The Islaamic Belief Part 3

The Islaamic Belief Part 3 (Al-Aqeedah at-Tahaweeyah)
Imaam Abu Ja'far at-Tahawi rahimahullaah


39. Al-Mi'raj (the Ascent through the heavens) is true. The Prophet, may Allaah
bless him and grant him peace, was taken by night and ascended in his bodily
form, while awake, through the heavens, to whatever heights Allaah willed for
him. Allaah ennobled him in the way that He ennobled him and revealed to him
what He revealed to him, 'and his heart was not mistaken about what it saw' (al-Najm
53: 11). Allaah blessed him and granted him peace in this world and the next.



40. Al-Hawd, (the Pool which Allaah will grant the Prophet as an honour to
quench the thirst of his Ummah on the Day Of Judgement), is true.



41. Al-Shifa'ah, (the intercession, which is stored up for Muslims), is true, as
related in the (consistent and confirmed) Ahadith.



42. The covenant 'which Allaah made with Adam and his offspring' is true.



43. Allaah knew, before the existence of time, the exact number of those who
would enter the Garden and the exact number of those who would enter the Fire.
This number will neither be increased nor decreased.



44. The same applies to all actions done by people, which are done exactly as
Allaah knew they would be done. Everyone is cased to what he was created for and
it is the action with which a man's life is sealed which dictates his fate.
Those who are fortunate are fortunate by the decree of Allaah, and those who are
wretched are wretched by the decree of Allaah.



45. The exact nature of the decree is Allaah's secret in His creation, and no
angel near the Throne, nor Prophet sent with a message, has been given knowledge
of it. Delving into it and reflecting too much about it only leads to
destruction and loss, and results in rebelliousness. So be extremely careful
about thinking and reflecting on this matter or letting doubts about it assail
you, because Allaah has kept knowledge of the decree away from human beings, and
forbidden them to enquire about it, saying in His Book, 'He is not asked about
what He does but they are asked'. (al-Anbiya' 21: 23) So anyone who asks: 'Why
did Allaah do that?' has gone against a judgement of the Book, and anyone who
goes against a judgement of the Book is an unbeliever.



46. This in sum is what those of Allaah's friends with enlightened hearts need
to know and constitutes the degree of those firmly endowed with knowledge. For
there are two kinds of knowledge: knowledge which is accessible to created
beings, and knowledge which is not accessible to created beings. Denying the
knowledge which is accessible is disbelief, and claiming the knowledge which is
inaccessible is disbelief. Belief can only be firm when accessible knowledge is
accepted and inaccessible knowledge is not sought after.



47. We believe in al-Lawh (the Tablet) and al-Qalam (the Pen) and in everything
written on it. Even if all created beings were to gather together to make
something fail to exist, whose existence Allaah had written on the Tablet, they
would not be able to do so. And if all created beings were to gather together to
make something exist which Allaah had not written on it, they would not be able
to do so. The Pen has dried having written down all that will be in existence
until the Day of Judgement. Whatever a person has missed he would have never got
it, and whatever one gets, he would have never missed it.



48. It is necessary for the servant to know that Allaah already knows everything
that is going to happen in His creation and hits decreed it in a detailed and
decisive way. There is nothing that He has created in either the heavens or the
earth that can contradict it, or add to it, or erase it, or change it, or
decrease it, or increase it in any way. This is a fundamental aspect of belief
and a necessary element of all knowledge and recognition of Allaah's oneness and
Lordship. As Allaah says in His Book: 'He created everything and decreed it he a
detailed way'. (al-Furqan 25: 2) And He also says: 'Allaah's command is always a
decided decree'. (al-Ahzab 33: 38) So woe to anyone who argues with Allaah
concerning the decree and who, with a sick heart, starts delving into this
matter. In his delusory attempt to investigate the Unseen, he is seeking a
secret that can never be uncovered, and he ends up an evil-doer, telling nothing
but lies.



49. Al-'Arsh (the Throne) and al-Kursi (the Chair) are true.



50. He is independent of the Throne and what is beneath it.



51. He encompasses everything and is above it, and what He has created is
incapable of encompassing Him.



52. We say with belief, acceptance and submission that Allaah took Ibrahim as an
intimate friend and that He spoke directly to Musa.



53. We believe in the angels, and the Prophets, and the books which were
revealed to the messengers, and we bear witness that they were all following the
manifest Truth.



54. We call the people of our qiblah Muslims and believers as long as they
acknowledge what the Prophet, may Allaah bless him and grant him peace, brought,
and accept as true everything that he said and told us about.



55. We do not enter into vain talk about Allaah nor do we allow any dispute
about the religion Of Allaah.



56. We do not argue about the Qur'an and we bear witness that it is the speech
of the Lord of all the Worlds which the Trustworthy Spirit came down with and
taught the most honoured Of all the Messengers, Muhammad, may Allaah bless him
and grant him peace. It is the speech of Allaah and no speech of any created
being is comparable to it. We do not say that it was created and we do not go
against the Jama'ah of the Muslims regarding it.



57. We do not consider any of the people of our qiblah to he unbelievers because
of any wrong action they have done, as long as they do not consider that action
to have been lawful.



58. Nor do we say that the wrong action of a man who has belief does not have a
harmful effect on him.



59. We hope that Allaah will pardon the people of right action among the
believers and grant them entrance into the Garden through His mercy, but we
cannot be certain of this, and we cannot bear witness that it will definitely
happen and that they will be in the Garden. We ask forgiveness for the people of
wrong action among the believers and, although we are afraid for them, we are
not in despair about them.



60. Certainty and despair both remove one from the religion, but the path of
truth for the people of the qiblah lies between the two (e.g. a person must fear
and be conscious of Allaah's reckoning as well as be hopeful of Allaah's mercy).



61. A person does not step out or belief except by disavowing what brought him
into it.



62. Belief consists of affirmation lay the tongue and acceptance by the heart.



63. And the whole of what is proven from the Prophet, upon him be peace,
regarding the Shari'ah and the explanation (of the Qur'an and of Islam) is true.



64. Belief is, at base, the same for everyone, but the superiority of some over
others in it is due to their fear and awareness of Allaah, their opposition to
their desires, and their choosing what is more pleasing to Allaah.



65. All the believers are 'friends' of Allaah and the noblest of them in the
sight of Allaah are those who are the most obedient and who most closely follow
the Qur'an.



66. Belief consists of belief in Allaah. His angels, His books, His messengers,
the Last Day, and belief that the Decree - both the good of it and the evil of
it, the sweet of it and the bitter or it - is all from Allaah.



67. We believe in all these things. We do not make any distinction between any
of the messengers, we accept as true what all of them brought.



68. Those of the Urnmah of Muhammad, may Allaah bless him and grant him peace,
who have committed grave sins will be in the Fire, but not forever, provided
they die and meet Allaah as believers affirming His unity even if they have not
repented. They are subject to His will and judgement. If He wants, He will
forgive them and pardon them out of His generosity, as is mentionied in the
Qur'an when He says: 'And He forgives anything less than that (shirk) to whoever
He wills' (al-Nisa' 4: 116); and if He wants, He will punish them in the Fire
out of His justice and then bring them out of the Fire through His mercy, and
for the intercession of those who were obedient to Him, and send them to the
Garden. This is because Allaah is the Protector of those who recognize Him and
will not treat them in the Next World in the same way as He treats those who
deny Him and who are bereft of His guidance and have failed to obtain His
protection. O Allaah, You are the Protector of Islam and its people; make us
firm in Islam until the day we meet You.



69. We agree with doing the prayer behind any of the people of the qiblah
whether right-acting or wrong-acting, and doing the funeral prayer over any of
them when they die.