Thamarat al-Aqaid

Books of creed have a habit of stating what a Muslim must believe and leaving the reader to take it on the author’s word. Thamarat al-Aqaid is built the other way round. It sets out around three hundred and fifty beliefs, one at a time, and under each one it puts the evidence: verses of the Qur’an first, then hadith, with the reference given so a reader can check it.

The title page states the intention plainly — three verses and three hadiths for each belief, and in many cases more than that. Counted up across the book, the Urdu edition cites 563 verses and 373 hadiths.

The subjects run from the essence of God and the seeing of Him, through the station of the Prophet, peace be upon him, and on through the beliefs a Muslim is most often asked about. The style is a direct one: a belief is stated, its evidence follows, and where a common misstatement exists, the book says which way of putting it is wrong and why.

The Urdu edition was first published in March 2018 by Madrasa Thamarat al-Ulum, Ghutti. The book has since been translated three times, and each translation is on this site as its own edition:

• Arabic, translated by Dr Mufti Muhammadullah al-Khalili and published by Dar al-Kutub al-Ilmiyah in Beirut.
• Persian, translated by Muhammad Ibrahim Taymuri.
• English, translated by Dr Mufti Muhammadullah Khalili Qasmi.