What Is The Difference Between ʿAqîdah & Manhaj?

Answered by Shaykh Rabîʾ b. Hâdî al-Madkhalî ‏حفظه الله

Question: 

What is the difference between the ‘Aqeedah (Belief) and the Manhaj (Methodology)?

Answer: 

The issue of differentiating between the ‘Aqeedah and the Manhaj has arisen in this era. People historically would not differentiate between the ‘Aqeedah and Manhaj. However, tribulations (fitan) came about so some among Ahlus-Sunnah were compelled to differentiate between the two affairs. But Shaikh Ibn Bāz (rahimahullāh) would not differentiate between ‘Aqeedah and Manhaj so he would say: “They are the one and the same.”

And I am compelled to say: The Manhaj is broader and more expansive than the ‘Aqeedah because the ‘Aqeedah enters into the Manhaj. So the Manhaj of Ahlus-Sunnah in their belief with respect to the Names and Attributes of Allah is that they affirm them as they are reported in the Qur’an and Sunnah. [So it is said] the Manhaj of Ahlus-Sunnah is this, or the Manhaj of Ahlus-Sunnah in understanding is this, or the Manhaj of Ahlus-Sunnah with respect to the narrations is this. This is their Manhaj, how they understand and deduce [matters] is from the Manhaj — how they acquire and accept the narrations is from the Manhaj.

End of the speech of ʿAllâmah Rabîʾ Ibn Hâdî Al-Madkhalî (‏حفظه الله), Al-Wasâyâ Al-Manhajiyyah, p43.

Translaed By Ustâdh Abû Khadîjah ʿAbdulWâhid Alam ‏حفظه الله