Books for Further Reading; Palm Reading, Balā and the Uncreated Qur'an

For further reading and explanation, the ʿAqīdah Ṭaḥāwiyyah translation is a good translation. Beyond that, al-Fiqh al-Akbar is one of the first books in English as a commentary on ʿaqīdah. Unfortunately, before these books, the majority of works (in fact, all the works that were done on Islamic beliefs) were, very strangely, done only by orientalists, about 200 years ago, 300 years ago. Go into libraries, and the oldest classical works will be found translated. Al-Fiqh al-Akbar was already translated about a hundred years ago. So al-Fiqh al-Akbar is quite extensive in that regard. There may be some parts which are more difficult; a scholar should be consulted about those. But for the most part, it should be sufficient for a decent understanding.

These points reward a second reading, because there is a lot here, and it needs to be digested. It is worth going over it again, so as to think about it again and clarify certain points.

The Attributes of God, by ʿAbdullāh ʿAlī, published by Amal Press, is a really good book as well, for understanding the deeper aspects. In fact, Shaykh ʿAbdullāh ʿAlī is soon to publish the Iljām al-ʿAwāmm by al-Ghazālī: a very, very complex book, for those who really want the complex.

There are books in Arabic for understanding these differences as well: Hādhihi ʿAqīdat al-Salaf wa al-Khalaf, and another called Barāʾat al-Ashʿariyyīn. These are for the most serious students, who understand Arabic. But for those who understand basic Arabic, al-Maydānī's commentary on the ʿAqīdah Ṭaḥāwiyyah is really good.

The exposition in this chapter is based primarily on al-Maydānī's commentary on the ʿAqīdah Ṭaḥāwiyyah. It also draws on al-Fiqh al-Akbar, the commentary in English, parts of which were based on earlier research, and on some portions of Tuḥfat al-Murīd ʿalā Jawharat al-Tawḥīd, which is al-Bājūrī's commentary on Jawharat al-Tawḥīd. It is an absolutely fantastic book. If it is the one book a person reads in ʿaqīdah… Though it is an Ashʿarī book, it is a much later Ashʿarī book; he reconciles a lot of the points of the Māturīdīs and the Ashʿarīs. A fascinating book. May Allah reward him.

What advice should be given to a Muslim who has committed an act of shirk, for example palm reading, to understand the future? The hadith should be brought, the relevant hadith. The aim is to reaffirm their faith in Allah, showing them the verses about tawḥīd, and about Allah (swt), and simply to try to increase their īmān, because people do this when they do not have enough īmān, when their level is very low. That is the best way to go about it.

When balā was said by the progeny of Ādam, could this be an inherent aspect of our fiṭrah, as Mawlānā Sulaymān Moola says: there is no atheist on a sinking ship? Absolutely. That is exactly the point made above: it is the natural faith that is inherent within us. Babies in the womb, apparently, remember by hearing their mother's and father's voices. It should be reiterated to them: the dhikr should be made by the mother and the father.

Why, once more, is the Qur'an not created? Because it is the speech of Allah. It is His eternal speech; it is an attribute. It is not created. Because it is so mighty, and we cannot understand it, Allah (swt) revealed this version that we have. So the version that we have is created, but what it reflects of the divine archetype of Allah's attribute is eternal.