Islamic ‘Aqidah refers to the system of Islamic beliefs. It comes from the Arabic root word ‘aqada, meaning to tie or bind firmly. In Islamic terminology, ‘Aqidah refers to core doctrines and tenets of faith that Muslims adhere to strongly in their hearts and minds. It involves having a firm conviction and commitment to theological principles that form the basis of the Islamic worldview and are not open to doubt. The technical definition of Islamic ‘Aqidah is the collection of beliefs that Muslims accept regarding Allah and spiritual matters of theology.

1. Islamic ‘Aqidah
Dr. Abdul Salam Muhamad Shukri

2. Content
♦ Related Terms to Islamic ‘Aqidah
♦ ‘Aqidah in Arabic-English Dictionaries
♦ Definition of ‘Aqidah
♦ Etymology of ‘Aqidah
♦ Technical Definition of Islamic ‘Aqidah

3. Related Terms
♦al-Iman
♦al-Tawhid
♦Usul al-din
♦ ‘Ilm al-kalam
♦al-Tasawwur al-Islami or Islamic
worldview
♦al-Urwat al-wuthqa

4. ‘Aqidah in
Arabic-English Dictionaries
♦ HansWehr’sArabic-English Dictio nary (1986:
628): ‘ aqidah (pl. ‘ aqa’ id) is“articleof faith,
tenet, doctrine; dogma; creed, faith, belief;
conviction; ideology.”
♦ J. G. Hava’sArabic English Dictio nary fo r
Advanced Learners (2001: 487):‘ aqidah (pl.
‘ aqa’ id), mu‘ taqad as“belief, religioustenet.”
♦ E. W. Lane’sArabic-English Lexico n (Lane,
1984: 2107) defines‘ aqidah as“a belief, or firm
belief or persuasio n; a creed; an article o f belief; a
religio us tenet.”

5. Definition of ‘Aqidah
♦ Al-Fayyumi in hisMisbah al-munir defines
‘ aqidah as
– “ma yadinu al-insanu bih (‫نننن‬ ‫نن‬
‫نن‬ ‫)ننننننن‬
♦ Translated as“a do ctrine, or the like, upo n
which o ne’ s mind is firmly settled or
determined; or to which o ne ho lds, adheres,
or cleaves, with the heart, or mind (Lane,
1984: 2107).

6. Etymology of ‘Aqidah
♦ TheArabic ‘ aqidah isderived from ‘ aqada,
meaning ‘to tie; to knit it; to complicate it
so as to form a knot or knots; to tie it in
a knot or knots; to tie it firmly, fast, or
strongly.”
♦ Thesaying ‘ aqada al-habl means‘hetied
thecord, or rope. …’
♦ Itsderivativei‘ tiqad from i‘ taqada also has
thesamemeaning.

7. Cont.
♦ A saying ‘ aqad-tu al-‘ asal ta‘ qidan (I
boiled it until it becamethick, aghlay-tuhu
hatta ghalaza ‫ننن‬ ‫ننن‬ ‫.)نننننن‬
♦ A saying i‘ taqada fulan ‘ aqidatan (So-and-
so acquired or bought landed property or he
acquired property from real estateor other,
ishtara day‘ atan aw ittakhada mallan min
‘ aqarin aw ghayrih ‫نن‬ ‫نننن‬ ‫ننننن‬
‫نننن‬ ‫نن‬ ‫نننن‬ ‫نن‬ ‫نننن‬ ‫.)نننن‬

8. ♦ A hadith that Abu Qatadah (ra) said when hehad
killed oneof themushrikin and then took his
spoilsand later sold it: “I had bought agarden of
palm-treeswith it. It wasthefirst property that I
had acquired.” (fa-ishtaraytu bi-hi makhrafan wa
inna-hu li-awwali mallin i‘ taqadtu-
hu‫نننن‬ ‫نننن‬ ‫ن‬‫ن‬‫نننن‬ ‫نن‬ ‫ننننننن‬
‫ننننننن‬ ‫)ننن‬ (Ahmad, 5/306 ascited by
al-Naqib, 140).
♦ I‘ taqadtu-hu meansittakhadhtu-hu‫نننننن‬

9. Cont.
♦ Theessenceof theaboveexpressions
revolvesaround themeaning of
– (1) strengthening (al-shaddah ‫,)ةةةةة‬
– (2) hardening (al-Salabah ‫,)ةةةةةةة‬ and
– (3) acquiring asapossession (al-ittikhadh
‫)ةةةةةةة‬ (al-Naqib, 2005: 140).
♦ According to theetymologiststheprimary
signification of theArabic ‘ aqd ((isthe
contrary of hall(), loosening.

10. Further Usage
♦ It wasafterward used in relation to
♦ (1) sales, or bargains, contract and etc, and,
♦ (2) a firm determination of mind (al-
tasmim wa al-i‘ tiqad al-jazim) (al-Zabidi,
2/426 as cited by al-Naqib, 140; Lane,
2104).

11. Cont.
♦ To sales, ‘ aqada al-bay‘ /al-‘ ahd/ al-yamin meaning “he
co ncluded, settled, co nfirmed or ratified, the sale, or
bargain, and the co ntract, co mpact, co venant, agreement
or league and the o ath”
♦ To afirm determination of mind, ‘ aqada qalba-hu ‘ ala al-
shay’ i meaning “he settled, or determined, his heart, or
mind, firmly upo n the thing; heheld, adhered, or clave, to
thething [with hisheart, or mind]; heknit hisheart to it”.
Thesaying “I‘ taqada kadha bi-qalbih” hasthesame
meaning with theabovesaying (Lane, 2104-05).
♦ (Seealso in al-Qur’an, al-Nisa’ (4): 33 al-Ma’idah (5): 89
and 1).

12. External and Internal Meaning
♦ ‘Abd al-Hamid Darwish in hisal-Falsafah
al-i‘ tiqadiyyah fi al-Islam classifiesthe
meaning of term ‘ aqidah into two, namely
external (hissi) and internal (ma‘ nawi)
meanings.
♦ For theexternal meaning, it is“astrong
knot, contract and thelike(acompact, a
covenant, an agreement, aleague, atreaty
or an engagement).”

13. Cont.
♦ And for theinternal meaning, it denotes:
– (1) afirm contract, covenant and first principle
that will never change;
– (2) principle, valueand emotional tie, which
becomeamover for apersonal feeling towards
othersby tying and binding them together;
– (3) anatural disposition, sound nature, method
and astrong bond which unitethehearts; and
– (4) afirm tieand commitment madeon the
basisof reason and heart (Darwish, 1992:7-8).

14. Conclusion
♦ It hasbeen pointed out that theplaceof ‘ aqidah isinternal.
♦ Every Muslim must havewith him an ‘ aqidah that he
holds, that isto say hehasacquired and loved it with
sincerity, and hasacourageto defend it. It becomesfirm
and stronger in hisheart. It will not beloosened and lost,
or becomesweak or doubtful but itspower and strength
increasefrom day to day and from timeto time(al-Naqib,
140).
♦ Hence, an ‘ aqidah isalso defined as“afirm, unwavering
belief which isnot open to any doubt with itsbeholder.”