Once the Messenger of Allah ﷺ had passed away, sects began to emerge from within the Muslim world. A sect is a group which holds beliefs (aqidah) which are different to the beliefs of the Prophet ﷺ and his Companions. The Prophet ﷺ however informed us that there would always be a group of Muslims who would be upon the same rightly guided beliefs as he and his companions. This group is called the Ahl as-Sunna wa al-Jama’ah or ‘The people of the Prophetic way and the majority’.
An adherent to this group is called a Sunni Muslim.
The beliefs (aqidah) of Sunni Muslims have been codified in three schools:
- The Ashari school (named after Abu al-Hasan al-Ashari)
- The Maturidi school (named after Abu Mansur al-Maturidi)
- The Athari/Hanbali school (The school of many early scholars who did not delve deeply into certain theological issues. This school is best represented by Ahmed ibn Hanbal.)
These schools are named after their founders (i.e. the individuals who codified/organised the beliefs of Muslims) and are essentially the same, only differing in minor issues which are ultimately inconsequential.
The Asharis, Maturidis and Atharis are collectively known as Ahl as-Sunna wa al-jama’ah or ‘the people of the Prophetic way and the majority’. These three schools have preserved, defended and codified the beliefs of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and his companions. Any group which differs with the beliefs of the Asharis, Maturidis and Atharis is considered a sect which has departed from the mainstream body of orthodox Muslims.
Many of the Sunni scholars wrote simple books of Aqida which were designed to teach the Muslim public the most important beliefs which every Muslim must hold. One of those is the poem entitled Aqidah al-Awwam (the Aqida of the people) by Imam Ahmed al-Marzuqi. Imam al-Marzuqi was a Maliki scholar who lived in the holy city of Makkah. He mentions his reason for composing this poem in his own commentary of the work1. Speaking about himself in the third person, he says:
“And the reason for that (composing this poem) was that he saw the Prophet ﷺ in a dream in the last part of the night, on the first Friday of Rajab, on the sixth day, in the year 1258. The Prophet ﷺ said to him:
Recite the poem of Tawhid, the one which if someone memorises it, they will enter paradise and attain every good objective which is in agreement with the Quran and Sunnah.
So he (Imam al-Marzuqi) said:
And what is this poem O Messenger of Allah?
All the while the Sahaba, may Allah be pleased with them, were standing around him ﷺ. They said:
Listen to what the Messenger of Allah ﷺ says!
So the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
Say ‘I begin in the name of Allah, The Most Merciful’.
So he (Imam al-Marzuqi) repeated this line and recited to the end of poem whilst the Messenger of Allah ﷺ listened to him. Then when he woke up from his sleep, he recited the poem from his dream and realised he had memorised it from start to finish!
Later, when people began to find out about this poem, the author (Imam al-Marzuqi) was asked about a number of other related issues. So he addressed these issues in lines of poetry and added them to the original with the following lines (till the end of the poem):
‘And everything the Messenger ﷺ came with, must be met with submission and acceptance’
Then on Friday night, the 28th of Dhu al-Qa’da, the author saw the Prophet ﷺ for a second time in his sleep. The Prophet ﷺ said:
Recite what you have composed.
So I recited it from beginning to end whilst I was standing in front him ﷺ and his Sahaba, may Allah be pleased with them, were standing around him ﷺ and saying ameen after every line! After I finished the poem, the Prophet ﷺ said:
May Allah grant you the ability to do what is pleasing to Him, may He accept this from you, may He bless you and the believers, and make His servants benefit from this poem. Ameen.”
The Aqidah al-Awwam has been studied by Muslims around the world since. The work itself is in the form of a short poem, designed to be memorised. It can be studied with a teacher in a short time with one of its commentaries2. May Allah Most High bless Imam al-Marzuqi, who was a descendant of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and may He grant us the ability to understand and benefit from his work in the science of Aqidah.
The poem with English and Urdu translation can be downloaded here.
- Tahseel Nayl al-Maram li-Bayan Manzuma Aqidah al-Awam by the Sayyid Ahmed al-Marzuqi al-Maliki. The same story is reported by Sayyid Muhammad Alawi al-Maliki in his commentary entitled Jala al-Afham.
- A number of Arabic commentaries can be found on the following link: https://archive.org/details/Shoroh-Agidat-Alawam
Orthodox Muslim 