Explanation of Al-Wasitiya Creed

In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate Indeed, praise be to Allah, we praise Him, seek His help, ask for His forgiveness, and seek refuge in Allah from the evil of ourselves and from the bad of our deeds. Whoever Allah guides, none can misguide him, and whoever He misguides, none can guide him. I bear witness that there is no deity but Allah alone, with no partner, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger. May Allah's peace and blessings be upon him, his family, his companions, and those who follow them with goodness until the Day of Judgment, and may He grant them abundant peace. As for what follows: It has been one of the great acts of the noble scholar, our esteemed teacher, Muhammad ibn Salih al-Uthaymeen, may Allah have mercy on him, to give special attention to the meanings of creed, and his eagerness to explain, comment on, and bring closer to students of knowledge and learners; this was to establish and clarify the creed of the righteous predecessors—may Allah be pleased with them—in the names of Allah the Most Beautiful, and His exalted attributes, glorified and high. It was from Allah’s success—glory be to Him and exalted—that He facilitated for His virtue—may Allah have mercy on him—the explanation of the book "Al-‘Aqidah Al-Wasitiya" by Sheikh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (died in 728 AH). May Allah envelop him in His vast mercy and pleasure, and grant him spacious gardens, and reward him for Islam and Muslims with the best reward. It is the comprehensive, concise book, wide in knowledge, which contains clarification of the creed of Ahl al-Sunnah wal-Jama’ah in the names of Allah the Most Beautiful and His exalted attributes—glory be to Him. Our teacher—may Allah have mercy on him—explained it to his students at his mosque several times. After recording the proceedings of those scholarly lessons, the explanation was published in a printed book in the year 1413 AH. Then, after his review of the printed book, he decided—may Allah have mercy on him—that the explanation received from the review is not like the explanation written with clarification, because the first is subject to deficiencies and additions that the second is not. He saw that it was important to read the explanation to produce it in a satisfactory form, so he proceeded—may Allah have mercy on him—and removed what was unnecessary, and added what was needed, to make it the approved version. It has been printed since 1415 AH, and now it is in the introduction of the editions of Sheikh Muhammad ibn Salih al-Uthaymeen’s charitable foundation in a distinguished print. Furthermore, Sheikh—may Allah have mercy on him—had written a commentary in 1384 AH on the first edition of Sheikh Muhammad Khalil Harras’s explanation—may Allah have mercy on him—on "Al-Wasitiya," and to enhance benefit, we have attached it at the end of the book. We ask Allah—glory be to Him and exalted—that this work be purely for His face, in accordance with His pleasure, beneficial to His servants, and that He reward our Sheikh for Islam and Muslims with the best reward, multiply his reward, and elevate his rank among the guided. Indeed, He is Hearing, Near. May Allah's peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, his companions, and those who follow them with goodness until the Day of Judgment. The scholarly section In the Foundation of Sheikh Muhammad ibn Salih al-Uthaymeen al-Khayriyya 4 Dhu al-Hijjah 1439 AH