al-Qaid ila Tashih al-Aqaid

al-Qaid ila Tashih al-Aqaid (The Guide to Correcting Creeds) is a theological treatise by the Yemeni Hadith scholar and jurist Abd al-Rahman al-Muallimi al-Yamani (d. 1386 AH / 1966 CE), written to affirm early Sunni (Salafi) creed and systematically evaluate the arguments of scholastic theologians and philosophers al-Mujam al-Jami fi Taraj…+1.

Origin and Composition

The treatise originally formed the fourth and final section (designated as the theological portion, al-aqaid) of al-Mu'allimi's polemical magnum opus, al-Tankil bi-ma fi Ta'nib al-Kawthari min al-Abatil al-Tankil bima fi Tanib a…+1. Al-Mu'allimi began drafting the larger work in late Rabi' al-Thani 1366 AH, completing most of it within less than two years while employed at the Da'irat al-Ma'arif al-'Uthmaniyyah in Hyderabad, though the creed section took additional time to finalize al-Tankil bima fi Tanib a…+1. When al-Tankil was prepared for subsequent printing, publisher Zuhayr al-Shawish separated this fourth part from the main text and issued it as a freestanding book, judging it to be an independent theological study whose scope was distinct from the polemical focus of al-Tankil Thabat Muallafat al-Alban…+1.

Contents and Methodology

The work establishes traditional Sunni doctrine through textual evidence from the Quran and the Sunnah, combined with dialectical responses to scholastic theology (kalam) and philosophical speculation al-Mujam al-Jami fi Taraj…+1. Within the text, al-Mu'allimi cites his own treatise on monotheism and worship, Raf' al-Ishtibah 'an Ma'na al-'Ibadah wa-l-Ilah (also referred to as Kitab al-'Ibadah), across seven places al-Nukat al-Jiyad al-Munt….

Among the primary subjects treated in the book are:

• Divine Attributes: Affirming the divine attributes of perfection without figurative interpretation (ta'wil) or negation (ta'til), including Allah's real transcendence and aboveness (al-'uluww) over creation and His ascension over the Throne (al-istiwa') al-Mujam al-Jami fi Taraj…+1.
• The Speech of Allah: Affirming that the Quran is the uncreated speech of Allah in both its letters and its meanings, in whatever manner it is recited or written al-Mujam al-Jami fi Taraj…+1.
• The Definition of Faith (Iman): Demonstrating that faith increases through acts of obedience and decreases through sins, and that righteous actions constitute an integral part of faith, which is not realized except through conviction of the heart, verbal confession, and physical deeds al-Mujam al-Jami fi Taraj…+1.

Reception and Publication

The scholar Muhammad Abd al-Raziq Hamza praised the book in an appendix appended to it, describing it as one of the finest writings produced in refuting scholastic theologians and philosophers who deviated from the path of early predecessors through excessive speculative reasoning and philosophical analogies al-Mujam al-Jami fi Taraj…+1. Commentators have also compared al-Mu'allimi's argumentative depth and mastery of dialectical methods in this work to the critical style of Ibn Taymiyyah al-Mujam al-Jami fi Taraj….

The book was edited and annotated with Hadith verification by the Syrian Hadith scholar Muhammad Nasir al-Din al-Albani Thabat Muallafat al-Alban…+1. It was published in Beirut by al-Maktab al-Islami (including a third edition in 1404 AH / 1984 CE spanning 240 pages), representing pages 174 to 414 of the second volume of the original layout of al-Tankil Jami Turath al-Allama al-….