بسم الله الرحمن الرحي
Which Books Should The Layman Study to Learn Aqeedah? – Sh. Saud bin Abdul Aziz Al-Khalaf
Question:
“What Aqeedah(Creed)books do you advise for the layman to learn?”
Answer:
Undoubtedly the subject of Aqeedah(Creed) is a subject .. what I mean is, it is the foundation and it is found in the Book of Allah and it is found in the Sunnah of His Prophet ﷺ and the books of Ahadeeth; the books of Al-Islam have distinguished the categories, writings and defined related subjects. Such as Kitaab At-Tawheed by Imam Bukhari or his book Al-‘itisaam Bikitaabi Wa Sunnah or Kitaab Al-Eeman by Imam Muslim; they all compile Ahadeeth that contain with them meanings that are tied to matters of creed, narrations that contain meanings closely related to matters of creed.
Perhaps they are gathered in one chapter or perhaps they are dispersed in several chapters that are related to Trials or The Last Day or matters dealing with the signs of the Last Hour and other than that.These(books) are all present in the books of Ahadeeth. There are also books that are specialized in clarifying issues of creed, such as Aqeedah At-Tahawiyyah by Imam Abu Jafar At-Tahawi and it’s explanation by Ibn Abi Al’izz Al-Hanafi and the book Usool- As-Sunnah by Imam Ahmad or books that are a bit more expansive like Aqeedah Al-Wasitiyah by Shaykhul Islam ibn Tayyimah and that which is larger than it such as(Aqeedah) At-Tadmuriyah by Shaykhul Islam ibn Tayyimah. These books are in circulation and close to the people’s hands and in them by the Will of Allah there is satisfaction.
However, a person should not miss out on the book Kitaab At-Tawheed by Shaykh Muhammad ibn Abdulwahhab and before it the book Thalaathatul-Usool by Shaykh Muhammad ibn Abdulwahhab as well, as it’s very important specifically for the everyday person, as it summarizes that which is obligatory upon them from the superb fundamental matters which we are obligated to have faith and believe in such as the belief in Allah or the two testimonies of faith: bearing witness Allāh is the only deity worthy of worship and bearing witness that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger.
Similarly, if he studied the explanation of Thalaathatul-Usool by Shaykh Muhammad ibn Abdulwahhab explained by Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen or Shaykh ibn Bāz or the explanations to Kitaab At-Tawheed like Fat’h Al- Majeed or that which is larger and more (expansive) like the explanation of Tayseer al-‘Azeez al-Hameed. For they are all books that are beneficial on the subject of Creed. I mean, also there are books that speak generally about Creed such as the explanation of Aqeedah At-Tahawiyyah or Aqeedah At-Tahawiyyah by At-Tahawi with the exception of his statements obviously in Eeman, as his statements in Eeman are not accurate. May Allah pardon him for that. And also as I have stated the book Usool As-Sunnah by Imam Ahmad, as it is a tremendous book in reality and he is an Imam from the Imams of Ahlus-Sunnah. So these books are in the domain of Creed generally. However, in the domain of Tawheed then there is not anything I see more beautiful and more comprehensive than Kitaab At-Tawheed by Shaykh Muhammad ibn Abdulwahhab.
Source: https://youtu.be/yb1ZulBuBiY