a contribution—however modest—to the work of calling people to Allah, Exalted is He, at a time when the sound method of daʿwah has been forgotten. Many preachers now focus on side issues that, without sound creed, can neither nourish nor satisfy, while they neglect the matter of belief itself. They witness people entangled in outright idolatry at tombs and shrines, mired in innovations and superstitions; they see the propagators of error taking hold of countless ignorant commoners, driving them to ruin, turning them into their own servants, manipulating their minds and their wealth, and presiding over them unjustly under the banner of “knowledge” and “sainthood.”

Regrettably, many of today’s preachers pay little heed to creed and its reform. Some even say, “Leave people to the beliefs they already hold; do not address them. Unite—do not divide. Let us stand on what we share and excuse one another in what we differ over,” and the like—statements that contradict Allah’s words: “If you dispute about anything, refer it back to Allah and the Messenger, if you truly believe in Allah and the Last Day; that is best and yields the finest outcome.”1

There can be no unity and no strength except by returning to the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger and abandoning everything that conflicts with them—above all in matters of creed, which are the foundation. Allah, the Exalted, says: “Hold fast, all of you together, to the rope of Allah and do not separate.”2 Nothing will set right the latter part of this ummah except what set right its first part. Allah is the One who grants success and guides to the straight path.

May blessings and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and his Companions.