Questions & Answers in Islamic Theology by Shaykh Ramzy Ajem

WHAT ARE THE TEN INTRODUCTORY ENQUIRIES OF `ILM AL-TAWHID?

Shaykh Ramzy Ajem answered:

‫ا ـ ـ ْة‬ ‫ُع‬ ‫و اـ‬ ‫اـ‬ ‫ـ ـ ْة‬ ‫ـ‬ ‫ـ ــ ِدي‬ ‫إن‬

‫ُ ا ر ْع‬ ‫ا ُد‬ ‫ُ ا‬ ‫و ا‬ ْ ‫و ـ ٌ و ـ ُـ ُ و ا ــ ا ـ‬
‫َز ا‬ َ ‫درى ا ـ ـ‬ ‫وـ‬ ‫ِ ا‬ ُ ‫ٌ وا‬
...… ..…

The Discipline of `Ilm al-Tawhid

Definition ‫ اـ‬:
○ A science that investigates ways to affirm and establish the Islamic tenets of faith ascertained
from categorical evidence.
Subject Matter ‫ُع‬ ‫ اـ‬:
○ The existence and attributes of the Divinity, of the Messengers, and what they have conveyed
regarding the unseen.
Benefit ‫ا ة‬:
○ Knowledge of God, His Messengers through categorical proofs and posthumous felicity.
Relation ‫ا‬:
○ It is the foundation of all other sciences.
Virtue ‫ا ـ‬:
○ Because it is directly related to the most virtuous of subjects, it is the most virtuous science.
Founder ‫ ا ــ ا ـ‬:
○ The two Imams of Ahl al-Sunna, Abu al-Hasan al-Ashari 1 and Abu Mansur al-Maturidi 2.
Name ‫ا‬:
○ Theology or the Science of Divine Unicity.
Origins ‫اد‬ ‫ا‬:
○ Revelatory (naqli) and Intellectual (`aqli).
Legal Ruling ‫ُ ا رع‬ :
○ Personally obligatory on every legally accountable person.
Topics ‫ا‬:
○ Propositions that pertain to that which is necessary, impossible and possible.

1
He is ‘Ali ibn Isma‘il ibn Abi Bishr Ishaq ibn Salim, Abu al-Hasan al-Ash‘ari al-Yamani al-Basri al-Baghdadi (260-324 AH), a descendent of the Yemeni Companion Abu Musa
al-Ash`ari. The 18th century Islamic scholar Shah Waliullah stated about him: “A Mujadid appears at the end of every century: the Mujadid of the third century was the Imam of
Ahl al-Sunnah, Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari.” It is a historical fact that the overwhelming majority of Sunni scholars among the rightly guided jurists and hadith scholars of the third
century forward consider the Ash'ari and Maturidi schools of theology as the Sunni 'orthodoxy' (Ahl al-Sunna wal-Jama`a).
2
He is Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Mahmud Abu Mansur al-Samarqandi al-Maturidi al-Hanafi (d. 333) of Maturid in Samarqand, Shaykh al-Islam, one of the two foremost
Imams of the theolgians of Ahl al-Sunna, known in his time as the Imam of Guidance (Imâm al-Hudâ), he studied under Abu Nasr al-`Ayadi and Abu Bakr Ahmad al-Jawzajani.

Notes from the Sanusiya Course 2022 by Shaykh Ramzy Ajem