Al-Wâsitiyya-Epistle on the Islamic faith (Ibn Taymiya)

Epistle on the Islamic faith “Al-Wâsitiya”, whose translation we are presenting today, is one of the professions of faith that Ibn Taymiyya wrote to define the creed of the Elders and the People of Tradition; it is drawn from the Book and the Tradition and exposes in a lapidary and accessible style the foundations of uniqueness (Tawhîd), in particular the question of attributes. The confirmation of the oneness of God in His attributes and His names constitutes one of the three pillars of Tawhîd; The others being the attestation of the uniqueness of lordship (Tawhîd Ar-Rubûbiyya) and the testimony of the uniqueness of divinity (Tawhîd Al-Ulûhiyya). There is also question of a sum of subjects related to faith such as fate, the test of the grave, the confirmation that faith is word and deed at the same time, the prescription of good (Ma'rûf) and the proscription of the blameworthy (Munkar)