Page | 1 Advanced Level Topics of Study for: Core Sunni Doctrines (Aqeda) Page | 2 Page | 3 Contents 1. Islamic belief in God…………………………………………………….………5 2. “Where” is Allah? Does Allah have a direction ....................................................6 3. The Asma ul Husna………………………………………………………… …... 7 4. ‘Literalism in God’s Attributes’? Al Azhar Fatwa………………….………….16 5. Imam Tahawi’s Aqida Tahawiyya……………………………………………….34 6. Ism al Azam? “Regarding Tawassul” and the “Hadith of the Blind Man…….... 43 7. The Creation of Angels …………………………………………………………44 8. Life of the Prophets in Barzakh.………………………………………………...52 9. The infallibility of Ambiya……………………………….……………………..56 10. The necessity to love the Prophet..........................................................................61 11. The Prophetic Reality is Nur (Light)…...……………………………………... ..69 12. The Prophetic Reality is Hadhir Nadhir (Present and Witnessing)….…………93 13. The Prophet’s Knowledge of the Unseen (Ilm e Ghayb)…………………….…105 14. Belief of the parents of the Prophet Muhammad……………………………….173 15. The beliefs of Abu Talib according to Allamah Shibli Nu’mani……………….173 16. Life of Al Khidr (al Khizr)……………………………………………………...174 17. The Illustrious sons of Fatima Zahra………………………………………….. 180 18. Qadaa and Qadar……………………………………………………………… 188 19. Aakhira, Barzakh, Resurrection and Hisab…………………………………… 188 20. Belief in the Intercession of the Prophet……………………………………… 190 21. The correct Sunni position on belief in the twelve imams?............................... 201 22. The virtues of the Quraysh………………………………………………..……203 23. The significance of Masjid al-Aqsa in Jerusalem…………...………………….212 24. The status of Arabs………………………………………………..…………... 214 25. The sacrificial son of Abraham: Ishmael or Isaac……………………..……… 218 Page | 4 Page | 5 Advanced Level Topics of Study for Core Sunni Doctrines 1. In one paragraph, describe the Islamic belief in God based on the following article. Islamic Belief in God The utterance "Allah" in Arabic means "the one who is attributed with Godhood," which is the power to create. To create is to bring something into existence, whether it is a physical entity, an act or an attribute. No one and nothing has the power to create except Allah, and everything else is His creation. He alone exists without a beginning, and everything else is created and sustained by Him. Therefore, only He deserves to be worshipped. He does not need anything, but everything in existence needs Him. With this understanding, it is perfectly acceptable to use the word "God" in English referring to Allah. However, it is important to understand that when Muslims refer to "God" as "He," they do not mean that He has gender. God is not male, female or neuter, as He is not a creature or an object. He is attributed only with complete perfection, and is clear of created attributes, such as having children, a partner, a rival or a wife. The attributes of the Creator do not resemble the attributes of the created, because His attributes are without a beginning or an end. He is not limited by time or space; He is their Creator and all that exist in them including light, darkness, cold, heat, nature, atoms, colour, good and evil. Our imaginations are limited, so we cannot imagine Him. That is why Muslims say: "God is different from whatever you imagine in your mind." When Muslims say that God is “one,” they don’t mean “one” as in a number; they mean that he does not have a partner, equal, rival or part. Idol worshippers believe God has a partner or a counterpart. This cannot be true because if one wants one thing and the other something else, then the one that did not get what he wanted cannot be God since he was defeated. As for those who believe that God has parts, such as the Christians who believe in the trinity, they must also be wrong, because parts need each other to form a united whole, and whatever needs cannot be God. In addition, one of the obvious proofs of the Creator’s existence is the existence of this universe. Whenever we see something composed from parts, we say: “someone has put it there.” For example, when you see a car, you know that this car has a beginning; someone put it where it is now. If this is true for a simple car, then what about the entire universe? If one accepts this argument, then one must also accept that God is free of the attributes that makes one say “someone must have put it there”, such as weight, volume, length, width, shapes, limits, boundaries, composition, physical movement, physical distance and physical direction. In other words, you must accept that God does not resemble His creation. This is what Muslims mean when they say, “He has no equal,” i.e. nothing resembles Him. Muslims believe that God is attributed with perfect and limitless life, sight, hearing, speech and knowing, because death, blindness, deafness, dumbness, and ignorance are weaknesses. However, His life, sight, hearing, speech and knowing do not resemble ours; the words are the Page | 6 same, but the meanings are completely different. For example, God’s attributes have nothing to do with instruments, such as a body, a soul, an eye, an ear, a mouth, a language or a brain. Rather, they are perfect attributes of God that have no beginning, no end, no sequence and do not change. In addition to the above, it is clear that God specifies the things that exist and their characteristics, and that He brings them into existence. We must conclude then, that He is attributed with will and power. His attributes of will and power do not have a beginning or an end and they do not change, as is true for all God’s attributes. In the above, we have mentioned some of what Muslims must know and believe in regarding the Creator. However, God’s attributes are not limited, because God cannot be limited, bounded or deficient in any way. 2. “Where” is Allah? Does Allah Most High have a direction? Where is Allah? Q: How should a Muslim respond to where Allah SWT is as this is great Aqi'dah confusion between the Ummah? Answer: In the Name of Allah, Most Compassionate, Most Merciful, The belief (arabic: aqidah) one must have regarding his Lord and Creator is that Allah Almighty is one, there is nothing like Him, there is nothing that can overwhelm Him, there is no god besides Him and He is Eternal without a beginning and enduring without end. He will neither perish nor come to an end and nothing happens except what He wills. No imagination can conceive of Him and no understanding can comprehend Him. He is different from any created being. Allah Most High says about Himself: “There is nothing whatever unto like Him” (Surah al-Shura, 11). And He says in Surah al-Ikhlas: “And there is none like unto Him” (112: 4). Due to the above and other texts of the Qur’an and Sunnah, one of the major beliefs a Muslim must have regarding Allah is that there is no creation that is similar to Him. If Allah is regarded to be similar or resemble or have any qualitesi of His creation, then that would constitute disbelief (Kufr). Imam Abu Hamid al-Ghazali (Allah have mercy on him) states: “Whoever thinks that Allah has a body made of organs, then he is an idol- worshipper…Whosoever worships a body is regarded a disbeliever by the consensus of all the scholars, the early scholars (salaf) and the late (muta’akhirun)” (Iljam al-Anam an Ilm al-Kalam, 6-8). Imam al-Tahawi (Allah have mercy on him) states in his famous al-Aqida al-Tahawiyya: Page | 7 “He (Allah) is beyond having limits placed on Him, or being restricted, or having parts or limbs. Nor is He contained by six directions as all created things are” (P. 9). Imam al-Nasafi (Allah have mercy on him) states: “He (Allah) is not a body (jism), nor an atom (jawhar), nor is He something formed (musawwar), nor a thing limited (mahdud), nor a thing numbered (ma’dud), nor a thing portioned or divided, nor a thing compounded (mutarakkab), nor does He come to end in Himself. He is not described by quiddity (al-ma’hiya), or by quality (al-kayfiyya), nor is He placed in space (al-makan), and time (al-zaman) does not affect Him. Nothing resembles Him, that is to say, nothing is like Him” (See: Sa’d al-Din al-Taftazani & Najm al-Din al-Nasafi, Sharh al-Aqa’id al- Nasafiyya, 92-97). And Allah knows best 3. What does Asma ul Husna mean? (Define) AL-ASMA-UL-HUSNA (THE BEAUTIFUL NAMES OF ALLAH) The most beautiful names belong to God, so call on Him thereby. (7:180) Those who believe, and whose hearts find satisfaction in the remembrance of GOD, for without doubt in the remembrance of God do hearts find satisfaction. (13:28) Page | 8 Allah The God. The Al-Mubdi The Originator. only one He who creates Almighty. He all creatures alone is initially without worthy of matter or worship. model. Al-Adl The Just. He Al-Mughni The Enricher. who is The Sufficer. Equitable. Al-Aakhir The Last. Al- The Guardian. Muhaymin He who watches over and protects all things. (Helper in Peril) Al-Afu The Pardoner. Al-Muhsi The Appraiser. He who He who knows pardons all the number of who sincerely every single repents. thing in existence, even to infinity. Al-Alim The Knower of Al-Mu'id The Restorer. All. He who He who has full recreates His knowledge of creatures after all things. He has annihilated them. Al-Ahad The One. The Al-Mu'izz The Bestower of only one. Honors. He who confers honor and dignity.