Aqeeda — Lessons

ʿAqīdah is the foundation the rest of the religion is built on. The word comes from the root ʿ-q-d, "to tie a knot, to bind fast", and technically it is al-īmān al-jāzim — firm belief held with certainty (al-yaqīn) and complete submission (at-taslīm), with no doubt in it. The subject covers what must be believed — tawḥīd, how Allah is worshipped, obedience to His commands, and the articles of faith (angels, Books, Messengers, the Last Day, the Decree) — as the uṣūl ad-dīn and the umūr al-ghayb. In the technical vocabulary this side of Islam is ʿilm al-kalām, as against the sharīʿah side, fiqh. Where fiqh admits legitimate difference of opinion, ʿaqīdah does not.

How the course runs. Aqeeda has no prior recordings in the programme — this subject opens with the Semester-2 introductory class given by Sheikh Akram at the residential programme. Lessons appear here class-by-class as the semester progresses, each built from the recorded lecture. No textbook, exam or assessment was named in the opening class, so none is listed here.

Topics the lecturer said he will come back to (his own commitments, not a published syllabus): the three divisions of tawḥīd — rubūbiyyah, ulūhiyyah, al-asmāʾ wa'ṣ-ṣifāt; a dedicated study of the kalimah and of the asmāʾ wa'ṣ-ṣifāt contained in the word ilāh; visiting graves (ziyārat al-qubūr), which he explicitly set aside for a later class; and madhhab adherence — going with or against a madhhab in ʿaqīdah as against in fiqh.

Lesson ↔ video map: L01 ← v01 (Sheikh Akram, residential programme); L02 ← aqeeda_v02 (online class; the recording does not name the lecturer).

▶ Resume where you left off

Foundations of ʿAqīdah

What ʿAqīdah Is — definition, scope, and the sources of creed

The first Aqeeda class the programme has ever recorded (video 1, 2026-08-02, Sheikh Akram, residential programme) — an introductory session. The word ʿaqīdah from the root ʿ-q-d (to tie a knot, to bind); the technical definition al-īmān al-jāzim built on al-yaqīn (certainty) and at-taslīm (submission); what must be believed — tawḥīd, ʿibādah, ṭāʿah, and the ʿibādah (rituals) vs ṭāʿah (obeying commands) distinction; the articles of faith as uṣūl ad-dīn and umūr al-ghayb; ʿaqīdah (ʿilm al-kalām) vs sharīʿah (fiqh); the argument from the Makkan sūrahs that creed is the foundation, and the three the Prophet ﷺ highlighted — tawḥīd, risālah, al-maʿād. Then the applied half: the self-enforcing conscience of the early community, the Muhājirūn and the Anṣār, Abū Bakr at Tabūk, the ḥadīth of Ibn ʿAbbās (the pens are lifted), ʿajaban li-amri'l-muʾmin, ṣabr at the first blow, ikhlāṣ against riyāʾ, and bidʿah born of unclear creed. Closes on the sources of creed — Qurʾān, Sunnah, ijmāʿ, manhaj as-salaf, plus al-fiṭrah — and the rule that fiqh admits ikhtilāf, ʿaqīdah does not.

~40 min

Sound Creed and False Sources

What ʿAqīdah Is Not — false sources, shirk, and what sound creed produces NEW

The second Aqeeda class (video 2, 2026-08-05) — and the first delivered online rather than at the residential programme; the recording does not name the lecturer, so no attribution is made here. After a short recap of Lesson 1 (creed as the foundation, ʿaqīdah vs sharīʿah, the three matters tawḥīd · risālah · al-maʿād, and the four sources ending in al-fiṭrah), the class turns to its own subject: what is not a source of ʿaqīdah — personal opinion (including an imam's, on the ʿarsh, on the dhāt and the ṣifāt, on human actions), dreams, philosophy, pure speculation, blind imitation, and an individual who offers himself as your guide. Then al-ʿaqīdah as-salīmah — salīmah meaning sound, with no adulteration whatsoever — as the first obligation, before ʿibādah; the rule that without sound creed no act of worship is accepted, and how riyāʾ turns worship into shirk. Then shirk itself: the one sin Allah does not forgive (an-Nisāʾ 48), the narration ash-shirku akhfā min dabībi'n-naml — more hidden than the creeping of an ant, the black ant on a black rock on a dark night — and the difference between the shirk we recognise (graves, amulets, threads) and the ideological shirk promised for a later class. Then the fruits of sound creed: inner peace (ar-Raʿd 28), ṣabr and tawakkul — Mūsā at the sea (kallā, inna maʿiya rabbī sayahdīn) and Ibrāhīm in Sūrat ash-Shuʿarāʾ — and protection against shirk, misguidance and bidʿah. Closes on Ahl as-Sunnah wa'l-Jamāʿah as the group that goes first to the evidence, the rule follow no guru, and the six pillars of īmān with the question the course will answer one by one: in what manner is each to be believed? — with the two extremes about the Messenger ﷺ as the worked example.

~35 min