The Islaamic Belief Part 1

The Islaamic Belief Part 1 (Al-Aqeedah at-Tahaweeyah)
Imaam Abu Ja'far at-Tahawi rahimahullaah



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Preface



In the Name of Allaah, the Merciful, the Compassionate.



Imaam Tahawi's al-'Aqeedah, representative of the viewpoint of Ahl us-Sunnah
wal-Jamaa'ah, has long been the most widely acclaimed, and indeed indispensable,
reference work on Muslim beliefs, of which this is an edited English
translation.



Imaam Abu Ja'far Ahmad bin Muhammad bin Salamah bin Salmah bin 'Abd al Malik bin
Salmah bin Sulaim bin Sulaiman bin Jawab Azdi, popularly known as Imaam Tahawi,
after his birth-place in Egypt, is among the most outstanding authorities of the
Islamic world on Hadith and fiqh (jurisprudence). He lived 239-321 A.H., an
epoch when both the direct and indirect disciples of the four Imaams - Imaam Abu
Hanifah, Imaam Malik, Imaam Shafi'ee and Imaam Ahmad bin Hanbal - were teaching
and practicing. This period was the zenith of Hadith and fiqh studies, and Imaam
Tahawi studied with all the living authorities of the day.



Al-'Aqeedah, though small in size, is a basic text for all times, listing what a
Muslim must know and believe and inwardly comprehend.



There is consensus among the Companions, Successors and all the leading Islamic
authorities such as Imaam Abu Hanifah, Imaam Abu Yusuf, Imaam Muhammad, Imaam
Malik, Imaam Shafi'ee and Imaam Ahmad ibn Hanbal on the doctrines enumerated in
this work. For these doctrines shared by Ahl us-Sunnah wal-Jamaa'ah owe their
origin to the Holy Qur'an and consistent and confirmed Ahadith - the undisputed
primary sources of Islam.



Being a text on the Islamic doctrines, this work draws heavily on the arguments
set forth in the Holy Qur'an and Sunnah. Likewise, the arguments advanced in
refuting the views of sects that have deviated from the Sunnah, are also taken
from the Holy Qur'an and Sunnah.



As regards the sects mentioned in this work, a study of Islamic history up to
the time of Imaam Tahawi would be quite helpful. References to sects such as
Mu'tazilah, Jahmiyyah, Qadriyah, and Jabriyah are found in the work. Moreover,
it contains allusions to the unorthodox and deviant views of the Shi'ah,
Khawarij and such mystics as had departed from the right path. There is an
explicit reference in the work to the nonsensical controversy on Khalq
al-Qur'aan in the times of Ma'mun and some other 'Abbasid Caliphs.



While the permanent relevance of the statements of belief in al-'Aqeedah is
obvious, the historical weight and point of certain of these statements can be
properly appreciated only if the work is used as a text for study under the
guidance of some learned Person able to elucidate its arguments fully, with
reference to the intellectual and historical background of the sects refuted in
the work. Such study helps one to better understand the Islamic doctrines and
avoid the deviations of the past or the present.



May Allaah grant us a true undersanding of faith and include us with those to
whom Allaah refers as 'those who believe, fear Allaah and do good deeds'; and
'he who fears Allaah, endures affliction, then Allaah will not waste the reward
of well-doers.'



Iqbal Ahmad A'zami



In the Name of Allaah, the Merciful, the Compassionate

Praise be to Allaah, Lord of all the Worlds.



The great scholar Hujjat al-lslam Abu Jaafar al-Warraq al-Tahawi al-Misri, may
Allaah have mercy on him, said: This is a presentation of the beliefs of
ahl-al-Sunnah wa al-Jama'ah, according to the school of the jurists of this
religion, Abu Hanifah an-Nu'man ibn Thabit al-Kufi, Abu Yusuf Ya'qub ibn Ibrahim
al-Ansari and Abu 'Abdullah Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Shaybani, may Allaah be
pleased with them all, and what they believe regarding the funda- mentals of the
religion and their faith in the Lord of all the Worlds.



1. We say about Allaah's unity believing by Allaah's help - that Allaah is One,
without any partners.



2. There is nothing like Him.



3. There is nothing that can overwhelm Him.



4. There is no god other than Him.



5. He is the Eternal without a beginning and enduring without end.



6. He will never perish or come to an end.



7. Nothing happens except what He wills.



8. No imagination can conceive of Him and no understanding can comprehend Him.



9. He is different from any created being.



10. He is living and never dies and is eternally active and never sleeps.



11. He creates without His being in need to do so and provides for His creation
without any effort.



12. He causes death with no fear and restores to life without difficulty.



13. He has always existed together with His attributes since before creation.
Bringing creation into existence did not add anything to His attributes that was
not already there. As He was, together with His attributes, in pre-eternity, so
He will remain throughout endless time.