Are Issues of Aqeedah Trivial?
Some people might try to make certain issues of Aqeedah trivial: “It doesn't really matter. It shouldn't cause division and hatred. We need to focus on the greater meanings of the verses and hadeeth and overlook these differences between the Salaf and other groups.”
A few responses to this:
1- There is nothing in our deen that is trivial.
2- If Allah mentioned it in the Quran, it's important. If He, the Most Exalted, repeated it, it's very important.
3- It's very important for every Muslim to know the correct way to understand these verses and hadeeths as intended by Allah and His Messenger, praise and peace be upon him, as the Companions believed in it, and those who followed their path from the great Imams of the Salaf. Why? Because part of being a Muslim is submitting to Allah and to His revelation as He intended it. If the Companions differed over the meaning, then there's room for difference. If they didn't then there is no room.
4- We give the understanding of the Salaf preference over the understandings influenced by philosophies foreign to Islam.
5- We are not calling for hatred and division. We are calling to understand the Quran and Sunnah as understood by the Companions and their students. To unite upon the truth, and to not trivialize matters.
6- The scholars of the past, such as Imam Ahmad and Bukhari and others, wrote many books in Aqeedah and took many stances in defense of the correct Aqeedah. Imam Ahmad was beaten nearly to death to say the Quran is created and He refused the pressures and said we must stick to the Quran and Sunnah, and the understanding of the Salaf. This was to protect the deen of even the general masses. Never did Imam Ahmad or the other scholars say, “these discussion are only for the advanced students, for the scholars, you lay people shouldn’t delve into this. You shouldn’t worry about this. Just fear Allah and believe in the articles of faith.” Not when innovations are being strongly promoted and causing confusion!
Thousands of the Muslim masses were waiting for Imam Ahmad to say the truth, to teach them the correct stance, to remove confusion!
Nor did he consider these issues a valid difference of opinion, or say, choose what you want, or follow what you want. These issues were black and white, as opposed to many issues of Fiqh rulings where there is a valid difference among the scholars and a non-scholar can follow whichever scholar he deems most knowledgeable and trustworthy.
7- It's a matter of protecting the deen and its correct understanding, and uniting upon the truth. This does not negate learning other aspects of the Quran that we all agree on.
8- Even if great scholars of the past may have fallen into mistakes regarding certain issues of Aqeedah, we still love and respect them, but we don't fall into their errors or consider them valid difference of opinion. Nor do we trivialize the issues they differed over. It’s the right of every Muslim on earth, to learn what Allah revealed, and its correct understanding. To be flexible where there is a room for a difference, and to not be flexible when there is no room for a difference, while maintaining proper Islamic manners and respect for the scholars.
And Allah knows best.