Aqidah is often treated as the advanced subject — something to study after the practical obligations are in place. The Delight of Faith makes the opposite case, and makes it first: belief is not optional and not secondary, because every deed depends on it.
Prayer, Zakat, fasting and Hajj are counted only where the belief underneath them is sound. An outwardly perfect act of worship built on a corrupted foundation does not stand. That is why Abdullah bin Jarullah begins here rather than with the acts themselves.
What Must Be Believed
The book covers the required content of faith: the Oneness of Allah and what that demands in practice; belief in the unseen; the angels; the revealed Books; the Messengers; the Last Day; and Al-Qadr, divine decree, in what pleases us and what does not. Each is set out from the Qur'an and the authentic Sunnah, with the obligatory distinguished from what is merely commendable.
Intention and the Love of Allah
Alongside the content of belief, the book treats its condition: purity of intention. What makes an act sincere, what contaminates it, and how the love of Allah shapes a person's motives before it shapes his actions. These are the parts readers most often report returning to, because they concern something no one else can inspect.
Written to Be Used
The book is short and the language is plain — 117 pages in a 6 x 9 inch hardback, sturdy enough to be read repeatedly. Jamaal al-Din Zarabozo's translation keeps the precision of the original without leaving it stiff. It works for new Muslims meeting the creed properly for the first time, for Aqidah classes and study circles, and for long-time Muslims who have never examined what they believe as carefully as they examine how they pray.
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