The Correct Approach to Unpacking 'The Select Creed'

by Muḥammad Nawawī al-Jawī al-Bantanī, Musa Furber

This booklet presents Shaykh Muḥammad Nawawī al-Jāwī al-Bantanī’s Al-Nahjah al-jayyidah li-ḥall alfāẓ Nuqāwāt al-‘aqīdah, his introduction to essential creed and fundamental obligations. The Arabic text is presented along with an English translation. The author of our book is Shaykh Abū ‘Abd al-Mu‘ṭī Muḥammad bin ‘Umar bin ‘Arabī bin ‘Alī Nawawī al-Bantanī al-Jāwī, in present-day Indonesia, who lived during 1230–1314AH/1813–1879CE, and became one of the Shaykhs of the Two Sacred Precincts. He authored over 40 works in various subjects, including creed [ ‘aqīdah ], theology [ kalām ], Quranic exegesis [ tafsīr ], jurisprudence [ fiqh ], principles of jurisprudence [ uṣūl al-fiqh ], and spiritual purification and excellence [ tazkiyah, iḥsān, and ṭasawwuf ]. In the Malay world (the Nusantara), his words are mandatory reading for students of traditional Islamic disciplines, and many are popular in the Middle East. This booklet contains the author’s commentary on his own Nuqāwah, a short poem introducing essential creed, and what is obligatory to believe, know, and perform. He drew the majority of his commentary from Shaykh Ibrāhīm al-Bājūrī’s (1198–1276AH/1784–1860CE) Tuḥfat al-murīd, making this booklet a summary of its most important points, all presented in an accessible manner.

130 pages, Paperback

Published November 15, 2022

Reviews

[Miroku Nemeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent overview of traditional Sunni Islamic theology in English by an actual scholar who doesn't overburden the reader especially if they have had exposure to traditional Islamic scholarship. I do wish there was a book like this on Imam Al-Laqqani's Jawharat At-Tawhid, but it is nice how much of this poem was based on that poem and Bajuri's commentary upon it. All of Shaikh Musa's works are very much a blessing to the Ummah, Mashaa'Allah.