Dirasa Mawduiyya lil-Haiyya wa Lumat al-Itiqad wa al-Wasitiyya
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- Dirasa Mawduiyya lil-Haiyya wa Lumat al-Itiqad wa al-Wasitiyya
Dirāsa Mawḍūʿiyya lil-Ḥāʾiyya wa-Lumʿat al-Iʿtiqād wa-l-Wāsiṭiyya (Arabic: دراسة موضوعية للحائية ولمعة الاعتقاد والواسطية, A Thematic Study of al-Ḥāʾiyya, Lumʿat al-Iʿtiqād, and al-Wāsiṭiyya) is a work on Islamic theology by the contemporary scholar Abd al-Rahim al-Sulami. The book provides a comparative, thematic study of three classical creedal manuals belonging to the Sunni tradition: the poetic creed al-Ḥāʾiyya by Ibn Abi Dawud, Lumʿat al-Iʿtiqād by Ibn Qudama, and al-ʿAqīda al-Wāsiṭiyya by Ibn Taymiyya.
Scope and Structure
The work is organized across eighteen lessons that analyze the overarching doctrines shared among the three texts rather than offering a line-by-line textual commentary. It begins by establishing the necessity of deriving creed exclusively from the Quran and the authentic Sunnah as understood by Ahl al-Sunna wa-l-Jamāʿa. The author then systematically covers major theological subjects presented across the three manuals, including:
- The Divine Names and Attributes (al-asmāʾ wa-l-ṣifāt)
- Divine Decree and Predestination (al-qadar)
- Faith and its definitions (al-īmān)
- Matters of the Unseen and Eschatology (al-ghaybiyyāt)
- The status and virtues of the Companions (al-ṣaḥāba)
- Adherence to the Quran and Sunnah (al-iʿtiṣām bi-l-Kitāb wa-l-Sunna), obedience to legitimate Muslim rulers in non-sinful matters, dissociation from innovation and its proponents (hajr ahl al-bidaʿ), and belief in the miracles of the righteous (karāmāt)
Method and Pedagogical Approach
The study aims to enable students of Islamic theology to distinguish between recurrent, foundational issues common to multiple texts and points unique to individual works.
Al-Sulami distinguishes between two pedagogical dimensions in studying creed: the corrective method (manhaj al-taṣḥīḥ), which focuses on establishing doctrinal boundaries and refuting deviant views, and the deepening method (manhaj al-taʿmīq), which connects doctrinal points to acts of the heart (aʿmāl al-qulūb)—such as hope, fear, love, and devotion to God. He cautions that overemphasizing intellectual correction at the expense of spiritual internalization represents an imbalance in contemporary creedal study.
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