Importance of Aqeedah |
Dr. Abdul Aziz al-Qari |
From 'Aqeedah (Matters of Faith) First...If They
But Knew' |
The Messenger informed Mu'adh bin Jabal,
when he was going to the land of Yemen, "You
are going to a people from the People of the Book. Let the first thing that you
call them to be the worship of Allaah. If they acknowledge Allaah, then inform
them that Allaah has obligated upon them five prayers during their days and
nights." [al-Bukhaaree, Muslim]
This hadith is clear. It does not require
much of an explanation. The Prophet applied this principle in his practical
calling to Islam. He stayed in Makkah for thirteen years to each the people
eemaan and to educate his Companions on this point and to correct the beliefs
of the people. That is the pattern upon which the Companions were brought up.
Jundub Ibn Abdullaah al-Bajaly said, "We learned eemaan (faith) and then we learned the
Qur'aan and it increased our eemaan."
Abdullaah ibn Umar said, "We lived during an instant of time in which one of
us would receive faith first before receiving the Qur'aan and when the surahs
were revealed we would learn what they permitted and what they prohibited and
what they forbade and what they ordered and what should be the stance towards
them. But I have seen many men from whom one is given the Qur'aan before eemaan
and he reads it from the opening of the Book to its closing and he does not
know what it orders and what it forbids and what should be his stance towards
it. He is like someone who is just throwing out dates [i.e., he does not get
any benefit from his recital]."
That is the manner in which the Prophet
brought up his companions: Eemaan first and then the Qur'aan. This is similar
to what Imaam Abu Hanifa pointed out: Understanding in the religion first (i.e.
tawheed) and then understanding in the science (i.e. the sharee'ah).
The beliefs must be corrected first, then
follows all of the other aspects of the religion.
And Imaam ash-Shafi'ee said, "That a servant meets allaah with every sin except
Shirk is better say than meeting Him upon any of the innovated beliefs."
al-Aqeedah linguistically is derived from
the term aqada. In Arabic, one states, "Aqada the rope" when the rope
is tied firmly. And, "Aqada the sale" or "He settled the
sale" when the person ratifies and contracts a sale or agreement. And
Allaah says in the Qur'aan,
"And as for those whom
your right hands have made a covenant (Ar.,aqadat)" [al-Nisa 33]. And Allaah also says,
"But He will take you
to task for the oaths which you swear in earnest (Ar., aqadtum)" [al-Maida, 89] which means asserted and adhered to,
as proven in the verse,
"And break not oaths
after the assertion of them"
[an-Nahl, 91]. If one says, "Aqadtu such and such," it means his
heart is firm upon such and such.
Therefore, al-aqidah or al-itiqad
according to the scholars of Islam is: The firm creed that one's heart is fixed
upon without any wavering or doubt. It excludes any supposition, doubt or
suspicion.
Imaam Abu Hanifa called this great subject
al-Fiqh al-Akbar ("The Greater Understanding") and the understanding
of the religion. He called the science of law (Ar., sharee'ah) the
understanding of the science. Many scholars of Islaam use the word tawheed for
all matters that a person must believe in. This is because the most important
of these matters is the basic tawheed that is contained in the phrase,
"There is none worthy of worship except Allaah."
Tawheed, according to them, may be divided
into two categories: tawheed of cognition and affirmation and tawheed of
purpose and deeds.
Tawheed of cognition and affirmation is
the tawheed of the Oneness of the Creator and the tawheed of His Names and
Attributes [i.e. He is Unique in His being the only Creator and the only One
with His names and attributes]. Tawheed of purpose and deeds s tawheed of
lordship or that none should be worshipped except Allaah [i.e., He is the only
One worthy of worship].
The scholastic theologians (Ar.,
kalaamiyoon) - and what will explain to you who the scholastic theologians are
- call this great subject "the root of the religion" and they call
the law "the branches of the religion". This is their terminology. We
also have a dispute with them in this matter but this is not the place to
discuss it. all of them give it a name or adjective according to their needs.
But what is the name the Qur'aan gives to
this matter?
The Qur'aan gives the grave matter the
name eemaan. Allaah says in the Qur'aan,
"And thus We inspired
in You (Muhammad) a Spirit of Our command. You did not know what the Scripture
was, nor what the Faith was. But we have made it a light whereby We guide whom
We will of our bondmen..."
[al-Shura, 52].
The general concepts that the heart of the
believer must be firm about are the "pillars" of this faith. But one
will not be called a believer just by knowing and understanding these pillars
but he must come to the level where he submits and implements what is
described, in the hadith of Gabriel, as Islam. Eemaan, in this manner,
incorporates Islam.
If eemaan was simply knowing the facts in
one's heart, then its companion would be equal to Satan and Pharaoh [Note: The
Satan was the most knowledgeable of his Lord but he was destroyed because of
his pride and envy. And Pharaoh, even though he claimed to be the lord, knew
that the lord is Allaah and that none has the right to be worshipped but Him.
Allaah says,
"He said: In truth you
know that none sent down these portents save the Lord of the heavens and the
earth as proofs..." [al-Isra,
102]. - Although they knew the truth, they did not put it in practice by
turning their 'ibadah to Allaah Alone].
In the hadith of Gabriel, the Prophet
explained the pillars of this faith in which every human must believe, when he
was asked, "What is eemaan?", he said, "To
believe in Allaah and His angels and His books and His messengers and the Last
Day and predestination of good and evil."
It is a must for every person to know
these pillars and to learn them with a correct understanding and to believe in
them in the manner that he pious forefathers understood and believed in them,
in the same manner that the Companions of the Prophet believed and understood
them, as well as their Followers and those who followed on their path. This
includes the four Imaams, Sufyan Al-Thauri, Sufyan ibn Uyaina, Abdullah ibn
al-Mubarak and others similar to them, as well as Muhammad ibn Ismail al-Bukhaaree,
Muslim ibn Al-Hajjaj, Shaikh al-Islam ibn Taymiya and al-Hafedh ibn al-Qayyim.
And scholars similar to them who followed the same manner of understanding and
believing in these pillars.
This is the first obligation upon the
responsible human being. There is no difference of opinion on this question
among the scholars whose opinions are worth following. Imaam Abu-Hanifa said, "The understanding of faith is better than
understanding of the science." What he meant by faith is tawheed
and what he meant by science is the sharee'ah. He put the understanding of
tawheed before the understanding of the sharee'ah.
And Shaikh al-Islam al-Haruwi al-Ansari
(d. 481 AH) stated at the beginning of his book, Itiqad ahl al-Sunnah, "The first obligation upon the slave is the knowledge
of Allaah. This is proven by the hadith of Muadh, when the Prophet said to him,
'You will come to a people from the People of the
Book. The first thing that you should call them to is the worship of Allaah. If
they gain the knowledge of Allaah, then tell them that Allaah obligates upon
them five prayers during the day and night...' "
From this premise did the great scholars
of Islam precede. Ponder, for example, what Imaam Muhammad ibn Ismail
al-Bukhaaree did in his book al-Jami al-Sahih, which is the most authentic book
after the Book of Allaah; one will see that from his detailed knowledge and
understanding of this religion, this great Imaam began his book with "The
Beginning of Revelation" and then he followed it with chapters on faith,
followed by the chapters on knowledge. As if he means, may Allaah have mercy on
him, to point out that the first obligation upon a human being is faith or
Eemaan and the way to attaining faith is knowledge. And the source of faith and
knowledge is revelation. So he began by showing how the revelation occurred and
what it was like. Then he followed by mentioning faith and knowledge. This
arrangement is no accident; by it he makes some important points.
This is the sum of what we wish to mention
and what we wish to raise our voices about. The matter of aqeedah is the first
priority. Faith and knowledge are the means of attaining it. And the source of
knowledge and faith is the Book and Sunnah.