The Author

Introduction

Tract on The Beliefs of The Shi'a Imamiya

The Belief of The Imamiya Concerning Tawhid

Attributes Of (His) Essence And Of (His) Actions

Belief Concerning Taklif (Responsibility)

The Belief In Respect Of Human Actions

Regarding the Denial of Both Constraint And Delegation

The Belief Concerning (Allah's) Intention (Irada) And Will (Mashi'a)

Concerning (qada') Destiny And Decree (qadar)

Concerning Man's Original Nature (fitra)  And His True Guidance (hidaya)

Belief In The Capacity Of Human Beings (al-istita'a)

Regarding the Source of Creation (mabda' )

Concerning Abstention From Disputation (jadal) And Contention About Allah (mira')

Concerning The Tablet (lawh) And The Pen (qalam)

Regarding The Chair (Kursi)

Concerning The Throne

Concerning Souls (nufus) And Spirits (arwah )

Concerning Death (mawt )

Concerning The Questioning In The Grave

Concerning Resurrection (Raj'a)

Concerning Return (Ba'th) After Death

Concerning The Pond (al-Hawd)

Concerning Intersession (ash-shafa'a)

Concerning The Promise (al-wa`d) And The Threat (al-wa'id)

Concerning What is Written Against The Slave

Concerning Justice (al-'adl)

Concerning Purgatory (al-A'raf)

Concerning The Bridge (as-Sirat)

Passes On the Road to Mahshar

Concerning The Reckoning (al-hisab) And The Scales (al-mawazin)

Concerning The Garden (al-janna) And The Fire (an-nar)

The Manner Of Descent Of Revelation (nuzulu'l-wahy)

Revelation Of The Qur'an In The Night Of Power

The Belief Concerning The Qur'an

Concerning the Extent of The Qur’an

Concerning Prophets Apostles, Imams And Angels

The Number of Prophets And Vicegerents

Concerning Infallibility ('isma)

The Denial Of Excess And Delegation

Belief Concerning Evil Doers

Concerning Dissimulation (Taqiyya)

The Ancestors Of The Prophet

Concerning The Alids ('alawiya)

Concerning Reports Detailed And Summary

Concerning Prohibition And Permission

Concerning The Reports Regarding Medicine

Concerning Two Divergent Traditions

This text is a translation of one of the most important works of Shayh
Saduq; it presents a summary of all of the core tenets of the Shi'ite
creed.


A Shi'ite Creed

Regarding the Denial of Both Constraint And Delegation
======================================================

Says the Shaykh, our belief concerning this is the saying of Imam Ja’far
as-Sadiq: There is neither (complete) compulsion (or constraint on human
beings), nor (complete) delegation (or freedom), but the matter is
midway between the two (extremes).[^1] He was asked to define what was
meant by “an affair midway between the two.”

He said: For instance you see a man intent upon a crime and you dissuade
him; then he commits the crime. Now, it is not because he did not accept
(your advice) and you left him, that you are the person who commanded
him to commit the crime.[^2]

[^1]: N بل أمر بين أمرين; D بل أمر بين أمرين. Sh. Mufid explains jabr
and tafwid, Mur. ii. 142 -143.

[^2]: MC, 157, 210, 213; BHA, no.119;FC, nos.95 -96; Affifi, 154.


