In the name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful.

Foundations of Faith

If you are new to learning this religion, this page is the map to start with. It names the subjects a Muslim learns first, and the page teaching each one. Two sound alike and are kept apart here: the five pillars of Islam [the outward duties the religion is built on] are one subject, and the six pillars of Iman [faith: what a Muslim holds in his heart] are another.

This page does not teach these subjects by itself. It gathers why they come first, in the books’ own words, and lays out the treatises written to teach them: the Three Fundamental Principles, the Four Foundations of Shirk, the Conditions of La ilaha illa Allah [there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah], and the Six Principles. Quoted passages are word for word; the rest is my own summary.

Why These Subjects Come First

Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab opens his treatise with a command to know, and Shaykh al-Fawzan, explaining it, stops on the first word:

His statement ‘know’ is a word that indicates the importance of the subject matter. When he said ‘know,’ it means that the affair which shall be presented to you is an important affair. Therefore, this statement indicates the importance of the subject matter he will explain. The meaning of ‘know’ is that it is a command that is extracted from the word ‘ilm (knowledge), meaning ‘learn.’

The knowledge he means is not any knowledge. It is the legislative knowledge [the knowledge of the religion that Allah has legislated for His servants], and learning it is obligatory on every Muslim:

What is intended by ‘knowledge’ here is legislative knowledge, because it is that which is obligatory to learn. These issues are such that they are obligatory upon every Muslim, male or female, free person or slave, rich or poor, king or subject; every Muslim must learn these four affairs. This is what the scholars call al-wajib al-‘ayni (the individual obligation), and it is that which is obligatory upon each individual among the Muslims.

Of this individually obligatory knowledge he says, “none is excused for being ignorant of it and it is that without which the religion cannot be established”, and names the five pillars of Islam as its first contents; so that, in his words, “Therefore, the first of that which is obligatory upon the servant is to have knowledge of his Lord and how to worship Him.” The virtues of seeking knowledge stand on Seeking Knowledge (Talab al-Ilm); these are not a choice for the keen, they are owed by everyone.

The First Subject: Tawheed

At the head of the map stands Tawheed [singling out Allah alone in what belongs to Him alone]: the foundation of the religion. This page does not teach it: taught from the books on Tawheed (Monotheism), and its opposite, shirk [associating partners with Allah in what is His alone], on What Is Shirk?.

The Three Fundamental Principles

The best known of the short treatises states its three as a set:

So, if it is said to you, ‘What are the three principles which are obligatory to know?’ Then say: 1) The servant knowing his Lord 2) [Knowing] his religion 3) [Knowing] his Prophet Muhammad ﷺ.

These are not a school exercise: they are the three answers a person gives in his grave. Whoever dies ignorant of it, the Shaykh says, will be asked why he did not learn it; he gives the saved man’s answer:

The one who says, when he is placed inside his grave, ‘My Lord is Allah, Islam is my religion, and my Prophet is Muhammad ﷺ,’ shall be saved, and it will be said to him, ‘How did you come to know this?’ He will say, ‘I read the Book of Allah and I learned it.’

The first stands on Who is Allah, the third on Who is Muhammad ﷺ, the second across the next entry.

The Pillars of Islam and the Pillars of Iman

The second principle opens into two lists, named here only as map entries. The five pillars of Islam are: the two testimonies, the prayer, the zakah [the obligatory charity], fasting Ramadan, and the pilgrimage to the House of Allah; they are taught on What Are the Five Pillars of Islam?. The six pillars of Iman are: belief in Allah, His angels, His books, His messengers, the Last Day, and the divine decree; they are taught on Pillars of Faith (Iman). The hadith gathering both lists stands on Hadith 2: The Hadith of Jibril, and the levels of the religion on What Is the Difference Between Islam, Iman and Ihsan?.

The Four Foundations of Shirk

A shorter treatise by the same author opens with its purpose: “Know, may Allah guide you to His obedience, that Haneefiyah is the religion of Ibraheem; that you worship Allah making the religion purely for Him.” The four teach how to recognise the shirk against that pure worship. In summary:

The disbelievers the Messenger ﷺ fought affirmed Allah as Creator and Disposer of all affairs, yet that did not enter them into Islam.
They took others as awliya [allies and intermediaries] besides Allah, saying they worshipped them only to bring them closer to Allah.
Shirk was committed not with idols alone, but with righteous people, prophets, angels, stones and trees.
The shirk of the later people is worse than the shirk of the earlier ones: the earlier ones associated partners in ease only, the later ones in both.

The teaching stands on What Is Shirk?; this entry keeps the four as a set.

The Conditions of La ilaha illa Allah

The testimony is not carried by words alone; Shaykh Ubayd al-Jabiri gathered the evidences for its conditions. First, what a condition is:

His saying: ‘conditions’ is plural of condition (shart). In this context it means what the person charged (with the Islamic duties) should know and act in accordance with so that he may be acknowledging the unity of Allah in open and in secret.

On that definition he builds seven conditions. In summary, from his chapter openings: knowledge of its meaning, in affirmation and denial; certainty, perfect knowledge, no room for suspicion or doubt; sincerity, which rules out shirk; truthfulness, allowing neither falsehood nor hypocrisy; love for it and its meaning, with happiness in it; submission to its requirements, done sincerely for Allah; and acceptance, the opposite of rejection.

An eighth is added by Shaykh al-Fawzan (Three Fundamental Principles explanation, printed p. 365): disbelief in at-taghut [everything worshipped besides Allah]. Faith, in his explanation, is not correct until at-taghut is rejected and its people distanced from. It is not one of al-Jabiri’s seven; it stands here as a note.

The Six Principles

The last framework is the Six Principles, explained by Shaykh al-Fawzan. Its author opens:

Among the most astonishing of affairs and the greatest of signs that indicate to the omnipotence of the Ever Triumphant King are six fundamental principles. Allah explained them clearly for the common people, regardless of what sceptics may think. After this, many of the intellectuals of the world and the thinkers from the progeny of Adam erred regarding these principles, except for a small minority.

The six, one to one as the book lists them, in summary:

Sincerity in the religion to Allah alone, without associating partners with Him.
Unity in the religion: uniting in it as Allah commands, without splitting into sects.
Hearing and obeying those in authority over the Muslims, completing that unity.
Knowing what knowledge is and who the scholars are, what fiqh [Islamic jurisprudence] is and who the jurists are, and recognising the impostors.
Knowing who the awliya of Allah [His close allies and friends] are, and how they differ from impostors among His enemies.
Refuting Shaytan’s fabricated doubt against the Qur’an and the Sunnah: that only an unrestricted jurist understands them.

The first principle is taught on Tawheed (Monotheism) and What Is Shirk?, the third on Do Muslims Have to Obey Muslim Rulers?, and the fourth joins Returning Matters to the Scholars.

So, Where Does a Beginner Start?

In the order the books themselves set. Begin with Tawheed (Monotheism): worship directed to Allah alone. Then the Three Fundamental Principles, each to its page. Then what breaks the foundation, on What Is Shirk?. Then the two surveys standing only here, the Conditions and the Six Principles. And at every step, return to the books themselves.

References

Explanation of the Three Fundamental Principles: Shaykh Salih al-Fawzan; Authentic Statements Publishing, First Edition, Sha’ban 1440 AH / April 2019 CE, translated by Raha Batts. Printed pp. 17, 20-21, 23, 24, 107, 365.

Four Foundations of Shirk: text by Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, explanation by Shaykh Salih al-Fawzan; Quran Sunnah Educational Programs (QSEP), translated by Shawana A. Aziz, no edition or year printed in the held copy. Base text pp. 5-8.

Facilitation by Allah in Explaining the Evidences of the Conditions of “La Ilaha Illa Allah”: Shaykh Ubayd al-Jabiri; Jam’iat Ihyaa’ Minhaaj Al-Sunnah, Ipswich, First Edition 1416 AH / 1995 CE, reprinted March 2001, translated by Khalid Mustafa al-Shaikh ‘Abdul-Kader. P. 13; chapter openings pp. 14, 24, 31, 41, 49, 59, 73.

An Explanation of the Six Principles: text by Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, explanation by Shaykh Salih al-Fawzan; DuSunnah Publications, Second Edition, June 2017 CE, translated by ‘Abdullah Hylton. Opening p. 8; principles pp. 16, 28, 44, 50, 60, 68.

All four are held and listed in the Book Library. No link for the Three Principles explanation stood on the earlier page.

Questions & Clarifications

Have a question about this article or noticed something that needs clarification? You are welcome to contact me. Questions and corrections are reviewed carefully against reliable sources.

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