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Definition of ‘Aqidah Summary Definition

 

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قد تكون صورة لـ ‏نص مفاده '‏Definition of Aqidah al- Aqidah (الْعَقِيْدَةُ) which is translated as belief, creed or doctrine, is to possess firm belief of the level of absolute certainty tied tightly to the heart, in which one expresses no doubt whatsoever, and the foundation of which is the Six Pillars of İmãn. Aqidah.com‏'‏
Definition of ‘Aqidah
Summary Definition
al-ʿAqīdah ( اَلْعَقِيْدَةُ), which is translated as belief, creed or doctrine, is to possess firm belief of the level of absolute certainty tied tightly to the heart, in which one expresses no doubt whatsoever, and the foundation of which is the Six Pillars of Īmān.
Tracing Its Linguistic Roots
To acquire a profounder understanding of the above mentioned technical (اصْطِلَاحِي) definition of al-ʿAqīdah, it is useful to examine its linguistic root. Studying the linguistic root of any technical definition helps us to observe connections, if any, between them.
The root of the word ʿAqīdah is: ع – ق – د .
In Tāj al-ʿArūs (8:394), the author, Muḥammad Murṭaḍā al-Zabīdī (d. 1205/1790) states under [ع – ق – د] that the origin of اَلْعَقْدُ al-ʿaqd is the opposite of اَلْحَلُّ al-ḥall. What he means is that al-ʿaqd means to tie, fasten and bind whilst al-ḥall means to untie, unfasten and undo, like you would with a knot.
He goes on to say that the plural of ʿaqd, عُقُودʿuqūd was later used with regards to business contracts and then it went on to be used to denote determination and resolution as well as an absolute certainty of belief.
The central meaning of the root, as defined by al-Zabīdī, is employed in the Qurʾān
Allāh the Exalted stated:
لا يُؤاخِذُكُمُ اللَّهُ بِاللَّغوِ في أَيمانِكُم وَلٰكِن يُؤاخِذُكُم بِما عَقَّدتُمُ الأَيمانَ
{Allāh will not impose blame on you for what is meaningless in your oaths, but He will impose blame upon you for [breaking] what you intended of oaths}
[al-Māʾidah (5): 89]
Taʿqīd al-aymān is the hearts intention and resolve to do something. This is opposite to Laghw al-Yamīn which is an unintentional slip of the tongue.
In the oldest Arabic language dictionary known to us, Kitāb al-ʿAyn of the master linguist al-Khalīl b. Aḥmad al-Farāhīdī (d. 170), under the root [ع – ق – د], he states:
وَاعْتَقَدْتُ مَالاً: جَمَعْتُهُ “wa [i]ʿtaqadtu mālan“: I collected it, وَعَقَدَ قَلْبَهُ عَلى شَيْءٍ: لَمْ يَنْزِعْ عَنْهُ“wa ʿaqada qalbahu ʿalā shayʾin”: and he tied his heart to something: he did not divest it/give it up.
al-Fayyūmī (d. 770) states in his dictionary of the Arabic language (p. 160), اِعْتَقَدْتُ كَذَا iʿtaqadtu kadhā means, as Lane (d. 1876CE) explains in his lexicon (5:2105, c1), quoting from al-Fayyūmī, “He settled, or determined, his heart, or mind, firmly upon such a thing; or he held, adhered, or clave, to such a thing with the heart, or mind.”
عَقَدَ عَلَيْهِ الْقَلْب وَ الضَّمِيْر ʿaqada ʿalayhi al-qalb wa al-ḍamīr means: [he believed, or believed firmly, or was firmly persuaded of, such a thing; this is its most usual meaning;] he was, or became, certain or sure, of such a thing.”
al-ʿAqīdah, al-Fayyūmī says, is what a person takes as his religion. To say one has عَقِيْدَةٌ حَسَنَة ʿaqīdah ḥasanah, or good creed means that it is free from any doubt.
In his An Arabic-English Lexicon (5:2107, c3), Edward William Lane (d. 1876CE) explains ʿaqīdah as “[A doctrine, or the like, upon which one’s mind is firmly settled or determined; or to which one holds, adheres, or cleaves, with the heart or mind; a belief, or firm belief or persuasion; a creed; an article of belief; a religious tenet;]
i.e. مَا يَدِيْنُ الإِنْسَانُ بِهِmā yadīnu al-insānu bihi.”
He states that the plural is عَقَائِدُ ʿaqāʾid and that مُعْتَقَد muʿtaqad signifies the same as ʿaqīdah, the plural of which is مُعْتَقَدَات muʿtaqadāt. اِعْتِقَاد Iʿtiqād, he continues, also signifies the same.
In examining the origin of the root of ʿAqīdah, it becomes clear that the usage of the meaning it denotes; tying, binding and fastening, was widened to include more abstract and intangible matters. It went from the tying and binding of ropes for instance, to: the tying, binding and ratifying of contracts and agreements to: that which is tied and bound to the heart i.e. beliefs.
We have also learnt that there are synonyms to the term ʿAqīdah derived from the same trilateral root which include: Iʿtiqād and Muʿtaqad.
It is also apparent from al-Zabīdī’s words that the word ʿAqīdah is not mentioned in the Qurʾān or Sunnah. I will deal with this issue in a separate section with the permission of Allāh. The fact that the word ʿAqīdah is not mentioned in the Qurʾān or in the Sunnah, does not detract from the validity of its use however, as we shall see below from words of contemporary scholars.
Contemporary Scholarly Definitions
The extensive use of the word ʿAqīdah by contemporary scholars to refer to the belief system of Islām, when authoring books or delivering lectures, provides us with a plethora of explications of the term. We will cover some of them in this section.
Echoing the linguistic definitions we have mentioned above from classical dictionaries, Sh. Muḥammad b. Ṣāliḥ al-ʿUthaymīn (d. 1421/2001) states, in his explanation of Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Taymiyyah’s (d. 728) tract on the Names and Attributes of Allāh, al-ʿAqīdah al-Wāsiṭiyyah (1:50), that اِعْتِقَاد or creed, is formed from the morphological pattern of اِفْتِعَال ((Iftiʿāl)) and it is derived from the three-lettered root of ((al-ʿaqd)).
((al-ʿaqd))) in the linguistic sense denotes binding and tying firmly.
In the technical sense, according to the linguists, it is حُكْمُ الذِّهْنِ الْجَازِم the firm judgement of the mind, so when it is said اعْتَقَدْتُ كَذَا it means: “I am absolutely certain about it in my heart.”
Now, if this absolute certainty of the heart conforms to reality, then it is صَحِيح, or correct and sound. If it does not conform to reality, then it is فَاسِد, false and unsound.
Thus, our ʿAqīdah or creed, that Allāh is the only deity worthy of worship is ṣaḥīḥ, or correct and sound. As for the ʿAqīdah of the Christians that Allāh is one of three, then it is fāsid or false because it contradicts reality.
The above distinction is extremely important because, some authors, mistakenly define ʿAqīdah by failing to note this distinction. Dr. Ḍamīriyyah states (p. 121) that al-ʿAqīdah is, “…therefore a resolute belief conforming to reality which does not accept doubt or preponderance…”
Sh. al-ʿUthaymīn states in an audio clip, that adding “conforming to reality” is not a requirement of the definition. Instead one should say “if it confirms to reality then it is sound ʿaqīdah and if it does not conform to reality then it is false ʿaqīdah.”[i] The definition Ḍamīriyyah provides does not cater for the fact that the belief of the Christians in the Trinity is an ʿaqīdah, however the distinction is that it does not conform to reality hence it is a false ʿaqīdah. Sh. al-ʿUthaymīn’s definition accommodates this vital distinction unlike Ḍamīriyyah’s.
The fact that the term ʿaqīdah is used to refer to beliefs and creeds that are contrary to that of the creed of Islām is evident in the titles of classical books on the topic.
So, for instance, al-Lālikāʾī (d. 418) entitled his work on ʿaqīdah Sharḥ Uṣūl Iʿtiqād Ahl al-Sunnah wa al-Jamāʿah, al-Ṣābūnī entitled his, ʿAqīdat al-Salaf Asḥāb al-Ḥadīth, al-Aṣbahānī (d. 535) al-Ḥujjah fī Bayān al-Maḥajjah wa Sharḥ ʿAqīdat Ahl al-Sunnah. Their works describe and substantiate via proof-texts the ʿAqīdah of Ahl al-Sunnah, thereby implying that these are contrary to the ʿaqīdah of Ahl al-Biḍaʿ. Ironically, al-Ḍamīriyyah’s own book from which I have quoted is entitled Madkhal li Dirāsat al-ʿAqidat al-Islāmiyyah (Access to Studying the Islāmic Creed) thereby implying the existence of non-Islāmic creeds!
On a side note, from the Shaykh’s explanation of the word ʿAqīdah, the connection between the linguistic meaning becomes more obvious; this judgement which is in the heart, has been tied and fastened tightly to it in such a manner that it cannot slip away.
Sh. Ṣāliḥ Āl al-Shaykh states in his commentary of the same text, i.e. al-ʿAqīdah al-Wāsiṭiyyah (1:69), that the term al-Iʿtiqād is specifically used in explaining the Six Pillars of Īmān and matters which are related to it which, distinguish people who possess the correct Iʿtiqād regarding Allāh’s Names and His Attributes.
Prior to this (1:68), he explains that al-Iʿtiqād refers to matters of belief which are tied to the heart. He states that its foundation is derived from absolute certain knowledge [الْعِلْمُ الْجَازِمُ].
Sh. Ṣāliḥ al-Fawzān states in his book, ʿAqīdat al-Tawḥīd (p. 9) that linguistically, it is taken from al-ʿaqd which is to tie something.
To say [اِعْتَقَدْتُ كَذَا] means “I tied the heart and mind to it.”
al-ʿAqīdah is that which a person adopts as a religion.
It is said, [عَقِيدَةٌ حَسَنَةٌ] ʿaqīdah ḥasanah meaning; free from doubt.
al-ʿAqīdah is an action of the heart, and it is the hearts faith in something and believing it to be true.
In the Sharīʿah, al-ʿAqīdah is to have Īmān, or faith, in Allāh, His angels, His Books, His Messengers, the Last Day and Divine Decree. These are called the Pillars of Īmān. The Sharīʿah, continues Sh. al-Fawzān, is divided into two: Iʿtiqādiyyāt (beliefs) and ʿAmaliyyāt (actions).
al-Iʿtiqādiyyāt refers to those things which are not connected to the mode of action such as belief in the Lordship of Allāh and the obligation of worshipping Him and the belief in the rest of the Pillars of Īmān which have been mentioned. These are termed: أَصْلِيَّة aṣliyyah, i.e. fundamental.
al-ʿAmaliyyāt are those matters which are connected to the mode of action such as prayer, Zakāh, fasting and the rest of the practical rulings. These are termed, فَرْعِيَّة farʿiyyah or subsidiary because their correctness or invalidity are built upon it.
From the words of Sh. al-Fawzān we learn that ʿAqīdah is something which is intangible and knowledge-based, thus it lies in the heart. Sh. al-ʿUthaymīn also makes this point stating that ʿAqīdah is not something which is said upon the tongue, as a person may say with the tongue what is not in his heart.[ii]
No Doubt
A core characteristic of al-ʿAqīdah is that it is something in which there is no speck of doubt. Thus it is to believe with absolute certainty. If there is even a speck of doubt, then it is termed ظَنٌّ ẓann (preponderance) and not ʿaqīdah. The author of al-Muʿjam al-Wasīṭ states:
Slide2
“al-ʿAqīdah: judgement which accepts no doubt therein for the one who believes in it.”
The evidence to support this signification, as argued by Dr. al-Ashqar (p. 13), is the statement of Allāh the Exalted:
إِنَّمَا المُؤمِنونَ الَّذينَ آمَنوا بِاللَّهِ وَرَسولِهِ ثُمَّ لَم يَرتابوا
{The believers are only the ones who have believed in Allāh and His Messenger and then doubt not…}
[al-Ḥujurāt (49): 15]
He said:
الم. ذٰلِكَ الكِتابُ لا رَيبَ ۛ فيهِ ۛ
{Alif Lām Mīm. This is the Book in which there is no doubt…}
[al-Baqarah (2):1-2]
Allāh censures the doubting polytheists when He said:
وَارتابَت قُلوبُهُم فَهُم في رَيبِهِم يَتَرَدَّدونَ
{…they have doubt in their hearts so they waver}
[al-Tawbah (9): 45]
The Foundations of ʿAqīdah
The foundations of ʿAqīdah with which we are commanded by Allāh the Exalted, are the Six Pillars of Īmān which are mentioned in His Book and in the Sunnah of His Messenger.
The Nature of What It Covers[iii]
As is evident from the above, al-ʿAqīdah is related to matters of the unseen. This is what Allāh praises the believers for when He said:
الَّذينَ يُؤمِنونَ بِالغَيبِ
{…those who believe in the unseen…}
[al-Baqarah (2): 3]
The Six Pillars of Īmān are from the matters of the unseen. Allāh is unseen, the angels are unseen and the Last Day is unseen. Even though the Messengers and the Books were/are physical entities, the belief that they are from Allāh and ascribed to Him is a matter of the unseen.
Other Terms
Now that we have acquired an understanding of the linguistic and technical definition of ʿAqīdah, it should be noted that the field of ʿAqīdah has been referred to by different terminologies throughout history. I have noted seven such terms below:
اَلْعَقِيْدَة – اَلْعَقَائِد al-ʿAqīdah, pl. ʿAqāʾid
اَلْإِعْتِقَاد – ات al-Iʿtiqād, pl. al-Iʿtiqādāt
اَلْمُعْتَقَد – ات al-Muʿtaqad, pl. al-Muʿtaqadāt
اَلْفِقْهُ الْأَكْبَر al-Fiqh al-Akbar
السُّنَّة al-Sunnah
أُصُولُ الدِّيْن Uṣūl al-Dīn
الشَّرِيْعَة al-Sharīʿah
Classical Books on ʿAqīdah
Below is a list of books, in chronological order, which cover the general topic(s) of ʿAqīdah. The purpose of the list is to demonstrate the different terminologies utilised by classical academics throughout history, when referring to the field of belief and creed[iv].
al-Fiqh al-Akbar by Abū Ḥanīfah (d. 150)
Kitāb al-Īmān by Abū ʿUbayd al-Qāsim b. Sallām (d. 224)
Kitāb al-Sunnah by Ibn Abī Shaybah (d. 235)
al-Sunnah by Aḥmad b. Ḥanbal (d. 240)
Kitāb al-Tawḥīd by Abū al-ʿAbbās Aḥmad b. ʿUmar b. Surayj al-Baghdādī (d. 306)
Kitāb al-Tawḥīd wa Ithbāt Ṣifāt al-Rabb ʿAzza wa Jalla by Abū Bakr Muḥammad b. Isḥāq b. Khuzaymah (d. 311)
al-ʿAqīdah al-Ṭaḥāwiyyah by Abū Jaʿfar Aḥmad b. Muḥammad al-Ṭaḥāwī (d. 321).
al-Ibānah fī Uṣūl al-Diyānah by Abū al-Ḥasan al-Ashʿarī (d. 329)
Kitāb al-Sharīʿah by Abū Bakr Muḥammad b. al-Ḥasan b. ʿAbd Allāh al-Ajurrī (d. 360)
al-Ibanāh ʿan Sharīʿat al-Firqah al-Nājiyah wa Mujānabat al-Firaq al-Madhmūmah by the same author.
al-Sharḥ wa al-Ibānah ʿan Uṣūl al-Sunnah wa al-Diyānah by Abū ʿAbd Allāh ʿUbayd Allāh b. Muḥammad b. Baṭṭah al-ʿUkbarī (d. 387)
Kitāb al-Tawḥīd wa Maʿrifat Asmāʾ Allāh ʿAzza wa Jalla wa Ṣifātuhu ʿalā al-Ittifāq wa al-Tafarrud by Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad b. Isḥāq b. Mandah (d. 395)
Sharḥ Uṣūl Iʿtiqād Ahl al-Sunnah wa al-Jamāʿah by Abū al-Qāsim Hibat Allāh b. al-Ḥasan b. Manṣūr al-Ṭabarī al-Lālikāʾī (d. 418)
Uṣūl al-Dīn by Abū Manṣūr ʿAbd al-Qāhir b. Ṭāhir al-Tamīmī al-Baghdādī (d. 429)
ʿAqīdat al-Salaf wa Aṣḥāb al-Ḥadīth by Abū ʿUthmān Ismāʿīl al-Ṣābūnī (d. 449)
al-Iʿtiqād ʿalā Madhhab al-Salaf Ahl al-Sunnah wa al-Jamāʿah by Abū Bakr Aḥmad b. al-Ḥusayn al-Bayhaqī (d. 458)
al-Irshād Ilā Qawaṭiʿ al-Adillah fī Uṣūl al-Iʿtiqād by Abū al-Maʿālī ʿAbd al-Mālik b. ʿAbd Allāh b. Yūsuf al-Juwaynī (d. 478)
al-Shāmil fī Uṣūl al-Dīn by the same author
Uṣūl al-Dīn by ʿAlī b. Muḥammad b. ʿAlī al-Juwaynī Ilkiyya al-Harrāsī (d. 504)
al-Tamhīd li Qawāʿid al-Tawḥīd by Abū al-Muʿīn al-Nasafī al-Makḥūlī Maymūn b. Muḥammad (d. 508)
al-Ḥujjah fī Bayān al-Maḥajjah wa Sharḥ ʿAqīdat Ahl al-Sunnah by Abū al-Qāsim Ismāʿīl b. Muḥammad al-Taymī al-Aṣbahānī (d. 535)
Tajrīd al-Tawḥīd al-Mufīd by Taqī al-Dīn Aḥmad b. ʿAlī al-Maqrīzī (d. 854)
al-Durrah al-Muḍiyyah fī ʿAqīdat al-Firqat al-Marḍiyyah by Aḥmad al-Safārīnī (d. 1118)
With all these different terminologies being used to refer to the belief and doctrine of Islam, the question that arises is:
Is There a Difference Between ʿAqīdah and Īmān?
Sh. Muḥammad Nāṣir al-Dīn al-Albānī (d. 1420/1999 ) was asked what the difference between ʿAqīdah and Īmān was. He replied:
“There is no difference. The word Īmān is used in the Sunnah and the Qur’an. al-ʿAqīdah is the expression of the scholars for this Īmān.”[v]
Similarly, Sh. Ṣāliḥ al-Fawzān was asked the same question to which he replied:
“Īmān is what the heart believes and has faith in, thus ʿAqīdah and Īmān are one thing. They are both actions of the hearts and the foundation and base of this religion, so there is no religion without sound ʿAqīdah nor without correct Iʿtiqād in accordance with the Book and Sunnah [which is the] ʿaqīdah of Ahl al-Sunnah wa al-Jamāʿah and they are: belief in Allāh, His angels, His Books, His Messengers and the Last Day and faith in the Divine Decree, its good and bad. Likewise, belief in Allāh – the one far removed from all imperfections and the Exalted – in His Names and Attributes.
So we, affirm what Allāh affirmed for Himself, or which His Messenger affirmed for Him in terms of the Names and Attributes without making resemblances and similarities and without distorting nor rejecting.”[vi]
Sh. ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz b. Bāz (d. 1420/1999 ) was asked about the terms Imān, Tawḥīd and ʿAqīdah and if they differed in their denotations.
He stated that they do indeed differ in some ways but that they all refer to one and the same thing. He then explains that Tawḥīd is to single out Allāh exclusively with worship whilst Īmān is to have the belief that He is alone in deserving worship. It is also to believe in everything He informed us of. Thus, he explains, Īmān is more general than the word Tawḥīd because Īmān includes everything that Tawḥīd includes in addition to everything else of which the Prophet informed us.
ʿAqīdah, the Shaykh explains, covers both Īmān and Tawḥīd.
He then defines ʿaqīdah as that which a person believes in his heart and sees it as a creed by which he submits to Allāh and worships Him. Thus, the belief that Allāh is the Sole Creator and Provider to Whom belongs the most beautiful Names and Attributes and that worship is not appropriate for anyone other than Him and to believe that He forbade such and such and obligated such and such and legislated and prohibited such and such – thus it is more inclusive.[vii]
What we learn from the words of the notable scholars mentioned above is that Tawḥīd refers to matters of belief related to Allāh in terms of His Lordship, His worship and His Names and Attributes. Īmān is more general in that it covers the Tawḥīd of Allāh and also the other 5 pillars of Īmān which are; belief in His angels, Books, Messengers, belief in the Last Day and the Divine Decree. ʿAqīdah is even more general than Īmān because it includes matters of Tawḥīd, the rest of the pillars of Īmān and other matters of belief. This is evident from the words of Ibn Bāz.
They all cover matters of the unseen which is why we see the scholars using the terms interchangeably without any issues. This is what is deduced from the words of al-Albānī and al-Fawzān.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the word ʿAqīdah is derived from the root [ع – ق – د] which denotes tying tightly, binding and fastening in a concrete manner initially and then a more abstract sense later on denoting a belief in the heart. This belief can be either sound and correct or corrupt and false. ʿAqīdah is synonymous with other terms used to indicate belief, some of which are derived from its same root such as Iʿtiqād and Muʿtaqad. The linguistic sense of the word is utilised in the Qurʾān when referring to oaths.
With regards to the technical sense of the word, ʿAqīdah retains its linguistic signification in that it denotes a belief of the level of absolute certainty containing no doubt at all. Technically the scholars add that it is tied to the heart tightly and the basis of which is the Six Pillars of Īmān. This is essentially how the expert scholars of our time have defined the term ʿAqīdah.
Additionally, ʿAqīdah is synonymous to Īmān in the sense that it pertains to firm conviction in the matters of the unseen. It is dissimilar in the sense that it is more general than Īmān. Īmān is specifically related to the Six Pillars of Īmān whilst ʿAqīdah relates to these Six Pillars of Īmān and everything else extensively related to them. It is with this sense of the word, the classical books of belief and creed were entitled.
The topic matter of ʿAqīdah include at its foundation, the knowledge of Allāh and His Names and Attributes. This indicates the virtue and superiority of the knowledge of ʿAqīdah over all others. Accordingly, the importance of ʿAqīdah is the subject matter of the next section.
Endnotes
[i] al-ʿUthaymīn, Muḥammad b. Ṣāliḥ. Mā al-Farq Bayna al-ʿAqīdah wa al-Īmān. https://www.youtube(dot)com/watch?v=mD9M4de51gI, last accessed 24.08.16.
[ii] https://www.youtube(dot)com/watch?v=bbDgBvHYf10
[iii] Refer to book by Dr. Umar, p. 13.
[iv] See, al-Ḍamīriyyah’s Madkhal li Dirāsat al-ʿAqīdat al-Islāmiyyah, passim.
[v] http://alalbany(dot)me/play(dot)php?catsmktba=10262#
[vi] http://www.alfawzan(dot)af(dot)org(dot)sa/node/15448
[vii] http://www.binbaz(dot)org(dot)sa/fatawa/273
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