Aqeeda 2 — What ʿAqīdah Is Not — false sources, shirk, and what sound creed produces مَا لَيْسَ مَصْدَرًا لِلْعَقِيدَة

You met the foundations — ʿaqīdah vs sharīʿah, the three matters (Allah · risālah · al-maʿād) and the four sources ending in al-fiṭrah — in [Lesson 1](../01-what-is-aqeedah/).

This lesson turns to what is not a source of ʿaqīdah, al-ʿaqīdah as-salīmah and why it is the first obligation, shirk open and hidden, what sound creed produces, Ahl as-Sunnah wa'l-Jamāʿah, and the six pillars of īmān with the question of how each is to be believed.

1 · What is not a source of ʿaqīdah #

We have the four sources; the question now is what we must refuse to take creed from — "sometimes we take our ʿaqīdah not from those sources".

1.1 Personal opinion — including an imam's #

We go by personal opinion. And note who this includes: these can even be imams. Some imams will have a personal opinion —

• concerning the ʿArsh of Allah and where it is;
• concerning the dhāt (essence) and the ṣifāt (attributes) of Allah;
• concerning the actions of human beings — which is also a matter belonging to ʿaqīdah.

On matters that touch on shirk, there are personal opinions. Those we do not take as a source of ʿaqīdah. An opinion is not evidence, whoever holds it.

1.2 Dreams #

People build things up out of dreams. But when we see a dream, we may not construct an ʿaqīdah out of it.

1.3 Philosophy, speculation, blind imitation #

Listed together and rejected together: philosophy · pure speculation · blind imitation.

1.4 An individual who offers himself as your guide #

And so too if a single individual says to us, "do it this way, I will be your guide" — even then, no.

The reason for the whole list:

2 · Al-ʿaqīdah as-salīmah — the first obligation #

All of that rests on one thing: the importance of a correct belief — al-ʿaqīdah as-salīmah.

A correct ʿaqīdah is the foundation of the whole edifice of worship. How important is it?

3 · Without sound creed, no act of worship is accepted #

Without our ʿaqīdah being a sound ʿaqīdah, whatever ʿibādah we perform, that ʿibādah will not be accepted.

Keep this in mind about worship. If the ʿaqīdah is not clear — or if there is riyāʾ (showing off) in it — then that act of worship will not be accepted by Allah.

If a man has no clear view of it, then here too his acts of worship will not be accepted. So before we turn our attention to anything else, we must think about this:

4 · Shirk — the one sin that is not forgiven #

Anything that does not turn back to Allah alone becomes shirk. And keep this in mind:

5 · Hidden like a black ant on a black rock #

And about that shirk, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

Picture it: a dark night. A black boulder. A small ant creeping across it. Would we make it out? We would not.

6 · The shirk we recognise, and the shirk we do not #

When shirk is mentioned we have one particular picture of it:

Ideological shirk is taken up in a later lesson.

7 · What sound creed produces — 1. inner peace #

From the danger to the fruits. The first is inner peace.

If our ʿaqīdah is clear, an inward calm — peace of heart — comes to us.

Why does that peace come? Because we become patient. And where does the patience come from? From the conviction that nothing can act against Allah's will.

8 · Mūsā at the sea — "My Lord is with me" #

Pharaoh came out after them; they were running; the two hosts came in sight of one another. Those with Mūsā ʿalayhi's-salām said:

The sea in front, the army behind. But Mūsā ʿalayhi's-salām says another word:

9 · Confidence, ṣabr, tawakkul #

Very clear. He has no fear. They placed complete trust in Allah. Hardship comes — and when hardship comes our strength gives way — but Allah will not abandon His servant.

He is ar-Razzāq, the Provider; He is the one who helps.

Look at all of this in the Companions. That confidence: He is Allah. Without His command nothing moves. With that belief — He will help; He will protect — nothing can shake a man.

And how do those qualities come? By our ʿaqīdah being firm, and by our ʿaqīdah being pure.

10 · Ibrāhīm ʿalayhi's-salām — the same creed, three verses #

The second example alongside Mūsā. When Ibrāhīm ʿalayhi's-salām speaks about Allah, he goes line after line:

These verses are in Sūrat ash-Shuʿarāʾ — and it is there too that the account of Mūsā ʿalayhi's-salām and Pharaoh comes. Both examples, one sūrah.

11 · What sound creed produces — 2. protection against deviation #

Shayṭān will show us all manner of things to lead us astray. The routes:

But if the belief is there — a firm, clear belief about Allah, about the Last Day, about the Books, about the prophets, about the angels, about qaḍāʾ and qadar — then, by Allah's help, we cannot easily be led astray.

And the mechanism: new things that come along become hard to take in without testing them, because a man has a pure ʿaqīdah to measure them against.

To understand the meaning clearly and to put it into practice — that is what a pure, clear ʿaqīdah is.

The fruits, gathered #

12 · Ahl as-Sunnah wa'l-Jamāʿah #

Ahl as-Sunnah wa'l-Jamāʿah — the term is familiar. Who are they?

What the term means:

And the contrast — how creedal matters get transmitted wrongly: by personal opinion; by "this man's dream, that man's dream"; and by things said as invented tales.

There is sufficiently clear evidence in the Qurʾān and the Sunnah — so on that there is no room for us to compromise.

Āḥād and mutawātir #

A ḥadīth is classed as āḥād or mutawātir by its chain of narrators — the number of narrators who transmit it, and whether so many could together have spoken a falsehood. For a verse of the Qurʾān "there is no doubt at all". The class's conclusion on whether an āḥād report establishes creed was not recorded.

13 · Follow no guru #

The order for ʿaqīdah:

This is the same rule as §1.4, arrived at from the other end: not an individual's opinion, and not an individual's authority.

14 · The six pillars of īmān — and how they are to be believed #

The articles of faith:

On these we must have a correct understanding, a clear one — and the course takes them one by one.

The question the course is built on #

Each of these has to be spelled out — the manner of believing, not merely the fact of it.

15 · The worked example: the two extremes about the Messenger ﷺ #

The rule first: we are to hold to the middle. On Allah there are extremes; and on the Messengers there are extremes.

The fourth matter to be believed in is the Messengers, the prophets. You must believe in Rasūlullāh ﷺ, and that he is the final Messenger. And after that, two extreme positions exist:

16 · The foundation #

Next: ideological shirk, the six articles one by one, unity without splitting apart, respect for the Companions, and how to place our love and our fear of Allah's punishment.