Aqeedah / theology

The Creed of Imam Bayhaqi
By Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn Husayn Al-Bayhaqi
An Abridged Translation of al-I’tiqad wa’l-Hidayah ila Sabil ar-Rashad 
Together with Saeed Fodeh’s Synopsis of Bayhaqi’s Text
Translated By Nasir Abdussalam

Allah (swt) says in the Qurʾān ﴾Say: We believe in Allah and what has been sent down to us﴿ (2:136). Therefore it is understood by the scholars of Islam that the ‘first obligation’ for a responsible adult is to know Allah. Abū Dāwūd narrates, in his Sunan, that the Messenger of Allah (swt) said, ‘The Jews split into 71 or 72 sects; the Christians split into 71 or 72 sects; and my community will split into 73 sects.’ Consequently, the Muslim community has diligently strived to preserve the correct theology of Islam, and this translated work is one exposition of the Sunni creed.