The correct ʿaqīdah is the foundation and greatest pillar of the Islam. For this reason, the very first matter to which the Prophets, peace be upon them, called their people to was correcting their beliefs and affirming the tawḥīd of Allah. Every structure whose foundation is not the correct ʿaqīdah is a structure whose pillars are destined to collapse. Without the rectification of ʿaqīdah, deeds are of no benefit, regardless of their nature.

The Importance of ʿAqīdah

The word ʿaqīdah (creed) comes from an Arabic root that means to tie or to bind. For example, ʿaqadtu al-ḥabla (عَقَدْتُ الْحَبْلَ) means, I tied the rope, when it has been fastened securely. Based on this, ʿaqīdah refers to a firm, secure, and unwavering belief that is free from doubt or uncertainty.

A sound ʿaqīdah is the foundation and basis of the religion. A person’s faith is neither complete nor accepted by Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, without it. Allah, Mighty and Majestic, says:

And whoever disbelieves in faith, then his deeds have become worthless, and in the Hereafter he will be among the losers. \ (Surah al-Māʾidah 5:5)

For this reason, ʿaqīdah was the foundation of the call of every Messenger. Allah, Mighty and Majestic, says:

And We certainly sent into every nation a messenger, proclaiming: Worship Allah and avoid the ṭāghūt. \ (Surah al-Naḥl 16:36)

It is also one of the greatest commands of Allah, Mighty and Majestic. He, Exalted is He, says:

Worship Allah and do not associate anything with Him. \ (Surah al-Nisāʾ 4:36)

This ʿaqīdah is also the very reason mankind exists in this world. It is the wisdom behind our creation. Allah, Glorified is He, says:

And I did not create the jinn and mankind except that they should worship Me. \ (Surah al-Dhāriyāt 51:56)

Its meaning is that you worship Him alone, Glorified is He, and devote all worship exclusively to Him, Exalted is He. You were not created without purpose or in vain.

ʿAqīdah Is the Foundation of All Deeds

Among the clearest proofs of the importance of ʿaqīdah, and that it is the foundation upon which all deeds are built, is that it expiates sins, even major sins. This is established in the narration of ʿUbādah ibn al-Ṣāmit, may Allah be pleased with him, who reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

Whoever testifies that there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah alone, having no partner; that Muḥammad is His servant and Messenger; that ʿĪsā is the servant of Allah, His Messenger, His Word which He cast to Maryam, and a spirit from Him; and that Paradise is true and the Fire is true, Allah will admit him into Paradise regardless of the deeds he has performed. \ (Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, with Fatḥ al-Bārī, 6:474)

It is also reported from ʿItbān ibn Mālik al-Anṣārī, may Allah be pleased with him, that the Prophet ﷺ said:

Indeed, Allah has forbidden the Fire for whoever says: Lā ilāha illā Allāh, seeking thereby the Face of Allah. \ (Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, with Fatḥ al-Bārī, 1:519)

Likewise, ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ, may Allah be pleased with them both, narrated the famous ḥadīth of the Card (ḥadīth al-biṭāqah). In it, ninety-nine scrolls, each stretching as far as the eye can see, will be brought for a man. Then a card will be brought on which is written:

I bear witness that there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah, and I bear witness that Muḥammad is His servant and Messenger. \

The scrolls will be placed on one side of the scale and the card on the other. The scrolls will become weightless, while the card will outweigh them. Al-Tirmidhī, 5:24-25

Al-Tirmidhī also narrated from Anas ibn Mālik, may Allah be pleased with him, that he heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say:

Allah, the Exalted, said: O son of Ādam, were you to come to Me with sins nearly filling the earth, then meet Me without associating anything with Me, I would surely come to you with forgiveness nearly equal to it. \ (Al-Tirmidhī, 5:548)

Every Prophet Began with ʿAqīdah

Allah relates to us the stories of the Prophets and how they dealt with their people. Every Prophet began by calling his people to the correct ʿaqīdah, to worship Him alone with sincerity, and to abandon shirk and its people.

Allah said about Nūḥ:

Indeed, We sent Nūḥ to his people, and he said: O my people, worship Allah. You have no deity worthy of worship other than Him. \ (Surah Hūd 11:25-26)

He also said about Hūd:

And to ʿĀd We sent their brother Hūd. He said: O my people, worship Allah. You have no deity worthy of worship other than Him. \ (Surah al-Aʿrāf 7:65)

He said about Ṣāliḥ:

And to Thamūd We sent their brother Ṣāliḥ. He said: O my people, worship Allah. You have no deity worthy of worship other than Him. \ (Surah al-Aʿrāf 7:73)

He also said about Ibrāhīm:

And remember Ibrāhīm when he said to his people: Worship Allah and fear Him. That is better for you, if only you knew. \ (Surah al-ʿAnkabūt 29:16)

Allah also said about Yaʿqūb:

Or were you witnesses when death approached Yaʿqūb, when he said to his sons: What will you worship after me? They said: We will worship your God and the God of your forefathers, Ibrāhīm, Ismāʿīl, and Isḥāq, one God, and to Him we submit. \ (Surah al-Baqarah 2:133)

Allah also said about Yūsuf:

And I have followed the religion of my forefathers, Ibrāhīm, Isḥāq, and Yaʿqūb. It is not for us to associate anything with Allah. That is from the favor of Allah upon us and upon mankind, but most people are not grateful. O my two companions of prison, are separate lords better, or Allah, the One, the Irresistible? You worship besides Him nothing but names that you and your forefathers have named, for which Allah has sent down no authority. Judgement belongs to none but Allah. He has commanded that you worship none but Him. That is the upright religion, but most people do not know. \ (Surah Yūsuf 12:38-40)

He also said about Shuʿayb:

And to Madyan We sent their brother Shuʿayb. He said: O my people, worship Allah. You have no deity worthy of worship other than Him. \ (Surah al-Aʿrāf 7:85)

He said about Mūsā:

He said: Shall I seek for you a deity other than Allah, while He has favored you above the worlds? \ (Surah al-Aʿrāf 7:140)

And He said about ʿĪsā:

Indeed, Allah is my Lord and your Lord, so worship Him. This is the Straight Path. \ (Surah Āl ʿImrān 3:51)

The Call of Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ

This was also the method of the Seal of the Prophets and Messengers, our Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ. Allah sent him as a mercy to the worlds, a bearer of glad tidings, a warner, a caller to Allah by His permission, and an illuminating lamp. He began with the same message as every Prophet before him: the correct ʿaqīdah and the call to worship Allah alone with sincerity.

His Lord commanded him to call all people to ʿaqīdah, saying:

Say: O mankind, indeed I am the Messenger of Allah to you all, to Him belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth. There is no deity worthy of worship except Him. He gives life and causes death. So believe in Allah and His Messenger, the unlettered Prophet, who believes in Allah and His words, and follow him so that you may be guided. \ (Surah al-Aʿrāf 7:158)

He also said:

Say: Indeed, my prayer, my sacrifice, my life, and my death are for Allah, the Lord of the worlds. He has no partner. This I have been commanded, and I am the first of those who submit. \ (Surah al-Anʿām 6:162-163)

The Prophet ﷺ remained in Makkah for thirteen years. During that time, he patiently endured every kind of persecution while calling the people to tawḥīd and warning them against shirk. Only after this did he command them to perform ṣalāh, pay zakāh, fast, and perform ḥajj. Likewise, the prohibitions of ribā, zinā, theft, and unlawful killing came later.^[1]

After the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and his noble Companions migrated to Madīnah, and the Islamic state was established upon the foundation of ʿaqīdah, this matter continued to receive the greatest attention. Qurʾānic verses about it continued to be revealed, and the Prophet’s guidance constantly revolved around it.

Nor did the Messenger of Allah ﷺ stop there. Whenever people came to give him the pledge of allegiance (bayʿah), he would take their pledge upon the correct ʿaqīdah, especially the leading Companions, and everyone else.

Allah said:

O Prophet, when the believing women come to you pledging that they will not associate anything with Allah, nor steal, nor commit adultery, nor kill their children, nor bring forth any slander they have fabricated between their hands and feet, nor disobey you in what is right, then accept their pledge and seek Allah’s forgiveness for them. Indeed, Allah is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful. \ (Surah al-Mumtaḥanah 60:12)

The Sunnah also contains many reports showing that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ always began his call with ʿaqīdah and ended it with ʿaqīdah. He remained upon this throughout his entire life without becoming weary or tired.

1. ʿAmr ibn ʿAbasah al-Sulamī, may Allah be pleased with him, said:

During the Jāhiliyyah, I believed that the people were misguided and that they had nothing of the truth, even though they worshipped idols. Then I heard about a man in Makkah who was bringing certain news. So I mounted my riding animal and went to him. I found that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was concealing himself because his people had become hostile toward him. I entered quietly until I reached him in Makkah. I asked, Who are you? He replied, I am a Prophet. I asked, What is a Prophet? He said, Allah has sent me. I asked, With what has He sent you? He replied, He has sent me to uphold family ties, to destroy idols, and that Allah alone should be worshipped without associating anything with Him. I asked, Who is with you in this? He said, A free man and a slave. At that time, Abū Bakr and Bilāl were among those who had believed in him… \ (Aḥmad, al-Musnad, 1:202)

2. Jaʿfar ibn Abī Ṭālib, may Allah be pleased with him, said to al-Najāshī, the King of Abyssinia:

O King, we were a people living in the Jāhiliyyah. We worshipped idols, ate carrion, committed immoral acts, cut off family ties, mistreated our neighbors, and the strong among us oppressed the weak. We remained in that condition until Allah sent to us a Messenger from among ourselves, whose lineage, truthfulness, trustworthiness, and chastity we already knew. He called us to Allah, that we should worship Him alone and single Him out, abandoning what we and our forefathers used to worship besides Him of stones and idols… \ (Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, with Fatḥ al-Bārī, 1:32)

3. During the Treaty of al-Ḥudaybiyah, Heraclius questioned Abū Sufyān about the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. He asked, What does he command you? Abū Sufyān replied:

He says: Worship Allah alone and do not associate anything with Him. Abandon what your forefathers used to say. He commands us to pray, to speak the truth, to maintain chastity, and to uphold family ties. \ (Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, with Fatḥ al-Bārī, 3:357)

These noble aḥādīth clearly show that the first thing the Prophet ﷺ called people to was the correct ʿaqīdah.

This was also the method that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ instructed his representatives to follow whenever he sent them to invite people to Islam.

4. Ibn ʿAbbās, may Allah be pleased with them both, narrated that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to Muʿādh ibn Jabal when sending him to Yemen:

You are going to a people from among the People of the Book. When you come to them, invite them to testify that there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah and that Muḥammad is the Messenger of Allah. If they obey you in that, then inform them that Allah has made obligatory upon them five prayers in every day and night. If they obey you in that, then inform them that Allah has made obligatory upon them a charity to be taken from their wealthy and returned to their poor… \ (Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, 1458)

Therefore, the most important matter is to establish yourself upon the correct ʿaqīdah. Such was the call of all the Prophets, especially the Messengers of firm resolve (Ulū al-ʿAzm). In every time and place, they began their call with ʿaqīdah.

Conclusion

The correct ʿaqīdah is the foundation upon which the entire religion is built. It was the first matter to which every Prophet called, the purpose for which mankind was created, and the basis upon which every act of worship is accepted by Allah. No deed, regardless of how great it may appear, can benefit a person without sound belief, just as no structure can remain standing without a firm foundation. It is therefore obligatory upon every Muslim to learn the correct ʿaqīdah, remain steadfast upon it, and give it precedence over all other matters, for through it one’s religion is established and one’s path to Allah is made clear.

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1. See Dr. Rabīʿ al-Madkhalī, Manhaj al-Anbiyāʾ fī al-Daʿwah ilā Allāh Fīhi al-Ḥikmah wa al-ʿAql, pp. 57-58. ↩︎