1. It is to worship Allah with Tawhid and to not call upon anyone besides Him, and that we do not depend upon anyone besides Him to bringing benefit or repelling harm. And worshipping Him by disliking the polytheists; except that it is obligatory upon us to call them to al-Tawhid and to clarify for them that there is no Islam except with Tawhid and that whoever calls on a deity besides Allah has disbelieved, and whoever persists after that, it is a must to distance ourselves from them for the sake of Allah.
2. The creed of the Salaf is based upon describing Allah with what He has described Himself with in His Book or upon the tongue of His Messenger without any distortion, similitude, negation, or false interpretation.
3. We affirm for Allah His Beautiful Names that He established for Himself, and extolled Himself with whether in the Qur’an or Sunnah.
4. We believe that there is no path to Allah’s Pleasure or to paradise except by way of the Messenger of Allah, and whoever seeks a path to Allah’s Pleasure other than the way of the Messenger of Allah, then this person is misguided from the truth and is a loser in this life and the next.
5. We believe that Allah’s legislation came by way of the two revelations, the Qur’an and the Sunnah, and this is what is indicated in the statement of Allah,
“Then, We have put you (O Muhammad) upon a plain way of commandment. So follow it, and do not follow the desires of those who do not know.”
[Surah al-Jathiyah 45:18]
6. We believe that the Qur’an is the Speech of Allah and that it is not created and that the Sunnah clarifies the Qur’an and that the Qur’an is explained by the Sunnah and the commentary of the Companions and those who followed them in righteousness. So the explanation of the Qur’an is by way of narration, meaning from the [narrations] of the Companions and the tabi’in collected in the books [of tafsir], books which must be read like the tafsir of Ibn Jarir [al-Tabari] (d.310H), Ibn Kathir, al-Baghawi (d.516H), Tafsir al-Durr al-Manthur by al-Suyuti (d.911H) and what is like this.
7. It is incumbent upon us to take the Sunnah according to the way of the people ofhadith in authentication and weakening [of the narrations], so we accept that which has been mentioned and reject that which has been graded weak.
8. We worship Allah by obedience to those placed in authority over us, as long as they are Muslims, judging by Allah’s Legislation, establishing the prescribed punishments of Allah and establishing the Prayer, and that obedience to them is obligatory even if they are sinful, and whoever says different and permits revolting against the leader of the Muslims, even if he is sinful, then this person is a misguided innovator; it is obligatory upon the Muslim scholars to refute him and clarify his misguidance.
9. That it is not permissible to spread the faults of those in authority, because this will lead to the spread of sedition.
10. It is incumbent upon us to worship Allah according to the Sunnah and to follow it and to abhor innovation and the innovators by the statement of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم), “Whoever does an action that is not in accordance with this affair of ours, it is rejected.” And in another wording, “Whoever innovates in this affair of ours that which is not from it, it is rejected.”1 This is a brief description of the creed of the Salaf; it is upon us to adhere to it if we want the truth and hope for success, and it is upon us to reject the statements of men which are not supported by evidences. Since, men are known by the truth and the truth is not known by men. And lastly, it is upon us to beseech Allah to show us what is the truth and to bless us to follow it, and to show us what is falsehood and bless us to avoid it, indeed He is Able, and may the Prayers and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad, the best of creation and the most pious among them, and upon all of his Family and Companions.(2
1 Related by al-Bukhari (no. 2697) and Muslim (no. 4467).
2 See Ahmad Ibn Yahya al-Najmi, al-Fatawa al-Jaliyyah (Ajman: al-Furqan 1418 A.H./1997 C.E.) pp.51-57.
Source: The Crime of Hizbiyyah Against the Salafi Da’wah, Compilation and English translation by Abu al-Hasan Malik Ibn Adam, Sunnah Publishing, pp.46-47 and 52-53.