1. It is part of belief in Allah
A person’s iman in Allah is not correct until he believes in Allah’s names and attributes as revealed in the Quran and Sunnah.
2. It is an act of worship and obedience
Knowing and affirming tawheed al-asma wa al-sifat (oneness in Allah’s names and attributes) is an act of worship and a command from Allah that must be obeyed.
3. It protects from misguidance
Those who denied or distorted the attributes of Allah or made comparisons went astray. Believing as the Salaf did is a shield against their deviation.
4. It protects from Allah’s punishment
Allah said: “And leave those who deviate concerning His names—they will be repaid for what they used to do” (al-Aʿraf: 180).
5. It is the most honourable knowledge
It is the noblest and highest type of knowledge, greater than knowledge of other religious rulings.
6. The greatest ayah and surahs are about Allah’s attributes
Ayat al-Kursi is the greatest verse because it contains Allah’s attributes. Surah al-Ikhlas equals one third of the Quran because it focuses entirely on tawheed.
7. It leads to love, fear, hope, and sincerity in worship
Knowing Allah’s names and attributes brings sincere ʿibadah, love, fear, and hope.
8. It fulfils the purpose of creation
Allah created people so they would know Him and worship Him. Ignoring this knowledge is ignoring the reason for existence.
9. It brings happiness and life to the heart
There is no joy, peace, or real life for the heart except through knowing Allah.
10. It opens doors to worship
Every name and attribute leads to specific acts of worship. For example, knowing that Allah sees everything makes a person watch his deeds.
11. It leads to proper tawakkul
Knowing that Allah alone gives and withholds creates true trust in Him.
12. The Salaf gave it priority
They taught it, wrote books about it, and considered it the real meaning of tawheed.
13. The Quran is full of it
Almost every verse in the Quran contains some mention of Allah’s names, attributes, or actions.
14. Belief in Allah includes belief in His attributes
You cannot truly believe in Allah unless you affirm His names and attributes as He revealed them.
15. Belief in the Messenger includes affirming what he said about Allah
Whoever believes the Prophet ﷺ must also believe everything he reported about Allah’s names and attributes.
16. Belief in the Book requires belief in what it says about Allah
You cannot truly believe in the Quran unless you believe everything it says about Allah’s names and attributes.
17. Tawheed of knowledge is built upon affirming Allah’s attributes
All tawheed stems from affirming Allah’s perfect names and denying any similarity to creation.
18. Neglect of aqeedah led to shirk
People worshipped graves and saints like al-Badawi and al-Husayn because creed was ignored.
19. Many scholars fell into shirk due to lack of aqeedah
Some were experts in fiqh but fell into grave worship because they did not study creed properly.
20. Some only studied kalam and Ashari creed
They neglected the creed of the Salaf, focusing instead on theological debates from the philosophers.
21. The method of the Salaf is correct
It is supported by the Quran, Sunnah, sound reason, and fitrah. It avoids both denial and resemblance.
22. Major scholars of kalam repented from it
Major scholars like Ar-Razi, Al-Juwayni, Al-Ghazali, and As-Shawkani regretted studying kalam and returned to the salafi way.
23. The Jahmiyyah’s beliefs contradict even the beliefs of idol worshippers
The disbelievers of Quraysh still affirmed Allah’s attributes, while the Jahmiyyah denied them.
24. Books of the Salaf labelled as ‘tawheed’ were about affirming attributes
Books like Kitab al-Tawheed by al-Bukhari focused on affirming the names and attributes of Allah.
25. Worship becomes meaningful only with knowledge of attributes
Understanding Allah’s names is what makes acts like duʿa, fear, hope, and reliance sincere and complete.
26. It teaches what Allah loves and commands
Allah is Beautiful and loves beauty, Forgiving and loves forgiveness, and so on. Knowing His attributes teaches what He loves in His servants.
27. It defines true tawheed
Denying attributes is a form of taʿteel (negation), which is worse than shirk in some respects. Real tawheed is affirming Allah’s perfect attributes without tamthil, taʿteel, takyif, or tahrif.
28. It is the basis for all other beliefs and worship
All worship depends on how a person knows and believes in Allah.
29. Ignorance of it leads to major loss
Someone who knows everything else but is ignorant of Allah is truly lost, no matter how much else he knows.
30. It is the greatest thing a Muslim can learn
It is more important than knowing contracts, prayer times, or rulings on zakat and hajj. It is the foundation of Islam itself.
These thirty reasons show that aqeedah, especially knowledge of Allah’s names and attributes, is not just important—it is essential for sound faith, true worship, and success in this life and the next.
Knowledge of the tawheed of Allah’s names and attributes and having belief in it holds great importance. The following points show just how important it is:
- Belief in this is part of belief in Allah the Mighty and Majestic. A person’s belief in Allah is not sound until he believes in Allah’s names and attributes.
- Knowing the tawheed of Allah’s names and attributes and believing in it the way the righteous predecessors believed is an act of worship of Allah the Mighty and Majestic. Allah has commanded us to do this, and obeying Him is obligatory.
- Believing in it as the righteous predecessors believed is a path to safety from deviation and misguidance—like what happened to those who denied or distorted the attributes of Allah or those who made comparisons. Anyone who went astray in this area did so by abandoning this way.
- Believing in it in the correct way brings safety from Allah’s punishment. Allah said: “And leave those who deviate concerning His names—they will be repaid for what they used to do” (al-Aʿraf: 180).
- This knowledge is the noblest and most honourable of all knowledge. To study it and reflect upon it is to busy oneself with the highest and most noble matters.
- The greatest verse in the Quran is Ayat al-Kursi, and it is the greatest because it includes this type of tawheed.
- Surah al-Ikhlas is equal to one third of the Quran because it is completely focused on describing Allah the Mighty and Majestic.
- Believing in this brings many benefits and opens up different kinds of worship. Some of these benefits become clear when we talk about the results of believing in the tawheed of Allah’s names and attributes.
To know Allah’s names and attributes, to reflect on them, and to understand them in the way that Allah intended is one of the most important and honourable types of knowledge, as already mentioned—because of the great and useful benefits it brings.
The scholars of Islam, past and present, gave great attention to explaining the names and attributes of Allah, making them clear, and showing the benefits that come from believing in them. Among those benefits are the following:
- Knowledge of Allah’s names and attributes is the path to knowing Allah.
Allah created the creation so that they would know Him and worship Him. That is the very goal they were created for. So learning about this is learning about the very reason a person was created. To leave it and ignore it is to neglect the purpose of creation. It is a shame for a servant who has always received blessings from Allah to be ignorant of his Lord and turn away from knowing Him.
If the servants want to know their Lord, then they have no way of doing so except through the texts that describe Him and clearly tell us about His actions and His names. These include Ayat al-Kursi, the end of Surah al-Hashr, Surah al-Ikhlas, and other similar verses.
- Knowing Allah calls a person to love Him, fear Him, hope in Him, and worship Him sincerely. That is the very essence of a person’s happiness, and there is no way to know Allah except through His names and attributes, and by understanding their meanings, their rulings, and what they require from the believer (see Kitab at-Tawheed wa Maʿrifat Asmaʾ Allah wa Sifatihi ʿala al-Ittifaq wa al-Tafarrud by Ibn Mandah, edited by Dr Ali al-Faqihi, vol. 2, p. 1918; at-Tafsir al-Qayyim by Ibn al-Qayyim, pp. 24–37; Miftah Dar as-Saʿadah by Ibn al-Qayyim, vol. 2, pp. 909–910; as-Sawaʿiq al-Mursalah ʿala al-Jahmiyyah wa al-Muʿattilah by Ibn al-Qayyim, edited by Dr Ahmad al-Ghamidi and Dr Ali al-Faqihi, vol. 1, pp. 59–62; Tariq al-Hijratayn wa Bab as-Saʿadatayn by Ibn al-Qayyim, pp. 82–85; al-Qawl as-Sadid by Ibn Saʿdi, pp. 161–163; al-Asmaʾ wa as-Sifat fi Iʿtiqad Ahl as-Sunnah wa al-Jamaʿah by Dr Umar al-Ashqar, pp. 18–39; Shaykh ʿAbd ar-Rahman ibn Saʿdi wa Juhuduhu fi Tawdhih al-ʿAqidah by Shaykh ʿAbd ar-Razzaq al-ʿAbbad, pp. 100–101; an-Nahj al-Asma fi Sharh Asmaʾ Allah al-Husna by Shaykh Muhammad al-Hammud).
Part of belief in Allah is belief in His beautiful names and lofty attributes, those that are mentioned in His noble Book and confirmed in the sound reports from His trustworthy Messenger—without distortion, denial, delving into how, or drawing likenesses. (See: al-ʿAqidah as-Sahihah wa ma Yudadduha by Ibn Baz, p. 13).
Imam Ibn al-Qayyim said: “True affirmation of ‘La ilaha illa Allah’ (There is no diety worthy of worship except Allah) requires affirming everything that branches from it. All foundations and branches of the religion stem from this word. A person does not truly affirm it unless he believes in Allah, His angels, His books, His messengers, and the meeting with Him. He does not truly believe in Allah, the Lord of the worlds, unless he believes in His attributes of majesty and descriptions of perfection.
He does not truly believe that Allah alone is the only deity unless he removes all attributes of godhood from everything else in existence and from his own belief and intention, just as they are negated in reality.
One does not truly affirm it if he denies the lofty attributes, or if he denies Allah’s speech and His addressing, or if he denies His rising above the Throne, His receiving the good words and righteous deeds, His raising ʿIsa to Himself, His taking His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) on the Night Journey to Him, and that He manages affairs from the sky to the earth and then they ascend to Him, and everything else He described Himself with or His Messenger described Him with.” (See: at-Tibyan fi Aqsaam al-Qurʾan by Ibn al-Qayyim, 1/36).
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah said: “Whatever the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) described his Lord with, in sound hadiths accepted by the people of knowledge, must be believed in. For example, his saying: ‘Our Lord descends to the lowest heaven every night when the last third of the night remains and says: Who is calling upon Me so I may respond? Who is asking Me so I may give? Who is seeking My forgiveness so I may forgive?’” (Sahih Muslim 758b).
“And his saying: ‘Allah is more pleased with the repentance of His servant than one of you is with his riding animal.’” (Sahih Muslim no. 2744a).
“And his saying: ‘Allah laughs at two men—one kills the other, then both enter Paradise.’”
(al-Bukhari no. 2826).
“And his saying: ‘Our Lord is amazed at the despair of His servants and how near relief is. He looks at you while you are hopeless and laughs, knowing that your relief is near.’”
(Not found exactly in this wording, but similar narrations exist, like “Indeed, Allah is amazed at the prayer done in congregation”—see al-Silsilah as-Sahihah no. 1652—and “Indeed, your Lord is amazed at a young person who has no inclination to sin”—see al-Silsilah as-Sahihah no. 2843).
All of these are examples where the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) reports about his Lord.
The saved group—Ahl al-Sunnah wa al-Jamaʿah—believe in all of this just as they believe in what Allah informed us of in His Book. They do so without distortion, denial, delving into how, or making comparisons.
They are balanced in this matter, just as the Muslim ummah is a balanced nation among the nations. Ahl al-Sunnah are balanced regarding the attributes of Allah—between the Jahmiyyah who deny, and the Mushabbihah who make comparisons. (See: Majmuʿ al-Fatawa 3/138–141).
Likewise, belief in the Messenger is not complete unless one affirms what he said about his Lord.
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah said: “It is obligatory upon creation to affirm what the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) came with. Whatever is in the noble Quran or sound Sunnah must be affirmed, generally and in detail (once known). No person is truly a believer unless he affirms what the Prophet came with. This is the true meaning of the testimony that Muhammad ﷺ is the Messenger of Allah.
Whoever testifies that he is the Messenger of Allah has testified that he is truthful in everything he reports about Allah. That is the reality of the testimony of messengerhood—since a liar is not a messenger. Allah said: ‘Had he falsely attributed something to Us, We would have seized him by the right hand and cut his aorta’” (al-Haqqah: 44–46). (See: Majmuʿ al-Fatawa 5/156).
So it is obligatory for every Muslim to believe what the Prophet told us about Allah—His names and attributes—as found in the Quran and the authentic Sunnah, in the same way as the first of the Muhajirun and Ansar believed, and those who followed them with excellence—those whom Allah was pleased with and who were pleased with Him.
Likewise, belief in the Book of Allah cannot be real unless one believes in the names and attributes:
“The Quran’s main purpose is to inform about the names, attributes, actions, praise, greatness, and wisdom of the Lord, and about His commands and prohibitions delivered through His messengers.” (See: Tariq al-Hijratayn, p. 233).
“The entire Quran is an explanation of Allah’s attributes. It is either telling us about Allah’s self and attributes, or what He did for His allies—the messengers and believers—which shows His actions, honour, and generosity. Or it tells us about what He did to His enemies—which is also from His attributes. From Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Rahim to min al-jinnati wa al-nas (al-Nas: 6), the whole Quran is a description of Allah’s names and attributes.” (See: Tariq al-Hijratayn, p. 211).
There is hardly an ayah in the Quran that does not include an attribute or name of Allah.
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah said: “The Quran mentions the names, attributes, and actions of Allah more than it mentions food, drink, and marriage in Paradise. The verses that speak of His names and attributes are more important than those about the afterlife. The greatest verse in the Quran is Ayat al-Kursi, and it contains this subject. The best surah is Umm al-Quran (al-Fatihah), and it contains more mention of Allah’s names and attributes than of the afterlife.” (See: Darʾ Taʿarud al-ʿAql wa al-Naql 5/310).
So belief in Allah includes belief in His attributes. Belief in the Messenger includes believing everything he said about the One who sent him. Belief in the Book includes belief in everything it contains about Allah’s attributes.
Allah’s Names and Attributes Are a Pillar of Tawheed
Tawheed has two parts:
- Tawheed of knowledge (belief and information).
- Tawheed of action (intention and seeking).
Imam Ibn al-Qayyim said: “Tawheed of knowledge is based on affirming perfect attributes and denying all likeness, and declaring Allah free of flaws. This is proven by the fact that Allah is worthy of praise (hamd), and praise means praising someone for their perfect attributes and majestic qualities, along with love, satisfaction, and submission. One cannot be truly praising Allah while denying His attributes or withholding love and submission. The more complete Allah’s attributes, the more complete the praise.
The less, the less the praise. For this reason, all praise belongs to Allah alone—praise that none can count except Him—because of His perfect and numerous attributes. That is why no one can truly describe Him as He deserves to be described—only He can. For these reasons, Allah criticised the false gods of the disbelievers by saying they do not hear, see, speak, guide, benefit, or harm. These are the very attributes the Jahmiyyah deny about Allah. Allah is far above what the deniers say.” (See: Madarij al-Salikin 1/25).
Allah told of His close servant Ibrahim saying to his father: “O my father, why do you worship what does not hear, see, or benefit you in any way?” (Maryam: 42). Had the God of Ibrahim been like this, Azar would have replied: “And your god is like that too!” But even though he was a polytheist, Azar had a better understanding of Allah than the Jahmiyyah. Even the disbelievers of Quraysh affirmed Allah’s attributes and that He is above His creation. Allah said: “The people of Musa made a calf from their jewellery—a body that mooed. Did they not see that it could not speak to them or guide them?” (al-Aʿraf: 148). Had the real God been like that, this would not have been a valid proof against them.
This is something recognised by pure instinct, sound minds, and revealed scriptures: anyone who lacks perfect attributes cannot be a god, a manager, or a lord. Such a being is blamed, flawed, and unworthy of praise—neither in this world nor the next. All praise in both worlds belongs to the one who has perfect attributes and majestic qualities. That is why the salaf named their books on affirming Allah’s attributes and His rising above the throne and His speech as “Tawheed,” because to deny those is to deny the Creator. True tawheed is affirming Allah’s perfect attributes and declaring Him free from resemblance or deficiency.
(See: Madarij al-Salikin 1/25).
Tawheed of knowledge rests on two pillars:
First: affirming that Allah is distinct and separate from creation, above the Throne, above the seven heavens, just as all divine books from the first to the last declare, and as all messengers from the first to the last confirmed.
Second: affirming that Allah alone has all attributes of perfection, affirming them as He affirmed for Himself and as His messengers affirmed, while keeping them free from denial, distortion, comparison, or asking how: “There is nothing like Him, and He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing” (al-Shura: 11). (See: Madarij al-Salikin 3/445).
Whoever affirms this distinction between Creator and creation is different from all false groups—like the Hululis and the Jahmiyyah—who say that there is no Lord above the heavens, no God on the Throne worshipped and prayed to.
To deny the realities of Allah’s names and attributes includes both distortion and resemblance. To affirm them in full, in the way that befits His majesty and is unique to Him, is the essence of tawheed. The denier denies the perfection of the one worshipped. The one who draws comparisons likens Him to slaves. But the one who affirms tawheed shows the true meanings of His names and the perfection of His attributes. This is the core of tawheed. The denier worships nothing. The one who draws comparisons worships an idol. But the one who affirms tawheed worships the true Lord—nothing is like Him. He has the most beautiful names and highest attributes. His mercy and knowledge encompass everything. (See: as-Sawaʿiq al-Mursalah 1/147).
Therefore: “Affirming Allah’s perfect attributes is the foundation of tawheed.” (See: Ighathat al-Lahfan 2/588).
Shaykh Muhammad ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab said in his response to questions from Muhammad ibn ʿAbbad: “Whoever denies the attributes is a muʿattil (denier), and the muʿattil is worse than a polytheist. That is why the salaf used to name the books they wrote on affirming the attributes as books of tawheed. Imam al-Bukhari ended his Sahih with ‘The Book of Tawheed,’ then mentioned Allah’s attributes, one chapter after another. The point is that the theologians say: ‘Tawheed cannot be complete except by denying the attributes.’ But Ahl al-Sunnah say: ‘Tawheed is only complete by affirming the attributes.’ Your tawheed is in fact denial. This belief led some of you to deny the Lord altogether—like Ibn ʿArabi, Ibn al-Farid, and many others whose number only Allah knows.” (See: al-Qism al-Rabiʿ min Muʾallafat ash-Shaykh, p. 14).
Allah’s Names and Attributes Are the Peak of Worship
“There is no life for the heart, no delight, no joy, no safety, and no peace except through knowing its Lord and Creator through His names, attributes, and actions—so that He becomes more beloved to the heart than anything else, and all striving is directed to whatever brings the person closer to Him and pleases Him.” (See: as-Sawaʿiq al-Mursalah 1/147).
Whoever knows Allah will worship Him in the best way.
He is the Most Kind and loves the kind. The Most Thankful and loves the thankful. The Most Beautiful and loves beauty. The Most Pure and loves purity. The Most Knowing and loves those of knowledge. The Most Generous and loves the generous. The Most Strong and loves the strong believer more than the weak one. The Most Righteous and loves the righteous. The Most Just and loves justice.
The Most Modest and loves modesty. The Concealer and loves covering faults. The Most Forgiving and loves those who forgive. The Most Truthful and loves truthfulness. The Most Gentle and loves gentleness. The Most Giving and loves those who give. The Most Merciful and loves the merciful. The One (al-Witr) and loves oneness. He loves His names and attributes, loves those who worship Him by them, loves those who call upon Him by them, loves those who understand them, praise Him with them, and thank Him using them.
As the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “No one loves praise more than Allah; that is why He praised Himself. No one is more protective than Allah; that is why He prohibited immoralities. No one loves excuses more than Allah; that is why He sent the books and messengers.” (Sahih Muslim no. 2760d).
And in another authentic hadith: “No one is more patient with harm he hears than Allah. They claim He has a son, yet He still provides for them and heals them.” (al-Bukhari no. 7378).
Because Allah loves His names and attributes, He commanded His slaves with what those names require—justice, kindness, goodness, forgiveness, generosity, patience, mercy, truthfulness, knowledge, gratitude, forbearance, and thoughtfulness. The one whom Allah loves the most is the one who takes on the qualities He loves. The most hated to Him are those who take on qualities He hates—like arrogance and tyranny. These qualities do not suit them; they contradict servitude and go beyond one’s place.
But qualities like knowledge, justice, mercy, kindness, and gratitude do not contradict servitude. In fact, when a servant has them, it completes his servitude. These do not exceed the proper bounds of a servant.
Whoever understands that Allah’s names require certain types of worship will worship Allah well.
Each of Allah’s names and attributes has its own kind of worship connected to it. Knowing that Allah alone brings benefit and harm, gives and withholds, creates and provides, gives life and causes death—this leads to inner trust (tawakkul) and outer reliance. Knowing that He hears, sees, and knows all things—even what is hidden—makes a person guard his tongue, limbs, and thoughts. He becomes shy inwardly and avoids sins and shameful things outwardly.
Knowing that Allah is rich, generous, kind, and merciful makes a person full of hope. His knowledge leads to the outer and inner acts of worship that match what he knows. His knowledge of Allah’s greatness and majesty makes him humble, submissive, and loving.
Thus, all forms of worship come back to the meanings and effects of Allah’s names and attributes. Allah’s creation and commands both flow from His names and attributes.
(See: Miftah Dar as-Saʿadah 1/137).
Now that you all understand the greatness of this matter in the religion of Allah, ask yourself:
What have you learned from the names of your Lord and His lofty attributes?
And what impact has that had in your life?
By Allah, the one who is ignorant of the reality of Allah’s names and attributes has truly lost. And good news to the one who reflects on them, understands them, and follows the path of those whom Allah has blessed—from the prophets, the messengers, and the rightly guided who follow them.
O Allah, make us among them, by Your mercy—you are the Most Merciful of the merciful.
The Method of the Righteous Predecessors in the Names and Attributes of Allah
The method of the salaf (the pious predecessors) the people of Sunnah and the Jamaa’ah is the obligatory method to follow in the matter of Allah’s names and attributes. It is the safest, most knowledgeable, and most wise approach. There is no other correct method in this field except their method: affirming the names and attributes and leaving them as they came. Many evidences prove this, including:
That the method of the salaf is supported by the Quran and Sunnah.
Among the evidences from the Quran are Allah’s words:
“To Allah belong the best names, so call upon Him by them, and leave those who deviate concerning His names—they will be repaid for what they used to do” (al-Aʿraf: 180),and His words: “There is nothing like Him, and He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing” (al-Shura: 11),
and His words: “Do not pursue that of which you have no knowledge” (al-Isra: 36).
- The first verse shows the obligation to affirm Allah’s names without distortion or denial, because both of these fall under deviation concerning His names.
- The second verse shows the obligation to deny any resemblance (tamthil)
- The third verse shows the obligation to avoid discussing how (takyif), and the obligation to remain silent about what has not been affirmed or denied.
Reason also supports the correctness of the salafi method.
Reason tells us that knowledge about what is necessary, possible, or impossible for Allah can only be known through revelation—the Quran and Sunnah. So it becomes obligatory to follow revelation by affirming what it affirms, denying what it denies, and remaining silent about what it is silent on. (see Minhaj al-Sunnah 2/561, Fath Rabb al-Bariyya, pp. 19–24, al-Asmaʾ wa al-Sifat fi Iʿtiqad Ahl al-Sunnah wa al-Jamaʿah, pp. 213–221, Daʿwat al-Tawhid by Shaykh Muhammad Khalil Harras, pp. 19–24).
The Fitrah supports Aqeedah
Sound natural instincts are created to love, magnify, and worship Allah. But can anyone truly love, honour, or worship except the one they know to be described with perfect attributes and free from any imperfections?
Full agreement with the Quran and Sunnah.
Anyone who studies the way of the salaf with knowledge and fairness will find it fully aligned with the Quran and Sunnah in every detail. This is because Allah revealed the Quran for people to reflect upon its verses and to act upon its rulings, and to believe in its reports.
The righteous predecessors—companions and followers—are the heirs of the prophets.
They took their knowledge directly from the source of revelation. The Quran was revealed in their language and during their time. They were closest to the clear spring of prophethood. They had the purest hearts and least pretence. Allah praised them in the Quran and praised those who followed them. Allah said:
“And the first forerunners among the Muhajirin and the Ansar, and those who followed them in excellence—Allah is pleased with them and they are pleased with Him, and He has prepared for them gardens beneath which rivers flow, where they will live forever. That is the great success” (al-Tawbah: 100).
Allah also threatened those who follow other than their way with painful punishment. He said:
“Whoever opposes the Messenger after guidance has become clear to him, and follows a path other than that of the believers—we will let him go where he has chosen, and burn him in Hell. What an evil destination” (al-Nisa: 115).
There is no doubt that the path of the believers here is the path of the companions—the Muhajirin and the Ansar—and those who followed them with excellence.
So if that is the case, it is impossible to believe that the best of generations and the most righteous of people failed in this field, either by adding or removing anything.
The elite among the awliya of Allah—those with an honourable place in the ummah, past and present—are upon the method of Ahl al-Sunnah wa al-Jamaʿah. They are the ones who affirm the names and attributes of Allah. They are the furthest people from the methods of the deniers and deviants.
The confusion, contradictions, and internal conflict among the theologians (mutakallimun) proves the truth of the salafi path. If the later methods (madhhab al-khalaf) were correct, they would not have contradicted each other, nor would they have fallen into such confusion.
Many great scholars of kalam eventually returned to the truth and the path of the salaf.
Some of the top scholars of kalam who reached its highest levels came back to the way of the salaf and disowned kalam. They declared their regret and repented from it.
Among them is Ar-Razi, one of the leading scholars of kalam. He lamented his life and wept for himself, saying: “The end result of rational argument is being restrained.
The effort of all scholars leads to misguidance.
Our souls remain anxious within our bodies.
Our lives are filled with harm and filth.
We gained nothing from our research but ‘he said’ and ‘she said’.
How many men and empires we saw—they vanished.
How many mountains were climbed by great men, yet the men disappeared and the mountains remain.”
Ibn al-Salah said: “Al-Qutb al-Tughra’i told me twice that he heard Ar-Razi say: ‘I wish I had never involved myself in the science of kalam,’ and he wept” (see Majmuʿ al-Fatawa 4/72–75 and 10/5–11, Darʾ Taʿarud al-ʿAql wa al-Naql 1/159–162, al-Safadiyya 1/292–295, Sharh al-ʿAqidah al-Tahawiyyah by Ibn Abi al-ʿIzz al-Hanafi, pp. 208–210, al-Tuhaf fi Madhahib al-Salaf by al-Shawkani, pp. 34–44, al-Kawashif al-Jaliyyah by Shaykh ʿAbd al-ʿAziz al-Salman, pp. 511–514, al-Asmaʾ wa al-Sifat by Dr ʿUmar al-Ashqar, pp. 210–222).
Others who returned to the path of the salaf after engaging in kalam include Abu al-Maʿali al-Juwayni, al-Khushrawi, and Abu Hamid al-Ghazali.
Among the later scholars who studied kalam but gained no benefit from it—only confusion—was Imam al-Shawkani. He spoke of his own experience and said: “Let me tell you about myself and make clear to you what happened to me yesterday. In my youth, during my years of study, I immersed myself in what they called the science of kalam, or sometimes the science of tawheed, or the science of usul al-din.
I devoted myself to the books of its various sects, hoping to gain some benefit or bring back some valuable knowledge. But I found nothing except loss and confusion. That was one of the things that made me love the way of the salaf, even though I was already upon it before that. But this increased my insight and longing for it. I said at that time about those other methods:
“The most I got from all my research, was being stuck between two paths.
I had plunged deep into its ocean, but even after long thought, I only gained confusion.
Can anyone claim knowledge who has only found hesitation? My soul found no contentment except in deep commitment to the salafi path.’” (al-Tuhaf fi Madhahib al-Salaf, pp. 38–39)
All of this makes clear the truth and soundness of the salafi way in the matter of Allah’s names and attributes.
Shaykh ‘Abdul’azīz ibn ‘Abdullāh ibn Bāz رحمه الله said: In any case, what is well known among the scholars is that they give attention to both matters—sound creed and other parts of the religion. Creed, as you mentioned, dear questioner, is the foundation and the pillar upon which everything else stands.
That is why, in many places around the Muslim world, scholars actually neglect the matter of creed contrary to what you might expect. They focus instead on topics like manners, prayer, zakat, prayer times, and other rulings—while creed is ignored.
Because of this neglect, people began worshipping graves besides Allah, and shirk spread among them without them even realising it.
Sometimes, the scholar himself falls into shirk with Allah because he was raised upon shirk—alongside his father, his uncle, and his teacher. They lived their whole lives upon shirk due to not engaging with the science of creed and not giving it any importance. You may see him teaching in the masjid, yet he is calling upon other than Allah.
He may teach in the masjid, then turn around and call upon al-Badawi, or al-Husayn, or Abd al-Qadir. That is because he was raised on that, along with his father, his grandfather, and his close companions. These are some of the consequences of abandoning creed and failing to give it proper attention.
You may find him an expert, sharp-sighted in the rulings of prayer, in the times of prayer, in rental contracts, in zakat, in inheritance and wills, and other matters—because he studied them and gave them importance. But when it comes to creed, he neither gives it attention nor has any real understanding of it.
And even when he does care about the subject, it is often the creed of the theologians that he focuses on—what the philosophers (mutakallimeen) discussed and introduced from their own minds. He studies the creed as presented by the Asharis, the Jahmis, and the Muʿtazilah, yet he remains unaware of the creed of the Salaf—the creed followed by the companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and by our righteous predecessors.
That includes affirming the names and attributes of Allah, true belief in Allah, worshipping Him alone, avoiding all forms of shirk, and giving this matter full attention.
So the conclusion is that it is absolutely necessary—strongly obligatory—for attention to be given to the creed. The scholars must take it upon themselves to clarify it to the people—both to the general public and to the students of knowledge.
Lessons should be mostly focused on creed, while also giving attention to character and other religious rulings. We should not neglect this or that, but the greatest focus must be on creed.
Shaykh Muhammad Ibn Abdul Wahhab (may Allah have mercy on him), in his letters, would write to some of his opponents—those who debated and argued against him in matters of creed—and he would say to them: I am asking you to study the chapters of creed just like you study the chapters on endowments (awqaf). That is, just as you give attention to religious endowments and how to manage them, I ask that you study the chapter on the ruling of the apostate (riddah) with the same concern you show to endowments.
If only they studied the chapter on apostasy in the books of fiqh written by scholars across the madhhabs, and gave it proper attention, they would come to see how much falsehood and shirk they are upon.
But they neglect that chapter because no one asks questions about it, and no one pays attention to it. Instead, you find them busy with endowments—how to manage them, how to distribute their income, how to handle rental agreements, how to rent out property, how to deal with the wealth of orphans.
They became absorbed in these issues and abandoned the subject of creed because they did not care about it and the general people did not ask about it. That is why aqedah became frozen, neglected, and forgotten.
As a result, people fell deeply into shirk, into worshipping graves and saints. Because of this neglect, you find people in Egypt, in the Levant, in Iraq, and in other places, calling upon al-Badawi, or al-Husayn, or others besides Allah. They are worshipped along with Allah, and the turbaned scholars themselves call people to this and do it alongside the general public.
They confused the matter and neglected it, and because of their neglect, the general people fell into shirk. You now see them staying by the graves, calling upon them besides Allah, seeking help from them, asking them to fulfil their needs, to heal the sick, to give them victory over enemies.
This is what is now widespread among people. Whoever doubts this, let him travel to other lands and pass by the grave of al-Badawi, or al-Husayn, or others, and he will find people gathered there saying things like: “O master so-and-so, help me! Heal my sick one! Give me victory over my enemy! Do this for me! Grant me that!” They even go so far as to ask these saints for children, asking them to make their wives pregnant, to give them wealth, and so on. We ask Allah for well-being. They forgot Allah, so He left them to themselves. There is no power and no strength except with Allah.
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