The Brilliance of the Minarets : The Aqidah of Ibn 'Asakir.
[A5] Paperback/Booklet - 55 pages.
Published by Jamaat e Ahl e Sunnat (UK) Publications.
Foreword :
The knowledge of religion is amongst 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-Tirmidhi related that the Beloved Prophet, Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa Sallam, said:
''Allah facilitates a route to Paradise for he who follows
a route to seek knowledge.''
The greatest of all knowledge is that of the fundamentals of the creed. This is why the Beloved Messenger of Allah taught it to the Companions (sahaba-i kiram) 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 Beloved Prophet of Allah, Salla Allahu
'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.''
The Aqidah (creed) of Shaykh Fakhr'ud-Din Abd ar-Rahman ibn 'Asakir, may Allah endow mercy upon him, contains a multiplicity of meanings in spite of its brevity. In it, the author summarised the creed of the Ahl as-Sunnah w'al Jama'ah with a few brief terms. Its words are easy for children to memorise 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 lenghty explanations.