THE IMPORTANCE

OF KNOWING

YOUR ‘AQEEDAH

Islam is founded on the very belief and testimony

that “There is no god but Allah, and Muhammad

is His Messenger”. In order to know the true God

from the false objects that people have chosen to

worship, one must know and realize the divine

godly qualities.

Allah has revealed the Holy Qur’an with the truth

about His Divine names and Attributes in order

for us to know who He is and realize His

magnificence. He has laid down the undeniable

fact that He is the sole-Creator of the universe

and the One True God.

Allah informs mankind specifically in Surah al-

Ikhlaas, that He is One and Unique, He is

Eternal, without a beginning and without an end,

and due to this fact, it is impossible for Him to

create another god who is Eternal without

beginning nor end, or even impossible to give

birth to another god, simply because whatever He

creates is from the created and therefore

impossible to be another like Him. This is the

very evidence of His Oneness, His Uniqueness,

His Tawheed.

Surah al-Ikhlaas is therefore known as Surat ul-

Tawheed for this very reason. As some would

say, it is tawheed explained "with-in a nutshell".

Respectively, when it is said la ilaha – i.e. there

is no god, we are negating any possibility of the

existence of there being a god, then with the

particle of exception and the name of Allah – illa

Allah – i.e. except Allah, we are then affirming

that the One True God is Allah alone. Knowing

this simple fact is the very foundation of

knowing Tawheed.

The importance of creed cannot be stressed any

further, as the kalimah of “la ilaha illa Allah –

Muhammad ur-Rasul Allah – There is no god but

Allah and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah”

is the ultimate success and salvation.1 However,

1 The kalimah is the means of entering Islam, and the key

to paradise. It is the top branch of faith and, the best of all

good deeds, it blots out the bad deeds just by saying it, so

say it often and seek forgiveness and for this is the sword

and shield against Shaytaan, which foils his plot and ruins

his plans.

By this simple testimony of faith Allah forgives sins even

if there are as many as the foam of sea. It is the statement

that is written upon the Throne of Allah, it is the statement

by which Adam repented to His Lord. There is no

loneliness in this life or in the life of the grave for the

people of la ilaha illa Allah, so rejoice in the name of your

Lord, for indeed it is the key to paradise.

The one who believes there is no god but Allah is promised

salvation and paradise, and the sincerity from that is that he

remains aloof from that which Allah has forbidden, out of

gratefulness for this great blessing. It is by such that

supplications are accepted.

there is much more to the science than this point,

for many Muslims say La ilaha illa Allah,

Muhammad ur-Rasulullah but have erred in other

areas of the creed by innovating new ideologies

that was never found or heard previously. Since

the end of the first three generations, false ideas

and cults started to arise, and therefore the

Imaams of the Creed had to codify the creed in

order to preserve it.

It is the protector from the wrath and punishment of Allah

as long as one does not prefer the life of this world over the

religion of Allah, because if one prefers the dunyah over

the deen, then his statement of la ilaha illa Allah is a lie,

and Allah will throw this statement back in his face. La

ilaha illa Allah is a fortress that protects form the

punishment of Allah, so enter it wholeheartedly.

Whichever disbeliever says the kalimah will enter the fold

of Islam and be protected by this statement, and whoever

says it wholeheartedly will gain the intercession of the

Prophet upon yawm ul-Qiyaamah.

The Testimony of La ilaha illa Allah is purification from

all sins and no deed surpasses the utterance of this blessed

statement. It is the noblest word in the sight of Allah, and

by it the truthful have assurance of paradise and the

protection from the fire. It is a phrase that outweighs the

whole of the universe.

It is the remover of worries and sorrows, and the light of a

believer’s face and the reason to rejoice in the promise of

intercession and salvation. It is written on the preserved

tablet and the heart of the believers. It is written on the

pillars of paradise and upon every leaf therein. Adapted

from the Testimony of Faith by Sunni Publications

Imaam Abu Hanifah transmitted the text al-Fiqh

ul-Akbar – i.e. the Greatest Understanding which

deals with the false cults who arose in his time.

Likwise, Imaam Ahmad Bin Hanbal compiled

quite a few texts on the subject of Aqeedah, the

most two notable are Kitaab al-Itiqaad and Usul

us-Sunnah.

Imaam at-Tahaawi also penned his well known

unamnously agreed upon text al-Aqeedah ut-

Tahaawiyah, which was originally titles Bayaan

us-Sunnah fi al-I’tiqaad and this text became the

most ever studied Aqeedah text even in our times

today.

Imaam Abu Mansur al-Marturtidi also penned

the Aqeedah text named Kitaab ut-Tawheed and

likewise, Imaam Abu Hasan al-Ashari wrote

numerous texts on Aqeedah that refuted his

former cult, the Mutazilah.

Other great scholars also rose throughout the

centuries to compile great works of guidance to

help us find the true positions of the Ahl us-

Sunnah wal-Jamaa’ah, such as al-Bayhaqi’s

Kitaab al-Asmaa was-Sifaat, Iamam Nawawi’s

Kitaab ul-Emaan from his Sharh on Saheeh

Muslim, and Ibn Hajar al-Asqalaani’s chapter of

Kitaab us-Sunnah in which he defends the creed

in the last volume of his sharh on Saheeh al-

Bukhaari, Fath ul-Baari.

There are more Aqeedah texts that are worthy of

much mention, however for the sake of brevity,

we should keep it right here as the mentioned

texts do more than suffice in their study of

classical creed and warnings against the many

false cults.

All of the mentioned texts on Aqeedah were

written with the intention of documenting the

fact that there is much more knowledge to this

simple formula, and the subject of tawheed,

commonly referred in the modern age as al-

‘Aqeedah, and classically known as al-I’tiqaad,

and these texts are structured to systematically

teach the orthodox creed and beliefs of the heart

which brings about the development of true

belief [al-Imaan] in a believers heart. We know it

to be the very first subject of importance due to

the hadeeth of Arch-Angel Jibra’eel [known as

Gabriel in the Judo-Christian tradition].

It is narrated by 'Umar, may Allah be pleased

with him, there is that he said, "While we were

sitting with the Messenger of Allah, may Allah

bless with him and grant him peace, one day a

man came up to us whose clothes were extremely

white, whose hair was extremely black, upon

whom traces of travelling could not be seen, and

whom none of us knew, until he sat down close

to the Prophet, may Allah bless with him and

grant him peace, so that he rested his knees upon

his knees and placed his two hands upon his

thighs and said, 'Muhammad, tell me about

Islam.'

The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless with

him and grant him peace, said, 'Islam is that you

witness that there is no god but Allah and that

Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, and you

establish the prayer, and you give the Zakat, and

you fast Ramadan, and you perform the hajj of

the House if you are able to take a way to it.' He

said, 'You have told the truth,' and we were

amazed at him asking him and [then] telling him

that he told the truth.

He said, 'Tell me about imaan.' He said, 'That

you affirm Allah, His angels, His books, His

messengers, and the Last Day, and that you

affirm the Decree, the good of it and the bad of

it.' He said, 'You have told the truth.'

The Arch-Angel Jibri’eel then went on to ask

what is Ihsaan, and the signs of the last day.

However, what is important to note here is the

order of the subjects, because this tells us that the

kalimah of tawheed comes before any form of

worship and that al-Imaan is to believe in Allah,

His Angels, His Books, His Messengers etc. And

this is the very foundation of the creed [al-

I’tiqaad], and the pillars of Imaan.

This is the authentic creed of the early

generations of Muslims, and those who followed

them. They are known as the Ahl us-Sunnah wal-

Jamaa’ah, which is described in this age as

Sunni Islam, Sunni simply being the active

participle for one who ascribes himself to the

creed. This is the truth that obliterates falsehood

and clarifies the right path.

I cannot emphasize the importance of knowing

our 'Aqeedah enough. In-fact it is blameworthy

to do taqleed in 'Aqeedah because this is the

prime knowledge our beliefs are based on and it

is obligatory [waajib] to study and KNOW the

'Aqeedah in order to purify ourselves of any

wrong beliefs for Allah says:

“Know that there is no god but Allah”

Not just something to merely repeat when

hearing it, but to believe with certainty upon

knowing it. It is something we have to know

through study and not blindly follow. There will

be a people that will be confused in the graves

when the Angels question them about their

religion, they will admit that they only said there

is no god but Allah simply because they heard

other people say it.

Therefore, we must have reasons for faith should

we seek to be the sincerest of the believers and

furthermore, to know the right ‘Aqeedah is the

very first step in self purification, and this is also

the first and foremost sense of tazkiyyah, as seen

when Musa alayhis-Salaam calls the Firawn to

purify himself from shirk beliefs. If we look

closely in Surah an-Naaziyah ayah 18, the word

tazzaka is used

18. "And say to him, 'Would you [accept this doctrine

of tawheed] so that you be purified [from shirk]

Tazkiyyah [purification] is from the same root

and is the very essence of the science of

tassawuf. No Sufi can be a Sufi unless he has

knuckled down and learned his creed. Nobody,

cannot purify the heart, the soul, the mind, the

whole of the nafs if we have a flaw in our

Aqeedah as false beliefs are the najis [impurity]

of the heart and the mind.

It is almost like looking after your living room

with an Elephant residing in it. No matter how

much you try to clean it, the Elephant will keep

on excreting and smashing your furniture to

pieces and wetting the walls, etc. The first step is

getting rid of the Elephant in the living room.

Therefore, knowing the correct ‘Aqeedah, and

adhering to it is extremely important.

Muslims that are already firmly grounded in the

knowledge of ‘Aqeedah may find again and

again that you may have to explain this point to

those Muslims who constantly rant "I am not

Sunni, I am not Shi'a, I am not Wahhabi, I am

Muslim al-Hamdu Lillah" because whether they

like it or not they are part of one of the many

groups that they say they are not from. There is

no such sect as the "Muslim" sect, for all of the

sects are Muslim! [Except those whose kufr takes

them completely out of the fold of Islam"].

We should pity these Muslims, because they

have not took their very first baby step of

purification which is the very main aim of man to

return to his Lord with a "sound heart"

"The Day whereon neither wealth nor sons will avail,

But only He (will prosper) that brings to Allah a sound

heart” Surah ash-Shu’ara [26] ayaat 88-89

Those who are unaware of the many false beliefs

that are circulating and spreading their fitnah

within this ummah, and the characteristics of

their cult theology, may have one of these, or

ignore, false beliefs and they are not even aware

they have an Elephant in the living room.

Let there be no excuse as the Prophet certainly

has warned us of the false beliefs and false cults

in many ahaadeeth, and has gave us advice on

how to mete out the true saved sect from all the

false cults. Ibn Katheer in his tafseer to Surat al-

An’aam narrates from Imaam Ahmad b. Hanbal

who narrates a saying from 'Abdullah ibn Masud

(Allah be pleased with him) who reported that

the Messenger of Allah (Peace be upon him)

drew a line in the dust with his hand and said:

"This is the straight path of Allah." Then he drew

a series of lines to the right of it and to the left

and said, "Each of these paths has a Shaytaan at

its head calling people to it." He then recited

(Qur'an 6:153), "Indeed this is my straight path

so follow it and do not follow the any deviated

paths." 2

From the above Ahaadeeth, the only logical

conclusion is to study the sciences of 'Aqeedah in

order to know who are the people of truth, and to

know who are the people of deception, and

indeed the Holy Prophet salAllahu alayhi

wasallam has not left us without the criteria of

knowing which is the correct methodology and

which scholars are from the saved sect, because

when the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wasallam was

questioned as to who the saved sect are, the

Prophet's response was very clear:

“Those who are upon that which I and my

companions are upon today” 3

Now some may ask: But, how do we know for

sure what the Prophet and His companions are

upon with so many differences and so many cults

that are wolves in sheep’s clothing? How do we

2 This hadeeth can be found in the Musnad of Imaam

Ahmad, Sunan an-Nisaa’i, Tafseer Ibn Katheer, vol. 1, p.

509.

3 Tirmidhi hadeeth no. 2129

know the correct path? How do we know for sure

which path the Prophet salAllahu alayhi

wasallam and his companions radiyAllah anhum

is upon?

The Holy Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wasallam

said:

“Adhere to my Sunnah and the Sunnah of

the rightly guided Khalifahs that come after

me. Bite upon it with your molar teeth

[nawaakhidh] and beware of newly

invented matters [in creed, and actions] for

certainly every newly invented matter is an

innovation and every innovation is a

misguidance”4

Explanation of This Hadeeth

We can deduce that from this hadeeth, that those

who follow the Sunnah of the Prophet sal Allahu

alayhi wasallam and his rightfully guided

Khalifahs have long labelled themselves with the

term Ahl us-Sunnah, the people of the Sunnah, or

its abbreviated active participle Sunni. As stated

before hand, the word Sunnah encompasses a lot

of understandings to too their respective fields. In

4 Musnad of Imaam Ahmad narrated by al-‘Irbaad Bin

Saariyah, hadeeth no. 17145, Sunan Abu Dawud, Kitaab

us-Sunnah, hadeeth no. 4607 Imaam Nawawi’s Forty

Hadeeth, hadeeth no. 28; and is classified as a Saheeh

hadeeth.

the field of Fiqh, Sunnah refers to the sayings,

actions and even silent approval’s of the Prophet

sal Allahu alayhi wasallam, meaning that which

he spoke, ordered to do or not to do, or the things

that he did, or the things that he seen but did not

forbid, or comment upon, are the actions of the

Sunnah. However in the science of hadeeth, the

Sunnah is not only synonymous with the word

hadeeth [as we hear many say, I follow the

Qur’an and the Sunnah, meaning, the

Ahaadeeth], but also includes the Prophet’s

actions and physical appearance. Yet, the term

Sunnah, whenever used in the field of ‘Aqeedah,

strictly refers to the creed of the Prophet sal

Allahu alayhi wasallam which he taught the

Sahaabah radiyAllahu ‘anhum and that creed in

which they passed down this creed to the very

form we have it today. i.e. the Creed of the Ahl

us-Sunnah wal-Jamaa’ah.

The Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wasallam also

mentioned the Rightly guided Khulafaah in the

hadeeth we have just mentioned. They are Abu

Bakr as-Sideeq, Umar Ibn al-Khattab, Uthmaan

Ibn Affan and Ali ibn Abi Taalib radiyaAllah

‘anhum. We know their order of succession to be

true as the Sahaabah understood well the merits

of the people after the merit of the Messenger of

Allah. This is explicitly seen from the following

hadeeth which gives the order of the Rightly

guided Khulaafah: the Holy Prophet sal Allahu

alayhi wasallam said:

“Abu Bakr is in the Paradise, Umar is in the

Paradise, Uthmaan is in the Paradise, ‘Ali is

in the Paradise, Talhah is in the Paradise,

Zubair is in the Paradise, S’aad is in the

Paradise, Saa’id is in the Paradise, ‘Abdur-

Rahmaan is in the Paradise, Abu Ubid bin

al-Jaraah is in the Paradise”

After the death of the Prophet sal Allahu alayhi

wasallam, the Sahaabah knew who to select for

their Khalifah due to the understanding of this

hadeeth. The Prophet ordered us to follow his

sunnah and their sunnah. The Sunnah of Abu

Bakr, Umar Ibn al-Khattab, Uthamaan Ibn Affan

and Ali ibn Abi Taalib radiyAllahu anhum, and

anybody who follows the Sunnah of the Prophet

sal Allahu alayhi wasallam and the authority of

the rightly guided Khulufaah in their respective

order are known as the people of the Sunnah,

which is Ahl us-Sunnah in it’s original Arabic

wording. The singular active participle to denote

somebody from the Ahl us-Sunnah is Sunni and

this is where the word derives from. The Ahl us-

Sunnah is the path that the Prophet and his

companions are upon and the path we are

commanded to adhere too. Knowing these simple

facts prevent us from falling into the trap of the

Shi’a Muslims who are in habit of abusing the

companions.

We are also explicitly told within the advice of

this hadeeth 5 to be aware of innovations and

watch out for anything new that was not

previously said before, such as the innovation of

the Mu'tazilah in saying the Qur'an is created, the

Qadiriyyah is saying Allah does not know what

is in the future until it has happened, the

Jabbariyyah in saying that man has no free will,

and the Wahhabiyyah in saying that Tawheed

consists of three elements that need to be

understood as a condition for salvation, and that

it is permissible to kill anybody who does not

agree with this understanding, and the Shi’a who

abuse the Sahaabah and reject the authority of

Abu Bakr radiyaAllah ‘anhu and much more,

and the Ahmadiyyah who have slipped into the

depths of kufr by claiming that there is another

Prophet after the last and final Prophet

Muhammad sal Allahu alayhi wasallam etc.

The Jamaa’ah – the main body of the Muslims

We have discussed that the right group is the Ahl

us-Sunnah. Normally you would hear the

addition wal-Jamaa’ah as in Ahl us-Sunnah wal-

Jamaa’ah. The word Jamaa’ah refers to the

consensus of the most classical scholars who are

in agreement regarding the Sunnah and other

5 “Beware of newly invented matters [in creed, and actions]

for certainly every newly invented matter is an innovation

and every innovation is a misguidance”5

matters relating to the religion, such as creed and

also fiqh issues. The word Jamaa’ah can be seen

from the following Ahaadeeth in which

Mu’aawiyah Bin Abu Sufyaan radiy Allahu anhu

narrated that the Messenger of Allah sal Allahu

alayhi wasallam said:

“Those people of the book who came

before you split into seventy-two sects, and

soon this religion [Islam] will split into

seventy-three sects. Seventy-two of them

will be in the fire and one will be in

Paradise, and that is the Jamaa’ah” 6

We see from the above hadeeth, that merely

claiming to be Muslim is not enough. You can be

Muslim and still have tragically fallen into one of

the cults. Therefore it is important to know the

right path from all of the wrong paths, by

knowing the differences of the creedal points of

the cults whilst biting onto the Sunnah and the

people of the Sunnah and the Jamaa’ah. We are

also implicitly told in the following two ahadeeth

that the consensus of the most classical scholars

is a sign of divine protection which cannot be

corrupted by misguidance as the Messenger of

Allah sal Allahu alayhi wasallam said:

6 Sunan Abu Dawud, Kitaab us Sunnah hadeeth no. 4597

“My ummah shall never agree upon

misguidance, for Allah’s protection is with

the Jamaa’ah”

“It is an obligation to stick with the

Jamaa’ah for indeed Allah will not unite the

Ummah of Muhammad upon misguidance” 7

The verb “la yajtim’u” [meaning “He will not

unite”] comes from the same root as the word

Jamaa’ah, thus the Jamaa’ah can only refer to the

collective who have agreed upon a matter. This is

echoed in another hadeeth which clearly

demonstrates that the Jamaa’ah will be the

largest gathering of scholars from amongst the

Muslims of the first three generations and

thereafter, throughout the history of Islam up

until Yawm ul-Qiyaamah, the Messenger of

Allah sal Allahu alayhi wasallam said:

“My Ummah shall never agree upon

misguidance, so when you see differences,

then it is an obligation upon you to stick to

the as-Sawaad al-Azam” 8

7 Ibn Maajah, hadeeth no. 3950

8 Imaam Abu Bakr al-Aajuri’s Kitaab ash-Shari’ah, vol. 2,

p. 130

We also see from this hadeeth that the term as-

Sawaad al-Azam, i.e. the greatest gathering, is

synonymous with the term Jamaa’ah. Imaam

Tirmidhi rahimahullah informs us that:

“According to the people of knowledge, the

Jamaa’ah refers to the people of

jurisprudence, learning and hadeeth” 9

As seen from the given evidences, the followers

of the correct methodology are the people who

adhere to the binding obligation to stick to the

Sunnah and the Jamaa’ah, and therefore are the

Ahl us-Sunnah wal-Jamaa’ah, in which the

singular active participle “Sunni” is derived, and

the Sunni path is the one true way for the rightly

guided Muslims. May Allah the absolute

Transcendent make us people of this path,

ameen.

Now we know who they are by definition, the

question that now faces us how do we know who

are the Ahl us-Sunnah wal-Jamaa’ah by reality?

How do we actually know with full certainty that

we are of them? The following golden advice

will indeed equip a believer with the right

criterion to judge between the real gold and false

gold, and walk the true Sunni path with certainty,

knowing what they believe and why they believe.

9 Tirmidhi, hadeeth no. 2256

In this day of age there is much confusion

amongst the Muslim community in terms of

creed, groups and various practices. Both new

and born Muslims have noticed a lot of various

differences, and many sectarian fights in which

this group labels that group as misguided

deviants and that group labels this group as being

misguided deviants. Yet the most confusing thing

of all about this is – that most of them all lay

claim to be from the Ahl us-Sunnah wal-

Jamaa’ah. How is one to know how we can find

the path of truth amongst so much confusion?

Again, for such guidance we have to refer back

to the advice of the Prophet sal Allahu alayhi

wasallam and its correct understanding.

It has been pointed out clearly in the Ahaadeeth

that the best of people to follow in the matters of

the deen are the first three generations, i.e. the

Salaf. We know this from the hadeeth of

RasulAllah sal Allahu alayhi wasallam in which

he said:

“The best of generations is my generation,

then the one after that, then the one after

that. After them will appear untrustworthy

people” 10

10 Saheeh al-Bukhaari, The book of the Merits of the

companions of the Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wasallam,

Volume 5, hadeeth no. 2 and 3, also of similar import in

Saheeh al-Bukhari, The Book of Witnesses, Volume 3,

This hadeeth demonstrates that the Salaf, i.e. the

first three generations, are the bedrock and the

authority in which our understanding is derived.

Our understanding of the Qur’an and the Sunnah

should be based upon their very understanding.

We should follow tawheed and believe in Allah

as they believed and follow not an invented

understanding or any new teachings that have no

foundation in the Salaf. We should practice the

Qur’an and the Sunnah as the Salaf understood

the Qur’an and the Sunnah and shun any modern-

day interpretations that contradict the very

understanding of the first three generations. They

are the bedrock of understanding and only key to

understanding the revelations as they should be

understood.

The fisrt three generations are, all of the

Sahabah, wives of the Prophet sal Allahu alayhi

wasallam, the Students of the Sahaabah, Imaam

Abu Hamifah, Imaam Maliki Imaam ash-Shaafi’

and the most knowledgeable of all Imaams,

Imaam Ahmad Bin Hanbal. After them, we are

told that untrustworthy people would appear,

however, Allah has indeed promised to preserve

this deen by sending a reviver of the religion at

the head of each century. We know this from the

following Ahaadeeth in which the Messenger of

Allah said:

Number 820; Volume 8, The Book of ar-Riqaaq, Number

437 and more.

“This knowledge will be carried by the

trustworthy ones of every generation – they

will expel from it the alterations made by

those going beyond bounds, the false claims

of the liars, and the false interpretations of

the ignorant” 11

The Holy Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wasallam

also said:

“At the head of every one hundred years,

Allah will send to this nation one who will

revive for it its Religion. 12

There are two things that should be understood

from this hadeeth.

a. How to know the revivers, the people of

truth

b. The importance of Isnaad and the

preservation of knowledge

11 Mishkaat ul-Masaabeeh, hadeeth no. 248 and classified

as authentic

12 Sunan Abu Dawuud, Kitaab ul-Malaaham, hadeeth no.

4291 and even the Wahhabi scholar Albaani has classified

this hadeeth as Saheeh in his Silsilah as-Saheehah 2/148,

hadeeth no. 599. These two Ahaadeeth and the following

Ahaadeeth about the reviver that Allah will send every

century and the right group that will always be in every

century fly in the face of Muhammad Ibn ‘Abdul

Wahhab’s claim that Islam was lost for 600 years before

him and a further 400 years before Ibn Taymiyyah.

You must understand that Allah has no left any

generation since the time of our beloved Prophet

sal Allahu alayhi wasallam without guidance. In

fact, as the hadeeth demonstrates, after the time

of the Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wasallam, the

Sahaabah and the rest of the Salaf, Allah has sent

a reviver for each generation by which Allah re-

establishes the sunnah and makes the bid’ah

know to the people so that they may avoid it.

This reviver will no doubt be upon the truth and

fight for the truth as the Messenger of Allah sal

Allahu alayhi wasallam said:

There will always be a group from my

ummah fighting for the truth until the hour

is established 13

13 Commenting upon this hadeeth, Ibn Taymiyyah said: It

is this Ummah just as the prophet Saw has informed that he

said, thee will always be in it a group that is aided,

manifest with knowledge and the sword. And he will not

test it by what those before it from the Children of Israel

were tested with those and others besides them when they

were triumphed over by the enemies. And if there is one

group that is defeated in a far away land, there is another

land a group that is manifest and aided. And they will never be ruled over by an enemy who will take all of them

from outside their ranks, but there will be some

disagreement among them and some tribulations. Muslim

Orthodoxy is the way that is manifest and clear and its’

people are so until the Day of Resurrection. They are those

whom the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon

him, said of the, there will always be a group from my

Ummah. End of statement. Ibn Taymiyyah said in his al-

Aqeedah ul-Wastiyyah

It is also related from `Imran ibn Hussain from

the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be

upon him, who said:

“There will always be a group from my

Ummah, fighting for the truth until the last

of them fights the False Messiah.” It has

also been related from Jabir ibn Samura

from the Prophet, peace and blessings of

Allah be upon him, “There will never cease

to be a group of Muslims fighting for the

establishment of this religion until the

coming of the Hour.” Muslim has related

from `Uqbah ibn `Aamir who said that he

heard the Messenger of Allah, peace and

blessings of Allah be upon him, saying,

“There will always be a group from my

Ummah fighting for the truth, victorious

over their enemies. They will not be harmed

by those who oppose them until the Hour is

established and they are upon that way.”14

14 These Ahadeeth again refute the claim of Muhammad

Ibn ‘Abdul Wahhab that Islam has been lost for 600 years

before him and a further 400 years before Ibn Taymiyyah.

His own brother Shaykh ul-Islam, Sulaymaan Ibn Abdul

Wahhab wasted not time in refuting this false notion

saying: “Out of the 73 sects is one guided sect and they are the Saved Sect. This represents Muslim Orthodoxy from

the Companions of the Messenger of Allah, peace and

blessings of Allah be upon him, to the end of time and it is

that Sect which will always be established on the truth,

Allah suffice us to be their followers by His Strength and

Power. See as-Sawaa’iq al-Ilahiyyah, the Divine Lightning

divine lightening p. 148

Also the reviver will revive the Sunnah, call

people back to the sunnah and remind them of

what they have forgotten and warn them of the

evil innovations. 15

This is the key to knowing

the truth between the matters that the people

debate about today. If something is debated, all

we have to do is examine what the scholars

enjoined and forbade throughout each generation,

for there will be a continuity of the righteous

message that has been passed down plus a

continuity of warning from certain innovations.

Anything new in the ummah that the Muslims

deemed beneficial, we will find that the revivers

never forbade. Such as the linguistic innovations

that already rooted in the Shari’ah, and also

having their proofs from the Qur’an, the Sunnah

and the most classical understanding. One

15 Even the Wahhabi scholar Yasir Qadhi admits to this

view when he wrote: “A Mujaaddid is one who guides the

people back to Islam after they have deviated from it. So

he calls them to return to the beliefs of the Prophet sal

Allahu alayhi wasallam and Companions radiy Allahu

anhum, and warns them against innovation.” See footnote

3 of his translation of Muhammad Ibn ‘abd ul-Wahhab’s

work al-Qawaa’id al-Arbah – An explanation of the Four Principles of Shirk, p. 10 Yasir Qadhi further butters his

False Prophet Muhammad Ibn ‘Abd ul-Wahhab with the

title of being a Mujaaddid when he discusses the alleged

“rampant shirk in ‘Arabia” boldly claiming “Such was the

situation in which Allah sent a reviver, a mujaaddid, who

called the people back once again to the pristine Islam and

the pure monotheism that the Prophet sal Allahu alayhi

wasallam came with… this man was Muhammad Ibn

‘Abdul Wahhab” p. 10

example is Milaad un-Nabi. No scholar, reviver

ever forbade it in the history of Islam. It was only

a known innovator in the 11th century that

deemed it haraam and called the people to his

self-proclaimed ijtihaad. The scholars of his time

deemed him a false prophet due to the fact he did

not have the blessing of isnaad, and yet he was

calling to a religion upon the understanding of

other than the Qur’an, Sunnah and the most

classical understanding of the first three

generations. He also claimed that he was the one

that was chosen to obliterate shirk from the two

holy cities when we know that Shaytaan has lost

all hope of calling to taghut in these sacred

precincts. Such people are automatically

dismissed as not being part of the chain of

revivers from the Ahl us-Sunnah wal-Jamaa’ah.

To summarize, the Ahl us-Sunnah wal-Jamaa’ah

are the people who declare the absolute

transcendence of Allah, Uniqueness and

Oneness, in that He is above being described by

any knowledge that the limited human mind can

fathom, Allah is free from His creation and its

imperfections. They accept all of His Names and

Attributes, consigning complete and absolute

knowledge of the Mutashaabihah Attributes to

Allah as only Allah know their true

interpretation.They believe that the Qur’an is the

uncreated speech of Allah, and believe in the

Qadr, the Divine Decree, the seeing of Allah on

Yawm ul-Qiyaamah, Imaan as being a testimony

of heart, affirmation of the tongue, and the action

of the limbs, they believe in the excellence of the

Sahaabah radiy Allahu anhum in their respective

order, they do not call any of the Sahabah sinners

or treansgressors, they do not takfeer curse or

speak ill of them, we believe in the innocence

and the purity of the mothers of the believers

radiy Allahu anhunna, the obedience to Muslim

authority, and so forth. They do not deny one

particle from the Sunnah, therefore they are from

the Ahl us-Sunnah, i.e. the people of the Sunnah.

It is the people that break away from the

Prophetic sunnah and the people of the Sunnah

that have divided their religion and innovated a

sectarian dispute. Allah tells us to have nothing

to do with them, i.e. not to unite with them and

support them in any way for their affair is going

back to Allah:

As for those who divide their Religion and break up

into sects, Thou hast no part In them In the least: their

affair is with Allah. He will In the end Tell them the

truth of all that They did. Surah al-an’aam [6], ayah

159

Just as the truth was made clear to me regarding

Aqeedah and the difference between the groups,

the truth has been made apparent to the readers.

Hopefully we have equipped the reader with the

strongest prophetic advice in finding the right

path, and if there has been any shortcoming in

preaching this message, it is solely my

shortcoming.

I remember converting to Islam thinking that the

Muslims are one big united brotherhood, only to

find them arguing against each other. I remember

crying and being upset at the situation. We must

keep in mind that no new Muslim or sincere

Muslim for that matter intends to fall into a false

cult, and we have to remember it is our duty to

inform them and help them if they have slipped

into a cult. I wrote this above advice on a

brothers request, to help him amongst the

confusion. And I pray that when guidance comes

to us all, that we accept it without taking any

position of partisan pride. We have what we need

without any partisan pride or figures of high

dispute dictating our affairs. Allah has made the

guidance as clear as daylight for us all, and with

this said, I finish this naseehah with the ayah of

Allah

If anyone contends with the Messenger Even after

guidance has been plainly conveyed to him, and follows

a path other than that becoming to men of Faith, we

shall leave Him In the path He has chosen, and land

Him In Hell,- what an evil refuge! Surah an-Nisaa [4]

ayah 115