Aqidah and Islamic Thought: Belief, Theology, and Schools
Core concepts
Aqidah covers the six articles of faith - Allah, angels, revealed books, prophets, the Last Day, and divine decree (qadar) - and the attributes of Allah (sifat) with the debates over tanzih (transcendence). Learn the classical theological schools: Ash'ari, Maturidi, Mu'tazili, and the traditionalist approach, and their positions on divine attributes, the status of the grave sinner, and the createdness of the Quran. Understand the ma'ani of tawhid and its categories, and the distinction between major and minor shirk.
In Islamic thought, know the falsafa tradition (al-Kindi, al-Farabi, Ibn Sina), al-Ghazali's critique and his Tahafut, Ibn Rushd's response, and the kalam method. Study the ethical vocabulary: khayr and sharr, fitrah, hikmah, and the doctrine of husn and qubh (whether good and evil are rational or scriptural).
Common traps
Items conflate qadar (decree) with jabr (compulsion): orthodoxy affirms decree alongside human acquisition (kasb), not determinism. Do not attribute the created-Quran doctrine to Ash'aris. Distinguish tawhid al-rububiyyah (lordship) from al-uluhiyyah (worship) and al-asma' wa'l-sifat. In the history of thought, do not swap Ibn Sina's peripatetic position with al-Ghazali's occasionalism.
Worked example
A question asks which school held the Quran to be created. Rule of thumb: this is the Mu'tazili position, opposed by the traditionalists and later the Ash'aris. Anchor each doctrine to a school and a century before answering - the same term can carry different meanings across the kalam schools.