آمنت بالله

Amantu bi-Allah

A comprehensive yet accessible work on Islamic creed and the foundations of faith by the renowned Syrian scholar and mufassir Shaykh Muḥammad ʿAlī al-Ṣābūnī (d. 1442 AH / 2021 CE). Better known for his works in Tafsīr and Qurʾānic studies, al-Ṣābūnī here presents the principal doctrines of ʿaqīdah in a clear contemporary style, seeking to combine the transmitted evidences of the Qurʾān and Sunnah with rational arguments for the truths of faith. Library cataloguing describes the book specifically as treating both the rational and transmitted proofs of Tawḥīd and the principal matters of belief.

The work discusses faith in Allah and Tawḥīd, together with the questions surrounding the Divine Names and Attributes, before proceeding to the other fundamental articles of faith. Among the subjects treated are belief in the angels, the messengers, divine decree (al-qaḍāʾ wa’l-qadar), the Last Day, Paradise and Hell, and the realities of the unseen, including the bliss and punishment of the grave. The book thus functions as a broad exposition of the essential doctrines a Muslim is required to affirm rather than as a narrowly specialised theological treatise.

A characteristic feature of Āmantu bi-llāh is al-Ṣābūnī's attempt to make theological discussion readable for the educated general reader. Qurʾānic verses and Prophetic traditions form the basis of the exposition, while rational reasoning is employed to demonstrate and reinforce matters of Tawḥīd and faith. The result is less technically dense than the classical manuals and commentaries of ʿilm al-kalām, making it suitable for readers seeking a substantial introduction to Islamic theology without the highly compressed terminology of traditional scholastic texts.

In questions of the Divine Attributes, the work also reflects al-Ṣābūnī's engagement with the classical Sunni theological discussions concerning tanzīh—affirming Allah's absolute transcendence above resemblance to created things—and the interpretation of the scriptural texts relating to the attributes. This aspect of his theological writing has itself become a subject of modern academic study and theological debate.

Āmantu bi-llāh is therefore particularly useful as a modern, wide-ranging introduction to Sunni ʿaqīdah, bringing the principal articles of belief, their scriptural foundations and their rational evidences together in a single volume.