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Concept
Aqidah
Summary
Aqidah (ʿaqīdah (ʕɑˈqiːdæ, ʕɑˈqɑːʔɪd), plural عقائد ʿaqāʾid, also rendered ʿaqīda, aqeeda, etc.) is an Islamic term of Arabic origin that literally means "creed". It is also called Islamic creed and Islamic theology.
Aqidah go beyond concise statements of faith and may not be part of an ordinary Muslim's religious instruction. It has been distinguished from Iman in "taking the aspects of Iman and extending it to a detail level" often using "human interpretation or sources". Yet in contrast with Iman, Aqidah is not a term in the Qur'an.
Many schools of Islamic theology expressing different aqidah exist. However, this term has taken a significant technical usage in the Islamic theology, and is a branch of Islamic studies describing the beliefs of Islam.
Aqidah comes from the Semitic root ʿ-q-d, which means "to tie; knot". ("Aqidah" used not only as an expression of a school of Islamic theology or belief system, but as another word for "theology" in Islam, as in: "Theology (Aqidah) covers all beliefs and belief systems of Muslims, including sectarian differences and points of contention".)
According to Muslim scholar Cyril Glasse, "systematic statements of belief became necessary, from early [on in the history of] Islam, initially to refute heresies, and later to distinguish points of view and to present them, as the divergences of schools of theology or opinion increased."
The "first" creed written as "a short answer to the pressing heresies of the time" is known as Fiqh Akbar and ascribed to Abu Hanifa. Two well known creeds were the Fiqh Akbar II "representative" of the Ash'ari, and Fiqh Akbar III, "representative" of the Shafi'i. Al-Ghazali also had an aqidah. These creeds were more detailed than those described below.
According to Malcolm Clark, while Islam "is not a creedal religion", it has produced some detailed creeds, "some containing 100 or more belief statements" that summarized "the theological position of a particular scholar or school."
The six articles of faith or belief (Arkan al-Iman) derived from the Quran and Sunnah, are accepted by all Muslims.
Official source
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