Al-Nabahani's Creed

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Al-Nabahani's Creed

Introduction

Taqi ud-Din an-Nabahani (1909-1977CE) is the founder of the group "Hizb ut-Tahrir", the picture on the right - taken in his early years - indicates the traditional Azhari, Ash'ari early upbringing. He was an Ash'ari in aqidah (mixed with some of usool of the Mu'tazilah, Murji'ah and Qadariyyah). He is of Palestinian origin, coming from a Sufi family background. His maternal grandfather was Yusuf bin Ismaa'eel an-Nabahani, a fervent adherent of Tasawwuf and one who authored a book, "Shawaahid ul-Haqq fil-Istighaathah bi Sayyid il-Khalq", arguing for the justification of seeking and calling upon the Prophet (sallallaahu alayhi wasallam) for rescue from calamity in those things in which only Allaah has power and ability. Given this family background (Ash'ari Sufi with Mu'tazili, Qadariyy usool) it is not surprising to see that in all the books of Taqi ud-Din an-Nabahani, the grandson, the discussion of Tawhid barely extends further than merely affirming Allaah's existence and around nine or ten attributes (which is not the Tawhid that the Messengers came to establish).

Taqi ud-Din an-Nabahani authored a range of books outlining his own political philosophy including "Nidhaam ul-Islaam" and "ash-Shakhsiyyah al-Islaamiyyah". Like those before him such as Hasan al-Banna and Sayyid Qutb, an-Nabahani was an Ash'ari, Maturidi in his aqidah and carried some of the usool of the Mu'tazilah, and Ash'ariyyah in his works. His goal, just like previous Ash'arites such as Hasan al-Banna and Sayyid Qutb, was the restoration of the khilaafah, and he just like them, considered all Muslim lands to be lands of kufr in which a revolution, ideological or otherwise, was obligatory. All of these ideologies of the 20th century came from Ash'ari, Maturidi, [Sufi] agitators who were far away from the creed (aqidah) of the Salaf, and were influenced - in their methodologies of reform - by the practical elements of the prevailing secular ideologies of their time.

In this series we will be highlighting the (deviant) creed of an-Nabahani, indicating his remoteness from the aqidah of Ahl us-Sunnah wal-Jamaa'ah and his agreement with the usool of the Jahmiyyah, the Mu'tazilah, the Ash'ariyyah and his wallowing in the bid'ah of al-Qadr, that of the Qadariyyah, alongside other instances of profound ignorance of the aqidah of the Righteous Salaf (the Companions and their followers). Here are scans of cover pages for two of his (numerous) books which were alluded to earlier:

They are the 6th edition of "ash-Shakhsiyyah al-Islaaamiyyah" (Dar ul-Ummah, Beirut, 2003CE) and "Nidhaam ul-Islaam" (6th edition, 2001CE).

Taqi ad-Din an-Nabahani Considers the Atheistic Creed of al-Jahm bin Safwan, the Qadari Creed of Gheelaan al-Dimashqee and the Creeds of the Heads of the Mu'tazilah to be Islamic Creeds in Which There Is No Deviation Under the heading "Philosopher Muslims" in his book "ash-Shakhsiyyah al-Islaamiyyah" (1/125), an-Nabahani writes:

This passage occurs in a wider context of discussing matters of aqidah such as the issue of al-qadaa wal-qadar and Allaah's attributes (sifaat), and here he is outlining what happened between the Philosophers and the theologians (mutakallimoon) by whom he means the Jahmiyyah, Mu'tazilah and Ash'ariyyah.
So he says:

When philosophical issues connected to studies in divinity were infused amongst the Muslims, some of the Scholars, at the end of the Umayyid era and the beginning of the Abbaasid era, such as al-Hasan al-Basree, Gheelaan ad-Dimashqee and Jahm bin Safwaan began to address numerous different theological issues.
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Here he equates between the great and noble Imaam and Taabi'ee, Hasan al-Basree (rahimahullaah) a follower of the Companions, and an Imaam of Ahl us-Sunnah with two heads of innovation and the greatest of deviants. Jahm bin Safwan, who was executed a kaafir in 128H by Salam al-Ahwaz, the amir of Khurasaan, for his kufr and ilhaad (deviation) and Gheelaan al-Qadaree, who along with Ma'bad al-Juhanee was the flag-bearer of the bid'ah of al-Qadar (negating al-Qadar). A quick glimpse into any of the early books of aqidah written by the great Imaams such as Imaam al-Bukhaaree (d. 256H), or Imaam Ahmad (d. 241H) and others and one will see their takfir of al-Jahm and the Jahmiyyah, and their condemnation of the Qadariyyah. There is no excuse for including al-Jahm bin Safwan and Gheelaan al-Qadaree amongst the "scholars".

However, when you read what an-Nabahani says at the end of the above passage (see quote below), you will realize the repugnance of his view. Next, he speaks of those who got involved in philosophy and the logic of Aristotle, he is referring to the heads of the Mu'tazilah, such as Waasil bin Ataa, Amr bin Ubayd, Abu al-Hudhayl al-Allaaf, and an-Nadhaam. He says about these people that they studied philosophical ideas limitedly with a view to defending and strenghtening faith.

It is the view of some that Ibraaheem al-Nadhdhaam was a Hindu from Baraahimah (Brahmans) who rejected prophethood and resurrection and he announced Islam whilst intended its destruction. He then chose I'tizaal (the madhhab of the Mu'tazilah) and used it to infuse philosophical aspects in order to corrupt the deen of the Muslims.

Finally, at the end of the above passage he says about all those mentioned (the heads of the Jahmiyyah, and of the Qadariyyah, and the Mu'tazilah):

For this reason, no deviation at all occurred from them in aqaa'id (beliefs) despite all their variant beliefs, for all of them are Muslims, defending Islaam.
​

This statement of an-Nabahani indicates either a) his compound ignorance of the Islamic aqidah and of those who deviated from it and of the positions of the great Imaams towards such people b) his deliberate distortion of historical facts and realities. And it is not our purpose here to bring the hundreds of statements from Salaf regarding Jahm bin Safwan or Gheelaan al-Qadariyy or Amr bin Ubayd and their likes from the heads of the Jahmiyyah, Qadariyyah and Mu'tazilah, and the takfir (declaring as disbelievers) of those who held onto the beliefs of these factions. This is rudimentary knowledge for anyone who has studied aqidah from its sources.

An-Nabahani cannot claim ignorance of the position of the Salaf, since either he is guiding himself by those Salaf who followed in the footsteps of the Companions in belief, speech and deed, something that all Muslims are commanded with, or he is guiding himself by something other than that. When one reads the books of an-Nabahani, you do not see him guiding his opinions by the illustrious Imaams of the Sunnah (and you rarely find a mention of them), rather his opinions - as we shall see in the rest of this series - are based upon the views of the Jahmiyyah, the Qadariyyah, the Mu'tazilah and the Ash'ariyyah. So it is little surprise that he defends these heads of innovation in such a manner, claiming that "no deviation at all occurred from them in aqaa'id..."

On page 127 of the same volume, an-Nabahani makes a list of main differences between the Mutakallimeen (theologians, the Jahmiyyah, Mu'tazilah, Ash'ariyyah) and the Philosophers (al-Kindi, al-Farabi, Ibn Seenaa) and he says regarding the Mutakallimeen (the Jahmiyyah, Mu'tazilah and Ash'ariyyah):

3. That the studies of the theologians are Islamic studies and they are considered, [despite] their divergence and mutual contradiction, as Islamic viewpoints. Every Muslim who embraced a viewpoint from amongst them (those viewpoints) is considered to have embraced an Islamic viewpoint, and whatever he adopted is considered an Islamic aqidah.
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This means that the saying that the Qur'an (i.e. the speech of Allaah) is created, which is kufr, is an Islamic aqidah, and the saying that Allaah has no Names or Attributes is an Islamic aqidah, and the saying that man creates his own actions, outside of the domain of Allaah's will and creative ability is an Islamic aqidah, and the saying that man is compelled in his actions, without choice is an Islamic aqidah, and the saying that Allaah has no speech, and never spoke to Moses is an Islamic aqidah, and the saying that Allaah is everywhere within the creation is an Islamic aqidah, and that Allaah is not above His Throne, above His creation is an Islamic aqidah and so on. And that all the great Imaams of the Salaf from the time of the likes of al-Hasan al-Basri (d. 110H) to well into the fourth and fifth centuries, in all their thousands, were all in manifest error in writing books, and warning against these deviant creeds and opinions and their figureheads, and warning against those who spoke with them, expelling them, boycotting them - that the entirety of the Salaf were in manifest error in their position towards these deviant innovators that were the Qadariyyah, Jahmiyyah, Mu'tazilah, Kullaabiyyah. That the books that were authored in this period such as (by way of example):

"Kitaab ul-Eemaan" by the Imaam and mujtahid, Abu 'Ubayd al-Qaasim ibn Salaam (d. 224H)

"Kitaab ul-Eemaan" by the Imaam Ib Abee Shaybah (d. 235H)

"Usool us-Sunnah" by Imaam Ahmad bin Hanbal (d. 241H)

"Kitaab ul-Eeemaan" in the Saheeh by Imaam al-Bukharee (d. 256H).

"Kitaab ut-Tawheed" in the Saheeh by Imaam al-Bukharee (d. 256H).

"As-Sunnah" by the student of Imaam Ahmad, Abu Bakr al-Athram (d. 273H)

"Kitaab us-Sunnah" (being part of the Sunan) by the faqeeh and Imaam Abu Dawood as -Sijistaanee (d. 275H)

"Asl us-Sunnah" by the haafidh and Imaam, Abu Haatim ar-Raazee (d. 277H)

"As-Sunnah" by the qaadee and haafidh, Ibn Abee 'Aasim (d. 287H)

"As-Sunnah" by the haafidh, Abdullah ibn Imaam Ahmad (d. 290H)

"As-Sunnah" by the qaadee and muhaddith AbuBakr al-Marroodhee (d. 292H)

"As-Sunnah" by the student of Imaam Ahmad, al-Marwaazee (d. 292H)

"Sareeh us-Sunnah" by the mujtahid, mufassir and Imaam, Ibn Jareer at-Tabaree (d. 310H)

"Kitaab ut-Tawheed" by the faqeeh and Imaam, Ibn Khuzaymah (d. 311H)

"Aqeedat ut-Tahaawiyyah" by the Imaam Abu Jafar at-Tahaawee (d. 321H)

"Sharh us-Sunnah" by Imaam al-Barbaaharee (d. 329H)

"Kitaab us-Sunnah" by the qaadee, Abu Ahmad al-Asaal (d. 349H)

"Ash-Sharee'ah" by the faqeeh and Imaam, Abu Bakr al-Aajurree(d. 360H)

"Kitaab ut-Tawheed" the haafidh and Imaam, Ibn Mandah (d. 395H)

"Sharh Usool I'tiqaad Ahlus-Sunnah Wal Jamaa'ah" by the haafidh and faqeeh, Imaam al-Laalilkaa'ee (d. 428H)

"Al-I'tiqaad" by Abu Nuaym al-Ashbaanee (d. 430H)

"Aqeedat us-Salaf Ashaabul-Hadeeth" by the haafidh and Imaam, Abu Uthmaan as-Saboonee (d. 449H)
Were all in vain and were all in falsehood, and that all these great Imaams who authored these books were unjust and oppressive against those deviants, because their deviations were nothing but the "Islamic aqidah" despite the mutual contradiction between these creeds!

And this is sufficient to show that an-Nabahani is a wandering strayer, who has demonstrated either his compound ignorance of the Islamic aqidah, his lack of the very intellect he glorifies so much in his works, or his wilful, deliberate attempt to defend falsehood and its people, with full knowledge that all of the Salaf showed scorn and rejection against these people in many written works in the second, third, fourth and fifth centuries after hijrah as indicated above.

However, when we come to look at an-Nabahani's other viewpoints in creed, it becomes clear that he actually is with those deviants, and is with them in their usool, and for this reason, he is very magnanimous towards them, and this explains these excuses he makes for these people who destroyed the unity of the Muslims and aided in the destruction of Islaam and its sanctified aqidah.

 

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Taqi ad-Din an-Nabahani: The Aql (Intellect) is the Absolute and Fundamental Foundation for the Islamic aqidah

We established in the first part that an-Nabahani considers all of the deviations (inclusive of doctrines of kufr) of the Jahmiyyah, Qadariyyah and Mu'tazilah to be from the Islamic aqidah, despite their variation and mutual contradiction. Within this context we now come to see that an-Nabahani himself is upon one of the greatest of the usool of the Jahmiyyah, Mu'tazilah (and Ash'ariyyah) which is making the intellect (aql) the absolute criterion and reference point for the Islamic aqidah - following in the tradition of the likes of Abu al-Hudhayl al-Allaaf (d. 235H), and ar-Razi (d. 606H) and others from the Mutakallimeen who glorified the intellect above it's proper place.

An-Nabahani says in "ash-Shakhsiyyah al-Islaamiyyah" (3/255):



He is speaking here about the verses in the Qur'an, "Allaah is the creator of every single thing", and "He is powerful (qadeer) over everything", and explaining how the intellect defines and qualifies the meanings of these verses to prevent them from being misapplied, and then he goes on to mention this as a general principle for the aqidah as a whole, saying:

And from that, the intellect (aql) specifies (i.e. qualifies) the generality of [Qur'anic] verse, as for using the likes of these verses as evidence, then it is not relevant, because these verses are connected with beliefs (aqaa'id), and not the Sharee'ah rulings (ahkaam). And the intellect is used to deduce evidence for the aqaa'id (beliefs), and the legislation (shar') is [also] used for them, but the evidence for the belief (i'tiqaad) in the legislation, fundamentally, is the intellect (aql), and thus, it is correct that the aql (intellect) [itself] is an evidence for beliefs (aqaa'id), and thus it is correct that it (the intellect) is an evidence for understanding the verses, and it is correct that it also qualifies (specifies) the beliefs (aqaa'id)...
Here an-Nabahani has given the intellect a superior status in that he makes the understanding and qualification of the verses to be based primarily on the evidence of the intellect (i.e. what the intellect can prove and accept), and not upon what Ahl us-Sunnah hold that the Qur'an is explained by the Qur'an and then by the Sunnah (be that mutawaatir or aahaad) and then by the sayings of the of Companions. They also hold that sound intellect will always agree with what is established through that. However, an-Nabahani qualifies all verses (that pertain to creed) primarily by the intellect and makes the intellect to be what provides and determines the correct understanding and the various qualifications and specifications of the texts. It is important to bear this in mind when we tear down this fake and false edifice that an-Nabahani has constructed following his Mu'tazili, Ash'ari predecessors in this, especially considering that he dismisses the bulk of the Sunnah from being acceptable in matters of belief (aqaa'id).

In "Nidhaam al-Islaam", after outlining rational proofs for belief in Allaah, the Messenger, and the Qur'an, he says (pp. 11-12):



Upon this, faith (eemaan) in Allaah comes through the route of the intellect, and it is vital that this eemaan is through the route of the intellect, and by way of this it becomes the focal point upon which faith in the unseen matters, all of them, is established, and in everything that Allaah has informed us of ...
He means here that once the intellect has established the validity of faith in Allaah, then whatever followers can be accepted with certainty such as the resurrection, Paradise, Hellfire, the Angels, Jinn and so on.

He then continues:

And this eemaan (i.e. in these affairs of belief additional to belief in Allaah), even though it has come through the route of transmitted (revealed) text, however in its foundation, it is a rational (intellectual) faith, because its foundation has been established through the intellect. For this reason, it is necessary that the aqeedah of a Muslim is based upon the intellect, or upon that whose foundation is established through the route of the intellect....
After this he mentions how it is haraam to hold belief (i'tiqaad) in anything that has not come in the Qur'an or a mutawaatir hadeeth, (a view he has taken from the Mu'tazilah, that the khabar ul-aahaad is speculative knowledge that cannot establish aqidah, and the Mu'tazilah innovated this in order to reject what would not agree with their rejection of the attributes of Allaah):

He says:

Therefore, it is obligatory upon a Muslim to believe (ya'taqidu) what is established with him through the route of the intellect or through the route of a definitive, certain (revealed) text, meaning, whatever is established with the Noble Qur'an and the definitive hadeeth, which is the mutawaatir. And whatever is not established by these two paths, the intellect and the text of the Book and the definitive Sunnah, it is haraam to believe it (ya'taqiduhu), because beliefs (aqaa'id) are not taken except from (what amounts to) certainty.
An-Nabahani is following the misguidance of the Mu'tazilah (and the Ash'ariyyah) who reject the khabar ul-aahaad in the affairs of aqidah, and we will take this up more fully in a separate article. In this view, the vast majority of the authentic Sunnah and what it contains of affairs pertaining to belief, it is haraam to believe in them because it is "speculative (dhannee)", not "definitive (qat'ee)" - this is because the only thing that is "definitive" is what is established by the intellect, which an-Nabahani (and the Jahmiyyah, Mu'tazilah, and Ash'ariyyah) make to be the base and foundation, preceding the revelation, and thereafter, whatever is established by the Qur'an or a mutawaatir hadeeth. This to him amounts to sure knowledge.

With this established - and these are only a small sample of scores of quotes that can be brought from his books in this regard - then let us see the foolishness that one is led to when one allows the (deficient, limited, human) intellect to reign supreme, above and beyond the necessities of the Book and the Sunnah.

An-Nabahani's Crumbling "Intellectual" Edifice

So here is just one observation which is sufficient to demolish everything that this man stands upon, and everything in his books - so we can see that he makes it haraam to believe anything which is speculative (dhannee) as opposed to what is definitive (qat'ee), and he says that the aql is the definitive source, now compare this to what he says about the mutakallimeen, the Jahmiyyah, Mu'tazilah, Qadariyyah (read Part 1), he says about them, in his book "ash-Shakhsiyyah" (see previous article) that:

For this reason, no deviation at all occurred from them in aqaa'id (beliefs) despite all their variant beliefs, for all of them are Muslims, defending Islaam.
And he makes this remark after alluding to the fact that they all tried to use rational methods to speak about the Islamic belief (aqidah). And also in (ash-Shakhsiyyah, 1/127):



3. That the studies of the theologians are Islamic studies and they are considered, [despite] their divergence and mutual contradiction, as Islamic viewpoints. Every Muslim who embraced a viewpoint from amongst them (those viewpoints) is considered to have embraced an Islamic viewpoint, and whatever he adopted is considered an Islamic aqidah.
He is speaking here about al-Jahm bin Safwaan, the kaafir, and Gheelaan al-Qadariyy, and Waasil bin Ataa' and Amr bin Ubayd, and Abu al-Hudhayl al-Allaaf, the heads of misguidance from the Jahmiyyah, Qadariyyah, Jabariyyah, Mu'tazilah from the second and third centuries after hijrah, and he says that they had no deviation in their beliefs (aqaa'id) and whatever they held and adopted is considered an Islamic aqidah.

Here, an-Nabahani has shown his intellectual bankruptcy in that if the intellect was definitive and decisive, and that the intellect qualifies and specifies the revealed texts, and it is haraam to base one's aqidah except on what is definitive (qat'ee), then how has he considered the saying of all these misguided innovators, alongside their "divergence and mutual contradiction" to be from the sound accepted Islamic aqidah? Does not all this "divergence and mutual contradiction", make all of their views collectively speculative. You have to remember that the major hallmark of all of these individuals al-Nabahani is speaking of is that the intellect (aql) is decisive over the revelation (naql) because it is definitive. So if all these groups are upon this, then how come they have not all come together upon a uniform creed. So who do you believe? The Jahmee who says Allaah is in every place and not above His Throne? The Jahmee who says the Mu'tazilee is a Mushrik for affirming names. Or the Mu'tazilee who says the Ash'ari is a Mushrik for affirming attributes. The Jabariyy who says man is compelled in his actions? The Qadariyy who says man creates his own actions. The Mu'taziliyy who denies Allaah's attributes? Or the Ash'ari who affirms some attributes but denies others. So given an-Nabahani's glorification of the intellect, it is laughable to see an-Nabahani flatly contradicting and simply demolishing his own foundation in this manner. This proves that the intellect is not definitive, and that the intellect must simply follow the Qur'an's interpretation by the Sunnah and by the sayings of the Companions, the intellect is guided by revelation, the intellect grasps, understands and follows, it is not an independent source.

So this position here of an-Nabahani - if you have grasped it and its implications - illustrates the lack of integrity and congruency in his thought as a whole. And this in reality is the outcome of abandoning the Book and the Sunnah and the way of the Salaf of the early generations and letting loose one's own intellect. For those who made the intellect to be the base and foundation of their deen, then they split into smithereens, each faction, declaring other as misguided, all having divergent, contradictory opinions - and at the same time, in their drunken stupor - claiming the evidence provided by the intellect to be "definitive (qat'ee)"!
It is for this reason that Imaam ash-Shaafi'ee (d. 204H) aptly remarked as occurs in Siyar A'laam in Nubulaa of adh-Dhahabi, (10/29) and Sawn ul-Mantiq of as-Suyuti, (no. 65), also in Manaaqib us-Shaafi'ee (1/462), and in Dhamm ul-Kalaam wa Ahlihi of Abu Isma'il al-Harawi (4/294-295) that he said:

حكمي في أهل الكلام أن يضربوا بالجريد ويحملوا على الإبل و يطاف بهم في العشائر ينادى عليهم هذا جزاء من ترك الكتاب والسنة واقبل على الكلام
My ruling regarding Ahl ul-Kalam is that they are to be beaten with palm-branches and shoes, carried upon camels and paraded amongst the kinsfolk, it being announced about them, "This is the recompense of the one who abandoned the Book and the Sunnah and turned to kalaam."
And the ilm ul-kalaam that all the Salaf condemned is that shared between the Jahmiyyah, Mu'tazilah, and Ash'ariyyah who are of course, the very ones an-Nabahani is guiding himself by.

So an-Nabahani glorifies the intellect, he says it provides definitive knowledge, and that it qualifies and specifies the revealed texts, and he rejects a large portion of the Sunnah in the affairs of aqidah because it is speculative (dhannee), and at the same time, he validates the opinions and beliefs of those misguided sects (some of which are kufr) who based their views upon the intellect, and he says they are all from the "islamic aqidah", meaning the aqidah that is supposed to be only taken from evidence that is "qat'ee" (definitive) - whilst at the same time acknowledging they are all divergent, mututally opposing beliefs (aqaa'id)!

We will develop this same point further in the next article in this series regarding an-Nabahani's position on "Khabar ul-Aahaad" - which he has taken from the Mu'tazilah, and which originates with the Mu'tazilah ,and which also has similar implications.

Regarding the Claim that the First Obligation Is to Rationally Prove the Existence of a Creator

This is actually where an-Nabahani is tended towards and he is simply following the Mu'tazilah and Ash'ariyyah in this, and this claim of an-Nabahani, alongside his claim that the fitrah is not sufficient for belief in Allaah, then it is baatil (false) and opposes the Book, the Sunnah and Ijmaa'.

We have already brought rebuttals by Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani against the Ash'aris on this point in other articles so you can refer to them here:

Ibn Hajr al-Asqalani's Mention of the Ash'ari Sect By Name in Fath ul-Baaree - Part 4 - (see here)
Ibn Hajr al-Asqalani's Mention of the Ash'ari Sect By Name in Fath ul-Baaree - Part 1 - (see here)
And the essence of the matter is that the first obligation upon a person is to simply make the two testimonials of faith and that his eemaan (faith, belief) is sound and valid upon this alone. This is because Allaah has made the fitrah of all people to be inclined towards Tawhid if left intact. The fitrah (natural disposition and instinct), inherently, independent of the aql (intellect), acknowledges a creator.

As for an-Nabahani, he is of the view that the fitrah alone is not sufficient (see "Nidhaam al-Islaam", pp. 7-8), he treats the fitrah as something sentimental, and that the aql (intellect) is absolutely necessary in one's faith, and the only route to faith - and in this he has opposed the way of the Believers and chosen instead the path of the misguided innovators. For whole tribes in the time of the Prophet (sallallaahu alayhi wasallam) accepted Islaam and made the testifications of faith, often on account of the Islaam of their leader alone (such as the tribe of al-Aws, following Sa'd bin Mu'aadh), and it was never known that they were ordered to rationally prove the existence of a creator through inspection and observation. This is the innovation of the Mutakallimeen, the Mu'tazilah and Ash'ariyyah, and they exaggerated and went to extremes in this regard until some of them like al-Juwaynee declared anyone who did not adduce rational proofs for the existence of a creator whilst having the ability to do so, to be a kaafir (see here, for documentation of this view and its rebuttal, and also documentation that this view originates with the Mu'tazilah, which the Ash'arites borrowed, and which an-Nabahani is simply following)!

The Consensus of the Salaf Regarding This Matter

Ibn Hajr al-Asqalani, when discussing the hadeeth of Mu'aadh bin Jabal at the beginning of Kitaab ut-Tawheed in Bukhaaree's Saheeh, in which there occurs the saying of the Prophet (sallallahu 'alayhi wasallam), "... Let the first thing that you call them to be to the Tawheed of Allaah (yuwahhidullaahu), and when they have come to know that ..." he discusses the issue of what the first obligation upon the servant is.

The generality of the Ash'aris hold that it is an obligation for each person to know the proofs for the existence of his Lord, through rational and observational proofs and some of them (such as al-Baqillani) go to extremes in claiming that each and every person must learn the preliminary philosophical precepts that underlie the demonstration of Allaah's existence through al-jawhar wal-'arad (substance and accident).

Ibn Hajr first makes mention of the positions of Ibn Fawrak and his followers, and also that of Abu Bakr al-Baqillani and Abu Ishaq al-Isfaraa'eenee (all Ash'aris - being students of Abul-Hasan al-Bahili, the student of Abu Hasan al-Ash'ari) on this subject.



So in the course of discussing this issue, Ibn Hajr rebuts this position of the Ash'aris saying:

And I have mentioned in "Kitaab ul-Eemaan" the one who turned away from all of this [i.e. what al-Baqillani, Ibn Fawrak, and al-Isfaraa'eenee are upon] from its very foundation and who held on to His, the Most High's saying "So set your Face towards the upright religion, Allaah's fitrah (meaning Tawheed) to which He has made mankind to be inclined..." (ar-Rum 30:30) and the hadeeth, "Each child is born upon the fitrah (i.e. inclination to Allah's recognition and Tawheed)..." For indeed the apparent meaning of the verse and the hadeeth is that knowledge (al-ma'rifah) is already acquired on the basis of the fitrah, and that (a person's) departure from that is through what (subsequently) happens to a person, due to his (alayhis salaatu wassalaam), saying "...then his parents make him a Jew or a Christian..."
And Abu Ja'far as-Simnaanee - and he is one of the heads of the Ashaa'irah - has agreed with this, and he said: "Indeed this one of the issues of the Mu'tazilah that remained in the saying of al-Ash'ari and branching off from it is (the saying) that the obligation upon every person is to have knowledge of Allaah through the evidences that point to Him, and that taqleed is not sufficient in this regard."

Commenting on the hadeeth, "I have been ordered to fight the people until they testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah (alone) and until they believe in me and what I have brought..." (Saheeh Muslim), Imaam an-Nawawee says in his Sharh of Saheeh Muslim (1/210-211):



In (the hadeeth) is a clear evidence for the madhhab of the muhaqqiqeen (those verifying what is correct) and the majority amongst the Salaf and the Khalaf that when a person believes in the religion of Islaam with a firm and resolute belief devoid of any doubt, that this is sufficient for him, and he is a believer amongst the Muhawahhideen. [And that] it is not obligatory upon him to learn the evidences of the theologians and knowing Allaah, the Exalted, through them. [This being] in opposition to the one who made it obligatory and made it a condition of a person being from the the people of the qiblah [and who] claimed that he does not have the ruling [applicable to] the Muslims except through this. And this madhhab is the saying of many of the Mu'tazilah and some of our associates, the theologians (mutakallimoon), and it is a manifest error...
What an-Nawawi means is that when a person makes the two testifications, without doubting in them, and believing in them firmly, then his eemaan and belief (i'tiqaad) is valid and sound and is sufficient for him - and thereafter it is not necessary for him to learn the rational proofs of the Mutakallimeen and nor to validate his faith by use of the intellect.

And Ibn Abi al-Izz al-Hanafee, the explainer of at-Tahaawiyyah said (p. 66-67):

اعلم أن التوحيد أول دعوة الرسل، وأول منازل الطريق، وأول مقام يقوم فيه السالك إلى اللَّه -عز وجل- ... ولهذا كان الصحيح: أن أول واجب يجب على المكلف شهادة أن لا إله إلا اللَّه، لا النظر، ولا القصد إلى النظر، ولا الشّكّ؛ كما هي أقوال أرباب الكلام المذموم، بل أئمة السلف كلهم متفقون على أن أول ما يؤمر به العبد الشهادتان، ومتفقون على أن من فعل ذلك قبل البلوغ لم يؤمر بتجديد ذلك عقيب البلوغ
Know that Tawhid (to make worship for Allaah alone) is the first call of the Messengers and the first stopping place on the path, and the first place in which the traveler to Allaah, the Mighty and Majestic, stops... and for this reason, that which is correcet is that the first obligation obligatory upon the mukallaf (the one bound by the Islamic obligations) is to testify that none has the right to be worshipped except Allaah alone. It is not nadhar (to observe with a view to deducing rational proof), nor the intent to observe and inspect, and nor to assume doubt (in one's belief with a view to validating it through rational proof), as is the saying of the lords of blameworthy theological rhetoric. Rather, the Imaams of the Salaf, all of them are agreed that the first thing a person is commanded with is the two testimonials, and they are agreed that the one who does that before reaching puberty is not commanded to renew (the testimonials) after puberty.
And Ibn Taymiyyah (rahimahullaah) explains what is correct, in Dar' ut-Ta'aarud (8/6-10):

And the Prophet (sallallaahu alayhi wasallam) did not call anyone to contemplation (over the creation for deduction of proof for Allah's existence) and nor to the mere affirmation of a creator. Rather, the first thing he called them to was the two testimonials (of faith) and this is what he commanded the Companions.
This is what Ahl us-Sunnah are agreed upon regarding this matter, as for the Mutakallimeen, amongst them an-Nabahani, who is just following the misguidance of the Mu'tazilah and Ash'ariyyah, then to them Tawhid revolves mainly around affirming Allaah's existence (and not worshipping Him alone, without any partners), and they make it the first obligation to prove Allaah's existence through the route of intellect (aql), which to them is the greatest foundation in aqidah and the most definitive source for the aqidah.