[The Statement of Abū Nuʿaym al-Asbahānī in His Creed]

Before him, the renowned hadith master Abū Nuʿaym al-Asbahānī, author of such celebrated works as Hilyat al-Awliyā’ (The Adornment of the Saints), said in the creed widely attributed to him:

“Our way is that of those who follow the Book, the Sunnah, and the consensus of the early generations of this community. Whatever they believed, we believe.

“Among their beliefs is that they accept and affirm the hadiths authentically reported from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, concerning the Throne and Allah’s establishment above it, without specifying how, asserting any likeness, or making comparisons. Allah is separate from His creation, and His creation is separate from Him. He neither dwells within them nor mingles with them. He is established above His Throne in His heavens, not on His earth.”

[The Statement of Abū Ahmad al-Karkhī in His Creed]

Shaykh Abū Ahmad al-Karkhī, the renowned imam of the fourth century AH, also said in the creed he described as the belief of Ahl al-Sunnah wa-l-Jamāʿah. This was the creed he wrote for the caliph al-Qādir bi-llāh and read aloud to (the people, whom he brought together upon it. The various groups of Ahl al-Sunnah endorsed it. In 413 AH, he had required those who departed from the Sunnah, including the Muʿtazilah, the Rāfidah, and others like them, to repent.

At that time, the rulers had begun taking action to uphold the Sunnah, because the influence of al-Hākim of Egypt and other leaders of the heretics like him had spread, and the associates of Ibn Sīnā and others like them were