‘The position we hold and the religion we profess consist in holding fast to the Book of our Lord—Mighty and Majestic is He—the Sunnah of our Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—and what has been transmitted from the Companions, the Successors, and the imams of hadith. To these we firmly adhere. We affirm the position held by Abū ‘Abd Allāh Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Hanbal—may Allah make his face radiant, raise his rank, and grant him abundant reward—and reject whatever contradicts his position. For he is the distinguished imam and exemplary leader through whom Allah made the truth manifest, repelled error, clarified the path, and suppressed the innovations of the innovators, the deviations of those who strayed, and the doubts of the doubters. May Allah have mercy on him—a foremost imam, a revered figure, and an eminent teacher who imparted understanding—[and on all the imams of the Muslims].

In summary, our position is this: We affirm our belief in Allah, His angels, His Books, His messengers, and what they brought from Allah, as well as what trustworthy narrators have transmitted from the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace. We reject none of it. We affirm that Allah—Mighty and Majestic is He—is one God; there is no god but Him, the Unique, the Self-Sufficient, who has taken neither consort nor child; that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger, whom He sent with guidance and the religion of truth; that Paradise is real and Hell is real; that the Hour is coming, of which there is no doubt; and that Allah will resurrect those in the graves,