'Aqidah and Tawhid
What this domain tests
'Aqidah and tawhid test sound belief in Allah, His names and attributes, and the unseen, with clear evidence and without exaggeration. Expect definitions, categories of tawhid, and applied cases of shirk or innovation.
Core concepts
- Iman is belief in the heart, speech of the tongue, and action of the limbs; it increases and decreases.
- Tawhid rububiyyah: Allah alone creates, sustains, and controls.
- Tawhid uluhiyyah: worship is directed to Allah alone.
- Tawhid asma wa sifat: affirm what Allah affirmed for Himself without tashbih (likening), tajsim (bodily form), ta'til (denial), or takyif (asking how).
- Shirk akbar removes a person from Islam; shirk asghar does not, but it is dangerous. Nifaq is hypocrisy; kufr is denial.
- Sam'iyyat: angels, books, messengers, the Last Day, and qadar.
Worked example
A person says Allah alone creates and gives life, but calls on a dead person for help in distress. Reasoning: his rububiyyah statement is correct, but du'a is an act of worship, and directing it to other than Allah violates uluhiyyah. The hadith al-du'a' huwa al-'ibadah supports this. The case is not a minor slip; it strikes at the core of tawhid, so the answer must distinguish the two categories rather than say he is simply a believer with weak practice.
Traps
- Treating every sin as shirk akbar and issuing takfir.
- Affirming Allah's attributes by likening them to created things.
- Denying an attribute to avoid anthropomorphism.
- Ignoring qadar when explaining guidance and misguidance.
- Quoting a weak report as aqidah evidence.