BOOK RELEASE: BELIEFS AND PRACTICES OF THE AHL AS-SUNNAH WA'AL JAMAA'AH All praise belongs to Allah – Lord of the Worlds, and may countless peace and blessings, salutations and mercy be upon the Guide of Mankind and their Saviour, the Crown of all the Messengers and their Leader; our Master Muhammad, and upon his Family and Companions and those who follow them righteously until the Hour. Certainly, the greatest blessing conferred upon us is the blessing of the religion of Islam – and what a noble and great bounty it is! This religion is comprised of 2 aspects – Beliefs [‘aqā’id] and Deeds [a’māl]. Beliefs are like the soul while deeds are like the body. Just as a body without a soul is deemed ‘lifeless’ and ‘dead,’ so too deeds without sound ‘aqīdah are not only in vain but also the cause of peril and destruction. Therefore, it is of much importance and extremely essential to perfect one’s beliefs and practices. We are living in such times of strife and tribulation, ignorance and mayhem, about which the Beloved ﷺ foretold us: On the authority of Sayyiduna ‘Abdullāh ibn al-Qays radi Allahu anhu who reports that the Sublime Prophet ﷺ said, “Before the Hour comes, there will be tribulation like pieces of black night, when a man will wake up as a believer but be a disbeliever by evening, or he will be a believer in the evening but will be a disbeliever by morning…” [ibn Majah in his Sunan] Furthermore, we are informed of Nas Juhhal (ignoramuses), disguised as well-wishers, yet greedy of destroying and corrupting the faith of the Muslims through their gravely-mistaken ideologies and false notions: On the authority of Sayyiduna ‘Urwah radi Allahu anhu who said: “ [Sayyiduna] ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Amr came to us and we heard him narrate: ‘I heard the Beloved Prophet ﷺ state: Verily Allāh does not take away the knowledge, after He has bestowed it to you, by taking it away from (the hearts of) the people, but takes it away from you by the death of the religious learned men with their knowledge till only the ignorant shall remain, who shall be consulted and will give their verdict according to their whims/without knowledge. So they will go astray and will lead the people astray.’” [al-Bukhari in his Sahih] Thus, at such times of ignorance, when questions, objections and doubts are being raised in relation to the fundamentals of Islamic Beliefs and Practice, we felt the need to compile a short yet concise handbook covering some aspects of the Beliefs and Practices of the mass majority – the Ahl al-Sunnah wa’l Jama’ah; in hope that it alleviates any misconceptions regarding the Beliefs and Practices of the Saved Sect. Anything within this compilation which is correct and sound is from Allah, while errors and shortcomings are from us. ORDER http://alihya.org.uk/beliefs-and-practices-of-the-ahl-al-s…/
