The Creed of al-Nasafi

In Nomine Dei Misericordis, Misericordiae, Amen.

Praise be to God, the Lord of the worlds, and may peace and blessings be upon our master Muhammad the Trustworthy, and to proceed:

As the venerable Al-Nasafi said, thus do the people of truth assert:

The realities of things are constant, and knowledge of them is ascertained contrary to the Sophists' claims.

There are three sources of knowledge for creation: sound senses, truthful reports, and reason.

The senses are five: hearing, sight, smell, touch, and taste, and with each of these senses, we perceive that for which they were created.

Truthful reports are of two types: (firstly) the recurrent report, which is a report affirmed by a multitude of people whose collusion in falsehood is inconceivable, and it yields necessary knowledge, such as the knowledge of the past kings in bygone eras and distant lands.

The second type: the report of the messenger supported by miracles, which gives rise to inferential knowledge, and the knowledge established by it is on par with necessary knowledge in terms of certainty and stability.

As for reason: it is also a source of knowledge, and that which is established by self-evidence is necessary, such as the knowledge that every whole is greater than its part, and that which is established by inference is acquired knowledge.

The universe, with all its constituents, is a creation; for it is made of substances and accidents. Substances are those which subsist by themselves, either compound or non-compound, like the essence, which is an indivisible part. Accidents are those which do not subsist independently and transpire in bodies and substances, such as colours, places, tastes, and odours.

The Creator of the universe is Deus Omnipotens, the Singularity, the Primeval, the Vivifying, the Omnipotent, the Omniscient, the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing, the Ordainer, the Determiner. He is not an accident, nor corporeal, nor an essence, nor shaped, nor bounded, nor enumerable, nor divisible, nor separable, nor finite. He cannot be defined by quiddity or modality, nor is He confined in a place, nor does time elapse over Him, nor is anything akin to Him, and nothing escapes His wisdom and potency.

Visions of the Supreme God are conceivable to the intellect and necessary by transmission. It has been relayed through sacred evidence that the faithful shall behold God in the world hereafter. He shall be seen, not in a physical location or direction, and without the intermediary of light's ray or the establishment of a distance between the observer and the Divine.

God Almighty is the Creator of all the actions of the servants, from disbelief and faith to obedience and disobedience, all being subject to His will, His decree, His judgment, and His predestination.

The servants have actions of choice, for which they are rewarded or punished. The good amongst these actions align with God's pleasure, while the disagreeable are not in accordance with His satisfaction.

Capability accompanies action, and it is the reality of power by which action becomes possible. This term applies to the readiness of means and faculties, and the validity of divine command relies on this capability. The servant is not burdened beyond his capacity.

Pain felt by the one struck following a human's strike, the shattering of glass following a human's break, and the like, all are created by God Almighty, and the servant has no hand in their creation.

The slain dies by his appointed time, and death occurs to the deceased, created by God Almighty, not the creation or acquisition of the servant. The appointed time is singular.

The forbidden is provision, and every soul will receive its provision, be it lawful or unlawful, and it is inconceivable that a man would not consume his provision or another consume his provision.

God Almighty misguides whom He wills and guides whom He wills. What is most beneficial for the servant is not obligatory on God Almighty.

The punishment of the grave is for the disbelievers and some sinful believers. The people of obedience will enjoy in the grave what God Almighty knows and desires. The questioning by Munkar and Nakir is established by the auditory evidences. The resurrection is true, the weighing is true, the scripture is true, the questioning is true, the font is true, the path is true, Heaven is true, Hell is true, and both are created, existing, everlasting, they will not perish and neither will their inhabitants.

A major sin does not expel a believing servant from faith, nor does it enter him into disbelief. God does not forgive association with Him, and He forgives what is less than that for whom He wills, of minor and major sins. Punishment for minor sins is possible, and pardon for major sins is possible if they are not due to declaring them lawful, and declaring them lawful is disbelief.

Intercession is established for the messengers and the virtuous, for the people of major sins, and the people of major sins among the believers will not remain in the Fire forever.

Faith is to affirm what comes from God Almighty and to acknowledge it. As for the deeds, they increase in themselves, and faith neither increases nor decreases. Faith and submission are one.

If affirmation and acknowledgment are found in the servant, it is correct for him to say: I am truly a believer, and he should not say: I am a believer if God wills. The fortunate may suffer, and the unfortunate may prosper, and the change occurs in fortune and misfortune, not in bestowing fortune and causing misfortune, and they are among the attributes of God Almighty, and there is no change in God Almighty or His attributes.

In the divine mandate to send forth Apostles, there is wisdom. God has indeed dispatched emissaries from among humans to their own kind, to bring glad tidings, warnings, and to elucidate to the people their needs in matters of temporal life and faith. They were fortified with miracles that transcended the customary. The first of the prophets was Adam, peace be upon him, and the last was Muhammad, may God's blessings be upon him. Narratives regarding their number have been conveyed in certain discourses. It is best not to confine to a specific number in designating them, as God has said: "Some of them We have narrated to you, and some We have not." It is not permissible in mentioning the count to include those who are not of them, or to exclude those who are among them. All of them were informants, communicators on behalf of God Almighty, truthful, and sincere advisors. The greatest of the prophets, peace be upon them, was Muhammad, may God's blessings be upon him.

The angels are God Almighty's servants, executing His commands, without attribution of masculinity or femininity. God has books that He sent down to His prophets, wherein He clarified His commands, prohibitions, promises, and threats.

The celestial journey of God's Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, in wakefulness and in person to the heavens, and then to whatever God Almighty wished of the heights, is a truth.

The miracles of the Saints are true, such as the miracle appearing in the form of breaking the custom for the saint by traversing long distances in a short time, the appearance of food, drink, and clothing when needed, walking on water and in the air, speech of the inanimate and mute, the repulsion of directed disasters, protection from enemies, and other such phenomena. This would be a miracle for the apostle for whom such a miracle appeared for one of his followers; because it appears with it that he is a saint, and he will not be a saint unless he is truthful in his faith, and his faith is to affirm the message of his prophet.

The best of humans after our Prophet are Abu Bakr the Truthful, then Umar the Distinguisher, then Uthman of the Two Lights, then Ali the Accepted, and their succession is in this order.

The Caliphate was thirty years, then after it came kingship and emirate.

Muslims must have a leader, who executes their rules, establishes their boundaries, defends their frontiers, equips their armies, takes their alms, subdues the overpowering and lurking, and highway robbers, establishes congregational and festive prayers, resolves disputes among servants, accepts testimonies based on rights, marries minors who have no guardians, divides the spoils, and so forth. Then it is appropriate that the leader be apparent, not hidden or awaited, and be from Quraysh and it is not permitted from others, not exclusive to the Hashemites and the sons of Ali, may God be pleased with him. It is not required for the leader to be infallible, nor to be the best of his era, and it is required that he be from the people of absolute and complete sovereignty, ruling, capable of implementing rulings, preserving the boundaries of the land of Islam, and redressing the wronged from the oppressor. The leader is not deposed by sin or tyranny.

Praying behind every pious and wicked person is permitted, and prayer is performed for every pious and wicked person.

Abstain from mentioning the Companions except for good. We bear witness to the ten who were given glad tidings, whom the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, gave the glad tidings

We hold valid the wiping over the foot-coverings in travel and residence, and we do not forbid the fruit of the date palm.

A saint does not reach the level of the prophets, and a servant does not reach the point where commandments and prohibitions fall from him.

The texts are upon their apparent meanings; deviating from them to meanings claimed by the people of esotericism is heresy, rejecting the texts is disbelief, making sins lawful is disbelief, taking them lightly is disbelief, mocking the law is disbelief, despairing of God Almighty is disbelief, feeling secure from God Almighty is disbelief, and believing a soothsayer in what he tells about the unseen is disbelief.

That which is non-existent is not a thing.

In the prayers of the living for the dead and their almsgiving on their behalf, there is benefit for them. And God Almighty answers the supplications and fulfills the needs.

What the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, informed about the signs of the Hour, from the emergence of the Antichrist, the Beast of the Earth, Gog and Magog, the descent of Jesus, peace be upon him, from the evening, and the rising of the sun from its setting, it is true.

The jurist may err and may be correct.

The human messengers are superior to the angelic messengers, and the angelic messengers are superior to the general human population, and the general human population is superior to the general population of the angels.

© Ralston