Usul al-Din: Difference between revisions

'''Uṣūl al-dīn''' (Arabic: {{ia|أصول الدین}}) or '''principles of religion''' or '''roots of faith''' are a set of essential beliefs in [[Islam]] that every [[Muslim]] needs to believe in; otherwise, he would not be considered a Muslim. [[Tawhid]] (oneness of God), [[nubuwwat]] (prophethood of the [[Prophet Muhammad (s)]]), and [[resurrection]] are the three main principles of Islam. All Islamic sects believe in these three principles; but each one has special principles which separate it from other sects. For the [[Shi'a]], [['adl]] (justice of God) and [[imamate]] are the additional principles.  

Most religious scholars believe that emulation is not permissible in usul al-din and everyone needs to think about these principles for himself and accept them with certainty.

"Usul al-din" is a [[kalam|theological]] jargon referring to the fundamental beliefs of [[Islam]] the belief in which is required for being considered as a [[Muslim]].<ref>Guzashta, "Uṣūl-i dīn", p. 282.</ref> Such beliefs are called "usul al-din" (principles or foundations of the religion) because Islamic disciplines, such as [[fiqh]], [[usul al-fiqh]], the [[exegesis]] of the [[Qur'an]], and [[hadith]], are based on them.<ref>Guzashta, "Uṣūl-i dīn", p. 282.</ref> The word, "usul al-din", is contrasted to "[[furu' al-din]]" (ancillaries of the religion) which refers to the practical rulings of the religion.<ref>Miṣbāḥ Yazdī, ''Āmūzish ʿAqāʾid'', p. 12.</ref>  

[[Morteza Motahhari]] emphasizes that the [[Imams (a)]] did not coin the term, "usul al-din", and says: it was coined by scholars in order to indicate the main goals of the religion, for there are many other beliefs in Islam in which a Muslim has to believe, such as the belief in [[angel]]s and the [[essentials of the religion]], such as [[prayer]] and [[fast]].<ref>Motahhari, ''Majmuʿa-yi āthār'', vol. 3, p. 96-97.</ref>

In the past, no particular criterion was specified for when beliefs count as the principles of a religion or a religious denomination. The significance of an issue in a certain period usually led to its consideration as a principle,<ref>Muḥammadī, "Uṣūl-i dīn", p. 9.</ref> such as the problem of [[Divine Justice]] that has no privilege over other [[Divine Attributes]], but because of major disagreements between the Shi'a and the Mu'tazila, on the one hand, and the Ash'aris—who constituted the majority of Sunni Muslims—on the other hand, it came to be considered as a principle of the religion for the Shi'a and the Mu'tazila.<ref>Motahhari, ''Majmuʿa-yi āthār'', vol. 3, p. 69, 70.</ref>

The term, "usul al-din," was not used in the [[Qur'an]] and [[hadith]]s, and it was coined by Muslims.<ref>Motahhari, ''Majmuʿa-yi āthār'', vol. 3, p. 96.</ref> It is conjectured that the use of the term, "al-usul al-khamsa" (the five principles), by [[Abu l-Hudhayl al-'Allaf]], a Mu'tazili theologian, paved the ground for the use of the word, "usul al-din".<ref>Guzashta, "Uṣūl-i dīn", p. 283.</ref> Since [[Ibn al-Nadim]] has attributed a book with the title, "usul al-din", to Abu Musa Murdar, some people think that the term was common in early 3rd/9th century.<ref>Guzashta, "Uṣūl-i dīn", p. 283.</ref>

However, in some hadiths from the [[Prophet (s)]] and the [[Imams (a)]], some religious elements were introduced as tenets of the religion. For example, Sunni Muslims have transmitted a hadith from the Prophet (s) to the effect that Islam is founded on five elements: monotheism, the prophethood of Muhammad (s), the saying of the [[prayer]], paying the [[zakat]], [[hajj]],<ref>Bukhārī, ''Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī'', vol. 1, p. 8.</ref> and [[fasting]] in the [[Ramadan]] month. In ''[[al-Kafi]]'', [[Kulayni]] has narrated a hadith from [[Imam al-Baqir (a)]] that Islam has been built upon five elements: prayer, zakat, fasting, hajj and [[wilaya]] and wilaya is superior to other elements. Moreover, in response to a question about things without which faith is not accepted, Imam al-Sadiq (a) mentioned testifying to the oneness of God, belief in the prophethood of the Holy Prophet (a) and what he has brought from God, belief in zakat and accepting the wilaya of Ahl al-Bayt (a). In this hadith, the narrator has referred to these elements as the pillars of Islam.

In most of the theological works a chapter is dedicated to the discussion of usul al-din. However, considering the importance of the isuue, there are works dedicated to usul al-din. Some of the most important of such works is as follows,