Brilliance of the Minarets
Foreword
In the name of Allah, The Merciful to the believers and non-believers in this world and to the believers only in the next world. Praise be to Allah the Lord of the worlds. To Him belong the endowments, generosities, and proper commendations. May Allah raise the rank of Prophet Muhammad and his pure and kind Al and Companions, and protect his nation from that which he fears for it.
Thereafter; the knowledge of the Religion is among the best of the acts of obedience; and it is the most worthy of allocating the precious time it takes to acquire it. This is especially so because at-Tirmidhiyy related that the Prophet, sallallahu ^alayhi wa sallam, said: <>
The greatest of all knowledge is that of the fundamentals of the creed. This is why the Messenger of Allah taught it to the Companions prior to teaching them the rules of the Religion. In his book, Misbah az-Zujajah, al-Busiriyy classified as sahih what Ibn Majah related that Jundub Ibn ^Abdullah, may Allah raise his rank, said: "We were with the Prophet of Allah, sallallahu ^alayhi wa sallam, as young men. We learned the matters of the belief before we learned the Qur'an. Then we learned the Qur'an which added to our belief."
We have found the ^Aqidah (creed) of Shaykh Fakhrud-Din Ibn ^Asakir, may Allah endow mercy on him, to contain a multiplicity of meanings in spite of its brevity. In it, the author summarized the creed of Ahlus-Sunnah wal Jama^ah with a few brief terms. Its words are easy for children to memorize and enjoyable for adults to study. Furthermore, it became famous among the Muslims. These qualities inspired us to explain its terms in order to facilitate learning and to propagate its message without using lengthy explanations.
We presented what we wrote to the Renewer of the Century, the Shafi^iyy of this Era, the Rifa^iyy of the Time, the Defender and Reviver of the Sunnah, the Negator and Eliminator of the Innovations of Misguidance, the Faqih and Scholar of Hadith, the Adherer to the Fundamentals of the Religion, the Linguist, ash-Shaykh ^Abdullah Ibn Muhammad Ibn Yusuf Ash-Shaybiyy, al-Qurashiyy (by lineage), al-Harariyy (by home country), known as al-Habashiyy (Al-Habashiyy: refers to the fact that he is from al-Habashah, a country in Africa known as Abyssinia. The companion and cousin of the Prophet, Ja^far Ibn Abu Talib, immigrated there along with other companions.), may Allah protect him.
He changed certain parts, added words to others, and approved the rest. We attempted to translate this document to some of the many languages in existence. We were assisted in our endeavors by the translation teams of the Association of Islamic Charitable Projects (A.I.C.P.) in North America, France, Ukraine, Australia, and China. We succeeded in producing translations in English, French, Spanish, Urdu, Russian, Turkish, and Chinese.
We did this in the hope of earning the reward promised in the hadith of the Prophet that was related by al-Bukhariyy: <>
We named this treatise The Brilliance of the Minarets. May Allah make it useful and widespread.
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The ^Aqidah of Ibn^Asakir
Shaykh Fakhrud-Din Ibn ^Asakir, may Allah have mercy upon him, said:
Know, may Allah guide us and you, that it is obligatory upon every accountable person to know that Allah is the only God in His Dominion.
He created the entire world, the upper and lower, the ^Arsh and Kursiyy, the heavens and earth, and what is in them and in between them.
All the creation is subjugated by His Power. No speck moves except by His will.
He has no manager for the creation with Him, and has no partner in Dominion.
He is attributed with Life and is Qayyum. He is not seized by somnolence or sleep.
He is the One Who knows about the unforeseen and what is evidenced by His creation. Nothing on earth or in heaven is hidden from Him. He knows what is on land and in sea. Not a leaf does fall but He knows about it. There is no grain in the darkness of earth, nor anything which is moist or dry but is inscribed in a clear Book. His Knowledge encompasses everything. He knows the count of all things.
He does whatever He wills. He has the power to do whatever He wills.
To Him is the Dominion and He needs none; To Him belong the Glory and Everlastingness. To Him are the Ruling and al-Qada' (the Creating). He has the Names of Perfection. No one hinders what He decreed. No one prevents what He gives. He does in His dominion whatever He wills. He rules His creation with whatever He wills.
He does not hope for reward and does not fear punishment.
There is no right on Him that is binding, and no one exercises rule over Him.
Every endowment from Him is due to His Generosity and every punishment from Him is just. He is not questioned about what He does, but they are questioned.
He existed before the creation. He does not have a before or an after. He does not have an above or a below, a right or a left, an in front of or a behind, a whole or a part.
It must not be said: When was He? Or where was He? Or how is He? He existed without a place. He created the universe and willed for the existence of time. He is not bound to time and is not designated with place.
His management of one matter does not distract Him from another. Delusions do not apply to Him, and He is not encompassed by the mind. He is not conceivable in the mind. He is not imagined in the self nor pictured in delusions. He is not grasped with delusions or thoughts.
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