The Correct Approach to Unpacking 'The Select Creed'

About The Book

This booklet presents Shaykh Muḥammad Nawawi al-Jawi al-Bantani’s Al-Nahjah al-jayyidah li-ḥall alfaz Nuqawat al-‘aqidah, 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 Abu ‘Abd al-Mu‘ṭi Muḥammad bin ‘Umar bin ‘Arabi bin ‘Ali Nawawi al-Bantani al-Jawi, 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 [‘aqidah], theology [kalam], Quranic exegesis [tafsir], jurisprudence [fiqh], principles of jurisprudence [usul al-fiqh], and spiritual purification and excellence [tazkiyah, iḥsan, 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 Nuqawah, a short poem introducing essential creed, and what is obligatory to believe, know, and perform. He drew the majority of his commentary from Shaykh Ibrahim al-Bajuri’s (1198–1276AH/1784–1860CE) Tuḥfat al-murid, making this booklet a summary of its most important points, all presented in an accessible manner.