The Creed of Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jamaa - Mufti Ali Juma

7/29/2019 The Creed of Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jamaa - Mufti Ali Juma

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The Creed of Ahl al-Sunna wal-Jamaa

Creed

The word for creed in Arabic is aqida. Linguistically, it

means to bind firmly and tightly. And in the terminology of

the sciences, it is a belief held strongly and with

conviction in the hearts of humans, whether it be true or false. This strong

belief is a motivator to action, such as is the case with the belief of a Muslim in

the existence of God and the veracity of the Prophet.

History attests to the fact that all peoples at all times have had an ideology or

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religious creed to which they assent, which moves them to action and which has

an impact on their behavior and conduct.

The Islamic creed consists of a firm belief that God, Lord of the Worlds, is the

Creator of the Heavens and the Earth; that there is only one God Who can be

characterized by all perfections, Who transcends all deficiencies, and Who is

unlike any other being; that Muhammad is his Prophet and Messenger to theWorlds, and that he fulfilled this mission in the most perfect and complete

manner; that the Quran is His Book, truthful and untouched by any falsity; and

that what it conveys of matters unseen for example, angels, other prophets,

paradise, and hell is all true.

This set of beliefs moves he who possesses them to hold fast to the rules of

the sharia and the commands and prohibit ions of t he Quran and the Sunna.

Monotheism

Monotheism (tawhid) is to belief in the Oneness of God, worshipping Him alone,

and affirming this belief of His Essence, His Qualities, and His Actions. It is also

to affirm that there is no entity which resembles His Indivisible Essence; that

no qualities which resemble the Divine Qualities, in which plurality is not

possible such that one can say that God has two Wills or Knowledges, for

example; and that His Actions do not admit of any association there is, that

is to say, no action other than His, and any action of another is to be regardedas acquisitive (kasb).

What has been said by the theologians with regards to monotheism can be

simplified as follows:

It is the belief that God is other than anything that can be conceived by the

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imagination

It is the belief that His Essence in no way resembles other entities, nor does It

compromise his Qualities

Tawhid is in fact a developed science derived from certain and definitive proofs.

It enables one to establish religious beliefs via argumentation and repellingdoubts.

It is concerned with the Essence of God, and what is necessary, impossible, or

permissible to affirm of It. It is also concerned with the messengers, what they

brought affirming the existence of a Creator. Finally, it treats revelatory data,

and the necessity to belive in it.

The benefit of the science of tawhid is that it leads to a knowledge of God

through definitive proofs, and the attainment of eternal happiness as a result.

Because it is connected to the knowledge of God and His prophets, it is the

most noble of sciences. As the Arabic saying goes, things are ennobled by that

which they are connected to.

Learning this science is an individual obligation for every person, male or female,

as established by the verse which directs all to Know that there is no god but

Allah (al-Muhammad, 19). Technically, the obligation is to know the creed in a

general way; while a knowledge of the particulars and details is a communalobligation.

The science of tawhid discusses three matters:

Divinity that which has to do with God

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Prophecy that which has to do with prophets and messengers

Revelation that which treats matters which cannot be proven except through

revelatory reports

Types of P roofs

There are two types of proofs:

Purely rational, such as that which establishes the existence of a Creator

through the creation of the Heavens, the Earth and ourselves.

Revelatory, which is in fact a combination of rational and revelatory premises,

because the veracity of a report can be established only by reason. These

proofs may establish definitive certainty in sharia matters when they are mass-

transmitted or accompanied by empirical evidence. However, in cases where

they do not accord with a reason-based proof, the latter is given priority, for to

disregard reason would be to disregard both types of proofs (since the latter is

a hybrid).

Epistemology and Ontology

The philosophers say that that which may be known are either non-existent,

existent in the mind, or existent in the world. And that which has extra-mental

(i.e., worldly) existence is either necessarily existent , i.e., it is impossible that itnot exist, or it is contingently existent.

The theologians say that the existent is that which has a reality in the world,

and it is either eternal or created. The created is further divided into two: the

substance and the accident

The contingent (al-mumkin) is that which is necessarily in need of a cause. It

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may be either existent or non-existent, in equal probability. The contingent is

always created, never eternal.

The necessary: The essentially necessary is God, Who is simple, not

compound. This is because to be compound means to be contingent, created

and admitting divisibility. This also means he does not admit association

because that would entail being compound. God transcends comparison andresemblance. His Qualities include Life, Knowledge and Power. These Qualities

are eternal, and do not compromise his necessity of being, nor do they render

him needy of anything, for His Qualities are not other than Him.

The createdness of t he world

To be created (huduth) means to be preceded by non-existence (adam). The

world is everything other than God, the Exalted. The world is made of

substances (jawahir) and accidents (araad). Substances are those entities

that are independent of place. Accidents are those qualities that are

connected to substance, such as color, tast e, smell, life, death, will, power,

and knowledge.

***

The createdness of the world is proven as follows: All existents can be

classified as either eternal (qadim) or created.The eternal is that which is preceded by nothing else. It is necessary of

existence. It is impossible for the eternal to not be, for eternality contradicts

non-existence.

The created is that existent which is preceded by another. It may both exist

and not exist. So, when it is distinguished by existence rather than non-

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existence, it is in need of something that performs that distinguishing for it.

This entity is a creator characterized by volition and power.

All that is not void of created entities is created. No body in the world is void of

created accidents and changeable states. The qualities of the bodies change,

and they move from one state to another. The reality of changeable entities is

that in fact one state is annihilated and another is created. This is known in

the case of the new state by observation, and in the case of the old statebecause, if it were eternal it would not have become non-existent.

Therefore, it is necessary to believe firmly that the world, all its bodies,

including all sorts of vegetation and animals; all actions; all utterances; and all

beliefs are created. They came to exist after non-existence.

The existence of the Creator

Belief in the existence of the Creator is the first pillar of Islamic doctrine. All

other doctrinal principles are built upon it. And believing in this existence is the

only path to attaining a correct understanding of creation, and the meaning of

existence in this world.

The world that we see is contingently existent (mumkin al-wujud), which means

that the mind precludes neither its existence nor non-existence. Therefore,

there must be some external cause which made it existence, and distanced it

from non-existence. In its default mode, the world and its entities are possible

of both states. And the Cause that made it existent (and not non-existent) iswhat we call God, the Exalted.

Every rational person, through observation, knows necessarily that creation

came into existence after non-existence, i.e., they were created. That which is

created is in need of a creator. An infinite regression of such creators is

impossible, as all rational people agree. Infinite regression means that a

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created entity has a creator, and that creator has its own creator, and on and

on with no end. This infinite regression, on whose impossibility all rational

people agree, cannot be avoided except by positing an Eternal Creator, Who is

in need of no other. His Existence needs No Originator.

This is God, the Necessarily Existent. The Necessary, i.e. God, is not a

compound being, nor multiple. It is truly One.

If all existences were simply contingent, and none of them were necessary, this

set of contingently existent entities which encompasses all existent entities

would be in need of an originator. This is because the set is itself contingent, a

compound entity made of a set of contingent entities.

However, the Necessary of Existence (God) is independent in His Existence. He

does not need any other entity for his existence. And He is outside of this set .

So He is the Creator.

The first obligation

Contemplating (al-nazar) knowing God is an obligation by consensus, whether it

is by revelatory means as the Asharis say, or by rational ones as the Mutazilis

say.

The primary obligation is to know God, and the means to achieving it isspeculation (al-nazar), so it is also an obligation. But speculation is not possible

without an intent to engage in it. Therefore, the intention is also an obligation,

indeed the first obligation.

By al-nazar is meant the tools and methodologies by which knowledge is

organized so as to lead from one piece of information to another. Alternatively,

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it is defined as abstracting the mind away from insignificant matters and

orienting it to the objects of reason. When this is done properly, what results is

necessary knowledge.

This is an obligation, because in matters of doctrine, following another based on

his or her authority is a sin for someone who is capable of engaging in

theoretical and rational thought. If he is not capable of this, it is not a sin. AbuMansur al-Maturidi says, Our companions are agreed that the masses believers

and knowers of God, and they will populate Heaven, as we are informed in

reports and as is agreed on by scholars. For their natural state leads them to

monotheism and belief in the Creators eternality and the createdness of all

else, even if they are unable to articulate this in the terminology of the

theologians. Al-Amidi reported agreement that those who attest to the correct

doctrine based on authority are not disbelievers.

The difference of opinion obtains when we turn to the judgement in the

Hereafter. In matters of this world, there is no disagreement that we are to

judge based on apparent attest at ions alone. So, he who attests to the

doctrine of Islam is to be treated as a Muslim, and not pronounced a

disbeliever. So, he may marry other Muslims; he may lead the prayer; his

slaughtered meat may be consumed; Muslims may inherit from him, and he from

them; and he is to be buried in their cemeteries.

Belief (Iman)

Belief (iman) is to attest to all that is brought by the Prophet (peace be upon

him) and is known necessarily to be of the religion, both in generalities and

particulars. That which the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) brought

is al-Islam, outside of which there is no salvation. As Allah says, Say: Truly, my

prayer and my service of sacrifice, my life and my death, are (all) for God, the

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Cherisher of the Worlds. No partner hath He: this am I commanded, and I am

the first of those who submit (muslimin). (al-Anam: 162-163).

It is necessary that one submit to this, for there is no salvation in the eyes of

God except by entering into Islam: Say: We believe in God, and in what has

been revealed to us and what was revealed to Abraham, Isma'il, Isaac, Jacob,

and the Tribes, and in (the Books) given to Moses, Jesus, and the prophets,from their Lord: We make no distinction between one and another among them,

and to God do we bow our will (in Islam). If anyone desires a religion other

than Islam (submission to God), never will it be accepted of him; and in the

Hereafter He will be in the ranks of those who have lost (All spiritual good).

(Aal Imran: 84-85).

Islam is the religion of God with which all other messengers had been sent:

Ibrahim was not a Jew nor a Christ ian but he was (an) upright (man), a Muslim,

and he was not one of t he polytheists. (Aal Imran: 67)

The formula of testification is: I bear witness that there is no god but Allah,

and I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. For one who is

capable of uttering it, it is obligatory for the validity of his faith. It may be

uttered in a language other than Arabic, though it is better to use the Arabic

wording. Simply uttering the words is not sufficient if the speaker does not

understand the meaning of what he is reciting.

Articulating the formula of testification is a condition of one being considered a

Muslim in legal matters, such as inheritance, marriage, leading prayer, being

eligible for the funeral prayer, burial in Muslim cemeteries, and being subject to

the demand to pray and pay the zakat. This is because silent affirmation in

ones heart, though it constitutes belief, is hidden, and we are in need of a

visible sign of ones Islam.

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He who attests with his tongue, but not his heart, is a hypocrite. Though he is

not a Muslim in the eyes of God, he is to be regarded as a Muslim in this world,

provided he does not betray any visible indication of his disbelief, such as

prostrating to an idol or abusing a copy of the Quran.

The rejecter is one who refuses to utter the formula of testification. He is adisbeliever both in the eyes of God and in the consideration of people in this

world. An affirmation of the heart is of no consequence.

He who is confronted by doubts must seek to dispel them either through

rational speculation or by asking someone of knowledge. He who is confronted

by temptations should seek refuge in Allah, and say I believe in God and His

Messenger. The children of Muslims are considered believers, and are to be

treated as such in this world even if they never articulate the formula of

testification their whole lives.

Divine Attributes

What may not be attributed to God: There are some things that cannot be

affirmed of God. In short, He is transcendent, and free of anything that

indicates createdness or deficiency of any sort. Therefore, one may not

attribute to Him accidental attributes like taste, color, smell, or pain. Nor is he

restricted to directionality. Nor can we ascribe to him adjacency, for he is notbound by area. Neither the earth nor the heavens surround Him. He has neither

limits nor measure.

Anything that is distinguished by directionality is restricted a space, and

therefore is capable of being joined to substances and separate from them.

Anything that admits such a joining and separation with substance is connected

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to substance, and not void of it. Anything that is not void of substance is

created like the substance it is connected to. In contrast, God transcends

space, and connection to bodies.

We believe that the Creator of the world cannot be restricted by space, nor

can He have an end. For a thing may not be so restricted except by something

else, nor can he have an endpoint except by imposing a limitation on him byanother entity. But the Creator is neither created, nor restricted, nor limited in

any way. As Allah says, Do you not see that Allah knows whatever is in the

heavens and whatever is in the earth? Nowhere is there a secret counsel

between three persons but He is the fourth of them, nor (between) five but He

is the sixth of them, nor less than that nor more but He is with them

wheresoever they are; then He will inform them of what they did on the day of

resurrect ion: surely Allah is Cognizant of all t hings. (al-Mujadala: 7).

It is impermissible to attribute to God movement or rest, going and coming,

being in a place, connectedness and disconnectedness, physical proximity and

distance, size, body, form, measure, direct ions, or sides.

The Attributes of the Divine Essence: These are the att ributes which subsist in

the Divine Essence. They number seven or eight, the difference in number being

due to scholarly disagreement.

These attributes are eternal like His Names. If they had been created, thiswould mean affirming something created of the Divine Essence. It would also

mean that God was once without them, i.e., before their creation. Finally, it

would indicate the need for something to endow the Divine Essence with this

quality, which contradicts His Absolute Self-Sufficiency, i.e., His lack of need of

anything other than Him.

These are in contrast to the attributes of action which are not eternal

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according to the Asharis.

The attributes of the Divine Essence are of neither the essence, nor of other

than it. The former is obvious, for it is well known that the reality of the

essence is not the same as that of its attributes, otherwise they would be

identical. As for the latter, what is meant is that they are not of a separable

other. For these attributes are not separable from the essence, even thoughtheir reality is not that of the essence itself.

Whoever directs his worship to the attributes alone has committed disbelief.

And whoever connects his worship to the Essence alone has sinned. The correct

path is to worship the Divine Essence characterized by Its Att ributes.

These attributes are:

Existence: This means the existence of His Essence, uncaused by any other. It

is impossible that He did not exist. This sort of perfect existence is affirmed

only of God. All others partake in a subordinate mode of existence, both

preceded and succeeded by non-existence. This is an affirmative attribute,

affirmed of the Essence itself.

Eternality: This is a negative attribute, which is to say that it negates that

which is not worthy of God in this case, createdness, and so previous non-

existence. What is meant is t he eternality of the Essence t hat It never cameinto existence. For if It were not eternal, It would be created, and thus in

need of a creator, which creator would itself be in need of a creator. This would

regress infinitely. As such, He must be Eternal. We believe that God has always

been. A report in the Sahih of Ibn Hibban has it that, There was Allah, and

there was none other than Him.

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Everlastingness: This is also a negative attribute intended to exclude non-

existence from His Essence. Just as we may not contemplate a cause for the

generation of the Necessary Existent, we may not admit a cause for Its

destruction. If we were to admit such a cause, there would be no Necessary

Existent. The proof that Gods existence has no end is that It would then not

be Eternal, because eternality contradicts non-existence. The existence of all

other creation has both a beginning and end, except for Paradise and Hell,

which had a beginning but no end. We know this through revelation and not

reason.

Opposition to all Created Things: This is also a negative attribute indicating a

lack of resemblance between God and creation. For He is neither a body nor an

accident, neither a universal nor a particular. He similarly transcends all states

and attributions that, for example, can be said of humans and other entities,

such as sleep, heedlessness, hunger, thirst, and need. The proof of this

attribute is that if God were not opposed to all created things in all qualities,

He would resemble them in their createdness, or they would resemble Him in

His eternality. That is impossible.

We believe that God cannot be characterized by those qualities which

characterize creation. These latter are the essence of createdness, such as

being restricted to a place or time, having bodily or mental needs, or weakness

or incapacity. God is completely Transcendent. Nothing even remotely resembles

him. He has neither ancestors nor descendants. Nor does he have friends andenemies in the manner commonly spoken of, though we may use these words to

mean sincere devotees, on the one hand, and those who transgress his

commands, on the other.

However, it is true that we may describe humanity by some qualities we

attribute to God, such as knowledge, power, will, and perception. But we

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distinguish by saying that these are essential attributes of God, but not

essential attributes of humans. In the case of the latter, they are divine

blessings.

Subsistence in Himself: This means that he has no need for other. We believe

that God subsists in Himself. He has no need for an entity to generate Him, nor

for a space to encompass him. He has been God since before the generation of

anything else, and before the generation of time and space itself. Nor does he

have directionality, though some anthropomorphists have said that He is

characterized by aboveness. This is invalid. As Qadi Iyad has said, There is

no disagreement among the Muslim jurists, hadith scholars, theologians,

thinkers, and lay people that the apparent meaning of verses that mention God

being in the Heavens, such as Do ye feel secure that He Who is in heaven will

not cause you to be swallowed up by the earth when it shakes (as in an

earthquake)? are not to be taken literally, but rather are to be interpreted.

Oneness: This is also a negative attribute in that it denies something that is

not appropriate to attribute to God, that is, multiplicity or quantity. God is

neither composed of parts, nor made up of particulars (subsumed under a

universal). He does not have two knowledges or wills that complement one

another, nor does He have a knowledge or will that partakes in the knowledge

or will of others.

Power: This is an eternal attribute of the Divine Essence, through which allthings come to be and come to an end in accordance with His Will. What is

necessary for every Muslim to know and believe is that God is capable of all

things. The proof that God is characterized by power is that if He were not All-

Powerful, He would be charact erized by incapacity. This is impossible.

Will: This is also an eternal attribute of the Divine Essence, which has to do

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with realizing some of the potentialities of contingent beings. Gods Will is one.

It originates and annihilates some things.

Other Eternal Attributes: There are also other attributes. These include

Knowledge, Life, Speech, Hearing, and Sight.

The Beautiful Names of God: Allah says, The most beautiful names belong to

God: so call on Him by them (al-Araaf: 180). The names of God are eternal

like His essential attributes. This eternality is taken to mean that either that

they were suitable of God from pre-eternality, or that they always indicated the

meaning of those names. Some like Ibn Arabi took them to be equal in that

they all pertain to one essence (Gods), even though they may differ in the

world. Others took them to be of varying degrees of importance.

Allah is itself the Greatest Name, above all others. Ninet y-nine have been

enumerated in a hadith in Tirmidhi on the authority of Abu Hurayra, but al-

Nawawi has said that the scholars have agreed that the names listed there do

not exhaust the names of God. The position of ahl al-sunna is that His Names

and Attributes are taught to us, for this is what indicates Gods permission.

This may take the form of either being in the Quran and sunna, or it may be

established by consensus of use, such as the Fabricator, the Existent, the

Necessary, the Eternal.

Prophecy

In Arabic, the word prophet (nabi) is taken from the word for news, or

report for he reports about God. He is also the one who is reported to, in the

first instance, since Gabriel brings him news.

Terminologically, the word prophet refers to a pure human who is inspired by a

revelatory code of conduct on which he himself acts, even though he may not

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be called on to propagate it. If he is in fact called upon to propagate, he is a

messenger (rasul). All messengers are prophet s, but not all prophet s are

messengers. The sending of messengers is a great bounty from God. It is a

rational possibility, but He is under no obligation to send messengers.

Allah has named 25 prophets in t he Quran. Their prophethood must be believed

in. It is not permissible for a Muslim to be ignorant of them. There are yet

others not mentioned by name or in detail in the Quran. We know of them only

generally, and so must believe in them in that general manner. That is to say,

we must believe that God sent many prophets and messengers, to every nation

and group, in a variety of places and times. It is ignorant to think that God

specified only the Arabian peninsula and it s surrounding areas for prophecy.

There are five necessary requirements for prophethood:

Prophets only arise among humans, not among jinns or angels.

Prophets must be characterized by trustworthiness and honesty, and innocence

from sin. This is so that their testimony may be believed, and held to a high

standard.

Prophets must be characterized by a perfect rationality, precision, and

uprightness.

They must have propagated to the people everything they had been ordered to

propagate. They did not conceal anything.

There is disagreement on whether a prophet must be male. Those who said he

must be a male rely on the verse, And We did not send before you any but men

to whom We sent revelation, so ask the followers of the reminder if you do not

(al-Anbiya: 7). Those who say it is not a condition that a prophet be made point

to verses which say that the mother of Moses was inspired (al-Qasas: 7) and

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that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was listed in a context where many other

prophets were listed (Maryam : 58).

The greatest of Prophets is the final Prophet, Muhammad (peace be upon him).

Muslims are duty bound to love him, as we learn from a number of hadith.

Miracles

Miracles are actions of God in which the conventional laws of nature are broken

at the hands of his messengers, so that the messengers truthfulness, and the

veracity of his message, may be affirmed. It may be speech, like the Quran; or

an action, such as the gushing forth of water between his fingers; or an

absence, such as the inability of the fire to burn Abraham.

The conditions for a miracle are that:

1) It be from God himself.

2) It be a breaking of the conventional laws of nature.

3) It be inexplicable.

4) It be at the hands of someone who claims prophecy, so that his prophethood

may be established.

5) It be in accordance with what is being claimed.

6) What is claimed not be disproven by the miracle itself.

7) It not precede the claim, but be made in conjunction with it.

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Therefore, Prophet Jesuss speech in his infancy, wet dates falling on lady Mary

from a dry palm tree, cutting the chest of Prophet Muhammad and washing his

heart, clouds forming a shadow over him to protect him from the sun along with

the peace greetings that he used to hear from stones before his prophecy are

considered miracles.

The Prophets greatest miracle was the Quran itself. He also had material

sensible miracles, such as the splitting of the moon, the greetings offered to

him by stones, trees speaking to him, the gushing forth of water between his

noble fingers, and others.

Causality and Intermediaries

It is obligatory for a Muslim to believe firmly that there is no Cause in the world

other than God, and that all the apparent causes we see in the world of

phenomena are deputized by God Himself. There is however no harm in using

language that indicates causality of things other than God if ones beliefs are

sound on this matter. For example, one might say, This medicine was of benefit

to me, or This doctor cured me, or The rain this year caused there to be a

good crop.

This is why there is no harm in a Muslim seeking intercession with God via the

relics of prophets, as long as he believes that the only Cause is Allah. This fits

with the language used with respect to the apparent causality of the world.The most obvious instance of such is the Quranic verse, We have not sent you

(O Messenger) except as a mercy to the worlds. If Allah has said of the

Prophet (peace be upon him) that he is the cause of mercy to his servants,

there is no harm in invoking this honor He has granted the Prophet.

There is also no difference between invoking him during his life and after his

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death. This is because his bodily life was never the reason for invoking him in

this manner, such t hat we may say this is no longer possible.

Revelation

The word used here, samiyyat, refers to all that which can be known only

through reports that partake in certainty. One may not be a believer in Allah in

his heart, mind and soul without believing in both the seen and the unseen. The

unseen we believe in is that which is not visible, which may not be perceived

purely through rationality.

Believing in the unseen is the first pillar of piety. This means believing in God;

the reality of angels; divine scriptures and messengers, and that they are from

God; the Last Day, and that it will undoubtedly come; in Fate, good and bad;

and that there is nothing in the world except it was willed by God.

The unseen includes also

jinns, whose existence is proven by definit ive texts. God says in the Quran And

He created the jinn from a smokeless flame of fire. 55:15. So the jinns are

created from fire and are asked to worship God Almighty and follow the

prophets and messengers as God says And I did not create the jinn and

mankind except to worship Me. 51:56. Also the jinns are divided into believersand non believers as God says in the Quran And among us are Muslims [in

submission to Allah ], and among us are the unjust. And whoever has become

Muslim - those have sought out the right course. 72:41 Satan is one of the

jinns but was expelled away from Gods mercy and earned Gods wrath on him

because of his disobedience of Gods direct command to prostrate to Adam as

was narrated in the Quran And [mention] when We said to the angels,

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"Prostrate to Adam," and they prostrated, except for Iblees. He was of the jinn

and departed from the command of his Lord. 18:50. Gods eternal wrath on

Satan deems him to enter hellfire but his punishment is postponed t ill Judgment

Day where he will be sentenced to excruciating pain along with those who were

seduced by Satan and followed his path of evil. The jinns are inhabitants of

earth and are able to see humans unlike humans who are unable to see jinn as

God explained in the Quran saying Indeed, he sees you, he and his tribe, from

where you do not see them.. 7:27

The Throne, which is the greatest of creation, and where Allah will present

Himself on the Day of Judgment. This throne will be carried by eight angels in

the Day of Judgment but we are unable to attribute any sort of a defined or

detailed description of this throne due to a lack of knowledge about it. We also

believe in the divine stool but similarly we have no available date describing it.

What we know for sure though is that neither the throne nor the stool are

dwellings of God. in other words, God did not create the throne out of need for

elevation or superiority and did not create the stool out of a need for sitting

down. Same goes for creating the pen, He did not create it for writing a non

previously known knowledge nor asked angels to write down and document the

deeds of humans out of fear of forgetfulness.

Paradise and Hell, which are two created entities, the first an eternal abode of

reward, and the latter an eternal abode of punishment and fire. They are oflevels, and each person will occupy the level in accordance with his deeds. Some

people might assume that the eternality of heaven and hell comes in opposition

to Gods saying in the Quran Everything will be destroyed except His Face. His

is the judgement, and to Him you will be returned. 28:88 but the correct

interpretation of this verse is that everything in its own right amounts to

nothingness (adam) because of its inability of independent self existence.

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The reservoir from which the Prophet will serve the believers of his nation in the

hereafter and we believe that whoever drinks from it will not be subjected to

thirst.

The Hour and its signs: there are some obvious signs like the appearance of

Gog and Magog, the emergence of the Beast, the rising of the sun from the

west and the appearance of smoke. These signs- especially the ones that are

backed by definitive proofs from the Quran- whoever denies its veracity deemed

to be a liar and a disbeliever. These signs are part of revelation which the mind

does not have much say in as they are believed in through revelatory reports.

For example, God says in the Quran Until when [the dam of] Gog and Magog

has been opened and they, from every elevation, descend 21:96.

The questioning in the grave is authenticated by numerous prophetic reports. It

is believed that the soul returns back to the body with all its five senses intact

and its intellectual ability persevered to be questioned in the grave and

receives its due punishment or enjoy its grace. After the burial of the dead and

the dismissal of people attending his or her funeral, two angels called Munkar

and Nakir are responsible for asking the deceased three questions with the

language that is comprehendible to the deceased. The angels ask the dead

about the two parts of the testimony of faith namely the oneness of God and

the prophecy of Prophet Muhammad. Prophets are exempted from thesequestions as well as martyrs who died for the sake of God along with children

because they were not eligible to understand commands and prohibitions

ordained by God. God the Almighty has the power to gather back the scattered

particles and atoms of the body resided in a grave or spread in a desert or kept

in the belly of an animal and form the human body again to be asked about his

or her life on earth. The scholars of the Asharite theology reached a consensus

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that both the body and the soul combined either suffer from the ailments or

enjoy the grace in the grave.

The return of the body to the spirit on the Day of Judgment is believed in as all

the particles of the body is gathered again to return it to its original state to

form the full human body. God Almight possesses t he ability to reorganize these

particles because of his unlimited power and divine knowledge.

The resurrection of the dead and taking them out of their graves for the

Reckoning. In this day all human beings, jinns, angels are resurrected along

with beast s and animals.

The Reckoning

The Intercession of t he Prophet. The belief in the intercession of Prophet

Muhammad to all people in the day of Judgement is obligatory and this noble

status of waseelah is the supplication or prayer which the Prophet saved for his

people until Dooms Day. The meaning of intercession entails forgiveness for

whoever attested to the Oneness of God and the prophecy of Prophet

Muhammad even if t his person committed grave s ins.

Prophets as well have an intercession in the Day of Judgement along with the

angels, the Gnostics and the martyrs. The first intercessor among all these is

Prophet Muhammad. As for the intercession of others, it occurs only afterreckoning and punishment over small and grave sins which were not forgiven by

God. The importance of intercession lies in honouring the intercessor in this day

and showing his great position in the sight of God. Therefore, the forgiveness

of sins other than polytheism is possible both through logic and revelation as

intercession deems forgiveness possible. As for polytheism is it deemed

impossible through revelation for a polytheist to be forgiven.

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The Asharite creed refuses to make a judgement of disbelief on any sinful

believer in this world and it is similarly impermissible to pass a verdict of his or

her eternal stay in hellfire for sins whether minor or major. The correct

approach is to delegate the whole issue to God.

The Judgment of all the deeds of peoples lives

The crossing of the path that stretches over Hell. All will have to pass over it

as a t est and among the passers are the prophets, the Gnostics and those who

enter paradise without previous subjection to reckoning and judgement over

their deeds. The description of the path is that it is thinner than a hair and

sharper than a blade. Whoever is deemed to enter paradise will succeed in

crossing his way over to heaven and whoever is deemed to enter Hell will fall

over the bridge straight down to Hell.

Ali Gomaa - Grand Mufti of Egypt - 2013 Developed by Helool & designed by Noha Rost om

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The Creed of Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jamaa - Mufti Ali Juma

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