Summary

of
Ḥanbalī Creed
By

Mubārak Ibn Rāshid al-Hathlān

Translation and Notes

Rameez Abid

Shawwāl 1445 AH | April 2024

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 Table of Contents

Translator’s Introduction 3
Author’s Introduction 4
Beliefs Regarding God 5
Necessary Attributes for Allah 6
Knowledge 6
Power 7
Will 7
Life 7
Hearing and Sight 7
Speech 8
Other Attributes Affirmed by Atharīs 8
What is Possible to Attribute to Allah 9
What is Impossible to Attribute to Allah 9
Excluding Allah From Characteristics of Creation 10
Allah’s Actions 11
Deeming Things Good and Evil 13
Divine Decree 14
Beliefs Regarding Prophets 15
Beliefs in Reports About the Unseen 16
Resurrection 17
Accountability 18
Seeing Allah in the Afterlife 19
Other Beliefs Reported about the Unseen 20
Other Issues Related to Creed 21
Faith 21
Miracles of the Saints 21
Leadership 23
Beliefs Regarding the Companions 24
Sins and Repentance 25
Groups of Ahl al-Sunnah 26
Conclusion 27

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Translator’s Introduction
This translated booklet, authored by Shaykh Mubārak Ibn
Rāshid al-Hathlān, offers a glimpse of the Ḥanbalī/Atharī
creed, drawing from key Atharī canonized texts: al-ʿAyn wa
al-Athar, Qalāʾid al-ʿIqyān, and Najāt al-Khalaf. The
primary goal is to provide an accessible overview without
delving into intricate details. Footnotes enrich this
translation, incorporating Shaykh Abd al-Raḥmān al-Salṭī’s
commentary on the book and further details from Qalāʾid
al-ʿIqyān.

In light of widespread confusion about the Atharī/Ḥanbalī

creed, this work serves as an introduction for beginner level
Ḥanbalī/Atharī creed students, regardless of their proficiency
in Arabic. Upon completion, students can progress to more
detailed texts, including the original sources and others,
which offer deeper explorations, evidence, and discussions
on varying perspectives within and outside the school.

Rameez Abid
Northern Virginia, USA

3
Author’s Introduction
All praise be to Allah [for] whom occurrences indicate His
existence, who graciously favors us with His bounty and
generosity. I praise Him [with the] praise of the one who
affirms His Attributes and negates from Him any
resemblance to the creation. Exalted is He above being
described in terms of shapes and analogies and
transcendent is He beyond limits and categories. I send
blessings and peace upon the one who called to the correct
creed and prohibited the path of disbelief and obstinacy, and
upon his family and companions, the leaders of guidance
and righteousness.

This is a noble creed and a pleasant treatise. I summarized it

from the books of [Ḥanbalī] scholars to make it easier for all
students to grasp. I took from the following books:1

● Al-’Ayn wa al-Athar by ʿAbd al-Bāqī al-Ḥanbalī

● Qalāʾid al-ʿIqyān by Muḥammad ibn Bulbān
● Najāt al-Khalaf by ʿUthmān ibn Aḥmad al-Najdī

I examined their books and selected from their speech what

is easy for those with understanding. I ask Allah for success,
reward, acceptance, and sincerity in speech and action.2

1
These three books contain within them the canonized Ḥanbalī creed.
Their authors were considered major scholars of the school in their times
without dispute.
2
It is important to note that the Ḥanbalī creed is in reference to the Atharī
creed. It is only attributed to Imam Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal out of honor for
him because he solely stood firm during the campaign against those who
refused to affirm that the Qurʾān was uncreated. The Atharī beliefs were
held even before Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal and Ḥanbalīs consider them the
official beliefs of the early generations including the companions of
Muhammad ‫ﷺ‬.
4
Beliefs Regarding God
● Knowing Allah is an obligation on every accountable3
and capable4 person, it is prescribed through
[religious] legislation by reflecting over the creation.5
○ This means it is an obligation to know the
necessity of the existence of His Essence with
perfect Attributes.
○ It is not an obligation to know the reality of His
Essence due to the impossibility of [knowing]
that because it is unlike all other realities.

● It is obligatory to assert that He, Exalted be He, is:

One,6 indivisible,7 singular and not plural, unique,
eternal, He has never had offspring nor was He born,
and there is none comparable to Him.

● The Names and Attributes of Allah are pre-eternal

and can only be known through textual evidence.8
○ Therefore, it is not permitted to name Him or
3
Meaning the person is sane and pubescent.
4
Meaning the person has the ability to reason.
5
Meaning a person is religiously ordained to reflect over the creation and
come to the conclusion that there must be a Necessary Being that
brought all of this into existence. The obligation comes about due to the
numerous verses in the Qurʾān which command us to reflect over the
creation.
6
He is One in His Essence, Attributes, and actions. There is no similarity
with Him in these with anyone.
7
Creatures have different parts which come together to make a whole.
For example, a human being consists of limbs, organs, veins, blood, etc.
Allah is nothing like His creation.
8
Therefore, they can never be determined through personal opinion.

5
 describe Him except by what has been
transmitted in the Qurʾān, Sunnah, or by
consensus of the Muslim scholars.

Necessary Attributes for Allah9

Knowledge
● It is obligatory to assert that Allah, Exalted be He, is:
Knowledgeable with an integral,10 everlasting,
pre-eternal, and singular11 knowledge.
○ It pertains to all necessary,12 possible,13 and
impossible14 matters.

9
These are Attributes for Allah which we can determine through our
intellect by reflecting over the creation and determining that a Necessary
Being that created the universe must possess such Attributes in their
perfect form.
10
Meaning it is part of His Essence.
11
Meaning nothing new comes into His knowledge. There is never a
moment where there is an addition to His knowledge. Everything that
was, is, or will be is already contained in His knowledge in both general
and detailed forms. He also knows what is not and if it were to be, what
the result would be due to it.
12
Such as there being only a single Necessary Being. The ‘necessary’ is
whatever must be affirmed because the intellect cannot conceive of its
absence.
13
Such as the existence of creation. The ‘possible’ is whatever the
intellect can accept as either existing or not.
14
Such as there being multiple gods. The ‘impossible’ is whatever must
be negated because the intellect cannot conceive of its existence.

6
Power
● It is obligatory to assert that Allah, Exalted be He, is:
Capable with an everlasting, integral, pre-eternal,
existing, and singular15 power.
○ It pertains to every possible16 matter. There is
nothing found in the past nor in the future
except [that it occurs] by His power.

Will
● It is obligatory to assert that Allah, Exalted be He is:
Willing with an everlasting, integral, pre-eternal,
existing, and singular17 will.
○ It pertains to every possible matter. There is
nothing found in the past nor in the future
except [that it occurs] by His will.

Life
● It is obligatory to assert that Allah, Exalted be He is:
Living with an everlasting, integral, pre-eternal,
existing, and singular life.

Hearing and Sight

● It is obligatory to assert that Allah, Exalted be He:
Hears and sees with two existing, integral, and
pre-eternal [Attributes of] sight and hearing.

15
Meaning His power is not divisible, numerous, or deletable. There is
never a moment where His power is increased or decreased in any way.
16
Meaning it does not concern impossible matters that have no reality
such as those who say absurd things like, “Can God create a rock so big
that He could not lift it?”
17
His will does not occur in succession or sequence. It is singular in
nature. His will is not bound by sequence.
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 ○ They pertain to everything that can be heard
and seen.

Speech
● It is obligatory to assert that Allah, Exalted be He:
Speaks with an existing, integral, and pre-eternal
speech, which is uncreated, not originated, not
preceded by non-existence without resemblance,
similarity, or modality.
○ It pertains to all necessary, possible, and
impossible matters.18

Other Attributes Affirmed by Atharīs

● Everything that has come in the Qurʾān or has been
authentically narrated from the Prophet ‫ﷺ‬, such as
the verse of Istawā, Ḥadīth of Descent, Mercy, Hand,
Face, etc., then it is obligatory to believe in it and to
leave off opposing it by rejection, interpretation,19
comparison,20 similarity,21 and explanation.22 It is an

18
Meaning Allah’s speech can include necessary, possible, or impossible
matters. For example, Allah mentions in the Qurʾān that there is only
One God, which is a necessary matter, but He also criticizes the concept
of multiple gods, which is an impossible matter.
19
For example, someone saying that Allah’s Hand is a metaphor for His
power. It is in reference to Taʾwīl, which is permitted by the Ashʿarīs and
Māturīdīs but forbidden by the Ḥanbalīs.
20
For example, someone saying that Allah’s Hand is just like a human
hand. It is in reference to anthropomorphism.
21
Meaning to liken the Attributes of Allah to those of His creation. For
example, someone trying to draw a comparison between Allah’s Hand to
something in His creation.
22
Meaning by trying to explain its meaning. We do not know the
meaning. However, this does not mean that we do not know the meaning
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 ambiguous23 matter whose knowledge is known only
to Allah.

● It is prohibited to do [metaphorical] interpretations of

verses and reports related to Allah’s Attributes24
unless it emanates from the Prophet ‫ ﷺ‬or some of
the companions.

What is Possible to Attribute to Allah

● It is permitted to attribute to Allah anything that is
[logically] possible to do or omit25 such as creating,
sending messengers, and sending down books.

What is Impossible to Attribute to Allah

● It is impossible to attribute to Allah attributes which
are the opposite of those with which He is described
with [in the texts] such as ignorance, incapability,

of that verse or Ḥadīth as a whole at all. We can deduce from the context
a broader meaning of that text even if we do not know the specific
meaning of the Attribute. For example, the Ḥadīth about Allah’s Descent
to the lowest heaven in the last third of the night implies that
supplications are answered during that time and that it is a time of
blessing. We can affirm this meaning as a whole even if we do not know
what it means for Allah to Descend itself.
23
Allah’s Attributes in the texts which outwardly sound similar to human
features are called Mutashābih (ambiguous). Their meanings and
realities are relegated to Allah and their likeness to the creation is
rejected.
24
Meaning if a verse or Ḥadīth mentions an Attribute of Allah, then it is
not permitted to understand it as a metaphor unless there is evidence
from the Prophet ‫ ﷺ‬or some of his companions which shows that it
was understood in a metaphorical way.
25
Meaning these are things that Allah had the option to either bring into
existence or not. They did not happen by necessity; rather, Allah chose
to do them out of His own free Will.

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 death, deafness, blindness, muteness, extinction,
non-existence, poverty, and similarity to creation.26

Excluding Allah From Characteristics of

Creation
● It is obligatory to assert that Allah, Exalted be He, is
not a substance,27 body,28 nor contains incidental
characteristics.29

● It is obligatory to assert that Allah, Exalted be He, is

not subject to change30 nor does He reside in
something subject to change. He is not confined
within such things [either].31

26
The opposites of these imperfect attributes are affirmed in the texts.
For example, He is Seeing, Hearing, eternal, etc.
27
This refers to Jawhar, which is anything that occupies space. It exists
by itself and not in a subject.
28
This refers to Jism, which is anything that consists of two substances
or more.
29
This is in reference to ʿAraḍ, which are things that are in need of
something in order to exist such as color, movement, stillness, etc. It
cannot exist by itself and does so only in a subject because it is
dependent on it.
30
This is in reference to Ḥādith, which refers to anything that comes into
existence being preceded by non-existence. Anything that requires
change has not reached perfection, thus, Allah cannot be described as
such because He is perfect. All of creation is Ḥādith, so another way to
translate this would be, “The creation does not dwell in Him nor does He
dwell in His creation.”
31
Because this quality is something specific to the creation but not the
Creator.

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 ○ Whoever believes or says that Allah is
physically present in every place32 or in a
particular place33 has committed disbelief.
○ Rather, it is obligatory to assert that He is
distinct from His creation. Indeed, Allah existed
without a place, then He created place and He
remains as He was before creating place.

Allah’s Actions
● Everything other than Allah and His Attributes is
creation. Allah created and originated it from
non-existence.

● Allah does not do things due to a [particular] reason34

according to the statement of many Ḥanbalī scholars.
And it was said that He does do them due to a
[particular] reason. The latter opinion was adopted by
Ibn Taymiyyah, Ibn Qayyim, al-Ṭūfī, Ibn Qāḍī al-Jabal,

32
This is in reference to Makān (place), which refers to an empty space
that a body can occupy.
33
If someone understood the phrase that ‘Allah is upon His Throne’ by
thinking that it means He is restricted in a particular place would fall
under this warning. Allah being above His Throne simply means that He
is distinct and separate from His creation, a point the author emphasizes
in the next bullet point. Place itself is a creation of Allah so how can He
be inside of it?
34
Meaning there is nothing that compels Allah to do something. He does
them out of His own Free Will.

11
 al-Saffārīnī, and those who agreed with them.35

● All of the actions of the servants are acquired by them

and [considered] a creation36 of Allah, both the good
and the evil.

● The servant is given a choice [and] ease is facilitated

[for him] in acquiring [acts of] obedience or
disobedience without coercion.

● Allah is the Creator of whatever the servant earns [of

good or evil acts], does, ability and what it leads to,
and the choice and what it chooses.37
○ Earning refers to the ability which Allah creates
in the earner according to what the servant
desires to earn [of good or evil acts].
○ Ability is the capability to act [a certain way].38

● All existing actions of the servants and other than it

are willed by Allah into existence even if it is a sin or
harmful.

35
They argue that otherwise it suggests that Allah does things in vain
without purpose. The other side responds that they are not saying Allah
does not do things for a purpose or wisdom but that He is not compelled
to do so for these reasons. He chooses to do them for these reasons.
36
This is a refutation of some deviant sects who believe that servants
create their own actions.
37
Meaning everything from our choices, actions, wills, desires, abilities,
thoughts, results, etc. are all created and decreed by Allah. Everything is
completely dependent on Allah while He is truly independent of
everything.
38
Allah creates the ability of the servant at the time of the action.

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 ● Allah can torment and punish the creation without
prior crime39 [if He willed].

● It is not obligatory on Allah to do anything for His

creation, neither that which is best nor that which is
most beneficial for them.40

Deeming Things Good and Evil41

● The rational intellect follows and corresponds to the
religious text.42 Therefore, there is no good, bad,
gratitude, ingratitude, praise, dispraise, command, or
prohibition except as dictated by religious law.43

39
Allah has the right to do with His creation as He wills, all of which is fair
because an owner can do with his property whatever he wants. However,
due to Allah’s favor and mercy, He has chosen to reward the servants for
their good deeds and punish them for their evil ones due to His justice.
40
This is a refutation of Muʿtazilah who opine that Allah is obliged to do
whatever is best and most beneficial for the creation.
41
Meaning how do we know whether a particular action is worthy of
reward or punishment by Allah? Can we discover it through reason or
can we only know it through revelation [i.e. religious law]? Therefore, this
section is not in reference to what we naturally find good (purity, justice,
truthfulness, etc.) and bad (urine, feces, bad scent, etc.); rather, it only
deals with what is religiously considered praiseworthy and blameworthy.
42
Meaning it is revelation alone that determines what is religiously worthy
of reward or punishment not the intellect. Therefore, it can only be known
through religious texts (i.e. Qurʾān and Sunnah). Both Ashʿarīs and
Ḥanbalīs agree on this point.
43
This is contrary to the Muʿtazilah who believe that the intellect alone
can determine what religiously deserves reward and punishment
independent of revelation.
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Divine Decree
● It is obligatory to believe in the Divine Decree, both its
good and evil, and that whatever afflicts the servant
was not meant to miss him and whatever missed him
was never meant to afflict him.

● Allah has decreed sins and the disliked [matters] and

has preordained and written it for His creation. He
neither commanded them with it nor forced them to do
it; rather He forbade them from it and being pleased
with it.44

44
Meaning just because Allah has decreed and allowed sinful and
disliked matters to occur in His dominion does not mean that He is
pleased with them or wants us to engage in them. Rather, He has
forbidden us from doing them or being pleased with them. We must
distinguish between what Allah permits to happen in His dominion from
what He wants from us. The servant is given a choice to either engage in
what pleases Him or what displeases Him.

Allah knew beforehand the choices we would make and wrote them
down before they occurred. Everything that happens occurs under
Allah’s Will and nothing happens in His creation except by His
permission; thus, when a servant makes the choice to disobey, it is Allah
permitting it even though He is not pleased with it.
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Beliefs Regarding Prophets
● It is possible for Allah to [bestow] favor by sending
messengers to the servants to be intermediaries
between them and their generous and bountiful Lord.
○ Some of them are superior to others.45

● We firmly believe that Muhammad ibn Abdullah ‫ﷺ‬

is truly the Messenger of Allah to all jinn and mankind.
○ We believe that he ‫ ﷺ‬is the seal of the
prophets and the best among them.
○ We believe that for him ‫ ﷺ‬alone is the
Praised Station.46
○ We believe that he ‫ ﷺ‬was not following the
religion of his people47 before the mission,
rather he ‫ ﷺ‬was born as a believing Muslim.
○ We believe that the conclusive miracle that
serves as evidence of his ‫ ﷺ‬prophethood is
associated with his call and it is: whatever
defies the norm in terms of speech or action.48
45
This is true not just for the prophets but also in other creations. For
example, some places are better and more blessed than others, some
angels are better in rank than others, etc.
46
This refers to the great intercession on the Day of Judgment when the
people will first seek intercession from Adam, then from Noah, then
Abraham, then Moses, then Jesus. Each of them will excuse himself and
defer the responsibility to the other except Muhammad ‫ﷺ‬, master of
the children of Adam. He will intercede with Allah for all of us from the
severity and distress of the situation on that horrifying Day so that the
judgment can begin. Details are mentioned in the Ḥadīth of al-Nasāʾī
2088. It is also alluded to in Qurʾān 17:79.
47
The Prophet ‫ ﷺ‬never worshiped an idol in his entire life even though
it was common among his people.
48
Meaning prophets are given miracles in their lives as a proof of their
claim of being sent by Allah. A miracle is what contradicts normative laws
of nature and can be action based or speech based. The Qurʾān is an
15
 ● It is necessary for the messengers to be truthful,
trustworthy, and to convey whatever they are
commanded with.

● It is impossible for the messengers to disbelieve, lie,

and betray.49

● It is possible for the messengers to have human

characteristics like sleep and marriage.

Beliefs in Reports About the

Unseen50
● It is obligatory to believe in the revival of the dead in
the grave, the squeezing of the grave,51 the return of
the soul to its body52 in it, and the questioning by

example of a miracle of speech. Prophet Moses splitting the sea is action

based.
49
All of the prophets of Allah are considered infallible.
50
This is referred to in Arabic as Samʿīyāt, which refers to matters which
cannot be known through the intellect and we have only come to know of
them through the texts.
51
Every dead person will experience this squeezing in the grave. It is
inevitable. The Prophet ‫ ﷺ‬said about one of his companions who had
died, “This is the one at whose death the Throne shook, the gates of
heaven were opened for him and seventy thousand angels attended his
funeral yet the grave squeezed him once then released him.” [al-Nasāʾī
2055]
52
The reward and punishment in the grave is real and is experienced by
both body and soul. All this occurs in the realm of the unseen. The
Prophet ‫ ﷺ‬used to seek refuge from its punishment at the end of every
prayer.

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 Munkar and Nakīr.53

● It is obligatory to believe in the Hour and its signs:

Antichrist, descent of Prophet Jesus, Gog and Magog,
the smoke, rising of the sun from the west,
emergence of the beast,54 and emergence of the
fire.55

Resurrection
● It is obligatory to believe in the resurrection,56 the
blast,57 and the gathering of every soul.58

53
These are two angels that test the deceased in their graves. They ask
them three questions: Who is your Lord? What is your religion? Who is
your prophet? Only those who firmly held on to true faith in this life will be
able to answer it by Allah’s permission. It is alluded to even in the
Qurʾān, “Allah will give firmness to those who believe in the firmly rooted
word, both in this world and the Hereafter.” [Qurʾān 14:27]
54
It is alluded to in the Qurʾān, “When the verdict is given against them,
We shall bring a creature out of the earth, which will tell them that people
had no faith in Our revelations.” [Qurʾān 27:82]
55
These are all signs of the Hour that will occur at the very end of times.
56
The resurrection on the Day of Judgment will consist of both body and
soul. This is explicitly affirmed in numerous places in the Qurʾān and
Sunnah. In fact, one of the major problems that the Quraysh had with the
Prophet’s ‫ ﷺ‬claim was that how could we be brought back to life after
becoming dust.
57
There is a debate whether there will be two or three blasts, but in
general the first will cause everything to be destroyed and the last will
commence the resurrection.
58
By indicating ‘every soul’ the author is asserting that it includes the
resurrection of even animals as mentioned in the texts.

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Accountability
● Accountable59 Muslims will be taken to account [for
their deeds] except those whom Allah wills to enter
into paradise without it.60

● The disbelievers will not be taken to account nor will

their book of deeds be weighed.61
○ If one of them did good, like charity, or was
oppressed [in this life], then we hope that the
punishment will be lightened for such a
disbeliever.

● We believe that the scale on which good and evil

deeds will be weighed is true. It has a tongue and two
pans on which the book of deeds will be weighed.62

● We believe the bridge63 is true. It is stretched out over

59
Meaning those who died having reached the age of puberty and were
sane.
60
There will be some fortunate folks who will be permitted to enter
paradise without reckoning. Some reports mention that their main quality
is that they completely place their trust in their Lord. The Prophet ‫ﷺ‬
said, “My Lord promised me that seventy thousand of my Ummah shall
be admitted into Paradise without a reckoning against them nor any
punishment. With every thousand are [another] seventy thousand and
three measures from His measures.” [al-Tirmidhī 2437]
61
The accountability is only for the believers. The disbelievers will be
taken straight to Hell because they do not have any good deeds
accepted due to their disbelief.
62
Good deeds will be weighed in the best of ways and evil deeds in the
most repugnant of ways.
63
It is slippery and unstable. It is sharper than a sword, narrower than a
strand of hair, hotter than a coal, and has hooks which grasp the feet.

18
 Hell64 and that crossing it is based on the extent of a
person’s deeds.65

● We believe that the pond66 is true.

● We believe in the intercession of the prophets,

scholars, martyrs, and the believers.67

● We believe that Paradise and Hell are true. They are

two creations that exist right now and whatever is in
them of bliss and punishment is created for eternity.68

Seeing Allah in the Afterlife

● We firmly assert that the believers will see their Lord
on the Day of Judgment with [their] eyes and He will
speak to them. Both of these will be done in a manner
befitting His majesty, Exalted be He.
○ The disbelievers will not see Him.69

64
It is a terrifying site as the people will be able to see Hell below them
and its horrors.
65
There will be some who will cross it quickly while others will crawl their
way across it. Both Muslims and disbelievers will be made to pass over
it. The Muslim will be saved while others will be snatched into Hell below
them.
66
It is a river whose water is sweeter than honey and whiter than milk. Its
vessels match the number of stars in the sky. The believer will drink from
it before they enter Paradise. Whoever drinks from it once will never go
thirsty again.
67
The Muʿtazilah deny intercession on the Day of Judgment.
68
Both Paradise and Hell were created to exist forever and never end.
69
This is a further form of punishment for them.
19
Other Beliefs Reported about the Unseen
● We believe in the angels, Satan and his whispering
towards disbelief and sin. All of this is true.

● The jinn are accountable in general [like humans].

Their believers will enter Paradise and their
disbelievers Hell just like others.70

70
The jinn eat, drink, and marry one another. They have formed bodies
and representing figures. Nobody from their kind was made a messenger
of Allah. Ibn Taymiyyah said, “We will see them in Paradise but they will
not see us.”
20
Other Issues Related to Creed71

Faith
● Faith is a belief with the heart,72 a statement with the
tongue,73 and an act by the limbs.74
○ It increases75 with obedience and decreases,76
along with its reward, with sin.
○ The statement ‘If Allah wills’ is recommended
[to say], it is not doubting the current state.77

Miracles of the Saints

● The miracles of the saints are true.

71
These are issues in which there are long and detailed disputes and the
author here is only presenting the canonized Ḥanbalī creed on these
issues. ‘Canonized’ here means those statements which are the most
popular among the people of Ḥadīth.
72
Meaning to firmly believe in the heart with true faith. This leads to the
heart acting through having fear, trust, hope, love, etc.
73
Meaning to utter the testimony of faith.
74
Meaning by performing prayers, giving alms, fasting, going to
pilgrimage, and other actionable aspects of faith done using limbs.
75
It is strengthened with knowledge and increases with acts of obedience
to Allah.
76
It weakens with ignorance, heedlessness, and forgetfulness and
decreases with acts of disobedience to Allah.
77
This is in reference to those who say, “I am a believer if Allah wills.”
Some scholars opine that it is a form of expressing doubt over one’s
faith, thus, it is not permitted to say it. However, it is only said to doubt
the outcome or the acceptance of some deeds, due to fear of negligence
or a dislike of self-commendation. It is in relation to the level of one’s faith
and not the soundness of it, thus, the Ḥanbalīs permit it.

21
 ○ It defies the norm78 without summoning,79
challenging,80 nor calling towards the saint.81 It does
not occur when summoned by him on behalf of
himself or Allah.
● The [saint’s] miracle does not indicate truthfulness of the
one on whose hand it occurs82 nor does it indicate his
sainthood due to the possibility for it to be taken away. It
could be a means of gradual destruction and deception.83

78
Meaning it defies the natural laws. The saints include both men and
women.
79
Meaning the saint does not summon it like a prophet who is able to do
so at command to show the truthfulness of his claim of being sent by the
Creator. The saint will generally hide it and keep it a secret. It appears on
a saint as a bestowal of honor. Generally, neither the saint nor anyone
else knows that he/she is one of Allah’s saints.
80
The miracles of the prophets are challenges for others to produce
something similar but that is not the case with the saints’ miracles. They
are not challenges for others to produce something similar.
81
Meaning the saint’s miracle is not a call to become his/her follower.
82
It is not required to believe someone is a saint, even if miracles are
claimed for them, until we examine the end of their life and their
agreement with the law in regards to what they enjoined and forbade.
83
If a miracle is found with someone ignorant, it is a trick and deception
from Satan; it is misleading and a form of misguidance. We know that
Antichrist will be able to do many things which defy the norm but it will all
be a deception as a test from Allah.

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Leadership84
● It is a religious legal obligation to establish a leader.85
It is a public religious rank and is a communal
obligation.86

● The leader is the one who takes on the position of the

Prophet ‫ ﷺ‬from Quraysh87 in the following:
establishing religious law, pilgrimage,88 military
campaigns, establishing the prescribed punishments,
justice for the oppressed, commanding the good and
prohibiting evil, collecting alms,89 and dispersing the
wealth in a proper way.

● It is obligatory to obey the leader in acts of

obedience90 and prohibited to obey him in sin.

84
This topic is actually related to fiqh and not creed but it is mentioned in
creedal works because some deviant groups mention it in their books of
creed. Ahl al-Sunnah differ with them on this topic on a number of issues.
85
The ‘leader’ in this whole section is in reference to the ruler of the
Muslims [i.e. caliph].
86
Meaning if some people take on this responsibility, it absolves the
remaining from sin.
87
There are a number of Ḥadīths which suggest that the caliph should
only be from the Quraysh tribe. For example, “This matter [i.e. caliphate]
will remain with the Quraysh even if just two of them remain” [Bukhārī
7140]. The Khawārij said that it can be any righteous person from the
Muslims. The Shīʿah say it can only be those from the Prophet’s ‫ﷺ‬
bloodline.
88
Meaning he leads the people in the annual pilgrimage.
89
So that it can be distributed among those qualified to receive it. This is
one of the Islamic state’s responsibilities.
90
Anything that does not contradict Islamic law.
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 ● The leadership can be established91 by text,92 Ijtihād,93
selection,94 or sometimes by the dominance95 of those
suitable for it.
○ It becomes binding96 by the agreement of the
people of decision.97

● It is not permitted to revolt against the leader even if

he is immoral. We pray behind him, perform
pilgrimage with him, give him alms [for distribution],
and supplicate for him.

Beliefs Regarding the Companions

● The best of people after the Messenger of Allah ‫ﷺ‬
and the most superior is Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq, then
ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, then ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān, then

91
Meaning the caliph can come into power in these four ways that the
author is about to mention.
92
This is how Abu Bakr came into power by the Prophet ‫ ﷺ‬suggesting
it even if not directly.
93
Meaning making a decision after deliberation. This is how ʿUthmān
came into power by a committee that discussed the issue and decided
on ʿUthmān as the next caliph after ʿUmar.
94
This is how ʿUmar came into power when the previous caliph selects
by name whom he wants to appoint next.
95
Meaning by force through military means.
96
Meaning once this group of people decides that the matter is settled
and this person will be the next caliph, it becomes binding on all Muslims
to accept the decision.
97
It is a decision-making Muslim committee. They are those who are
upright and know who is appropriate, deserving, and more befitting for
the position, more suitable than others for the people and the religion.
They are qualified to act on behalf of the Muslim community in electing a
caliph.
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 Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib, then the remaining ten,98 then the
people of Badr from the migrants, then the Anṣār, in
accordance to the migration in subsequent order, then
the other companions of the Messenger of Allah ‫ﷺ‬,
and they all have a rank, then the generation that
followed, then those who followed them in
righteousness, and then [after them] Allah knows
best.

● It is obligatory to love all of the companions and to

abstain from whatever happened between them.99

● It is obligatory to mention their virtues, be pleased

with them, abstain from bias against them, and to
believe in the excuses for them.100

● Whoever cursed any one of them believing it to be

permitted, then he has disbelieved. If he does not
consider it permissible, then he is immoral.

Sins and Repentance

● The Muslim is considered immoral by committing
major sins or persisting on minor ones.

98
Meaning the remaining ten promised paradise from the list: Ṭalḥah,
al-Zubayr, Saʿd ibn Abī Waqqāṣ, ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAwf, Saʿīd ibn
Zayd, and Abū ʿUbaydah ibn al-Jarrāḥ.
99
Meaning we do not criticize any of them by way of writing, reading,
listening, and telling others.
100
They did what they did based on acceptable reasoning which will
result in their reward; those who were correct will have two rewards and
those who erred will have one.

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 ● The Muslim does not come out of the fold of Islam by
sinning.101

● Repentance is obligatory for every minor and major

sin on an accountable102 person immediately.103

Groups of Ahl al-Sunnah104

● Ahl al-Sunnah are three groups: Ashʿarīs, Ḥanbalīs,
and Māturīdīs.105

● Disagreements occurred between the scholars of the

Ḥanbalī school and the scholars of the Ashʿarī school
on the following matters:
○ The reported Attributes of Allah like Istiwā,
Descent, Hand, Face, etc. We [the Ḥanbalīs]
believe in all of them and prohibit doing
metaphorical interpretations of them while they
[the Ashʿarīs] do so.
○ The issue of Allah’s Speech. We believe that it
is pre-eternal in both its letters and meanings
and that it consists of letters and sound, while

101
This is in reference to sins which do not take one out of the fold of
Islam. There are certain sins which are considered a form of disbelief
such as ridiculing the religion of Allah, prostrating to an inanimate object,
etc.
102
Meaning the one who has reached puberty and is sane.
103
Meaning the accountable person is not allowed to delay it.
104
The later Ḥanbalī scholars discuss this section in their books but not
the early ones. This is because areas of disagreement were crystalized
and defined in later times, which caused the differences to be narrowed
down to a large extent.
105
Many Ḥanbalī scholars hold this view.

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 they deny attributing it with letters and
sound.106

Conclusion
● The one who realizes the Oneness of Allah (Tawḥīd)
knows that the rights are three: a right for Allah in
which no creation has a share in, a right for His
Messenger ‫ﷺ‬, and a shared right between Allah
and His Messenger ‫ﷺ‬.
○ As for the right of Allah alone, then it refers to
things like worship, reliance, fear, awe,
devotion (Taqwā), repentance, hope, and
recourse.107
○ As for the right of the Messenger ‫ﷺ‬, then it
refers to things like adherence, reverence,
following, and surrendering to his command.
○ As for the shared right between them, then it
refers to things like love, belief, attestation, and
obedience.

106
This is because the Ashʿarīs consider letters and sound part of
creation. Ḥanbalīs reply that the letters and sound that is attributed to
Allah’s Speech is not like a creation’s, just like with the remaining of His
Attributes, which are only similar in wording but not in reality.
107
All of these are in the context of worship, which is an exclusive right of
Allah alone.
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