Aqidah ( (), plural ʿaqāʾid, also rendered ʿaqīda, aqeeda, etc.) is an Islamic term of Arabic origin that literally means "creed". It is also called Islamic creed and Islamic theology. Aqidah go beyond concise statements of faith and may not be part of an ordinary Muslim's religious instruction. It has been distinguished from Iman in "taking the aspects of Iman and extending it to a detail level" often using "human interpretation or sources". Yet in contrast with Iman, Aqidah is not a term in the Qur'an. Many schools of Islamic theology expressing different aqidah exist. However, this term has taken a significant technical usage in the Islamic theology, and is a branch of Islamic studies describing the beliefs of Islam. Etymology Aqidah comes from the Semitic root ʿ-q-d, which means "to tie; knot". ("Aqidah" used not only as an expression of a school of Islamic theology or belief system, but as another word for "theology" in Islam, as in: "Theology (Aqidah) covers all beliefs and belief systems of Muslims, including sectarian differences and points of contention".) Introduction According to Muslim scholar Cyril Glasse, "systematic statements of belief became necessary, from early [on in the history of] Islam, initially to refute heresies, and later to distinguish points of view and to present them, as the divergences of schools of theology or opinion increased." The "first" creed written as "a short answer to the pressing heresies of the time" is known as Fiqh Akbar and ascribed to Abu Hanifa. Two well known creeds were the Fiqh Akbar II "representative" of the Ash'ari, and Fiqh Akbar III, "representative" of the Shafi'i. Al-Ghazali also had an aqidah. These creeds were more detailed than those described below. According to Malcolm Clark, while Islam "is not a creedal religion", it has produced some detailed creeds, "some containing 100 or more belief statements" that summarized "the theological position of a particular scholar or school." Six articles of belief The six articles of faith or belief (Arkan al-Iman) derived from the Quran and Sunnah, are accepted by all Muslims. While there are differences between Shia and Sunni Islam and other different schools or sects concerning issues such as the attributes of God or about the purpose of angels, the six articles are not disputed. The six Sunni articles of belief are: Belief in God and tawhid (monotheism) Belief in the angels Belief in the Islamic holy books Belief