's biography because faith in the Prophet serves as the natural prerequisite for receiving prophetic guidance, and because sound doctrine is the foundational prerequisite upon which all religious deeds depend for acceptance .
Hawwa noted that historical theological treatises often became consumed by polemical disputes against sectarian groups and relegated essential topics—such as the sole right of God to govern and legislate (al-hakimiyyah)—to legal theory (usul al-fiqh) rather than mainstream creed . He intended this work to synthesize the intuitive, text-based understanding of creed characteristic of the prophetic era with classical scholastic classifications and rigorous scholarly verification .
Structure and Contents
The creed section spans three volumes and is structured into an introduction and three primary divisions (abwab) :
- Doctrinal Landmarks (Ma'alim 'Aqa'idiyyah): Contains introductory frameworks outlining major theological markers, reflections on the cosmic order, human nature, the necessity of divine revelation and messengers, and the definitions of belief, Islam, hypocrisy, and deviation .
- Belief in the Unseen (al-Iman bi al-Ghayb): Covers the six pillars of Islamic faith—belief in God, His angels, His revealed scriptures, His messengers, the Last Day, and divine decree (qadar)—alongside unseen realities revealed through prophetic texts .
- Theological Investigations (Mabahith 'Aqa'idiyyah): Examines specific doctrinal topics, including historical sectarian departures, portents of the Hour, the nullifiers of Islam, and the harmony between rational judgments, empirical norms, and revealed law .
The third volume concludes on page 1620, serving as the theological threshold for the subsequent section on acts of worship (al-Ibadat al-Ra'isiyyah) .
Methodology and Sources
The work relies on the major classical collections of Hadith that form the evidentiary base for the overarching al-Asas fi al-Sunnah project, including Sahih al-Bukhari, Sahih Muslim, the Sunan works of Abu Dawud, al-Nasa'i, al-Tirmidhi, Ibn Majah, and al-Darimi, the Muwatta of Malik ibn Anas, the Musnads of Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Abu Ya'la al-Mawsili, and al-Bazzar, the Sahihs of Ibn Khuzaymah and Ibn Hibban, the three Mu'jam collections of al-Tabarani, and al-Hakim al-Naysaburi's al-Mustadrak .
Hawwa organizes the prophetic texts by theological topic, extracting doctrinal principles and practical orientations for contemporary readers while engaging traditional classifications such as divine attributes (ilahiyyat), prophethood (nubuwwat), and eschatology (sam'iyyat) .
Review and Publication
The creed section of the work was reviewed and vetted by the scholar Sheikh Abd al-Hamid al-Ahdab . It was published in Cairo by Dar al-Salam, which issued a second edition in 1412 AH / 1992 CE across three volumes .
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