The Text of Al-'Aqidah Al-Wasitiyah

Introduction

In the name of Allah the Compassionate, the Merciful1 The praise belongs to Allah2 Who sent His Messenger3 with guidance and the religion of truth (i.e., Islam) making it incumbent on all religions. Allah is the best of witnesses4, and I testify that there is no god but Allah alone and that He has no partner5; I admit and believe in the oneness of Allah. And I testify that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger6; May Allah greatly bless him, his family, and his companions.

This is the belief of the saved group7, the victorious ones to the Day of Judgment, the people of the Sunnah and the Jama'ah8 (i.e., The belief in Allah, His angels, His books, His messengers, the resurrection after death, the belief in Divine Decree (qadar), be it good or bad)9.

Part of the belief in Allah is the belief in how He has described Himself in His Book (the Qur'an) and in how His Messenger Muhammad (peace be upon him) has described Him. Believe without distorting or denying and without questioning or shaping; Rather, believe in Allah, The Exalted:

"There is none like Him; He is the All-Hearer, the All-Seer." (ash-Shura 42/11)

Do not deny Him the way He has described Himself; Do not change words from their context; Do not disbelieve the names of Allah and His Signs; Do not exemplify His Attributes with the attributes of His creatures because Allah, The Exalted, has no likeness: There is none comparable to Him; There is none equal to Him; The Exalted, the Supreme, is not measured by His creatures; Indeed, He best knows Himself and others; He is All-Truthful; and His Speech prevails over the speech of His creatures.

Moreover, His messengers are truthful and thus speak the truth. This is opposite to those who speak about Him what they themselves know not. About this, The Exalted, The Supreme has said:

"Glorified be your lord, the Lord of Majesty, from that which (the unbelievers) attribute (unto Him). And peace be upon the messengers. And praise be to Allah the Lord the Universe." (as Saffat 37/180-182).

He glorified Himself with what the opponents of the messengers said of Him; And He greeted the messengers because what they said was free from defect.

He (the Glory is His) combined what He described Himself as between negation and affirmation10. Consequently, the people of the Sunnah and Jama'ah must not deviate from what the messengers brought forth; verily, it is the right path, the path of those upon whom Allah bestowed His grace, the path of the prophets, saints, martyrs, and righteous people.

Allah's Names and Attributes in the Qur'an

The following is included in this idea of how Allah describes Himself in Surat al-Ikhlas, (chapter 112) which equals a third of the Qur'an11, where He says:

"Say He is Allah The One, Allah The Eternal. He never begot, nor was begotten. There is none comparable to Him."

And He described Himself in the greatest Ayah (verse) in His Book (i.e., Ayat al-Kursi):

"Allah, there is no god save Him, The Living, The Eternal. Neither slumber nor sleep overtake Him. Unto Him belongs whatsoever is in the heavens and the earth. Who is he who intercedes with Him except by His permission? He knows that which is before them and that which is behind them, while they encompass nothing of His Knowledge except what He wills. His seat (kursi) contains the heavens and the earth, and He is never weary of preserving them. He is The Sublime, The Great." (al-Baqarah 2/255)

Therefore, Allah protects whoever reads this Ayah at night and no devil can get close to him until morning. Allah has also said:

"Depend on The Living One, He Who will never die." (al-Furqan 25/58).

And He, the Glorified, has said:

"He is The First (al-Awwal) and The Last (al-Akhir), The Outward (as-Zahir) and The Inward (al-Batin)12; He is The Knower of All Things." (al-Hadid 57/3)

Knowledge:
"He knows that which goes down into the earth and that which comes out from it, and that which descends from the heavens and that which ascends into it. He is The Merciful, The Forgiving." (Saba' 34/2)

"With Him are the keys of the unknown (mafatih al-ghaib), none but He knows them. He knows what is in the land and the sea; not a leaf falls but He knows it; not a grain amid the darkness of the earth, naught of wet or dry but (it is recorded) in a clear record." (al-An'am 6/59)

He has said:

"No female conceives or gives birth except with His Knowledge." (Fatir 35/11)

And He has said:

"That you may know that Allah is able to do all things, and that Allah knows all things." (at-Talaq 65/12)

Might:
And He has said:

"Indeed, Allah is the One Who gives livelihood, The Lord of Unbreakable Might." (adh-Dhariyaat 51/58)

Hearing, Seeing:
And He has said:

"Nothing is like Him; and He is The Hearer, The Seer." (ash-Shura 42/11)