بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

الحمد لله والصلاة والسلام على رسوله

What exactly is a Muslim? What makes someone a Muslim? Is anyone who labels themselves a Muslim truly a Muslim? This is a question answered centuries ago by Islamic scholars.

To summarize, there are core beliefs that constitute faith. Those who hold these beliefs are Muslims, and those who abandon any of them are not Muslims.

For example, the belief that there is only one God and that Muhammad ﷺ is his final messenger. If someone does not believe in this, then they can call themselves a Muslim all they want, but they cannot really be considered a Muslim. Instead they would be a follower of some other path that they have invented.

Part of faith is also to have the correct conceptualization of God. The belief that God is some superhuman up in the clouds, similar to the beliefs of the Roman or Greek pagans, is incorrect and is completely rejected by Islam. Rather God is the one who created space and time. He is One, there is none like Him, and He reigns supreme over all.

Aqidah is the study of these basic tenets of faith. Imam Tahawi penned a very short treatise on this subject, referred to as Aqidah Tahawiya. In it he lists the fundamental beliefs of the Muslims. It is a classical text that has served the Muslims well for more than a millenium.

Rather than just reading the text (which you might find boring), I would recommend listening to a commentary by Hamza Maqbul. He goes through the work in detail; adding explanation, historical context, and covering subjects like the rational necessity of God's existence. Not to mention he makes things digestible and entertaining.

As this is such an important subject, I would strongly recommend everyone give it a listen.

You can find the commentary on both Soundcloud and Youtube