Questioner:
What are the most important books of ʿaqīdah which a student of knowledge should read at his beginning stages of seeking knowledge?
Shaykh Sāliḥ al-Fawzān:
Kitāb al-Tawhīd by Shaykh Muḥammad bin ʿAbd al-Wahhāb in [the subject of] Tawḥīd al-ʿIbādah. al-ʿAqīdah al-Wāsiṭīyyah by Shaykh al-Islām ibn Taymīyyah encompasses all chapters of ʿaqīdah, and al-ʿAqīdah al-Taḥāwīyyah by Imām Abī Jaʿfar al-Taḥāwī. Then the explanations of these books; al-ʿAqīdah al-Taḥāwīyyah, Kitāb al-Tawḥīd and al-ʿAqīdah al-Wāsṭīyyah so that he will benefit himself and others and he will be upon clarity in his affair.
The affair is not easy, for in front of us will be a question and an answer when we are placed in the grave. How will we answer? So it is obligatory that we give importance to this and prepare for this.
Questioner:
What are the best explanations of Kitāb al-Tawḥīd, al-ʿAqīdah al-Wāsiṭīyyah and al-ʿAqīdah al-Taḥāwīyyah?
Shaykh Sāliḥ al-Fawzān:
[As for] Kitāb al-Tawḥīd, then from it’s explanations is Fat`ḥ al-Majīd. This is the best explanation of it, it is simple and concise. If you want an increase, [then read] Taysīr al-ʿAzīz al-Ḥamīd by Shaykh Sulaymān bin ʿAbd Allāh – [a book that] Fat`ḥ al-Majīd was abridged from. [In terms of] al-ʿAqīdah al-Taḥāwīyyah, ibn Abil ʿIzz has the best explanation. It is reliable, very beneficial and upon the methodology of the Salaf. Al-ʿAqīdah al-Wāsiṭīyyah by itself is clear, nonetheless it has beneficial and contemporary explanations such as the explanation of Shaykh ibn ʿUthaymīn and the explanation of Ibn Rashīd.1 They are beneficial explanations.
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1 Al-Tanbīhāt al-Saniyyah – Shaykh Sāliḥ Aal-Shaykh said: “This blessed ʿaqīdah has many explanations and from the most beneficial and articulate of them is the explanation titled al-Tanbīhāt al-Sanīyyah ʿalá al-ʿAqīdah al-Wāsiṭīyyah by the Shaykh and the ʿAllāmah ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ar-Rashīd. This explanation is certainly from the most beneficial explanations of al-ʿAqīdah al-Wāsiṭīyyah.
For it has indeed explained the points of this ʿaqīdah its wording will suffice the student of knowledge in [understanding] issues of this affair. I mean [by that], the affair of Iʿtiqād (creed and belief), due to what is mentioned in it from extensive knowledge. If a student of knowledge was to suffice with it in the clarification of the ʿaqīdah of Ahl al-Sunnah, it would be enough for him. For this reason I urge anyone who wants an explanation of this ʿaqīdah to get this book: al- Tanbīhāt al-Sanīyyah by Shaykh Ibn Rashīd. [Aal-Shaykh, Sāliḥ bin ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz. al-Lāliʾu al-Bahīyyah fi Sharḥ al-ʿAqīdah al-Wasiṭīyyah. Maktabah al-Hijāz, Riyādh, KSA, 1434 pp. 15-16]
