Doctrinal Differences & Essential Knowledge

Imam Ahmad Raza, upon whom be Allah's mercy, elaborated that belief in the knowledge of the
unseen falls into three primary

Doctrinal categories:

1. Absolute Essentials of Islam [Ma’lumat min al-Din bi al-Darurah]- any doctrine in this
category is of the highest importance such that its denial takes one out of the fold of Islam
and even doubt about it. These include the following matters:
• Allah Most High is the only independent Knower of the Unseen. No one can have a
single letter of knowledge of the unseen without His teaching
• Allah Most High granted His Prophets and Messengers (Allah give them peace and
blessings) abundant knowledge of the unseen and whoever denies this is in fact in
denial of their prophethood itself
• Our Messenger’s (Allah give him peace and blessings) knowledge is greater than
every creature’s knowledge including Satan’s
• Knowledge as a Divine and unique attribute of Allah cannot be possessed by anyone
including the Prophets as this would be shirk thus if anyone claims it for Satan, he
commits shirk
• Calling the knowledge of Zayd, Amr [i.e. any person] and that of every child, beast
and insane person similar to that of the knowledge of the Messenger of Allah (Allah
give him peace and blessings) is an explicit insult and plain infidelity

2. Essentials of Sunni Doctrine [Aqa’id Ahl al-Sunnah al-Ijma’iyah]- matters in this category
are also crucial such that their denial takes one out of the Sunni fold and is thus heresy.
This includes:
• The righteous awliya are given some knowledge of the unseen through the
Messengers (Allah give them peace and blessings). The Mu’tazilites who believed
knowledge of the unseen is possessed by the Prophets and denied it from the
righteous.

3. Matters Upon Which Scholarly Disagreement is Permissible [Masa’il Mukhtalafah Inda Ahl
al-Sunnah]- Such that disagreement with evidence is allowed and belief in either of the
views does not take one out of the Sunni fold. This includes the subsequent matters:
 • Our Prophet (Allah give him peace and blessings) was given knowledge of the final
hour
• Our Prophet (Allah give him peace and blessings) was given knowledge of all five
unseen matters without exception
• Our Prophet (Allah give him peace and blessings) possessed knowledge of the reality
of the soul
• Our Prophet (Allah give him peace and blessings) was granted knowledge of the
ambiguous (mutashabihat) verses in the Qur’an
• Our Prophet (Allah give him peace and blessings) was granted full knowledge
contained in the Sacred Tablet, from the first day of creation to the last and much
more which exceeds the events of the day of judgment and includes knowledge of
all five unseen matters and the final hour as they are inscribed on the Tablet

Sunni scholarship have been in disagreement about these issues pertaining to category 3. If a Sunni
scholar disagrees on these, he cannot be considered a transgressor (fasiq) let alone be called a
deviant (mubtadi) or an infidel (kafir) as long as he believes in the doctrines elaborated in the
Absolute Essentials of Islam and Essentials of Sunni Doctrine above.