The Fundamentals of Islamic Creed

The textual material of this book, although a short discourse, is compressed with meaning. It follows the methodology of the pious predecessors and is framed in words that can neither be easily misinterpreted nor will soon empty out their meaning to become sterile.The commentator of this work, Sadruddin 'Ali b. 'Ali b. Muhammad b. 'Ali al-‘Izz al-Adhru’I (721-79 A.H.), was also a Hanafiyy scholar. He was the Chief Justice of the Dimashq (Damascus) province. Subsequently, he became the Chief Justice of the Egyptian provinces. Some time later he returned to Dimashq in the same capacity. He was one of the students of the famous commentator, Hafiz Ibn Kathir. Ibn Hajr al-'Asqalani has presented his short biography in the third volume of his "Al-Durar al-Kaminah fi A'yan al-Mi 'ah al-Thaminah." We felt however, that this excellent commentary needed some editing and abridgement to make it more effective for the training of the new generations. For this, the abridgement done by 'Abdul Mun'im Saleh al-'Izzi was adopted. It was first published in 1401 A.H. by the Ministry of Justice, Islamic Affairs and Trusts of the United Arab Emirates.'Abdul's Mun'im's abridgement makes it easy for a layman to understand. It is also suitable for Islamic institutions to prescribe for their courses. It could also be used for studies conducted in mosques, or in youth circles. Accordingly, some material no longer relevant today has been deleted. An example is the arguments put forward for refuting the thoughts of the Mu'tazilah sect. Repetitive statements have also been dropped. Likewise, where several proofs were offered in refutation they have been cut short to a few. But nothing from the text of al-Tahawi has been removed.