Al-‘Allaamah (the Scholar), Hujjat-ul-Islaam (the Scholar firmly grounded in the Islamic Sciences), Aboo Ja’far al-Warraaq at-Tahaawee of Egypt, may Allah have mercy upon him, wrote:“This is a reminder of the creed of the People of the Sunnah (of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him) and the General Body of Muslims established upon the way of the scholars of the religion such as Aboo Haneefah an-Nu’man bin Thaabit al-Koofee, Aboo Yoosuf Ya’qoob bin Ibraaheem al-Ansaaree, and Aboo ‘Abdullah Muhammad bin al-Hasan ash-Shaybaanee, may Allah be pleased with all of them, and with the fundamental principles of the religion that they affirmed and in the Lord of the worlds whom they professed to believe in.”
Explanation: In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful. All praise is for Allah, Lord of all the worlds (the worlds of the angels, mankind, and Jinn). May Allah’s peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon his family and all of his companions. To proceed; al-‘Aqeedah (Islamic Creed) is a foundation of the religion. It is contained within the testimony of faith Laa Ilaha Illa Allah (there is nothing worthy of worship except for Allah) and Muhammad Rasoolullah (Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah), which is the first pillar from the five pillars of Islam. Therefore it is imperative that importance and concern is placed in learning and understanding it as well as what desecrates it so that one can understand with insight and correctness.
When one establishes the practices of the religion based on the correct foundation then one’s actions will be righteous and accepted by Allah. However, when one has beliefs that are faltering and shaky or one has a corrupt belief then the practice of the religion will be incorrect and unfounded.
The scholars, may Allah have mercy upon them, paid great attention to the issue of creed. They did not let up explaining it in their lessons and in other occasions. The latter relayed knowledge obtained from the former.
The companions, may Allah be pleased with them, did not have any doubts concerning what was contained within the Quran or within the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him. Their creed was based upon the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him. No doubt or hesitation overcame them. Whatever Allah said and whatever His Messenger, peace be upon him, said, they believed it and professed it. They were not in need of authoring works because this was uncontested to them and settled.
Their creed was the Book and the Sunnah, and then they were followed by their students who came after them who took knowledge directly from them. There was no censure or rejection of the Islamic creed. The issue was indisputable and their reference was the Book and the Sunnah.
Then there appeared sects and disputes. There came into the religion one who had not firm knowledge of the Islamic creed within his heart or one who came into Islam having deviant ideas. There appeared in Islam one who did not refer back to the Book and the Sunnah concerning the Islamic creed, rather one who would refer to principles and methodologies that the deviants had set up out of desires. Once this occurred, the Imams of Islam were in need of explaining the correct creed and freeing it from the false claims. They were in need of writing and relaying from the (early) scholars of the Islamic nation. So they authored books on creed and engaged in this. In doing so they became the reference points for those from the Islamic nation after them until the final hour is established.
This is from the protection of Allah Most High for this religion, and His engagement in this religion, to decree for it reliable carriers to convey it as it was revealed by Allah and by His Messenger. And for them to refute the interpretation of the people of falsehood and the metaphors of those who liken Allah to His creation. They inherited this creed from those who preceded them.
And from the righteous ancestors were those who were upon the belief that was established by the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, and his companions and those who followed them. From their group are the four Imams; Aboo Haneefah, Maalik, ash-Shaafi’ee, and Ahmad in addition to other Imams who defended the creed and freed it from the false accusations, and in explaining it and teaching it to the students (of knowledge).
The students of the four Imams would be engaged in the study of the Islamic creed and with studying with one another and in preserving it for their pupils. They wrote many books concerning the methodology of the Book and the Sunnah and what the Chosen one, peace be upon him, was upon and his companions, may Allah be pleased with them, and their students. They refuted the false and deviants beliefs and explained its distortions and fabrications. Likewise this was done by the Imams of the Hadeeth such as Ishaaq bin Raahuwayah, al-Bukhaaree, Muslim, Ibn Khuzaymah, and Ibn Qutaybah. And from the Imams of Tafseer such as at-Tabaree, Ibn Katheer, al-Baghawee, and others.
They authored in these writings, books of the Sunnah such as Kitaab-us-Sunnah by Ibn Abee ‘Aasim, Kitaab-us-Sunnah of ‘Abdullah bin Ahmad bin Hanbal, Kitaab-us-Sunnah of al-Khallaal, and ash-Sharee’ah of al-Aajuree as well as others.
And from the group of these Imams are those who wrote concerning the Creed of the first generations of Muslims such as Aboo Ja’far Ahmad bin Muhammad bin Sallaamah al-Azdee at-Tahaawee from the scholars of the third century in Egypt. He was named at-Tahaawee due to the city in Egypt there. He wrote this brief article of creed to benefit and awareness.
Many explanations of this creed have been written, approximately seven of them, but they are not without errors since those who explained them based it upon the methodology of those who came later. Their explanations are not free of issues that oppose the creed of Imam at-Tahaawee except for one explanation that we know of. It is the explanation of al-‘Izz bin Abee al-‘Izz, may Allah have mercy upon him. It is known as the Sharh-ut-Tahaaweeyah. This is from the pupils of Ibn Katheer from what seems apparent. His explanation includes quotes from the books of Shaykh-ul-Islaam Ibn Taymiyyah, Ibn al-Qayyim, and from the books of the Imams. It is a wordy explanation.
The scholars would rely on it and study it based on its excellence and the authenticity of its information. It is a great reference work from the reference works on creed. The author, as it was mentioned, wrote this creed based upon the general way of the people of the Sunnah. From them are Aboo Haneefah an-Nu’maan bin Thaabit al-Koofee. He is from the oldest of the four Imams and knew some of the students of the companions and related from them. Likewise his companion Aboo Yoosuf, Muhammad ash-Shaybaanee, and the Imams of the Hanafee Madhhab.
He mentions their creed and that it conforms to the Madhhab of the People of the Sunnah and the General Body of Muslims. In this work is a refutation against those who ascribe themselves to the Hanafeeyah in this current time or those of later times, those who ascribe themselves to the Hanafeeyah but oppose Aboo Haneefah in creed. They follow his way only in Fiqh while opposing him in his beliefs. They take their creed from the people of al-Kalaam and al-Mantiq. This has also occurred amongst the Shaafi’eeyah of later times, those who oppose Imam ash-Shaafi’ee in creed but ascribe themselves to him in Fiqh. Many of the later Maalikiyyah also are not upon the creed of Imam Maalik but they take from the Madhhab of Imam Maalik in Fiqh only. As for in creed then they are followers of the Sufi ways and the followers of the later Madhaahib.
In this creed is a refutation against them and their like from those who ascribe themselves to the four Imams while opposing them in the Islamic creed. Groups such as the al-Ashaa’irah who ascribe themselves to Imam Aboo al-Hasan al-Asha’ree when he was upon the first way of belief. They leave off what he affirmed and later held on to from the way of the People of the Sunnah and the General Body of Muslims. This type of ascription is not correct because if they were upon the way of the four Imams they would also believe as they did.
Taken from at-Ta’leeqaat al-Mukhtasarah ‘alaa Matn al-‘Aqeedah at-Tahaaweeyah by ash-Shaykh Saalih al-Fowzaan, Pages 23 -28, and translated by Aboo ‘Imraan al-Mekseekee-may Allah guide him
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