THE CREED OF THE AHL AS-SUNNA (I)

Imâm Muhammad al-Ghazâlî ‘rahmatullâhi ’alaih’ wrote in Kimyâ-yi sa’âdat: “It is fard for a Muslim to know and believe primarily the meaning of the utterance, Lâ ilâha il-l-Allah, Muhammadun Rasûlullah. This utterance is called Kalimat at-tawhîd. It is sufficient for every Muslim to believe without any doubt what this utterance means. It is not fard for him to prove it with evidence or to satisfy his mind. Rasûlullah ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’ did not command the Arabs to know or mention the relevant proof-texts or to search and clarify any possible doubt. He commanded them to believe only and not to doubt. It is enough for everybody also to believe briefly. Yet it is fard kifâya that there should exist a few scholars in every town. It is wâjib for these scholars to know the proof-texts, to remove the doubts, and to answer the questions. They are like shepherds for Muslims. On the one hand, they teach them the knowledge of îmân, which is the knowledge of belief, and, on the other hand, they answer the slanders of the enemies of Islam.”

“The Qur’ân al-kerîm stated the meaning of Kalimat at-tawhîd and Rasûlullah ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’ explained what is declared in it. All the Ashâb-i-kirâm learned these explanations and conveyed them to those who succeeded them. The exalted scholars who conveyed to us what the Ashâb-i-kirâm had taught them, by committing them to their books without making any alterations in them, are called Ahl as-Sunna. Everybody has to learn the i’tiqâd of the Ahl as-Sunna, and to unite, and to love one another. The seed of happiness is this i’tiqâd and this unification.”