11/09/2026
🌟〰️ Aqeedah of Ahl e Sunnah Wal Jama’a 〰️🌟
The word Aqeedah (عقيدة) comes from the Arabic root ’aqada (عقد), which means to tie, to bind, to fasten, to knot or firmly establish something. Therefore, in Islamic terminology, Aqeedah refers to the beliefs that a person firmly holds in his heart and does not doubt. Aqeedah is the foundation of a Muslim’s religion. If the foundation is correct, the rest of one’s religion can be built upon it. If the foundation is corrupted, the problem is much deeper than a simple difference of opinion. Ahl al-Sunnah do not build their Aqeedah upon philosophy, speculation, dreams, mythology, culture or personal feelings.
🌟 Allah says: “If you differ over anything, refer it to Allah and the Messenger, if you truly believe in Allah and the Last Day.”
Qur’an 4:59
Therefore, when it comes to matters of Aqeedah, the question is not: “What do I personally think?” The question is: “What has Allah revealed? What did the Messenger ﷺ teach? And how did the Companions understand it?”
🌟 Allah says: “And whoever opposes the Messenger after guidance has become clear to him and follows a way other than the way of the believers, We will leave him to what he has chosen and burn him in Hell.”
Qur’an 4:115
This verse is one of the important foundations for the Salafi methodology because it connects following the Messenger ﷺ with following the way of the believers.
🌟 The Prophet ﷺ explained the foundation of Iman in the famous Hadith of Jibril عليه السلام. He ﷺ taught that Iman is to believe in Allah, His Angels, His Books, His Messengers, the Last Day, and Al-Qadr, its good and its evil Sahih Muslim 8.
These six matters form the basic foundation of Islamic belief, but Aqeedah is broader than simply memorising these six pillars. It includes everything authentically established in the Quran and Sunnah concerning matters of belief. Therefore, we believe that Allah is One and has no partner, Allah alone deserves worship, Allah has the Most Beautiful Names and Attributes, the Qur’an is the Speech of Allah and is not created, Muhammad ﷺ is the final Messenger, the Companions رضي الله عنهم have virtue and must be respected, the punishment and blessing of the grave are true, resurrection and judgment are real, Paradise and Hell are real, and Al-Qadr (good or bad) is true. All of these are matters of Aqeedah that a Muslim believes in with certainty and submission.
Aqeedah is not merely believing that Allah exists. Even the pagan Arabs at the time of the Prophet ﷺ acknowledged that Allah was the Creator.
🌟 Allah says: “And if you ask them who created the heavens and the earth and subjected the sun and the moon, they will surely say, ‘Allah.’”
Qur’an 29:61.
Yet they were not Muslims because they did not worship Allah alone. They accepted Allah as the Creator but directed acts of worship to others besides Him, which is Shirk in worship. Therefore, correct Aqeedah is not simply saying, “I believe in God.” Rather, it means believing in Allah as He has described Himself, worshipping Him alone, believing everything He has revealed and following His Messenger ﷺ. This is why Tawhid is at the heart of Aqeedah. Aqeedah also affects how we live. If we truly believe that Allah sees everything, we will be careful even in private.
🌟 Allah says: “Does he not know that Allah sees?” Qur’an 96:14.
If we truly believe in Al-Qadr, we will remain patient during hardship while taking the lawful means and trusting Allah’s decree. If we truly believe in the Last Day, we will understand that every action has consequences.
🌟 Allah says: “So whoever does an atom’s weight of good will see it, and whoever does an atom’s weight of evil will see it.”
Qur’an 99:7-8.
Likewise, if we truly believe that Allah alone controls benefit and harm, we will not direct acts of worship to created beings. Therefore, Aqeedah is not merely theory or information in a textbook. It shapes our worship, choices, character, patience, fear, hope and entire way of life.
The early scholars, the Salaf al-Salih, did not invent a new religion or introduce a new belief system called “Aqeedah.” Rather, they preserved, taught and explained the beliefs already established in the Qur’an and authentic Sunnah, following the understanding of the Companions and the generations who followed them upon goodness. The term Aqeedah is used to describe the matters of belief that Muslims are required to hold firmly in their hearts. Thus, the Aqeedah of Ahl al-Sunnah wal-Jama’ah is not a later invention, but the creed based upon the Qur’an, authentic Sunnah and the understanding of the Salaf al-Salih.
👉 Note: Salaf al-Salih (السلف الصالح) means “the righteous early generations.” It refers mainly to the Companions of the Prophet ﷺ, the Tabi’un, and the Tabi’ al-Tabi’in, the first three generations of Muslims. They are important because they learned and understood Islam closest to the time of the Prophet ﷺ.
Aqeedah is extremely important because a person may perform many outward acts of worship while having a serious problem in his beliefs. Someone may pray five times a day yet believe that a dead person independently controls his affairs or has the power to bring benefit and remove harm. Someone may give charity yet believe that an astrologer can know or reveal the unseen. Someone may fast Ramadan yet reject something that has been clearly and authentically established by Allah and His Messenger ﷺ. Therefore, correct worship must be built upon correct Aqeedah. Outward actions alone are not enough if the foundation of belief is corrupted.
🌟 Allah says: “If they had associated others with Allah, whatever they used to do would have become worthless.”
Qur’an 6:88
⛔️ This shows the seriousness of Shirk.
✅ Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal رحمه الله: “The fundamental principles of the Sunnah with us are: holding fast to what the Companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ were upon, taking them as an example to be followed, abandoning innovations, for every innovation is misguidance…”
👉 Reference: Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Usul al-Sunnah, as transmitted by al-Lalaka’i in Sharh Usul I’tiqad Ahl al-Sunnah wal-Jama’ah, 1/152.
✅ Imam Malik رحمه الله: “Everyone’s statement may be accepted or rejected except the occupant of this grave.”
He pointed towards the grave of the Prophet ﷺ. The meaning is that no scholar after the Messenger ﷺ is infallible. The statements of scholars are accepted when supported by evidence and rejected when they clearly conflict with authentic revelation.
👉 Reference: This statement is cited by later scholars, including Ibn Hajar in Fath al-Bari and other works. It is also cited in Siyar A’lam al-Nubala’, 8/93.
✅ Imam al-Shafi’i رحمه الله: “When the hadith is authentic, then that is my madhhab.”
👉 A related wording is: “If you find in my books something contrary to the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, then take the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and leave what I said.”
✅ Imam Abu Hanifah رحمه الله: “When the hadith is authentic, then that is my madhhab.”
👉 Ibn ’Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar, 1/67, transmitting it through Ibn al-Shuhnah.
✅ Imam al-Awza’i رحمه الله: “Hold firmly to the narrations of the Salaf, even if people abandon you. Beware of the opinions of men, even if they beautify them with their speech.”
✅ Reference: Al-Khatib al-Baghdadi, Sharaf Ashab al-Hadith, p. 7. It is also cited by later scholars in works dealing with the methodology of Ahl al-Hadith.
✅ Ibn Mas’ud رضي الله عنه: “The Jama’ah is what agrees with the truth, even if you are alone.”
👉 Reference: Al-Lalaka’i, Sharh Usul I’tiqad Ahl al-Sunnah wal-Jama’ah, report no. 160.
⛔️ Do not call this a hadith of the Prophet ﷺ. It is a statement attributed to Ibn Mas’ud.
✅ Imam al-Barbahari رحمه الله: Al-Barbahari states that the foundation upon which the Jama’ah is built is the Companions of Muhammad ﷺ and that whoever does not take from them has gone astray and introduced innovation.
👉 Reference: Al-Barbahari, Sharh al-Sunnah. The statement is also reproduced in discussions of the classical books of Sunni creed.
✅ Ibn al-Qayyim رحمه الله repeatedly defended the authority of revelation over speculative theology and stressed following the way of the Prophets and the Salaf. His works, including Madarij al-Salikin and as-Sawa’iq al-Mursalah, contain extensive discussions about Tawhid, Iman, revelation and the errors that arise when human speculation is placed above revelation.
✅ Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah رحمه الله explained that the creed of Ahl al-Sunnah is based upon what the Messenger ﷺ brought and what the Companions followed. In al-’Aqidah al-Wasitiyyah, he presents the creed of Ahl al-Sunnah through Qur’anic verses, Prophetic hadiths and statements of the early generations. A central principle of his approach is that Allah is described only in accordance with revelation, while Allah is declared free from resemblance to creation. This is why he establishes both: Affirmation: We affirm what Allah affirmed for Himself. Negation of resemblance: We do not say Allah is like His creation.
🌟 Allah says: “There is nothing like unto Him, and He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing.”
Qur’an 42:11
✅ Imam al-Lalaka’i رحمه الله, in his famous work Sharh Usul I‘tiqad Ahl al-Sunnah wal-Jama‘ah, gathered a large number of statements, narrations, and reports from the early scholars concerning the foundations of Sunni creed. He discussed matters such as Tawhid, the Names and Attributes of Allah, the Qur’an, Iman, Qadr, the Sunnah, the virtues and rights of the Companions, and the warning against innovation. His work is important because it preserves the words and positions of many early scholars and shows that the creed of Ahl al-Sunnah was not something invented by later scholars, but was transmitted from the Companions and the generations that followed them. Al-Lalaka’i رحمه الله therefore serves as an important classical source for studying the creed of Ahl al-Sunnah according to the understanding of the Salaf al-Salih.
👉 Reference: Imam al-Lalaka’i, Sharh Usul I‘tiqad Ahl al-Sunnah wal-Jama‘ah.
✅ Imam al-Awza’i رحمه الله one of the major early scholars of Sham, said: “Hold firmly to the narrations of those who came before you, even if people reject you. And beware of the opinions of men, even if they beautify them with words.”
👉 This is reported by al-Lalaka’i in Sharh Usul I’tiqad Ahl al-Sunnah.
⛔️ The point is not to reject scholarship. It is to understand that scholarship must remain connected to revelation and the methodology of the Salaf.
✅ Sufyan al-Thawri رحمه الله was another major imam of the early generations. He said: “The Sunnah explains the Qur’an and clarifies it.”
✅ Al-Fudayl ibn ’Iyad رحمه الله: “Follow the paths of guidance, and it will not harm you because of the small number of those who follow them. Beware of the paths of misguidance, and do not be deceived by the large number of those who perish.”
👉 A large crowd does not make falsehood true.
✅ Shaykh Ibn Baz repeatedly emphasised that the correct Aqeedah is the Aqeedah of the Salaf: belief in Allah, His Names and Attributes as established in the Qur’an and authentic Sunnah, without distortion, denial or resemblance.
✅ Shaykh al-Fawzan’s works on Tawhid and Aqeedah likewise emphasise adherence to the Qur’an, Sunnah and methodology of the Salaf.
🚨 Now the important question is What does “Salaf” mean?
✅ The Arabic word Salaf (السلف) literally means those who came before. In Islamic usage, al-Salaf al-Salih means the righteous predecessors, especially the first generations of Muslims who were praised by the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
🌟 The Prophet ﷺ said: “The best of the people are my generation, then those who follow them, then those who follow them.”
Sahih al-Bukhari 2652; Sahih Muslim 2533.
These three generations are generally understood as:
❇️ The Sahabah - The Companions of the Messenger ﷺ.
❇️ The Tabi’un - Those who met the Companions and followed them upon Islam.
❇️ The Atba’ al-Tabi’in - Those who met the Tabi’un and followed them upon goodness.
💡 These are the Salaf al-Salih in the primary sense.
🌟 Allah also praises those who followed the first believers: “The first forerunners among the Muhajirun and the Ansar, and those who followed them with excellence, Allah is pleased with them and they are pleased with Him.”
Qur’an 9:100
✨✨ Therefore, when we say: “We follow the Salaf.” we mean that we seek to understand Islam according to the Qur’an and Sunnah as understood and practised by these righteous early generations.
Allah knows best may Allah guide us to the straight path - Ameen
#𝐴𝑄𝐸𝐸𝐷𝐴𝐻
