Qala'id al-Iqyan: The Golden Pendant

The summarization of Ibn Ḥamdān's renowned creed by Ibn Balbān has not only received widespread praise but has become the latter generation's golden standard and preferred teaching manual. The great Imām Shaykh ʿAbdullāh b. Ṣūfān al-Qaddūmi said that "the most renowned creed of our latter-day scholars is that of the master and educator, Shaykh Badr al-Dīn, famously known as al-Balbāni, who summarized it from Nihāyat al-Mubtadiʾīn fī Usūl al-Dīn by the Imām, Ibn Ḥamdān". It was also this very book that Imām al-Saffārīni studied and taught to several of his students from Najd as he indicated in the introduction of his book Lawāmiʿ al-Anwār al-Bahiyyah.By and large, Qalaʾid al-ʿIqyān, as it is most famously known, represents the canonized creed of the Ḥanābilah. In this exquisite summarization, Ibn Balbān captures the most important topics without delving into the details of evidence or scholastic debate. This work is intentionally concise to encourage mastery and memorization and should serve the disciple well on their journey to Allāh and the home of the Hereafter.