Creed
Family: Belief and worship · 49 entries
Entries on this theme
Person
Zayd ibn Amr
c. 560 CEA Meccan seeker who rejected the idols of his people and sought 'the religion of Abraham' years before the Prophet's mission — the tradition's example of the hanif, the indigenous monotheist.Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari
A Sunni theologian to whom the Ash'ari school is attributed, author of Maqalat al-Islamiyyin in which he sets out the position of the hadith scholars and Ahl al-Sunna and says he holds it; the edition of the book calls him the shaykh of Ahl al-Sunna wa'l-Jama'a.Abu Ja'far al-Tahawi
239 AHA Hanafi hadith scholar and jurist of Egypt from the tribe of Azd, said to have taken knowledge from about three hundred teachers; author of Mushkil al-Athar, Ma'ani al-Athar and the Tahawi creed.Ibn Abi al-Izz al-Hanafi
731 AHThe Hanafi chief judge Sadr al-Din, commentator on the Tahawi creed, called a chief judge on the title page of the edition.Ibn Qudama al-Maqdisi
A Hanbali jurist of the Maqdisi family, titled Muwaffaq al-Din, author of Lum'at al-I'tiqad on the creed of Ahl al-Sunna on the way of the early generations.Ibn Taymiyya
661 AHThe Hanbali jurist and theologian titled Shaykh al-Islam Taqi al-Din, of Harran and Damascus, author of al-Aqida al-Wasitiyya, which he wrote in 698 AH.
Event
The Incident of the Slander (Hadith al-Ifk)
c. December 627 CE · Sha'ban 6 AHOn the return from the Expedition of al-Muraysi', Aisha was accidentally left behind when searching for a lost necklace and was escorted back to Medina by Safwan ibn al-Mu'attal; Abdullah ibn Ubayy orchestrated a malicious slander campaign that troubled the community for a month until verses of Surat al-Nur established her innocence.The Demolition of al-Uzza and Major Idols
c. January 630 CE · Ramadan 8 AHIn Ramadan 8 AH immediately following the conquest of Mecca, the Prophet dispatched detachments to obliterate the major pagan sanctuaries of Arabia: Khalid ibn al-Walid destroyed al-Uzza at Nakhla, Amr ibn al-As demolished Suwa' of Hudhayl, and Sa'd ibn Zayd al-Ashhali destroyed Manat at al-Mushallal.The cleansing of the Kaaba and destruction of idols
January 630 CE · Ramadan 8 AHUpon entering the sacred precinct, the Prophet circumambulated the Kaaba on his mount, toppled three hundred and sixty lead-fastened idols with his staff while reciting Qur'an 17:81, opened the sanctuary with Uthman ibn Talha's key, effaced the wall frescoes inside while reciting Qur'an 3:67, and had Bilal deliver the adhan from atop the roof.The Dhat Anwat incident
January 630 CE · Shawwal 8 AHOn the march to Hunayn the army passed the sacred tree Dhat Anwat, where pagans hung their weapons and held rites; some of the newly converted soldiers asked the Prophet to 'appoint for us a Dhat Anwat as they have one', and he rebuked the request, likening it to the Israelites' demand that Moses make them a god.The last sermon from the minbar
c. 25 May 632 CE · 7 Rabi' I 11 AHFive days before his death the Prophet, head bandaged, sat on the minbar and warned against taking graves as places of worship, offered himself to retaliation for any wrong, counselled generosity toward the Ansar 'accept from their well-doer and overlook their wrongdoer', spoke of a servant who chose what is with God, and ordered every door into the mosque shut except Abu Bakr's.The pen-and-paper incident
c. 26 May 632 CE · 8 Rabi' I 11 AHOn the Thursday four days before his death the Prophet said 'bring me [something] to write for you a document after which you will never go astray'; Umar said pain had overcome him and the Qur'an sufficed, the people of the house disputed, and the Prophet sent them away — an episode the traditions read differently.
Concept
The people of the qibla and not declaring takfir for sin
al-Tahawi's principle of calling the people of the qibla Muslims and believers so long as they accept what the Prophet brought, and of not declaring any of them an unbeliever for a sin unless he declares it lawful.The hereafter: the grave, resurrection and reckoning
The Tahawi creed's articles on the punishment of the grave, the questioning by two angels, the resurrection, the reckoning, the bridge, the scale and the creation of Paradise and Hell.The ten promised Paradise
The ten Companions whom the Prophet named and gave the good news of Paradise, to whom al-Tahawi bears witness: Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, Ali, Talha, al-Zubayr, Sa'd, Sa'id, Abd al-Rahman ibn Awf and Abu Ubayda.Signs of the Hour
al-Tahawi's statement of belief in the signs of the Hour: the coming of the Dajjal, the descent of Jesus son of Mary from heaven, the rising of the sun from its setting place, and the emergence of the beast of the earth from its place.Bid'a (religious innovation)
Introducing into religion what the Lawgiver's command did not bring; Ibn Rajab makes Aisha's hadith 'whoever introduces into this matter of ours what is not of it has it rejected' the scale of deeds in their outward form, as the hadith of intentions is their scale inwardly: every act not upon the command of God and His Messenger is thrown back at its doer, and whoever introduces into religion what God and His Messenger did not permit is no part of the religion; he pairs it with al-Irbad ibn Sariya's hadith 'beware of newly introduced matters, for every innovation is an error', deferring the detailed discussion of innovations to his commentary on it (hadith 28).Love of the Companions and how to speak of them (in the Tahawi creed)
al-Tahawi's statement that the Prophet's Companions are loved, that none is disowned, that they are mentioned only well, and that whoever speaks well of them, of the Prophet's wives and of his descendants has cleared himself of hypocrisy.The sanctity of a Muslim's blood
The inviolability of the blood of one who testifies that there is no god but God and that Muhammad is His messenger, lifted in only three cases as in Ibn Masud's hadith in the two Sahihs — 'the previously-married adulterer, a life for a life, and the one who abandons his religion, leaving the community' — Uthman's version in al-Tirmidhi, al-Nasa'i and Ibn Majah running 'disbelieves after his Islam, commits adultery after being chaste, or kills a soul without due cause', with one of al-Nasa'i's routes spelling out the ruling in each; Ibn Rajab calls these three the claim of Islam by which blood may lawfully be shed, transmits that killing for each is agreed among Muslims, that Muslims agree the previously-married adulterer's hadd is stoning until death — the Prophet having stoned Ma'iz and the Ghamidiyya woman — that stoning stood among what was abrogated from the Quran's wording, and that Ibn Abbas derived it from al-Ma'ida's 'you used to hide of the scripture'; Umar's version adds his fear that a time would come when people, not finding stoning in God's book, would stray by abandoning an obligation God sent down.Ihsan (excellence in worship)
The third level named in the hadith of Jibril after islam and iman, defined by the Prophet as worshipping God as though you see Him, for even if you do not see Him, He sees you. In his commentary on Shaddad ibn Aws's hadith 'God has prescribed ihsan upon everything' Ibn Rajab extends it from the station of watchful worship to a ruling written upon all things — reaching excellence even in execution and slaughter — noting that the wording of 'writing' entails obligation for most jurists and usul scholars.Iman (faith)
Belief in the articles of the creed as the Prophet set them out in the hadith of Jibril: belief in God, His angels, His books, meeting Him, His messengers and the resurrection; al-Bukhari's chapter heading on the branches of iman states that it is speech and action, which increases and decreases.Islam (the religion and the term)
The name of the religion the Prophet Muhammad taught; in the best-known hadith its meaning is to worship God without associating anything with Him, to establish prayer, pay the obligatory alms and fast Ramadan; it is also described as a structure built on five pillars.Istiqama (steadfast uprightness)
Standing firm upon faith and obedience after the words 'I believe in God'; in Sufyan ibn Abdullah al-Thaqafi's hadith he asked the Prophet for comprehensive words of Islam he would not need to ask anyone after him about and was answered 'say: I believe in God, then stand firm' — one route 'say: my Lord is God, then stand firm' — its meaning for Ibn Rajab drawn from 'those who say our Lord is God then stand firm' in Fussilat and al-Ahqaf; Abu Bakr is reported glossing 'then stood firm' three ways: 'they associated nothing with God', 'they did not turn to a god other than Him', and 'they stood firm that God is their Lord'; a weak al-Nasa'i route through Anas adds 'people have said it then most of them disbelieved, and whoever dies upon it is of the people of istiqama'; and in the hadith's continuation in al-Tirmidhi and al-Nasa'i, when he asked 'what do you most fear for me?' and 'what shall I guard against?', the Prophet took hold of his own tongue — 'this' — or gestured to it, making guarding the tongue among the greatest things istiqama watches.The Qur'an as the speech of God (in the Tahawi creed)
al-Tahawi's statement that the Qur'an is the speech of God, which began from Him without how, sent down on His messenger as revelation, and is not created like human speech.Karamat (marvels of the friends of God)
al-Tahawi's statement that one believes in the marvels reported of the friends of God and what is sound from reliable narrators, while a single prophet remains better than all the friends of God.Kasb (acquisition) and capacity
al-Tahawi's statement that the acts of servants are by God's creation and the servants' acquisition, and his distinction of two kinds of capacity: the one that comes with the act, and capacity in health and means which precedes it.khalq-al-quran
Finality of prophethood
The doctrine that Muhammad is the last of the prophets and that any claim to prophethood after him is error, as al-Tahawi states it.The endings of deeds (khawatim)
That deeds are weighed by their endings; in his commentary on Ibn Masud's hadith Ibn Rajab explains 'deeds are but by their endings' as meaning that what counts is the state — sound or corrupt — in which the deed ends, that an evil ending comes through a hidden inward corrupting trait in the servant that people do not see, and that 'endings are the legacy of what preceded'; hence the early generations' intense fear of a bad ending and their fear that lesser hypocrisy might overcome them at the end and carry them into greater hypocrisy, while the Prophet often prayed 'O turner of hearts, make my heart firm on Your religion'.The rightly-guided caliphate and its order (in the Tahawi creed)
al-Tahawi's statement that the caliphate after the Prophet is established first for Abu Bakr, then Umar, then Uthman, then Ali, whom he calls the rightly-guided caliphs and the guided imams.Nasiha (sincere counsel)
Wishing good for the one counselled and standing for him in the ways of good in will and deed; in Tamim al-Dari's hadith 'the religion is nasiha' — to God, His book, His messenger, the leaders of the Muslims and their common folk — Ibn Rajab cites al-Khattabi that the root of nash in the language is purity, its meaning toward God being sound belief in His oneness and sincere intention in worshipping Him, toward His book faith in it and acting on what is in it, toward His messenger believing his prophethood and offering him obedience in what he commanded and forbade, and toward the generality of Muslims guiding them to their welfare; and he transmits Ibn al-Salah's detailed exposition of each, the pledge of Jarir ibn Abdullah 'to establish prayer, give zakat and counsel every Muslim', Abu Dawud's report that it is one of the hadiths around which jurisprudence revolves, and Muhammad ibn Aslam al-Tusi's that it is a quarter of the religion.Niyya (intention in deeds)
The purpose and will behind an act; Ibn Rajab notes that intention has two senses in scholars' usage: distinguishing acts of worship from one another and from habits — the sense dominant in the jurists' books — and distinguishing the aim intended by the act, whether for God alone or for other than Him — the sense dominant among the early generations and companion to sincerity; al-Shafi'i is reported to have called the hadith 'actions are but by intentions' a third of knowledge entering seventy chapters of jurisprudence, and al-Bukhari opened his Sahih with it.Qadar (divine decree)
The Tahawi creed's belief that God created by His knowledge and decreed measures and terms, that all things happen by His will and judgement, with a warning against probing the secret of the decree.The vision of God in the hereafter
al-Tahawi's statement that the vision of God by the people of Paradise is true, without encompassing or how, accepting what is in the sound hadith and refraining from interpretation by opinion.Intercession
al-Tahawi's belief that the intercession God has kept for the Prophet's community is true, and that those of the monotheists who committed grave sins are brought out of the Fire by God's mercy and the intercession of intercessors.The shahada
The testimony that there is no god but God and that Muhammad is God's messenger, named first in the hadith 'Islam is built on five' that lists what Islam is built on.Obedience to those in authority and not rebelling (in the Tahawi creed)
al-Tahawi's position: no rebelling against the imams and rulers even if they are unjust, obeying them is part of obeying God so long as they do not command disobedience, and the pilgrimage and jihad continue with them.Taqwa (God-consciousness)
That the servant sets between himself and what he fears a guard to shield him — his taqwa of his Lord being a guard against what he dreads of His anger, displeasure and punishment, namely doing His obedience and avoiding disobedience; this is Ibn Rajab's root definition in the commentary on 'fear God wherever you are'; taqwa is ascribed to God's name as the guarding against His wrath — the greatest of what is guarded against — and to His punishment like the Fire and His time like the Day of Resurrection; complete taqwa includes doing the obligations and leaving the forbidden and the doubtful, its highest degree adding the recommended and leaving the disliked; among the early generations: Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz held taqwa is not fasting the day or praying the night but leaving what God forbade and performing what He imposed, Talq ibn Habib that it is working in obedience upon light from God hoping His reward and leaving disobedience upon light fearing His punishment, Abu al-Darda' that its perfection is guarding to an atom's weight until some of the lawful is left as a screen from the unlawful, al-Thawri that they were called muttaqun for avoiding what need not be avoided, and Ibn Masud glossed 'fear God as He should be feared' as being obeyed and not disobeyed, remembered and not forgotten, thanked and not denied; taqwa is God's counsel to the first and the last and His messenger's bequest to his community — he counselled the commander of every expedition with it, told Abu Dharr 'I counsel you with taqwa, for it is the head of the whole matter', and the pair 'taqwa of God and good character' is what most admits people to Paradise.Tawhid (the oneness of God)
Affirming that God is one and without partner or likeness; al-Tahawi opens his statement of the creed with it, saying God is one with no partner, nothing like Him and no god but Him.Injustice (zulm)
Injustice (zulm) for many scholars is placing things outside their place; others defined it as disposing of another's property without permission — a sense transmitted from Iyas ibn Mu'awiya — which makes it impossible for God since all He does is disposal within His own dominion, in the manner of Abu al-Aswad al-Du'ali's answer to Imran ibn al-Husayn on the divine decree; commenting on 'I have forbidden injustice to Myself' in the sacred hadith, Ibn Rajab explains it as His restraining injustice from His servants, noting that on the first definition the hadith shows God is able to commit injustice but does not, out of grace, bounty, generosity and beneficence, and that His creating His servants' deeds — injustice among them — does not attribute injustice to Him, since He is described only by His own acts; he transmits a report halted at Ubayy ibn Ka'b and similarly from Ibn Masud and Zayd ibn Thabit — 'were God to punish the people of His heavens and His earth He would do so without injustice to them' — while flagging its chain; the injustice forbidden between servants is of two kinds: injustice to one's own soul, whose greatest form is association — 'association is indeed a tremendous injustice' (Luqman 13) — then sins great and small, and injustice to others, the subject of 'I have made it forbidden among you', witnessed by the Farewell Pilgrimage sermon declaring blood, property and honour sacred, by Ibn Umar's 'injustice will be darknesses on the Day of Resurrection' and by Abu Musa's 'God grants respite to the wrongdoer until, when He seizes him, He does not let him escape'.
Group
Work
al-Aqida al-Tahawiyya (the Tahawi creed)
A short statement of the creed of Ahl al-Sunna wa'l-Jama'a by Abu Ja'far al-Tahawi, who presents it as the creed of the jurists of the community Abu Hanifa, Abu Yusuf and Muhammad ibn al-Hasan; about 134 articles from tawhid to a warning against sects.al-Aqida al-Wasitiyya
A statement of the creed of Ahl al-Sunna wa'l-Jama'a written by Ibn Taymiyya in 698 AH at the request of one of the judges of Wasit, which was discussed at a session in Damascus in 705 AH.The Farewell Sermon
The sermon delivered at Arafat on 9 Dhu al-Hijja 10 AH and repeated in substance at Mina on the Day of Sacrifice: sanctity of life, property and honour; the abolition of pagan vengeance and usury; counsel on women; the sufficiency of the Book of God; no prophet after him; and the witnessed testimony 'O God, bear witness'.Lum'at al-I'tiqad
A short statement of the creed of Ahl al-Sunna on the way of the early generations by the Hanbali Muwaffaq al-Din Ibn Qudama al-Maqdisi, running from God's attributes, speech and vision to belief in what the Prophet reported, the Companions, the caliphate and avoiding innovators.Maqalat al-Islamiyyin wa-Ikhtilaf al-Musallin
A book by Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari setting out the positions of the Muslim sects and the theologians, whose first volume closes with a report of the position of the hadith scholars and Ahl al-Sunna that he then says he holds.Sharh al-Tahawiyya fi al-Aqida al-Salafiyya
A long commentary on the Tahawi creed by Ibn Abi al-Izz al-Hanafi that, at each article, reports the positions of the sects and schools and discusses them.
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