Qala’id al-Iqyan: The Golden Pendant

The summarization of Ibn Hamdan’s renowned creed by Ibn Balban has not only received widespread praise but has become the latter generation’s golden standard and preferred teaching manual. The great Imam Shaykh ‘Abdullah b. Sufan al-Qaddumi said that “the most renowned creed of our latter-day scholars is that of the master and educator, Shaykh Badr al-Din, famously known as al-Balbani, who summarized it from Nihayat al-Mubtadi`in fi Usul al-Din by the Imam, Ibn Hamdan”. It was also this very book that Imam al-Saffarini studied and taught to several of his students from Najd as he indicated in the introduction of his book Lawami’ al-Anwar al-Bahiyyah.By and large, Qala`id al-‘Iqyan, as it is most famously known, represents the canonized creed of the Hanabilah. In this exquisite summarization, Ibn Balban 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 Allah and the home of the Hereafter.