Correct Creed and What Opposes It

Correct Creed and What Opposes It

Praise be to God alone, and blessings and peace upon the one after whom there is no prophet, and upon his family and companions.

To proceed: since correct creed [1] is the root of Islam and the foundation of the faith, I chose it as the subject of this lecture. The religious evidence of the Book and the Sunnah establishes that deeds and words are valid and accepted only when they arise from correct creed. If creed is unsound, the deeds and words arising from it become invalid. The Exalted says: “Whoever rejects faith, his work has become void, and in the Hereafter he will be among the losers” [al-Ma’idah: 5]. He says: “It has been revealed to you and to those before you: if you associate partners with God, your work will surely become void and you will surely be among the losers” [al-Zumar: 65]. Verses conveying this meaning are numerous.

God’s clear Book and the Sunnah of His trustworthy Messenger, upon whom be his Lord’s finest blessings and peace, indicate that correct creed is summarized in belief in God, His angels, His books, His messengers, the Last Day, and predestination, its good and evil. These six matters are the foundations of correct creed with which God’s mighty Book was revealed and with which God sent His Messenger Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him. From these foundations branch all unseen matters in which belief is required and everything reported by God and His Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace.

The evidence for these six foundations in the Book and the Sunnah is very abundant. Among it is God’s saying, exalted is He: “Righteousness is not that you turn your faces toward the east and west, but righteousness is the faith of one who believes in God, the Last Day, the angels, the Book, and the prophets” [al-Baqarah: 177].

He, exalted is He, says: “The Messenger believes in what has been sent down to him from his Lord, and so do the believers. Each believes in God, His angels, His books, and His messengers: ‘We make no distinction between any of His messengers’” [al-Baqarah: 285]. He says: “O you who believe, believe in God, His Messenger, the Book He sent down to His Messenger, and the Book He sent down before. Whoever disbelieves in God, His angels, His books, His messengers, and the Last Day has strayed far astray” [al-Nisa’: 136]. He says: “Do you not know that God knows what is in heaven and earth? That is in a Book. That is easy for God” [al-Hajj: 70].

Authentic hadiths indicating these foundations are also very numerous. Among them is the famous authentic hadith reported by Muslim in his Sahih from the Commander of the Faithful Umar ibn al-Khattab, may God be pleased with him. Gabriel, peace be upon him, asked the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, about faith, and he replied: “Faith is to believe in God, His angels, His books, His messengers, the Last Day, and to believe in predestination, its good and evil.” The two shaykhs also reported it with slight variation from Abu Hurayrah. From these six foundations branch everything a Muslim must believe concerning God, exalted is He, the return after death, and other unseen matters.

Belief in God includes believing that He is the true God deserving worship to the exclusion of everything else. He is the Creator of the servants, the One who does good to them, provides their sustenance, knows their secrets and public affairs, and has power to reward the obedient and punish the disobedient. For this worship God created jinn and humankind and commanded them to perform it. The Exalted says: “I did not create jinn and humankind except that they should worship Me. I desire no provision from them, nor do I desire that they feed Me. God is the Provider, the Possessor of firm strength” [al-Dhariyat: 56–58]. He says: “O humankind, worship your Lord, who created you and those before you, so that you may become God-fearing; who made the earth a resting place for you and the sky a canopy, and sent down water from the sky, bringing forth fruits as provision for you. So do not set up rivals to God while you know” [al-Baqarah: 21–22].

God sent the messengers and revealed the books to explain this right, call people to it, and warn against what opposes it. He, exalted is He, says: “We sent a messenger to every nation: ‘Worship God and avoid false deities’” [al-Nahl: 36]. The Exalted says: “We sent no messenger before you without revealing to him: ‘There is no god but Me, so worship Me’” [al-Anbiya’: 25]. The Mighty and Majestic says: “A Book whose verses have been perfected, then explained in detail, from One Wise and All-Aware: that you worship none but God. From Him I am a warner and bearer of glad tidings to you” [Hud: 1–2].

The reality of this worship is singling out God, exalted is He, in everything through which servants are commanded to worship: supplication, fear, hope, prayer, fasting, sacrifice, vows, and other forms of worship, in submission to Him, desire and awe, with perfect love for Him and humility before His greatness. Most of the Noble Qur’an was revealed concerning this great foundation. He, exalted is He, says: “Worship God, devoting religion sincerely to Him. Surely pure religion belongs to God” [al-Zumar: 2–3]. He says: “Your Lord has decreed that you worship none but Him” [al-Isra’: 23]. The Mighty and Majestic says: “Call upon God, devoting religion sincerely to Him, though the unbelievers dislike it” [Ghafir: 14].

In the two Sahih collections, Muadh, may God be pleased with him, reports that the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, said: “God’s right over His servants is that they worship Him and associate nothing with Him.”

Belief in God also includes believing in everything He has obliged and imposed upon His servants, including Islam’s five outward pillars: testifying that there is no god but God and Muhammad is God’s Messenger, establishing prayer, giving zakat, fasting Ramadan, and making pilgrimage to God’s Sacred House for those able to do so, as well as the other obligations brought by the pure law. The most important and greatest pillar is testifying that there is no god but God and Muhammad is God’s Messenger. Testifying that there is no god but God requires devoting worship sincerely to God alone and denying it to anything else. This is the meaning of “There is no god but God”: none is rightfully worshipped except God. Everything worshipped besides God, whether a human, angel, jinn, or anything else, is worshipped falsely. God alone is rightfully worshipped. He, exalted is He, says: “That is because God is the Truth, and what they invoke besides Him is falsehood” [al-Hajj: 62].

It has already been explained that God created jinn and humankind for this fundamental principle, commanded them to observe it, sent His messengers with it, and revealed His books with it. Reflect on this carefully and contemplate it often so that you recognize the great ignorance into which most Muslims have fallen concerning this fundamental principle, until they worship others alongside God and direct His exclusive right to others. God’s help is sought.

Belief in God also includes believing that He is the Creator of the world, the director of its affairs, and the One who disposes of them by His knowledge and power as He wills; that He owns this world and the Hereafter and is Lord of all worlds, with no creator or lord besides Him; that He sent messengers and revealed books to reform His servants and call them to what brings salvation and well-being in this life and the next; and that He has no partner in any of this. The Exalted says: “God is the Creator of everything, and He is Guardian over everything” [al-Zumar: 62]. He says: “Your Lord is God, who created the heavens and the earth in six days, then rose over the Throne. He covers the day with the night, which pursues it swiftly, and the sun, moon, and stars are subjected to His command. Surely creation and command belong to Him. Blessed is God, Lord of the worlds” [al-A‘raf: 54].

Belief in God also includes believing in His most beautiful names and highest attributes contained in His mighty Book and authentically transmitted from His trustworthy Messenger, without distortion, denial, specifying how they are, or likening them to creation. Rather, they must be accepted as they came, without asking how, while believing the great meanings they indicate, which are attributes of God, mighty and majestic. He must be described by them in the manner befitting Him, without resembling His creation in any attribute. The Exalted says: “Nothing is like Him, and He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing” [al-Shura: 11]. The Mighty and Majestic says: “Do not invent comparisons for God. God knows, and you do not know” [al-Nahl: 74].

This is the creed of the people of the Sunnah and the community, the companions of the Messenger of God and those who follow them in excellence. It is what Imam Abu al-Hasan al-Ash‘ari, may God have mercy on him, transmitted in his book Al-Maqalat from the people of hadith and the Sunnah, as did other people of knowledge and faith.

Al-Awza‘i, may God have mercy on him, said: “Al-Zuhri and Makhul were asked about the verses concerning the attributes, and both said: ‘Accept them as they came.’” Al-Walid ibn Muslim, may God have mercy on him, said: “Malik, al-Awza‘i, al-Layth ibn Sa‘d, and Sufyan al-Thawri, may God have mercy on them, were asked about reports concerning the attributes, and all said: ‘Accept them as they came, without asking how.’” Al-Awza‘i said: “While the Successors were still numerous, we used to say that God, exalted is He, is over His Throne, and we believe in the attributes reported in the Sunnah.”

When Rabi‘ah ibn Abi Abd al-Rahman, Malik’s teacher, may God have mercy on them both, was asked about rising over the Throne, he said: “Rising over is not unknown; its manner cannot be comprehended. From God comes the message, upon the Messenger rests clear conveyance, and upon us rests belief.” When Imam Malik, may God have mercy on him, was asked about it, he said: “Rising over is known; its manner is unknown. Believing in it is obligatory, and asking about it is an innovation.” He then told the questioner: “I consider you only a bad man”, and ordered that he be removed. This meaning was also reported from the Mother of the Believers Umm Salamah, may God be pleased with her. Imam Abu Abd al-Rahman Abd Allah ibn al-Mubarak, may God have mercy on him, said: “We know our Lord, exalted is He, to be above His heavens, over His Throne, distinct from His creation.”

The imams’ statements on this subject are too numerous to reproduce in this lecture. Anyone wishing to examine many of them should consult the works of Sunni scholars on this subject, such as Al-Sunnah by Abd Allah, son of Imam Ahmad; Al-Tawhid by the eminent imam Muhammad ibn Khuzaymah; Al-Sunnah by Abu al-Qasim al-Lalaka’i al-Tabari; Al-Sunnah by Abu Bakr ibn Abi Asim; and Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah’s response to the people of Hamah. This is a great, highly beneficial response in which he explained Sunni creed and transmitted many of their statements and the scriptural and rational proofs establishing the correctness of their position and the invalidity of their opponents’ position.

Likewise, in his epistle Al-Tadmuriyyah, he discussed the matter extensively, explained Sunni creed with its transmitted and rational proofs, and answered opponents in a way that reveals truth and crushes falsehood for any knowledgeable reader approaching it with sound intention and a desire to know truth. Anyone opposing Sunni belief concerning the names and attributes inevitably contradicts transmitted and rational evidence, with obvious inconsistency in everything he affirms and denies.

The people of the Sunnah and the community, however, affirm for God what He affirmed for Himself in His Noble Book or what His Messenger Muhammad affirmed for Him in his Sunnah: affirmation without resemblance. They declare Him free of resemblance to His creation, in a manner free of denying His attributes. Thus they avoid contradiction and act upon all the evidence. This is God’s way with anyone who adheres to the truth with which He sent His messengers, exerts his utmost effort in it, and sincerely seeks it for God: He guides him to truth and makes his proof manifest. The Exalted says: “Rather, We hurl truth against falsehood, and it crushes it, whereupon it vanishes” [al-Anbiya’: 18]. He says: “They bring you no argument without Our bringing you the truth and a better explanation” [al-Furqan: 33].

The hadith master Ibn Kathir, may God have mercy on him, made a fine statement on this subject in his well-known exegesis when discussing God’s words: “Your Lord is God, who created the heavens and the earth in six days, then rose over the Throne” [al-A‘raf: 54]. It is appropriate to reproduce it here because of its great benefit. He said:

“People have very many views on this subject, which this is not the place to set out. Here we follow the method of the righteous predecessors, Malik, al-Awza‘i, al-Thawri, al-Layth ibn Sa‘d, al-Shafi‘i, Ahmad, Ishaq ibn Rahawayh, and other Muslim imams, early and later: accepting these reports as they came without specifying how, likening God to creation, or denying His attributes. The apparent meaning that first occurs to the minds of those who liken Him to creation is denied of God, for nothing of His creation resembles Him. Nothing is like Him, and He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing. Rather, the matter is as the imams said, including Nuaym ibn Hammad al-Khuza‘i, al-Bukhari’s teacher: ‘Whoever likens God to His creation has disbelieved, and whoever denies what God described Himself with has disbelieved. Nothing with which God or His Messenger described Him contains such resemblance.’ Whoever affirms for God Most High what is contained in explicit verses and authentic reports in the manner befitting His majesty, and denies imperfections of Him, has followed the path of guidance.”

Here Ibn Kathir’s words end, may God have mercy on him.

Belief in the angels includes believing in them generally and specifically. The Muslim believes that God has angels whom He created to obey Him and described as: “Honored servants. They do not precede Him in speech, and they act by His command. He knows what is before them and behind them. They intercede only for those He approves, and they stand in awe of Him” [al-Anbiya’: 26–28]. There are many kinds: those entrusted with bearing the Throne, the keepers of Paradise and Hell, and those entrusted with recording servants’ deeds. We specifically believe in those named by God and His Messenger, such as Gabriel, Michael, Malik the keeper of Hell, and Israfil, entrusted with blowing the Trumpet. They are mentioned in authentic hadiths. It is authentically established from Aishah, may God be pleased with her, that the Prophet said: “The angels were created from light, the jinn from a smokeless flame of fire, and Adam from what has been described to you.”

Likewise, belief in the books requires believing generally that God revealed books to His prophets and messengers to explain His right and call to it. The Exalted says: “We sent Our messengers with clear proofs and sent down with them the Book and the balance so that people might uphold justice” [al-Hadid: 25]. He says: “Humankind was one community, then God sent the prophets as bearers of glad tidings and warners, and sent down with them the Book in truth to judge between people concerning their differences” [al-Baqarah: 213].

We specifically believe in the books God named, such as the Torah, Gospel, Psalms, and Qur’an. The Qur’an is the best and last of them, their guardian and confirmer. The entire nation must follow it and judge by it alongside the authentically established Sunnah of the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace. God sent His Messenger Muhammad to all jinn and humankind, revealed this Qur’an to him so that he might judge between them by it, and made it a healing for what is in the hearts, an explanation of everything, and guidance and mercy for believers. The Exalted says: “This is a blessed Book We have sent down, so follow it and be God-fearing, so that you may receive mercy” [al-An‘am: 155]. He says: “We sent down to you the Book as an explanation of everything, a guidance, mercy, and glad tidings for Muslims” [al-Nahl: 89]. He says: “Say: O humankind, I am God’s Messenger to you all, of Him to whom belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth. There is no god but Him; He gives life and causes death. So believe in God and His Messenger, the unlettered Prophet who believes in God and His words, and follow him so that you may be guided” [al-A‘raf: 158]. Verses conveying this meaning are numerous.

Likewise, the messengers must be believed in generally and specifically. We believe that God sent messengers from among His servants to them as bearers of glad tidings, warners, and callers to truth. Whoever responds to them attains happiness; whoever opposes them returns with failure and regret. Their seal and best is our Prophet Muhammad ibn Abd Allah, may God bless him and grant him peace. He, exalted is He, says: “We sent a messenger to every nation: ‘Worship God and avoid false deities’” [al-Nahl: 36]. The Exalted says: “Messengers bearing glad tidings and warning, so that people might have no argument against God after the messengers” [al-Nisa’: 165]. He says: “Muhammad is not the father of any of your men, but God’s Messenger and the seal of the prophets” [al-Ahzab: 40]. Those whom God named, or whose names are authentically reported from the Messenger, we believe in individually and specifically: Noah, Hud, Salih, Abraham, and others. May God bless them and grant them peace, and their families and followers.

Belief in the Last Day includes belief in everything God and His Messenger reported that occurs after death: the trial of the grave, its punishment and bliss; the terrors and hardships of the Day of Resurrection; the bridge, the balance, reckoning, recompense, and the distribution of records among people, some receiving their record in their right hand and others in their left or behind their backs. It also includes belief in the reservoir to which people come belonging to our Prophet Muhammad, belief in Paradise and Hell, the believers’ seeing their Lord and His speaking to them, and everything else reported in the Noble Qur’an and the authentic Sunnah of the Messenger. All of it must be believed and affirmed in the manner explained by God and His Messenger.

Belief in predestination includes belief in four matters.

First: God knows what has been and what will be. He knows His servants’ circumstances, provisions, lifespans, deeds, and all their other affairs. Nothing is hidden from Him, exalted is He. He says: “God knows everything” [al-Anfal: 75]. The Mighty and Majestic says: “So that you may know that God has power over everything and that God encompasses everything in knowledge” [al-Talaq: 12].

Second: He has written everything He determined and decreed. He, exalted is He, says: “We know what the earth diminishes of them, and with Us is a preserving Book” [Qaf: 4]. The Exalted says: “We have enumerated everything in a clear register” [Ya Sin: 12]. He says: “Do you not know that God knows what is in heaven and earth? That is in a Book. That is easy for God” [al-Hajj: 70].

Third: belief in His effective will. Whatever He wills occurs, and whatever He does not will does not occur. He, exalted is He, says: “God does whatever He wills” [al-Hajj: 18]. The Mighty and Majestic says: “His command, when He wills a thing, is only to say to it ‘Be’, and it is” [Ya Sin: 82]. He, exalted is He, says: “You do not will unless God, Lord of the worlds, wills” [al-Takwir: 29].

Fourth: He created everything that exists. There is no creator or lord besides Him. He, exalted is He, says: “God is the Creator of everything, and He is Guardian over everything” [al-Zumar: 62]. The Exalted says: “O humankind, remember God’s favor upon you. Is there any creator other than God who provides for you from heaven and earth? There is no god but Him. How, then, are you turned away?” [Fatir: 3].

For the people of the Sunnah and the community, belief in predestination encompasses these four matters, contrary to innovators who deny some of them. Belief in God includes believing that faith consists of words and deeds, increasing through obedience and decreasing through disobedience, and that no Muslim may be declared an unbeliever for sins short of polytheism and unbelief, such as unlawful sexual intercourse, theft, consuming interest, drinking intoxicants, disobedience toward parents, or other grave sins, unless he deems them lawful. God, exalted is He, says: “God does not forgive associating partners with Him, but forgives what is less than that for whomever He wills” [al-Nisa’: 48].

Moreover, widely transmitted hadiths from the Messenger establish that God brings out of the Fire whoever has a mustard seed’s weight of faith in his heart. Belief in God includes loving for God’s sake, hating for God’s sake, allegiance for God’s sake, and enmity for God’s sake. The believer loves believers and allies with them, and hates unbelievers and opposes them.

Foremost among this nation’s believers are the companions of the Messenger of God. The people of the Sunnah and the community love them, ally with them, and believe they are the best people after the prophets, because the Prophet said: “The best people are my generation, then those who follow them, then those who follow them.” Its authenticity is agreed upon. They believe the best of them is Abu Bakr al-Siddiq, then Umar al-Faruq, then Uthman Dhu al-Nurayn, then Ali al-Murtada, may God be pleased with them all, followed by the remaining members of the ten, then the other companions, may God be pleased with them all.

They refrain from discussing the disputes that occurred among the companions and believe that they exercised independent judgment: whoever was correct receives two rewards, and whoever erred receives one. They love and ally with the members of the Messenger’s household who believe in him, and ally with his wives, the Mothers of the Believers, asking God’s pleasure for them all. They disavow the way of the Rafidah, who hate and insult the companions, exaggerate concerning the Prophet’s household, and elevate them above the position God assigned them. They also disavow the way of the Nasibis, who harm the Prophet’s household through speech or action.

Everything mentioned in this brief address belongs to the correct creed with which God sent His Messenger Muhammad. It is the creed of the saved group, the people of the Sunnah and the community, concerning whom the Prophet said: “A group of my nation will continue to be victorious upon truth, unharmed by those who abandon them, until God’s command comes.” He, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “The Jews divided into seventy-one sects, the Christians into seventy-two, and this nation will divide into seventy-three, all in the Fire except one.” The companions asked: “Who are they, Messenger of God?” He said: “Those upon what I and my companions are upon.” This is the creed to which one must adhere, upon which one must remain steadfast, and against whose contrary one must beware.

Those who deviate from this creed and follow its opposite are of many kinds. Among them are worshippers of idols, images, angels, saints, jinn, trees, stones, and other things. These did not respond to the messengers’ call but opposed and resisted them, as Quraysh and various Arab groups did with our Prophet Muhammad. They asked their objects of worship to fulfill needs, heal the sick, and grant victory over enemies; sacrificed to them and made vows to them. When the Messenger condemned this and commanded them to devote worship sincerely to God alone, they found it strange and rejected it, saying: “Has he made the gods one God? This is indeed an astonishing thing” [Sad: 5].

He continued calling them to God, warning them against polytheism, and explaining the reality of his call until God guided those whom He guided. They subsequently entered God’s religion in crowds. God’s religion prevailed over all other religions after continuous outreach and prolonged striving by the Messenger, his companions, and those who followed them in excellence. Then conditions changed, and ignorance overwhelmed most people until most returned to the religion of pagan ignorance, exaggerating concerning prophets and saints, supplicating to them, seeking their aid, and committing other forms of polytheism. They did not understand “There is no god but God” as the Arab unbelievers understood it. God’s help is sought.

This polytheism has continued spreading among people until our own age because ignorance prevails and the age of prophethood is distant.

The specious argument of these later people is the same as that of the earlier ones: “These are our intercessors with God” [Yunus: 18], and “We worship them only so that they may bring us nearer to God” [al-Zumar: 3]. God invalidated this argument and explained that anyone who worships another, whoever that may be, has associated partners with Him and disbelieved. The Exalted says: “They worship besides God what neither harms nor benefits them and say: ‘These are our intercessors with God’” [Yunus: 18]. He answered them: “Say: do you inform God of something He does not know in the heavens or the earth? Glory be to Him! Exalted is He above what they associate with Him” [Yunus: 18]. In this verse He explained that worshipping others, whether prophets, saints, or anyone else, is major polytheism even if its practitioners give it another name.

The Exalted says: “Those who take protectors besides Him say: ‘We worship them only so that they may bring us nearer to God’” [al-Zumar: 3]. He answered them: “God will judge between them concerning their differences. God does not guide one who is a lying, persistent unbeliever” [al-Zumar: 3]. Thus He explained that their worship of others through supplication, fear, hope, and the like is disbelief in Him, and declared false their claim that their gods bring them nearer to Him.

Among unbelieving creeds opposed to correct creed and contrary to what the messengers brought is what the atheists of this age believe, followers of Marx, Lenin, and other advocates of atheism and unbelief, whether they call it socialism, communism, Baathism, or other names. Among these atheists’ foundations is that there is no god and life is matter. Their foundations include denying resurrection, denying Paradise and Hell, and rejecting all religions. Anyone who examines their books and studies their positions knows this with certainty. Undoubtedly this creed opposes all heavenly religions and leads its adherents to the worst consequences in this world and the Hereafter.

Among creeds opposed to truth is the belief of some Sufis that certain people whom they call saints share with God in directing affairs and disposing of the world’s affairs. They call them poles, pegs, helpers, and other names invented for their gods. This is among the ugliest forms of associating partners in lordship and is worse than the polytheism of the pagan Arabs. The Arab unbelievers did not associate partners in lordship; they associated partners in worship. Their polytheism occurred in ease, while in hardship they devoted worship sincerely to God. He, exalted is He, says: “When they board a ship, they call upon God, devoting religion sincerely to Him. But when He delivers them to land, they associate partners with Him” [al-Ankabut: 65]. They acknowledged lordship as God’s alone. He says: “If you ask them who created them, they will surely say: ‘God’” [al-Zukhruf: 87]. The Exalted says: “Say: who provides for you from heaven and earth? Who possesses hearing and sight? Who brings forth the living from the dead and the dead from the living? Who directs affairs? They will say: ‘God.’ Say: will you not then be God-fearing?” [Yunus: 31]. Verses conveying this meaning are numerous.

Later polytheists exceeded the earlier ones in two respects: some associate partners in lordship, and they associate partners in both ease and hardship. This is known to anyone who has mixed with them, examined their circumstances, and seen what they do at the tombs of al-Husayn, al-Badawi, and others in Egypt; al-Aydarus in Aden; al-Hadi in Yemen; Ibn Arabi in Syria; Shaykh Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani in Iraq; and other famous graves concerning which ordinary people exaggerate and to which they direct much of God’s right. Few condemn them or explain the reality of monotheism with which God sent His Prophet Muhammad and the messengers before him. We belong to God, and to Him we return. We ask Him to restore them to sound guidance, increase callers to guidance among them, and enable Muslim leaders and scholars to combat and eradicate this polytheism and its means. He is All-Hearing and Near.

Among beliefs opposed to correct creed concerning the names and attributes are the beliefs of innovators such as the Jahmiyyah, the Mu‘tazilah, and those following their path in denying God’s attributes, divesting Him of attributes of perfection, and describing Him with characteristics of nonexistent things, inanimate objects, and impossibilities. God is far exalted above their words. This includes those who deny some attributes while affirming others, such as the Ash‘aris. The very implication they sought to avoid in the attributes they denied and whose proofs they reinterpreted applies equally to the attributes they affirmed. Thus they contradicted both transmitted and rational evidence and fell into manifest inconsistency.

The people of the Sunnah and the community, however, affirmed for God the names and attributes He affirmed for Himself or His Messenger Muhammad affirmed for Him, in their perfection, and declared Him free of resemblance to His creation in a manner untainted by denying His attributes. They acted upon all the evidence without distortion or denial and avoided the contradiction into which others fell, as explained earlier. This is the path of salvation and happiness in this world and the Hereafter and the straight path followed by this nation’s predecessors and imams. Its later generations will be set right only by what set its earliest generations right: following the Book and the Sunnah and abandoning what contradicts them.

God is the giver of success. He is sufficient for us and the best Guardian. There is no power or strength except through Him. May God bless and grant peace to His servant and Messenger, our Prophet Muhammad, and his family and companions.

[1] Published in Journal of Islamic Research, issue seven, issued in Rajab, Sha‘ban, Ramadan, and Shawwal 1403 AH. (Collected Fatwas and Articles of Shaykh Ibn Baz, 1/13.)