What is al-'Aqeedah al-Tahhaawiyyah? What is it about?.
Praise be to Allaah.
al-'Aqeedah al-Tahhaawiyyah is a book dealing with 'aqeedah (basic
tenets offaith) which was writtenby Imam al-Tahhaawi and named after
him. Discussing this 'aqeedah means that we must lookat it from a
number of angles.
Firstly:
The author is the imam, muhaddith and faqeeh Abu Ja'far Ahmad ibn
Muhammad ibn Salaamah al-Tahhaawi - who is named after a village in
Upper Egypt - he studied with many Shaykhs and learned from them and
benefited from them, and he listed their number as three hundred
Shaykhs.
He was praised by more than one of the scholars:
Ibn Yoonus said: al-Tahhaawi was trustworthy, sincere, a faqeeh and a
man of wisdom, and after him there was no one else like him.
Al-Dhahabi said: the faqeeh, muhaddith, haafiz, one of the prominent
scholars, and he was trustworthy, sincere, a faqeeh and a man of
wisdom.
Ibn Katheer said: He was one of the trustworthy, sincere and a haafiz.
He wrote books which were well-written, comprehensive and of great
value, among which was his great book Ma'aani al-Athaar, which
contains research on fiqh accompanied by evidence and discussion of
controversial matters, and pointing to which view is more correct.
His books also include Mushkil al-Athaar and others.
He died (may Allaah havemercy on him) in 321 AH and was buried in
Egypt,in al-Quraafah.
See his biography in Siyar A'laam al-Nubala' (15/33-37) and
al-Bidaayah wa'l-Nihaayah (11/174).
Secondly:
This 'Aqeedah which waswritten by al-Tahhaawi mentions a number of the
beliefs of the righteous salaf and those who followed them of Ahl
al-Sunnah wa'l-Jamaa'ah, which was approved by the imams of the
Hanafis - as al-Tahhaawi followed the madhhab of Abu Haneefah. He
explained in his introduction his aims in doing that, and said:
"This is an explanation of the 'aqeedah of Ahl al-Sunnah
wa'l-Jamaa'ahaccording to the view of the fuqaha' of this madhhab: Abu
Haneefahal-Nu'maan ibn Thaabit al-Kufi, Abu Yoosuf Ya'qoob ibn
Ibraaheem al-Ansaari, and Abu 'Abd-Allaah Muhammad ibn al-Hasan
al-Shaybaani, may Allaahbe pleased with them all,and the beliefs
concerning the fundamentals of Islam, on the basis of which they
submit to the Lord of the Worlds." End quote.
Then he mentioned these basic beliefs, and the total number of things
he mentioned was 105 things believed by Ahl al-Sunnah wa'l-Jamaa'ah in
general.
He started by explaining the Oneness of Allaah, may He be exalted, and
said a little about the attributes of His Lordship(sifaat
ruboobiyyatihi), such as His being alive and self-sufficient, and His
being the Creator and Provider, and he affirmed the attributes of
perfection without discussing how or likening Him to any of His
creation, because Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning): "There
is nothing like Him, and Heis the All-Hearer, the All-Seer" [al-Shoora
42:11]. Then he followedthat with a discussion of the obligation to
believein the Prophethood of Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allaah
be upon him) and that he was sent to all people. Then he spoke of the
Holy Qur'aan, stating that it is the word of Allaah and not created,
and he affirmed that thebelievers will see Allaah in the Hereafter.
Then hementioned some mattersof the unseen in which Ahl al-Sunnah
believe, such as the Cistern (al-hawd), intercession, the Throne and
the Footstool (al-Kursiy). Then he mentioned the pillars of belief in
al-qada' wa'l-qadar (the Divine will and decree) and what Ahl
al-Sunnah wa'l-Jamaa'ah believe about this topic. Then hewent on to
define faith and its pillars, and explained that faith may increase
and decrease, and he explained the view of Ahl al-Sunnah in contrast
to the views of the Khawaarij and Murji'ah. He also described what
Ahl-al-Sunnah believe with regard to the noble Sahaabah (may Allaah
bepleased with them), and that loving them is part of Islam, faith and
ihsaan, and that hating them is kufr, hypocrisy and sin. Then he
mentioned some of the portents of the Hour andwhat will happen on
theDay of Resurrection, then he ended his essay with an discussion of
how this religion is the middle path, between exaggeration and
fallingshort.
Thirdly:
It is a book of 'aqeedah that is easy to read and clear in meaning. It
is comprehensive and brief. It sums up the beliefs of Ahl al-Sunnah
wa'l-Jamaa'ah and, for the most part, includes matters on which there
is scholarly consensus and agreement.
Many scholars have written commentaries on this 'Aqeedah and explained
its words and meanings. One of the most famous of them is Ibn
Abi'l-'Izz al-Hanafi, who wrote a lengthy commentary on it; among
later scholars, Shaykh 'Abd al-'Azeez ibn Baaz and Shaykh Muhammad
Naasir al-Deen al-Albaani (may Allaah have mercy on them) wrote
commentaries on it, as did Shaykh Safar ibn 'Abd al-Rahman al-Hawaali
(may Allaah preserve him). The one who wants to understand more of the
meanings of al-Tahhaawiyyah can refer to these commentaries.
Fourthly:
'Aqeedah al-Tahhaawi discusses matters in briefand general terms, but
what made it very famous and popular among the Salafis in particular
is the commentary which was written by Shaykh Ibn Abi'l-'Izz al-Hanafi
(may Allaah have mercy on him), which is the most important and most
detailed of its commentaries. He based his commentary on the books of
Ahl al-Sunnah, especially the books of Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah
(may Allaah have mercy on him) and his student Ibn al-Qayyim (may
Allaah have mercy on him).
Fifthly:
Despite what we have referred to of the good features of this
'Aqeedahand its commentary by Ibn Abi'l-'Izz, it also contains a
number of issues which were criticized, because they go against what
the salaf believed, such as his saying, when defining faith: "Faith is
affirming with the tongue and believing in the heart," because
limiting it to that is the view of the Murji'i fuqaha' who excluded
physical actions from thedefinition of faith. The same applies to what
he said after that, "Faith is one and the same, and believers are
equal with regard to the foundation of faith."
It also includes some general phrases that may be understood
incorrectly, and are mostoften used by innovatorsto mean things that
are contrary to the beliefs ofthe righteous salaf, such as his saying,
"exalted beHe above limits and boundaries" and "exalted be He above
having faculties and parts" and "He is not subject to directions
anddimensions which are attributes of created beings." Such phrases
are used by those who misinterpret the attributes of Allaah
(al-mu'attilah) to deny what is affirmed in the Book of Allaah and
the Sunnah of His Messengerof the sublime attributesof Allaah that
befit His perfection, may He be glorified and exalted, such as His
Countenance,hands and eyes. They callthem faculties and parts,and deny
that Allaah possesses them.
Another example is His being above His creation, and His rising above
His Throne in His heaven. They call this "directions and location"and
deny that it applies to Allaah, may He be exalted.
Because of that, it is important for the seekerof knowledge to pay
attention to learning this 'Aqeedah from a scholar of Ahl al-Sunnah
who can explain it, such as Ibn Abi'l-'Izz among classical scholars
and from contemporary scholars who have written brief commentaries on
it, as we have referred to above.
There are many audio commentaries on this book, such as the commentary
by Shaykh Saalih Aal al-Shaykh, andthe commentary by Shaykh Yoosuf
al-Ghufays, and others.
Shaykh Safar al-Hawaali (may Allaah preserve him) has commented at
length on the commentary of Ibn Abi'l-'Izz; you may refer to it on his
website.
And Allaah knows best.
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