Lumat al-Itiqad
- Author died
- 620 AH
- Editions
- Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Endowments, Da‘wah and Guidance - Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Lum'at al-I'tiqad al-Hadi ila Sabil al-Rashad (The Illumination of Creed Guiding to the Path of Rectitude) is a concise theological treatise on Islamic creed by the Hanbali scholar Muwaffaq al-Din Ibn Qudama (d. 620 AH / 1223 CE) outlining the foundational tenets of Ahl al-Sunna wa-l-Jama'a.
Title and Purpose
The book's full title is Lum'at al-I'tiqad al-Hadi ila Sabil al-Rashad. The word lum'a linguistically denotes a sufficient provision (bulgha) or a distinct brightness and clarity, indicating a concise, luminous guide to sound faith, while al-hadi ila sabil al-rashad signifies its role in directing the reader toward the path of guidance and rectitude. The author composed it not as an exhaustive reference, but as an accessible primer establishing essential orthodox beliefs grounded in scriptural proofs.
Contents and Structure
The treatise covers the major areas of Islamic theology derived from the Quran, the prophetic Sunna, and the consensus of the early generations (al-salaf):
- Divine Names and Attributes: Ibn Qudama begins with an introduction establishing divine lordship (rububiyya) and affirms the divine attributes as described in the Quran and authentic hadiths, upholding the stance of affirmation and passing them on without allegorical interpretation (al-iqrar wa-l-imrar).
- The Speech of Allah and the Quran: He emphasizes that the Quran is the uncreated speech of Allah, revealed in literal words and letters, from Him it originated and to Him it will return.
- The Beatific Vision: The work affirms the believers' seeing of their Lord (ru'yat Allah) with their physical eyes in the Hereafter as the greatest reward of the people of Paradise.
- Divine Decree and Predestination (al-Qada' wa-l-Qadar): The text asserts that nothing occurs in existence except by Allah's will, decree, and foreknowledge, affirming that His actions are free of injustice.
- Eschatology and the Pillars of Faith: It treats the trials of the intermediate realm (al-barzakh), the signs of the Hour, the Resurrection, the Day of Judgment, and the nature of faith (iman).
- The Companions and the Caliphate: Ibn Qudama details the status and virtues of the Prophet's companions, affirming the legitimate chronological succession of the four Rightly Guided Caliphs: Abu Bakr, Umar ibn al-Khattab, Uthman ibn Affan, and Ali ibn Abi Talib.
Commentaries and Critical Discussions
The text has been widely studied and commented upon by later scholars, including modern commentaries such as Sharh Lum'at al-I'tiqad by Muhammad ibn Salih al-Uthaymin, as well as commentaries by Abd al-Rahman ibn Salih al-Mahmud, Khalid al-Muslih, and Abd al-Aziz al-Rajihi.
Certain specific formulations in the text have drawn analysis from commentators. In discussing divine speech, Ibn Qudama wrote that Allah is "a speaker with ancient speech" (mutakallim bi-kalam qadim); commentators such as Ibn al-Uthaymin remarked that this should be understood as "ancient in kind, occurring in instances" (qadim al-naw' hadith al-ahad) to align with the standard Sunnī position, while Ibn Taymiyya noted that the specific term al-qadim was not traditionally transmitted from the early Salaf, whose stated agreement was that the Quran is the uncreated speech of Allah.
Notable Editions
The treatise has appeared in numerous printed editions, including:
- Matba'at al-Taraqqi in Damascus (1338 AH).
- Al-Matba'a al-Salafiyya in Egypt (1370 AH).
- Al-Maktab al-Islami in Damascus (1380 AH, with subsequent reprints in 1383 AH, 1389 AH, and 1395 AH).
- Dar al-Bayan in Damascus (1391 AH), annotated by Abd al-Qadir al-Arna'ut.
- Al-Dar al-Salafiyya in Kuwait (1406 AH), edited and annotated by Badr ibn Abd Allah al-Badr.
- Dar al-Huda in Riyadh (1408 AH), edited by Abd al-Qadir al-Arna'ut.
- Maktabat Dar al-Bayan and Maktabat al-Mu'ayyad (1413 AH), edited by Abd al-Qadir Badran with hadith verification by Bashir Muhammad Uyun.
- Matabi' Ibn Taymiyya in Cairo (1413 AH), edited by Ashraf ibn Abd al-Maqsud.
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